Salt and Pepper 椒盐

I think salt and pepper should be a staple of any pantry. It’s easy to make and the combinations are endless. Unlike what you hear from a Westernized tradition of seasoning with salt and black pepper, as far as Cantonese cooking goes, it’s white pepper that’s a standard. It’s the same plant and they go through a very similar process of drying except in the case of white pepper, the skin is removed at some point. Black and white pepper are not interchangeable, the flavor they make are distinctly different though it’s hard to describe it in words. The best I can say is that it generally provides a spice, but has a brighter taste than black pepper. This isn’t to say one is better than the other, but they are just different from each other.

I got spurred to write this since I had a sleeve of egg tofu in my fridge and wanted to make salt and pepper egg tofu. Everybody will have different ways of making their own blend of 椒盐 salt and pepper, but you should try different things to find what you like. I’ve seen videos of people just blending powdered spices and salt in a jar. That can work, but there’s a step of toasting the spices that can be done easily at home and this is the same technique done at restaurants.

You don’t need a wok for this. Any pot will do because even in restaurants, Cantonese chefs don’t use high heat for this technique. The only difference is that compared to a home cook, a restaurant would make 2 gallon batches like how my mom and dad have both observed and done before. The best salt to use is fine salt. As you toss and heat it, this will help crush the salt into a finer powder. But you can use whatever you have on hand as well.

For a Taiwanese style fried chicken, aka popcorn chicken, restaurants will have their own blend of 椒盐 to sprinkle on the chicken after it has been fried. If you ever wonder what’s sprinkled on, it’s pretty much this.

Toasting the spice in hot salt is a very easy step, but really improves the flavor. The nice thing is that you can store this in your pantry after the spice blend has been cooled. This is what I’ve come up with that I enjoy. Feel free to play around with the amounts and adding other spices to this.

RECIPE:

3 tbsp fine salt
5 tbsp ground white pepper
1 1/2 tsp five spice powder
1/2 tsp MSG

In a wok or large pot, heat over medium-low heat until it is hot. Reduce the heat to low and add the salt. Toss and heat the salt up for about 3-4 minutes or until the salt is thoroughly heated.

Continue to heat over low, add the white pepper and five spice powder. Continuously toss to gently toast the spices in the salt for about 2 minutes.

In the last 30 seconds, add the MSG and continue to mix.

Transfer to a plate or bowl and cool to room temperature. Transfer to a jar and store in your pantry for future use.