White pepper

Used in 6 recipes on RecipeWiki.

White pepper comes from the same vine as black pepper, but the berries are left to ripen, then soaked and stripped of their dark outer skin before drying. The result is sharper at first and less aromatic, with an earthy, slightly funky, fermented note that some cooks love and others find off-putting. This page covers whole white peppercorns and ground white pepper. It is widely used in Chinese cooking, giving Hot and Sour Soup its sharp heat and seasoning Chicken Congee, and in pale dishes such as Gratin Dauphinois and Buttery Mashed Potato it seasons without leaving black specks. Buy small amounts, as ground white pepper turns musty quickly.

What else can I make with it?

Most often cooked with

Recipes with white pepper

Buttery Mashed Potato — shot from directly overhead: potatoes steam-dried in the pan and pushed through a ricer

Buttery Mashed Potato

Potatoes steam-dried in the pan and pushed through a ricer, then beaten with butter before the hot milk goes in.

BritishPotatoesSide dishes

Chicken Congee — shot from directly overhead: rice simmered in eight times its weight of stock until the grains collapse

Chicken Congee

Rice simmered in eight times its weight of stock until the grains collapse, into a savoury porridge finished in the bowl.

1 hr 50 minServes 4

BreakfastChickenChinese

Creamed Spinach — shot from directly overhead: wilted spinach squeezed bone dry before it meets the cream

Creamed Spinach

Wilted spinach squeezed bone dry before it meets the cream, which is the whole difference between this and a puddle.

AmericanLeafy greensSide dishes

Egg Fried Rice — shot from directly overhead: yesterday's rice broken up cold and fried hard in a wide pan

Egg Fried Rice

Yesterday's rice broken up cold and fried hard in a wide pan, so the grains stay separate and toast instead of steaming to paste.

30 minutesChineseLeafy greens

Gratin Dauphinois — shot from directly overhead: thin potato slices simmered in cream on the hob until their own starch thickens it

Gratin Dauphinois

Thin potato slices simmered in cream on the hob until their own starch thickens it, then baked slowly until set.

1 hr 50 minServes 6

FrenchPotatoesSide dishes

Hot and Sour Soup — shot from directly overhead, the table surface filling the frame

Hot and Sour Soup

A brothy Sichuan-style soup thickened with a cornflour slurry and finished with vinegar and beaten egg off the heat, so both stay sharp.

1 hr 10 minServes 4