Condiment

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Simply Ming by Ming Tsai. It's part of a menu he created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. This is a great dipping sauce for all dim sum — pot stickers, shu mai, spring rolls, scallion pancakes, to name a few — but it's also good with any fried goodie, like chicken fingers. You can and should adjust the heat to suit your palate. Though the dip lasts about a week in a fridge, it's so easily prepared that I recommend you make just as much as you need when you need it.

Fresh cardamom and vanilla seeds make for a version that's both sweet and sultry.

The warm spices in this version are the very essence of the holiday.

The pineapple may be unexpected, but it brings all the flavors together and makes them shine.

Fresh kumquats and golden raisins make the familiar cranberry sauce new.

Fresh, sprightly — and so easy to make.

This simple yet sophisticated relish has depth and tang that store-bought cranberry sauce just can't match.

Adding the cranberries in three stages, along with crumbled nuts, results in a wonderful conserve with layers of texture and flavor. The turbinado sugar imparts subtle caramel undertones.

Also great with lamb, duck, or chicken.

This syrup is an ingredient in Audrey Saunder's Madeira Martinezand Tim Lacey's mint limeade. It may be used in place of simple syrup in many cocktails.

Audrey Saunders, owner Pegu Club, in Manhattan, uses this grenadine in several cocktails, including the Jack Rose, which was featured as a Cocktail of the Month.