So handy! I actually already used this (based on the video from patreon) this weekend for the LNY dinner I cooked, using the sweet-sour dressing over a bowl full of very thinly-sliced and blanched brussels sprouts, topped with crushed almond rather than peanuts (it's what we had on hand). Super quick and easy and a definite crowd pleaser that helped fill out the table!
the sweet-sour and toasted chili cold dish sauces have quickly become staples for me--super easy to make enough of a simple vegetable dish as a side for dinner and lunch the next day. i honestly probably eat some form of vegetable cold dish + the spicy barbecue-seasoned pan-fried tofu from your tofu video + rice like once a week, lol. (unfortunately i'm still trying to find a pickled chili for the fish fragrant recipe, or im sure id be making that one all the time, too.) i'd love if you guys could do another video/post on cold dishes!
Good question, it can be a little confusing. Generally in Asian markets you won't find oil specifically called "toasted", because refined sesame oil (like the type you find at Safeway) is just not used. Refined sesame oil is light in color, similar to canola; toasted is always dark in color. So for example, even though they don't have toasted in the name, pretty much all the oils in the image you linked are toasted sesame oil.
To find good toasted sesame oil at an Asian market, you want to look at the color, and then the ingredients, and then the price. If it's dark, you're in the right ballpark. After that, know that lots of brands will make their product cheaper by cutting some of the sesame oil with another vegetable oil; the ingredients list will confirm if you are looking at something that's truly 100% sesame oil. And as you can probably guess, the adage "you get what you pay for" holds pretty well here -- the better oils will generally be higher in price, so aiming for a mid- to upper-level price point will get you a reliably good product.
So handy! I actually already used this (based on the video from patreon) this weekend for the LNY dinner I cooked, using the sweet-sour dressing over a bowl full of very thinly-sliced and blanched brussels sprouts, topped with crushed almond rather than peanuts (it's what we had on hand). Super quick and easy and a definite crowd pleaser that helped fill out the table!
the sweet-sour and toasted chili cold dish sauces have quickly become staples for me--super easy to make enough of a simple vegetable dish as a side for dinner and lunch the next day. i honestly probably eat some form of vegetable cold dish + the spicy barbecue-seasoned pan-fried tofu from your tofu video + rice like once a week, lol. (unfortunately i'm still trying to find a pickled chili for the fish fragrant recipe, or im sure id be making that one all the time, too.) i'd love if you guys could do another video/post on cold dishes!
Good question, it can be a little confusing. Generally in Asian markets you won't find oil specifically called "toasted", because refined sesame oil (like the type you find at Safeway) is just not used. Refined sesame oil is light in color, similar to canola; toasted is always dark in color. So for example, even though they don't have toasted in the name, pretty much all the oils in the image you linked are toasted sesame oil.
To find good toasted sesame oil at an Asian market, you want to look at the color, and then the ingredients, and then the price. If it's dark, you're in the right ballpark. After that, know that lots of brands will make their product cheaper by cutting some of the sesame oil with another vegetable oil; the ingredients list will confirm if you are looking at something that's truly 100% sesame oil. And as you can probably guess, the adage "you get what you pay for" holds pretty well here -- the better oils will generally be higher in price, so aiming for a mid- to upper-level price point will get you a reliably good product.