Strange-Flavor Sauce

Name: Strange-Flavor Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: about ½ cup (100 ml)
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 2 Tbsp light (30 ml) Soy Sauce; 1 1/2 Tbsp Chinkiang (22.5 ml) Balsamic; 1 1/2 tsp (6 g) Sugar; 1 Tbsp (15 ml) Sesame Oil; 1–2 Tbsp with sediment (22.5 ml) Chili Oil; 1/2 tsp ground (1 g) Sichuan Pepper; 1 Tbsp minced (10 g) Garlic; 1 Tbsp minced (6 g) Scallion; 1 tsp (3 g) Sesame Seed

Independent adaptation of a publicly published Fuchsia Dunlop recipe. Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Fuchsia Dunlop.

DRESSING · COLD NOODLES, CHICKEN & TOFU

In the published recipe, this is the dressing for strange-flavor chicken.

Fuchsia Dunlop's numbing-sweet strange-flavor sauce.

On the jar

STRANGE-FLAV

Method: shake
Yield: about ½ cup
Ingredients: 9
Jar batch: 2.7× recipe

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Ratio

SOY SAUCE 30 mlBALSAMIC 23 mlCHILI OIL 23 mlSESAME OIL 15 ml

Ingredients

Soy Sauce2 Tbsp light (30 ml)
Balsamic1 1/2 Tbsp Chinkiang (22.5 ml)
Sugar1 1/2 tsp (6 g)
Sesame Oil1 Tbsp (15 ml)
Chili Oil1–2 Tbsp with sediment (22.5 ml)
Sichuan Pepper1/2 tsp ground (1 g)
Garlic1 Tbsp minced (10 g)
Scallion1 Tbsp minced (6 g)
Sesame Seed1 tsp (3 g)

Method

Pour to the lines in order (bottom → top): SOY SAUCE, BALSAMIC, CHILI OIL, SESAME OIL.
Shake-to-line (dashed marks): add SUGAR. Spoon in, shake, and top up until the settled level reaches each dashed line.
Add by count: 5½ CLOVES GARLIC, 1 SCALLION.
Season to finish: SICHUAN PEPPER (about 1 tsp), SESAME SEED (about 1 Tbsp).
Cap the jar and shake until emulsified.

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The ratio lives in glass now.

You found this recipe once. On a PantryFlex jar it's printed in glass. 9 ingredients, one pour order, no measuring cups on a Tuesday.

3 kitchens · 2 stars · 3 national awards

Strange-Flavor SauceNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: STRANGE-FLAV
Garlic Chili DressingNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: WONTON
Nuoc Cham Dipping SauceNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: NUOC CHAM
Lime Honey Chilli Dressing★ STARRED KITCHENOn the jar: CITRUS-HONEY

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Provenance

British writer–cook specializing in Sichuan Chinese cuisine; James Beard media/writing awards. Author of Land of Plenty and The Food of Sichuan; trained in Chengdu cooking schools.

Originally published as Strange-Flavor Sauce (Guai Wei).

Adapted from a Fuchsia Dunlop recipe (The Food of Sichuan / Serious Eats adapters).

FAQ

Can this go in a shake jar?

Yes. Its liquids pour to printed fill-lines, so it can be one of the sauces on a PantryFlex jar.

What do the quantities mean?

This page lists the published recipe in household units (with metric in parentheses). A PantryFlex jar makes a 2.7× batch of it. The jar's printed lines, counts, and QR guide are already scaled to match, so follow the jar or this page, not a mix of both. Amounts in the jar’s ADD row are rounded to the nearest common spoon measure (T = tablespoon, t = teaspoon) so they can be read off the glass.

Where did this recipe come from?

Adapted from The Food of Sichuan / Serious Eats adapters (published as “Strange-Flavor Sauce (Guai Wei)”). Full citation lives in Provenance.

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