Baby corn 玉米笋 (yù mǐ sǔn)

Small, immature ears of corn are harvested when the ears reach 3 to 4 inches. Their flavor is not as sweet as that of mature corn, and the whole vegetable is eaten, including the cob. Baby corn is often added to Chinese stir-fries to add a crunchy texture. Find it canned in water at the supermarket or Asian grocery stores.

Asian chili sauce 辣椒汁 (là jiāo zhī)

Chinese people like their food spicy. Chili sauce is a condiment that can be used to add a little heat to anything: seafood, noodles, or stir-fry dishes. It is usually made from ground chiles, vinegar, sugar, and salt. We like Tuong Ot brand sriracha sauce (the clear bottle with the bright green lid and a picture of a rooster on the label), but any Asian chili sauce or Asian hot sauce will do.

Asian chili powder 辣椒粉 (là jiāo fěn)

Find this spice made of pure ground dried red chiles in the spice section, or make your own by grinding dried red chiles into a fine powder using a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. This spice is different than regular chili powder which is often a mixture of many different spices.

Alum 明矾 (míng fán)

Powdered alum (crystallized potassium aluminum sulfate) is a white powder used in pickling to help vegetables keep their crispness. It is also used when making Chinese Youtiao Fried Dough Sticks (page 63) to give them a crispy outside. You can buy alum in the spice section of a specialty grocery store or at online spice websites. Note: Alum is toxic for humans if more than 1 ounce is consumed.

Cardamom 小豆蔻籽 (xiǎo dòu kòu zǐ)

A spice native to Asia that is related to ginger, it has a warm, pungent taste. The spice is sold as pods as well as ground. The pods can range in color from light green to dark brown and are the size of raisins. Each pod contains about 20 small seeds that hold the spice’s flavor. When cooking with cardamom pods, lightly crush the pods and then throw them whole into what you are cooking, or remove the seeds and grind them into a powder using a mortar and pestle.