7
7
0
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/03/27/ [login to see] /the-secrets-of-chinas-secret-sauce
Chef Peter begins his workday each afternoon by mixing together a fragrant broth of garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar and a boatload of spices.
Then he carefully unwraps a plastic bag with his secret ingredient: a sauce that is 40 years old.
"This is just one small element to the dish, but it is crucial to the overall taste," says Peter.
The sauce is called Lu (pronounced "loo"), and virtually every Chinese regional cuisine uses some variation of it. Lu sauce originally denoted salted water used as a marinade for meat that's boiled, then served cold, and for vegetables. Nowadays it's made out of a base of salty liquid, such as soy sauce, with sugar and a mix of spices. And it's not just a marinade — it's also used to finish the dish once it's cooked.
Lu is the secret sauce at the heart of many Chinese family cuisines. To Peter, his Lu sauce is also a heritage from his beloved mother.
Chef Peter begins his workday each afternoon by mixing together a fragrant broth of garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar and a boatload of spices.
Then he carefully unwraps a plastic bag with his secret ingredient: a sauce that is 40 years old.
"This is just one small element to the dish, but it is crucial to the overall taste," says Peter.
The sauce is called Lu (pronounced "loo"), and virtually every Chinese regional cuisine uses some variation of it. Lu sauce originally denoted salted water used as a marinade for meat that's boiled, then served cold, and for vegetables. Nowadays it's made out of a base of salty liquid, such as soy sauce, with sugar and a mix of spices. And it's not just a marinade — it's also used to finish the dish once it's cooked.
Lu is the secret sauce at the heart of many Chinese family cuisines. To Peter, his Lu sauce is also a heritage from his beloved mother.
The secrets of China's 'secret sauce'
Posted from npr.org
China
Food/Chow
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 2
2
2
0
1
1
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."This is just one small element to the dish, but it is crucial to the overall taste," says Peter.
The sauce is called Lu (pronounced "loo"), and virtually every Chinese regional cuisine uses some variation of it. Lu sauce originally denoted salted water used as a marinade for meat that's boiled, then served cold, and for vegetables. Nowadays it's made out of a base of salty liquid, such as soy sauce, with sugar and a mix of spices. And it's not just a marinade — it's also used to finish the dish once it's cooked.
Lu is the secret sauce at the heart of many Chinese family cuisines. To Peter, his Lu sauce is also a heritage from his beloved mother.
Chef Peter uses a bit of his mother's original sauce for each batch he simmers up in his restaurant. Other ingredients: garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar and a boatload of spices.
Chef Peter uses a bit of his mother's original sauce for each batch he simmers up in his restaurant. Other ingredients: garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar and a boatload of spices.
Aowen Cao/NPR
"Every time I cook using the Lu sauce, I feel surefooted. I feel I am closer to my mother's taste," says Peter. He learned how to cook from his mother, who often traded cooking tips with him after he moved from his native Shanghai to work in northern China.
During one of his last visits home in 2015, before his mother passed away, she gave him some of her Lu sauce to take to Beijing with him, so he could feel closer to home."...
..."This is just one small element to the dish, but it is crucial to the overall taste," says Peter.
The sauce is called Lu (pronounced "loo"), and virtually every Chinese regional cuisine uses some variation of it. Lu sauce originally denoted salted water used as a marinade for meat that's boiled, then served cold, and for vegetables. Nowadays it's made out of a base of salty liquid, such as soy sauce, with sugar and a mix of spices. And it's not just a marinade — it's also used to finish the dish once it's cooked.
Lu is the secret sauce at the heart of many Chinese family cuisines. To Peter, his Lu sauce is also a heritage from his beloved mother.
Chef Peter uses a bit of his mother's original sauce for each batch he simmers up in his restaurant. Other ingredients: garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar and a boatload of spices.
Chef Peter uses a bit of his mother's original sauce for each batch he simmers up in his restaurant. Other ingredients: garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar and a boatload of spices.
Aowen Cao/NPR
"Every time I cook using the Lu sauce, I feel surefooted. I feel I am closer to my mother's taste," says Peter. He learned how to cook from his mother, who often traded cooking tips with him after he moved from his native Shanghai to work in northern China.
During one of his last visits home in 2015, before his mother passed away, she gave him some of her Lu sauce to take to Beijing with him, so he could feel closer to home."...
(1)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google