聚惠玩Canto HearthTHE CANTONESE HOME KITCHEN

BEFORE YOU TURN ON THE HEAT

A small Cantonese pantry.

Learn what each ingredient does before filling your cupboard.

You do not need every bottle at once. Start with the ingredients in the dish you plan to cook, then add to your pantry as you go. Light and dark soy sauce do different jobs; a jarred sauce is not the same as its main ingredient. These notes explain roles and cautious alternatives, not tested one-for-one substitutions. Product recipes vary by brand and country, so read your own label for ingredients, allergens and storage.

Light soy sauce生抽

Adds savoury seasoning to marinades, stir-fries and dipping sauces.

If you don’t have it: An ordinary naturally brewed soy sauce may work for seasoning; add gradually rather than assuming an equal measure.

“Light” describes this style, not a low-salt claim. Soy and wheat are present in the referenced product; check your bottle.

Dark soy sauce老抽

Adds deeper brown colour, especially to noodles and braised dishes.

If you don’t have it: When its role is only colour, you can leave it out and season separately; the dish will be paler.

Do not automatically swap it with light soy sauce. Colour, sweetness and thickness differ across products.

Douchi · fermented black beans豆豉

Adds a salty fermented flavour to steamed dishes and stir-fries.

If you don’t have it: Prepared black bean garlic sauce is an adaptation, not a gram-for-gram replacement for whole douchi.

Jarred sauces also contain seasonings such as garlic, soy sauce and sugar. Adjust the dish around the label; ordinary canned black beans are not equivalent.

Shaoxing wine紹興酒

Brings a fermented rice-wine aroma to marinades and cooked dishes.

If you don’t have it: If it is only a seasoning, omit it and accept a different aroma. For a wine-led dish, choose a separately developed alcohol-free recipe.

It contains alcohol; do not assume cooking removes all of it. The referenced product contains wheat. Check the bottle rather than treating every cooking wine alike.

Cornstarch玉米澱粉

Thickens sauces and helps form light coatings. For a sauce, first mix it smoothly with cold liquid.

If you don’t have it: Potato starch is an option for thickening; follow its directions and judge the texture instead of using a universal ratio.

This means purified corn starch, not cornmeal. Adding dry starch straight into hot sauce can make lumps.

Toasted sesame oil芝麻油

Adds roasted-sesame aroma to dressings, marinades and finished noodles or vegetables.

If you don’t have it: If it is only a finishing flavour, you may omit it; a neutral oil will not reproduce its aroma.

Look for roasted or toasted sesame on the label. It contains sesame, and blends may contain other oils.

Start with the dish, not the shopping list.

For quantities, try the kitchen tools. Recipe substitutions still need their own taste and texture checks.

Where these notes come from

These manufacturer pages are product-specific examples, not sponsorships or claims about every brand. We independently wrote the notes above. Substitutions are editorial guidance, not tested conversion ratios.