There are plenty of different ingredients you can put in your bowl to personalize your creation: Soy sauce, sesame oil or paste, chili, garlic, coriander, vinegar and Chinese barbecue sauce (see inset, above) are some choices.

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There's garlic-flavored oil, garlic juice, garlic paste (sold like toothpaste, in a tube) and garlic-based jam in a variety of fruit flavors.

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When he's ready to use the oil, he blends it with some olive paste and adds that to fingerling potatoes, too.

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