Tân Tân Vietnamese Hoisin Sauce
Too many supermarket hoisin sauces come across as cloying—usually candy-sweet with an occasional aftertaste of unpleasant chemical bitterness. Tan Tan’s version of the classic Chinese fermented soybean condiment, however, yields the perfect balance of sweet, earthy and savory notes with an addictive umami core that adds even more depth. An elegant hint of anise floats in and adds aromatic, nuanced complexity, while garlic grounds the sauce without overwhelming its other flavors. It’s texture is satisfyingly syrupy, not too molasses-thick like some brands, and it’s made with no preservatives from a family recipe—the epitome of an elevated pantry essential.
Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp
This chili sauce is enhanced with preserved black beans, mushroom powder, sesame oil and garlic for a complete flavor profile. The crispy bits of chili, the namesake ingredient of this dish, provide bursts of contrasting texture, making it an ideal tableside topping for stir fries, soups, braises and more.
Pure Indian Foods Organic Tamarind Paste
Pure Indian Foods’ organic tamarind paste has a pure, clean flavor with a bracing tartness. This thick, smooth paste is our favorite form for using tamarind as a souring agent. While fresh pods are available in some markets, it’s more commonly sold as a concentrate or as dense blocks of pulp that need labor-intensive soaking and straining; both forms sacrifice nuanced flavor in favor of convenience, whereas this tamarind paste is both easy to use and intensely flavorful. Pure Indian Foods, which traces its roots to 1889 in northern India, still uses traditional methods to make its products. The company’s pantry staples have a complexity and authenticity that just can’t be imitated.
Cuisipro Box Grater
This box grater features four cutting sides—coarse grate, medium grate, fine grate and slice—all made from etched metal, which increases each blade’s sharpness and durability, and they won’t buckle under pressure. And unlike other brands, which often have a thick frame of metal or plastic between each cutting surface, Cuisipro extends each of their grater's cutting surfaces to the edge: more area means easier slicing, quicker grating and less work, so you can tackle soft foods like certain cheeses and sturdy veggies like carrots with ease. Plus, there aren’t any extra nooks and crannies for bits of food to get stuck in, making for easier cleanup. Its ergonomic top handle is coated in comfortable, nonslip rubber, and the grater has a rubberized detachable base that holds it steady, measures volume and collects the gratings. You can simply grate, measure, remove and dump directly into your pan without extra fuss.
Burlap & Barrel Royal Cinnamon
Also known as Saigon cinnamon, Royal Cinnamon is a hard-to-find heirloom variety that comes from the mountains of central Vietnam. Our recipe developers agreed it was the sweetest and brightest cinnamon we have ever tasted, with an aroma you can smell from across the room. It's clean-flavored and boldly spicy-sweet, yet with a delicate quality. To fully appreciate its flavor, we recommend trying Royal Cinnamon first in simple applications.
Fly By Jing Zhong Dumpling Sauce
This all-purpose condiment layers the spicy elements with salty-sweet soy sauce, umami-rich mushroom powder and brown sugar for a robust, well-rounded sauce; you can think of it as a variation of Sichuan chili oil with just as much bold aroma but less heat. Fly by Jing uses regional Sichuan dried chilies and mouth-tingling Sichuan peppercorns for a classic mala profile that defines much of Sichuan cooking.
Jacobsen Salt Co. Pure Kosher Sea Salt
Jacobsen Salt Co.’s Pure Kosher Sea Salt is wonderful as a finishing salt—but it can do so much more. It has a smaller grain than the company's signature flaky sea salt, which makes it a perfect go-to alternative for table salt in recipes: It weighs just a tad less than table salt, so the volumes are almost equivalent, yet it's easier to pick up by hand and sprinkle into dishes than table salt (which is why all Milk Street recipes call for kosher salt). The company hand-harvests every single grain of salt from the Netarts Bay in northern Oregon, so this bright, clean-flavored sea salt has an even consistency ideal for cooking, baking or pickling, in addition to finishing sprinkles.
Jacobsen Salt Co. Infused Black Garlic Salt
We love the deep savoriness and subtle fermented funk of this infused black garlic salt, whose every component is made in-house by Jacobsen Salt Co. near Portland, Oregon. Aged for two to three months in controlled heat and humidity until it undergoes the Maillard reaction (the same phenomenon that gives seared meats their umami flavor), black garlic is more mellow than raw garlic, with caramelized notes and a delicate balance between sweet and savory. Jacobsen Salt Co. grounds black garlic into a powder and mixes with the company's flaky, hand-harvested Pacific sea salt.
FarmTrue Ghee
Traditionally produced in India, ghee is made by slowly cooking butter to remove the moisture and butter solids to produce a pure, buttery fat with a high smoke point. This Connecticut-made, shelf-stable ghee, made from the milk of grass-fed cows. The Traditional Ghee has a particularly clear, buttery flavor that makes it ideal for sautéing fish and shellfish, chicken and delicate vegetables. We love it melted and tossed with popcorn (without any water content, it keeps the popcorn crisp and light). The subtle, garlicky flavor of the Garlic Scape ghee (butter cooked long enough to remove its moisture and solids) is perfect for sautéing vegetables, greens and chicken, or smearing across toast or crisping up a grilled-cheese sandwich. Its great on popcorn (paired with salt, pepper and pinch of cayenne), tossed with warm buttered noodles and Parmesan or drizzled on soft, creamy polenta, where its rich flavor can truly be savored.
Ballymaloe Original Tomato Relish
While this tomato relish can be considered a relative of ketchup, its complexity and nuanced taste plants it more firmly in the use-everywhere condiment camp. Deep red with a pleasantly chunky texture, Ballymaloe Original Relish will be just as good at home paired with french fries as it would on an elegant cheese plate. A concentrated sweet-savory tomato flavor gives way to a delicious tang, with subtle notes of spices and mustard seed that work to enhance the tomato flavor. This beloved Irish condiment is difficult to find on supermarket shelves, the closest substitute being a tomato jam. But Ballymaloe’s tomato relish is brighter and far less sweet, allowing the savory notes to shine—resulting in a more balanced product than those sugary tomato jams or the occasional too-tangy chutney.
Burlap & Barrel Tanzanian Ground Cinnamon Verum
This single-origin Ground Cinnamon Verum from the Zanzibar islands is Ceylon cinnamon, also known as true cinnamon for its superior quality, delicate flavor and health benefits. We love how the aroma is noticeably sweeter and more floral than conventional cassia cinnamon—this product is also fresher than other brands we've tasted, so you can fully appreciate its unique characteristics.
