Chinese sesame paste

Milled from unhulled sesame roasted hard, so it carries the pyrazines and furans of full Maillard development. Tahini is the same physical product from hulled, barely-toasted seed: paler, thinner in aroma, more bitter from residual sesamin. It substitutes, but the roasted backbone has to be restored with extra toasted sesame oil. Separates in the jar and the settled solids are stiff, so stir it back together before measuring. It seizes on first contact with liquid because it is a fat-continuous suspension being forced to invert to water-continuous; by hand that means adding liquid a splash at a time, but a blender with other wet ingredients already in it pushes straight through.