The Wok Convert

Your main traits

• numbing
• umami
• bright
• fermented

Your aromatic portrait

You've got a seasoned carbon-steel wok, a bottle of soy sauce you actually chose, and you know Sichuan and Sansho aren't the same thing. You cook fast, hot, over the flame. You chase the electric sensations: the numb buzz of Sichuan, the tart lift of yuzu, the depth of tamari. Long-reduced brown sauces bore you; you'd rather a clear broth and a sharp marinade. You eat sashimi on a Wednesday night, and you know bonito flakes from the dashi they build. You use little dairy, plenty of ferments. You think French cooking leans too hard on butter. You don't like the word "spice": you talk about pepper, salt, ferment. You cook Thai as easily as Japanese as easily as Korean, and you switch without a recipe.

Your 5 signature products

1. 1

   

   Pepper · Pepper cousin

   Sichuan Peppercorns

   Sichuan Province, Hanyuan and Maowen counties, China

   « Sichuan is your signature: numbing buzz, citrus lift, pure electricity. Essential on stir-fries, noodles, mapo tofu. Toast it dry before you crush it. »

2. 2

   

   Pepper · Pepper cousin

   Sansho

   Arima, Wakayama Prefecture, island of Honshu, Japan

   « Sansho is your Japanese Sichuan, greener and quieter, ideal on grilled fish, glazed eel, clear soups. A lime note where Sichuan brings heat. »

3. 3

   

   Spice · Oils, vinegars & honeys

   Traditional Tamari

   Aichi, Gifu and Mie — the Tōkai region around Nagoya, the historic home of whole-soybean (mame) brewing and Hatchō miso, Japan

   « Gluten-free tamari, long-fermented, brings the deep umami for your marinades and last-minute sauces. Trade up from supermarket soy and taste the difference. »

4. 4

   

   Pepper · Pepper cousin

   Timut Pepper

   Eastern hill districts of Dolakha and Sindhupalchok, Nepal

   « Timut extends your taste for electric citrus across tartares, ceviches, raw fish, and seafood carpaccio. Bright where soy is deep. »

5. 5

   

   Oil · Sesame oil

   Toasted Sesame Oil

   Japan (Kadoya, Yamada in Osaka and Kyushu) and South Korea (Korea-grown sesame, with much seed imported from India, Sudan, and Nigeria), Japan / South Korea (none)

   « Toasted sesame oil is your finishing drizzle: nutty, deep, a few drops off the heat over noodles or greens. Never cook with it, you'll burn the aroma. »

Your signature dishes

• mapo tofu
• tuna sashimi
• homemade ramen

Your go-to occasions

midweek wok, Asian dinners, sashimi