Tahini

Milled from hulled sesame roasted lightly or not at all. Physically it behaves exactly like Chinese sesame paste, seizing on first contact with liquid as it inverts from fat-continuous to water-continuous, but it tastes markedly different: paler, thinner in aroma, and more bitter from residual sesamin that hulling does not remove. Substitutes for zhima jiang in a pinch. Restore the missing roast with extra toasted sesame oil rather than more tahini.