Sesame into a bar resembling peanut brittle and sold in stores and street corners. Sesame is a popular and essential ingredient in many Middle Eastern cuisines. Sesame seeds are made into a paste called "tahini" (used in various ways, including "hummus bi tahini") and the Middle Eastern confection "halvah". Ground and processed, the seed is also used in sweet confections. Sesame is also a common component of the Levantine spice mixture "za'atar", popular all throughout the Middle East. In South Asian, Middle Eastern, and East Asian cuisines, popular confectionery are made from sesame mixed with honey or syrup and roasted into
Yellow soybean paste the modern day, and potassium sorbate may be used as a preservative. Yellow soybean paste is used most notably in the noodle dish called "zhajiang mian" ("fried sauce noodles"), in which the yellow soybean paste is fried together with ground pork, then poured over the top of thick wheat flour noodles. Outside of Beijing, sweet bean sauce or hoisin sauce is often mixed with or used in place of the condiment, thus giving the dish a sweeter taste. Yellow soybean paste is widely available in China, as well as in Chinese grocery stores overseas, and comes in plastic packages, bottled