Serendipity wrote:
> As a follow-up to my chicken chop suey question, I stopped at the
> grocery store for more supplies. I couldn't fine xianxing but I
found
> oyster sauce and dark sesame oil. There were a couple of different
> brands. How do I determine what brand of these to buy? TIA

Methinks you need to invest in a basic Chinese American cook book.
Many Chinese flavorings are very powerful, they need to be used with
much discretion and do not belong in every Chinese American restaurant
type dish. Believe it or not there are not all that many popular
Chinese American restaurant type dishes that use sesame oil and/or
oyster sauce... they definitely do not belong in chop suey, chow mein,
lo mein or subgum chow mein (none of which are traditional Chinese
dishes). By simply purchasing one of each from your stupidmarket's
oriental foods section and using some of each in every dish is no more
Chinese cooking than opening cans of Chun King. Very little of what
you find on the typical Chinese American restaurant menu is part of
traditional Chinese cusine. I would classify Chinese American
restaurant cooking as a separate cusine unto itself.

Btw, in Chinese cooking meats are a seasoning, and used very sparingly.

Sheldon