Shaoxing huangjiu is brewed in winter from glutinous rice, wheat qu and Jianhu lake water. National intangible heritage since 2006, and far more than cooking wine.
Traditional Chinese soy sauce ferments in open clay jars for six months or more. Light versus dark, sun-drying yards, and how to read a bottle label properly.
Shanxi people joke they can't eat without vinegar. Discover laochencu, China's famous aged vinegar: smoked sorghum, year-long aging and 3,000 years of craft.