Cookaholics Bulletin Board

This was yesterday's Serious Eats recipe of the day.
It looks SO good.
I'm not sure I can find black vinegar anywhere around here.
Also, is Sesame paste the same thing as Tahini?

Anyone going to try it?
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That does look really good!

The sesame paste used in Chinese recipes is made with toasted sesame seeds, so it tastes totally different from tahini. And that black vinegar - Chenkiang or Zhenjiang - is worth searching for, as it has a delicious, unique flavor.

I can't eat sesame paste. For tahini I use smooth raw almond butter mixed with Asian sesame oil as a substitute. For Chinese sesame paste I use natural, unsweetened peanut butter.

Linda,

If you can't find black vinegar locally, it isn't terribly perishable, so ordering it online should be OK. It is worth having around; think of it as the Chinese balsamic.

Yeah, I'd probably have to order both items from Amazon.
I have one grocery store here that has a wider variety of Asian foods, I'll look there but I'm not too optimistic.

Just be careful with the sechuan peppercorns!

A couple years ago, I made a Chinese curry noodle recipe which used ground sichuan peppercorns. The curry was kind of bland, so I added more peppercorns. When Kenji says "numbing", he's not kidding around; if I had to do dental work in the jungle, the peppercorns would be my choice of improvised anesthetic. After we finished eating, it was like we'd been to the dentist.

"hobboo bib ooo wibe wah noobles?"

"Im nobb surr"

We christened them "Tung-Num Noodles".