July 2022: Sweet wheat paste and Sichuan homestyle recipes

After a long absence, this sleeper Sichuan sauce has returned—and with new packaging to boot. Tian mian jiang, or sweet wheat sauce, is another long-fermented product from Juan Cheng, and last year the company simply did not have enough of it fully fermented and ready to go when we ordered. 

It is made solely of wheat—no beans—and has its own umami presence that is different from the numerous fermented bean products in China. It is neither spicy nor particularly sweet, despite its name, but just deeply savory. 

In Sichuan, this sauce is used most famously as one of the three fermented sauces, along with Pixian doubanjiang and douchi (soybeans), that flavor twice-cooked pork. This combo of sauces is truly one of the greatest flavors in Sichuan. I recently subbed pan-fried firm tofu for the pork belly in this recipe with great success, because the sauce is the real star of the dish to me and Fongchong. 

Tian mian jiang can also be used on its own (or with a dab of douban) as a stir-fry sauce for lean pork and green peppers. 

In northern China, by contrast, tian mian jiang is used as the sauce of choice for Peking duck. And while most of us are not going to be making Peking duck at home, we can most definitely indulge in the similar, but much less difficult, activity of making little parcels of sauced pork in the style of duck pancakes. Check out the video recipe below for this easy treat.