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Chili bean paste, dou ban jiang, 豆瓣酱is a cooking ingredient not to be confused with Chili dipping sauce. It is made from fermented broad beans and red chilies. Chinese chefs favour the paste from Pi Xian in Sichuan Province that is made from fresh chilies.  This is not available outside of specialist suppliers in the West but standard chili bean paste is sold be some large supermarkets.

Chinese cooking wine is also known as Huangjiu yellow wine  (though it varies in colour from almost clear to reddish brown) and can describe a number of alcoholic drinks (less than 20 per cent)  brewed from rice millet or wheat. These wines are traditionally pasteurized, aged, and filtered before their final bottling. The most internationally known version is Shaoxing wine from Zhejiang province. On a day to day basis Chinese chefs use liao jiu, seasoning wine, which is flavoured with spices.

Chinese cooking wine is said to ti weir  bring out the flavour and is used in almost all Chinese meat and fish dishes and some vegetable ones too.

Edamame is a Japanese name for young soy beans which is often used in the west. Most major supermarket chains now sell them frozen and when thawed they can be used like garden peas. In China young soybeans are known as maodou 毛 豆;.  literally "hairy bean. " They are usually boiled (in their hairy pods) with salt, Sichuan peppercorns and star anise and are a popular snack.

Like all soy products Edamame are packed full of nutrients including  protein, omega-3 fatty acids,  vitamin A, vitamin B and calcium.

Sesame oil, xiang you, 香油, fragrant oil, was one of the earliest processed oils and condiments. It is not straightforward to make and is therefore a premium product. There are many variations: cold-pressed sesame oil is almost colourless and light in flavour. Chinese sesame oil is from toasted hulled seeds and is a dark brown colour. Toasted sesame oil has a low smoke point, and is unsuitable for frying, and is generally used as a seasoning, to give fragrance to cooked dishes.

Light sesame oil has a high smoke point, and is suitable for frying but is not traditionally used in China. If Chinese chefs want to heat dark sesame oil they usually mix it with another oil.

Sichuan pepper is not really a pepper at all but the outer pod of the tiny berry of a number of species in the genus  Zanthoxylum. It is sometimes known as Japanese prickly ash or fagara. 

The Chinese name is hua jiao, 花椒literally flower pod. Its influence on Chinese cooking is described as ma or anesthetic because of the numbing affect it has on the mouth. Sichuan cooking is famous for its la spicy and ma, numbing attributes.

Soy sauce is made from fermented soybeans, roasted grain, water and salt. It has been used in China for close to 2,500 years. Traditionally soy sauces were fermented under natural conditions, in aged vats in the sun, which was believed to contribute to the flavour. Today, most production takes place in machine-controlled environments.

Although there are many types of soy sauce, all are salty and earthy-tasting brownish liquids. In China the taste of soy sauce is described as xian literally fresh. The Japanese describe its taste as Umani.

Chinese soy sauce, jiang you,酱油 is made mainly from soy beans. There are two main varieties:

• Light soy sauce ( shengchou 生抽 ): A thin opaque liquid, mainly used for seasoning, since it is saltier, and more flavoursome. Because  it is lighter in color, it does not greatly affect the colour of the dish. The light soy sauce made from the first pressing of the soybeans is called touchou; first soy sauce,  and is sold at a premium.
• Dark/old soy sauce ( lao chou 老抽) : A darker and slightly thicker sauce that is aged longer and contains added molasses. This variety is mainly used during cooking, especially when a dark colour is required.

Some brands of soy sauces are made from hydrolyzed soy protein instead of natural bacterial and fungal cultures. These chemically produced soy sauces are typically artificially colored and are best avoided.

Shitake mushrooms are another product known by their Japanese name in the West. IN China they are called xiang gu 香菇 or fragrant mushroom. Although they are available fresh, the dried version is usually preferred for its concentrated flavour. To reconstitute, soak overnight in cold water or for 15 minutes in boiling.

In China Shitake mushrooms are prized not just for their distinctive taste but for their many health benefits. They are a good food for vegans are they are one of the few non-animal sources of vitamin D and recent studies have shown them to have anti-tumour properties.

Star anise, has an aniseed flavour and is widely used in stewed and boiled dishes in Chinese cuisine and is one of the ingredients of Chinese five spice. It helps to tenderize meat as well as helping the digestion.

In Chinese it is known  bājiǎo 八角, literally  eight-horns or da liao 大料(big spice). It comes from the star-shaped fruit of Illicium verum, a small native evergreen tree of southwest China

Tofu (Japanese) doufu  豆腐(Chinese) means fermented beans and is a soy based product which is the main source of protein in the Chinese and many Asian diets. It is made of  soy bean curds which are pressed and solidified using a variety of methods and agents.

There are a fantastic variety of beancurd products available in the East but in the West we are generally limited to firm or soft (silken). The firm varieties, usually sold chilled are best for frying and deep-frying whereas silken (often sold in tetrapaks – and sometimes confusingly labeled firm!) can be used in soups and salads.

Wood ear mushrooms, mu er, 木耳, are a fungus, usually sold dried but also available fresh, widely used in Chinese and other Asian cuisines. They are particularly appreciated for their texture and often used in highly flavoured s also because they capture the sauce. To reconstitute soak in cold water overnight or boiling water for fifteen minutes; clean and remove any hard bits before using.