Salt

The history of salt mines and salt monopolies in China is enough to fill a volume (as I’m sure it already has, on more than one occasion), but suffice it to say here that salt was important to Chinese cooking from early times, both as a preservative and a seasoning. Various sorts of salt were known and used, and the Tang poet, Li Po, likened one type of salt mined inland to flowers gleaming white like snow.

I am extremely fussy about salt, liking only certain types in the company of other Chinese seasonings, and being very particular about the amount used. Unlike most native Chinese cookbook writers who salt their dishes to accompany bland white rice, I salt food to be eaten on its own or in the company of a flavorful starch, whether it be fried rice, steamed or panfried breads, or noodles. I do not have the taste for that much salt and do not think it necessary.