This is the dish at China Village with some modifications to make it tastier according to me. I'm including instructions on how I get my white, opaque chicken broth which is the key ingredient to this dish.
Stuff
+1.5-2 lbs swai fillet (or rex sole)
+1 TB cornstarch
+1 x 7 oz package of shirataki, drained and rinsed (the real stuff, not the tofu noodles at Safeway)
+1 cup of dried Sichuan red chilis
+2 green onions cut into 4" strips
+.5 inch ginger cut into discs
+2 cloves garlic, smashed
+4 cups of opaque white chicken broth, recipe follows
+.25 cups white rice wine
Process
In a large claypot, heat one tablespoon of canola oil with the green onions, ginger, and garlic until all are browned and the vegetables are very fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the broth and rice wine and boil for 15 minutes.
While the broth is boiling, cut the fish into thin slices (about 3mm)following the angle of the segments and cutting with the grain. Salt the fish. Once the salt is absorbed, coat in 1 TB of cornstarch
Strain out the aromatics from the broth. Season with salt (probably need about 1 TB of DCK). Add the shirataki and boil for another 5 minutes. Add the fish and turn the heat to low, stirring until the fish has just turned color. Be mindful of the mass of your cooking vessel and estimate how much carry over cooking is going to occur.
Meanwhile, dry toast the dried chilis until all are blistered, darkened, and extremely aromatic (this may hurt). Add the chilis on top of the soup and close the lid of the claypot. Wait for about 5 minutes.*
To serve, bring to the table, remove the lid, and using chopsticks and a ladle, remove the chilis to the lid.
Soup should have the fragrance of chilis and a slight, back of the throat spice.
*I'm still figuring this part out. I know if you boil them with the soup, it gets nuclear hot. I also know that if you steep them in the finished soup for less than 2 minutes, none of the fragrance enters the soup. This is the difficult part that requires secret kitchen kung fu. If you figure it out, let me know.
To make the chicken broth:
-at least 1 chicken carcass and any skin you don't want
-crapload of water
Roast the bones in an oven proof pot at 450 degrees for 1 hour. Cover in water and bring to a boil for 5 minutes- take this stock, strain, skim, reduce, and use for something else (this is closer to a French stock that is clear and roasty in flavor). If you don't mind your 潑辣魚 tasting like that, you can just keep boiling and follow directions below.
Add water to the bones again and boil them for an hour. Strain and skim this broth and reduce it on its own. Add more water to the bones and repeat. This lets you get opaque broth faster, as the rate of reaction slows down when you approach super-saturated stock. Combine both of the opaque stocks and reduce together- it should be very milky and taste very rich. You'll end up with about 1 quart of stock per carcass.
Showing posts with label 四川. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 四川. Show all posts
Friday, March 28, 2014
宮保雞丁 1.1 (Kung Pao Chicken 1.1)
You can have fun going crazy figuring out what's different- I've probably made this dish with another 30 pounds of chicken and am putting some fine adjustments on it now. I've tried using peanut butter, whole chilis, crushed chilis, toasted and non-toasted spices, etc.
I think this is as good as its going to get without a revolution in my approach.
The stuff
-To get peanuts roasted, dry toast in a wok or skillet on medium heat until fragrant. Or, put in a 350F oven, stirring every 5 minutes, for a total of 15 minutes, or until fragrant.
-Dry toast the peppercorns until fragrant, then remove. Do the same to the crushed chilis. Take both and grind in a spice grinder until very fine. Warning: this step may make you want to die from the volatile fumes.
-Once chicken is brined, thoroughly wash chicken and drain. Mix with just enough cornstarch that the chicken starts sticking to itself, probably 2 to 3 tablespoons. You should err on the side of too much starch- during this step, you really need a "batter" as opposed to a coating so that the pancake maintains its integrity for flipping. This allows an otherwise impossible thing to do without sauteing the breast whole- establishing a flavorful crust.
-Heat a well seasoned wok with about 1 tablespoon of cooking oil until shimmering. Add the garlic and green onion whites and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken and spread out into a single layered "pancake" (if your wok is small, divide the chicken into appropriate sized batches). Cook for about 2 minutes or until you can see the chicken start turning white from cooking up to about a third of the thickness. Shake the wok to make sure the pancake is loose- if it isn't, gently use the spatula to loosen trouble spots until the whole thing is sliding around your wok like a giant puck. Flip the pancake (or slide the chicken out onto a plate and flip the whole assembly back into the wok uncooked side down). Cook another 2 minutes or until this side starts showing white coming up the sides of the chicken as well. Break the pancake with the spatula and then wait for another 30 seconds for the freshly exposed starch to set. Toss in the wok until the chicken is just tinged pink in most areas, about another minute or two. Reserve chicken. You want it slightly undercooked (90% ish) so that rolling it around in the extremely hot kung pao caramel will bring it to perfectly cooked.
-Heat the sauce ingredients excluding the 1 reserved tablespoon of lemon juice on high until it turns into a very thick, dark caramel with lots of small bubbles forming. Add the ground chilis/peppercorns. You want this to be REALLY thick because the juices and oil on the exterior of the chicken will dilute the sauce when you mix it. Add the chicken, half of the peanuts, and remaining lemon juice and coat the chicken and finish cooking it, about another 30 seconds to a minute. Plate the chicken, sprinkle with remaining roasted peanuts and green onion greens and serve immediately.
I think this is as good as its going to get without a revolution in my approach.
The stuff
- 1-1.5 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed to L = 15mm, brined. If you're not sure what 15mm looks like, get a ruler. This dish works with pieces up to 1" cube in size.
- 1/3c coarse crushed peanuts, roasted (see below)
- 2 green onions, whites thinly sliced oblique and greens reserved for garnish
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- .5" ginger, grated
- 2 TB soy
- 2 TB 紹興酒 Shao xing rice wine
- 2 TB dark brown sugar, packed
- 1+1 TB lemon juice, divided (Using a sour grapefruit also works)
- 2 TB crushed red chilis
- 1 TB 花椒 (Sichuan peppercorns)
- OPTIONAL: zest of a half a lemon (or grapefruit zest if using for the acid)
-To get peanuts roasted, dry toast in a wok or skillet on medium heat until fragrant. Or, put in a 350F oven, stirring every 5 minutes, for a total of 15 minutes, or until fragrant.
-Dry toast the peppercorns until fragrant, then remove. Do the same to the crushed chilis. Take both and grind in a spice grinder until very fine. Warning: this step may make you want to die from the volatile fumes.
-Once chicken is brined, thoroughly wash chicken and drain. Mix with just enough cornstarch that the chicken starts sticking to itself, probably 2 to 3 tablespoons. You should err on the side of too much starch- during this step, you really need a "batter" as opposed to a coating so that the pancake maintains its integrity for flipping. This allows an otherwise impossible thing to do without sauteing the breast whole- establishing a flavorful crust.
-Heat a well seasoned wok with about 1 tablespoon of cooking oil until shimmering. Add the garlic and green onion whites and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken and spread out into a single layered "pancake" (if your wok is small, divide the chicken into appropriate sized batches). Cook for about 2 minutes or until you can see the chicken start turning white from cooking up to about a third of the thickness. Shake the wok to make sure the pancake is loose- if it isn't, gently use the spatula to loosen trouble spots until the whole thing is sliding around your wok like a giant puck. Flip the pancake (or slide the chicken out onto a plate and flip the whole assembly back into the wok uncooked side down). Cook another 2 minutes or until this side starts showing white coming up the sides of the chicken as well. Break the pancake with the spatula and then wait for another 30 seconds for the freshly exposed starch to set. Toss in the wok until the chicken is just tinged pink in most areas, about another minute or two. Reserve chicken. You want it slightly undercooked (90% ish) so that rolling it around in the extremely hot kung pao caramel will bring it to perfectly cooked.
-Heat the sauce ingredients excluding the 1 reserved tablespoon of lemon juice on high until it turns into a very thick, dark caramel with lots of small bubbles forming. Add the ground chilis/peppercorns. You want this to be REALLY thick because the juices and oil on the exterior of the chicken will dilute the sauce when you mix it. Add the chicken, half of the peanuts, and remaining lemon juice and coat the chicken and finish cooking it, about another 30 seconds to a minute. Plate the chicken, sprinkle with remaining roasted peanuts and green onion greens and serve immediately.
Monday, November 26, 2012
蒜泥白肉 (Pork belly slices with garlic sauce)
Protein:
1 lbs pork belly
Sauce:
3 TB soy sauce
2-4 TB chili oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
.5 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar
.25 teaspoon raw rice wine
1 teaspoon Korean red pepper paste
-This dish is mainly about the sauce. You can substitute a leaner meat and it will taste pretty good: I like using a roasted pork loin and calling the dish 蒜泥白人 (because of the western style meat preparation, not because it's made out of Caucasians). Using pork belly is traditional, of course, and it adds a lot of chewy fatness. The vinegar is there to help take the edge of the raw garlic and give just a bit of acid so that the fat feel from the oil and pork fat isn't so overwhelming. The rice wine is present to help make the sauce pop- I have no idea why it does that, but it just kind of works.
-Prepare the pork belly. You can brine it if you want the meat to be juicier. Cook it however you like: traditionally it's boiled until medium done (about 150 degrees final temp) which is about 30 minutes for a 1 pound belly. If it's not brined, boil it in salted water with a slice of ginger to help take off the porky smell. I've been experimenting with a combo of tea smoking and then pressure steaming the meat: I'll update as more data becomes available. Whatever cooking method you choose, make sure it's wet so that the fat and the skin become reasonably tender. When the pork is done, chill it in the fridge to make it easier to slice.
-Slice the meat THIN. If my knives are dull and I haven't had time to send them to the sharpener, I just don't make this until I do. Don't bother trying without a good knife. Practice. This is the hardest part of the dish. You can also chill the meat in the freezer for 20 minutes to make it firmer. At fancier restaurants, the meat is sliced from a semi-frozen block so thin that it naturally curves into rolls, which is awesome, but it doesn't change the flavor of the dish. I've also heard that if you have a good mandoline, you can run the meat through that, but I've never got that to work (I have a super benriner- maybe it would work if I got my blade sharpened professionally?). Arrange the slices such that you can spoon the sauce over without too much of a hassle.
-Mix the garlic with the vinegar and rice wine. Whisk in the korean pepper paste- it's main function here is as an emulsifier that blends in with the other ingredients, so if it bothers you to see it in a Sichuan dish you can take it out. Whisk in the chili oil. If you like the "browner" version, just use 2 TB of chili oil, but if you want the flaming red version that's spicier, use 4 TB. Whisk in the soy sauce last. If you brined the pork belly, you can omit the soy sauce or use less depending on how salty you want the dish. Emulsifying the sauce is MUCH easier if the chili oil is chilled because the viscosity will be much higher. Note: you probably want to serve this soon since the emulsion breaks quite readily at room temperature.
1 lbs pork belly
Sauce:
3 TB soy sauce
2-4 TB chili oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
.5 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar
.25 teaspoon raw rice wine
1 teaspoon Korean red pepper paste
-This dish is mainly about the sauce. You can substitute a leaner meat and it will taste pretty good: I like using a roasted pork loin and calling the dish 蒜泥白人 (because of the western style meat preparation, not because it's made out of Caucasians). Using pork belly is traditional, of course, and it adds a lot of chewy fatness. The vinegar is there to help take the edge of the raw garlic and give just a bit of acid so that the fat feel from the oil and pork fat isn't so overwhelming. The rice wine is present to help make the sauce pop- I have no idea why it does that, but it just kind of works.
-Prepare the pork belly. You can brine it if you want the meat to be juicier. Cook it however you like: traditionally it's boiled until medium done (about 150 degrees final temp) which is about 30 minutes for a 1 pound belly. If it's not brined, boil it in salted water with a slice of ginger to help take off the porky smell. I've been experimenting with a combo of tea smoking and then pressure steaming the meat: I'll update as more data becomes available. Whatever cooking method you choose, make sure it's wet so that the fat and the skin become reasonably tender. When the pork is done, chill it in the fridge to make it easier to slice.
-Slice the meat THIN. If my knives are dull and I haven't had time to send them to the sharpener, I just don't make this until I do. Don't bother trying without a good knife. Practice. This is the hardest part of the dish. You can also chill the meat in the freezer for 20 minutes to make it firmer. At fancier restaurants, the meat is sliced from a semi-frozen block so thin that it naturally curves into rolls, which is awesome, but it doesn't change the flavor of the dish. I've also heard that if you have a good mandoline, you can run the meat through that, but I've never got that to work (I have a super benriner- maybe it would work if I got my blade sharpened professionally?). Arrange the slices such that you can spoon the sauce over without too much of a hassle.
-Mix the garlic with the vinegar and rice wine. Whisk in the korean pepper paste- it's main function here is as an emulsifier that blends in with the other ingredients, so if it bothers you to see it in a Sichuan dish you can take it out. Whisk in the chili oil. If you like the "browner" version, just use 2 TB of chili oil, but if you want the flaming red version that's spicier, use 4 TB. Whisk in the soy sauce last. If you brined the pork belly, you can omit the soy sauce or use less depending on how salty you want the dish. Emulsifying the sauce is MUCH easier if the chili oil is chilled because the viscosity will be much higher. Note: you probably want to serve this soon since the emulsion breaks quite readily at room temperature.
Monday, June 11, 2012
水煮[something]片 (water boiled beef, fish, pork, chicken, etc.)
水煮肉片
1 pound of something (chicken breast, lean pork, beef tenderloin, fish (recommend tilapia, swai, or sole), or even silken tofu: anything with very little fat that will cook tender quickly. The dish is typically so spicy that no one will taste anything anyways. If using meat, make sure ALL the fat is trimmed: it simply will not cook fast enough to taste good.)
1 pound nappa cabbage, chopped into 2" squares or smaller (optional)
2 cups broth with:
2TB soy sauce
2TB rice wine
.5c canola oil
3TB crushed red chili
2TB coarse korean chili
2TB sichuan peppercorn
2 green onions, whites thinly sliced, greens cut into a decorative shape and reserved
.5" ginger, minced
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
cilantro, if desired, for garnish
-If using lean pork or chicken, brine the meat for 30 minutes(good quality beef, fish, tofu this is unnecessary)
-Using a minimum of oil (or none, if you have a well-seasoned wok), stir fry the nappa cabbage until tender and remove to the bottom of your final serving vessel. This cabbage will help regulate the final temperature of the dish to prevent overcooking during the boiling step, and SO IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
-Get the 2 cups of broth on hand and ready to use. Heat the half cup oil with the sichuan peppercorns in a heavy bottomed pot on medium high. When peppercorns turn dark brown and the oil is just beginning to smoke, reduce heat to medium low, add the garlic, green onion whites and crushed red chilis and korean chilis. Cook until oil turns very deep red, typically less than a minute. As soon as it turns a deep red color and is very fragrant (you'll probably be coughing and sneezing and wanting to cry) add the broth to cool the oil.
-Add the ginger, soy sauce, and rice wine to the broth if you haven't already.
-When the meat is brined, rinsed, and drained (or if you didn't use a brine) take your 1 pound of stuff and coat it with 1 TB of cornstarch. Heat the soup on maximum heat: it should be very rapidly boiling. Stir the soup as fast as you can without it shooting out of your pot. Working quickly, put in your 1 pound of "whatever" slices and continue to stir.
IF USING BEEF, FISH, PORK, OR LAMB: when the slices just begin to firm up, remove from the heat: when the pieces turn color, immediately pour over the nappa cabbage. The residual heat of the liquid ought to be enough to cook the slices without the stove top to a perfect medium rare and the cabbage should absorb whatever heat is left.
IF USING CHICKEN: make sure color is about almost completely white before removing from heat and soup just begins to reboil, then pour over cabbage. Or if you're brave, you can cook it as above, but you might get salmonella. I know the feel of the chicken between chopsticks when it's perfect, but it's hard to describe how to use that method. Sorry.
Garnish with green onion greens and/or chopped cilantro.
1 pound of something (chicken breast, lean pork, beef tenderloin, fish (recommend tilapia, swai, or sole), or even silken tofu: anything with very little fat that will cook tender quickly. The dish is typically so spicy that no one will taste anything anyways. If using meat, make sure ALL the fat is trimmed: it simply will not cook fast enough to taste good.)
1 pound nappa cabbage, chopped into 2" squares or smaller (optional)
2 cups broth with:
2TB soy sauce
2TB rice wine
.5c canola oil
3TB crushed red chili
2TB coarse korean chili
2TB sichuan peppercorn
2 green onions, whites thinly sliced, greens cut into a decorative shape and reserved
.5" ginger, minced
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
cilantro, if desired, for garnish
-If using lean pork or chicken, brine the meat for 30 minutes(good quality beef, fish, tofu this is unnecessary)
-Using a minimum of oil (or none, if you have a well-seasoned wok), stir fry the nappa cabbage until tender and remove to the bottom of your final serving vessel. This cabbage will help regulate the final temperature of the dish to prevent overcooking during the boiling step, and SO IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
-Get the 2 cups of broth on hand and ready to use. Heat the half cup oil with the sichuan peppercorns in a heavy bottomed pot on medium high. When peppercorns turn dark brown and the oil is just beginning to smoke, reduce heat to medium low, add the garlic, green onion whites and crushed red chilis and korean chilis. Cook until oil turns very deep red, typically less than a minute. As soon as it turns a deep red color and is very fragrant (you'll probably be coughing and sneezing and wanting to cry) add the broth to cool the oil.
-Add the ginger, soy sauce, and rice wine to the broth if you haven't already.
-When the meat is brined, rinsed, and drained (or if you didn't use a brine) take your 1 pound of stuff and coat it with 1 TB of cornstarch. Heat the soup on maximum heat: it should be very rapidly boiling. Stir the soup as fast as you can without it shooting out of your pot. Working quickly, put in your 1 pound of "whatever" slices and continue to stir.
IF USING BEEF, FISH, PORK, OR LAMB: when the slices just begin to firm up, remove from the heat: when the pieces turn color, immediately pour over the nappa cabbage. The residual heat of the liquid ought to be enough to cook the slices without the stove top to a perfect medium rare and the cabbage should absorb whatever heat is left.
IF USING CHICKEN: make sure color is about almost completely white before removing from heat and soup just begins to reboil, then pour over cabbage. Or if you're brave, you can cook it as above, but you might get salmonella. I know the feel of the chicken between chopsticks when it's perfect, but it's hard to describe how to use that method. Sorry.
Garnish with green onion greens and/or chopped cilantro.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Nappa cabbage soup
I have no idea if the original recipe this is based on is actually a traditional Sichuan dish. Whatever.
- 1 Nappa cabbage, tender light green part only (~2 lbs)
- 4 cups water
- 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt + more to taste
- OPTIONAL: 1 teaspoon sichuan peppercorns
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
麻婆豆腐 (mapo tofu)
Nothing special here except tofu cutting technique and use of korean pepper paste which helps thicken the sauce without cornstarch or reducing everything too much. Also, about double the spicy stuff of the traditional recipe: alter the oil, chili flakes, and peppercorns to your taste but keep the ratio. If you like your MPDF with ground pork, fry it at the same time as the mushrooms in the same fashion (that is, lightly coated with cornstarch and an appropriate amount of soy sauce) until crispy and serve it poured over everything at the end so that it stays crunchy. Or, leave it vegan mapo tofu- I personally think the shiitake's carry enough presence such that meat is unnecessary.
IMO the main difference between lame mapo tofu and good mapo tofu is the use of silken tofu, and then maintaining it in neat cubes for texture. To cut the tofu: first cut the top plastic film off using scissors. Then , cut off one of the bottom corners of the tofu box. Place a small cutting board on top of the tofu box and then invert: now that you've just cut a vent, you should be able to pull the box off of the tofu without breaking the brick (save the box). You'll probably need to do two cuts parallel to the cutting board plane to split it into thirds: this is the most annoying part: if you find it too annoying, just do one cut to split it in half (newb). Then, cut the tofu from the top into 10mm squares: err on the side of smaller, being careful to keep all the pieces together. Get that box you saved and put it back on top of the now cubed tofu, invert, and now your tofu will be MUCH easier to work with now that it's in a vented box.
The rest
Slice the mushrooms you got from making half the recipe of that mushroom broth into thin strips, about 2mm wide. Coat with about 1 teaspoon cornstarch. Heat the oil with the peppercorns on medium high heat. When they turn dark brown, add the mushrooms and lower the heat to medium after the coating first solidifies. Add the chili flakes and cook until the oil is red and the chili flakes are darkened but not burnt (this can be tricky...). When the chili flakes look done, scoop all the solids out with a strainer and set them aside: don't worry about being too thorough. Add the garlic, green onion, and chili bean paste and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to a minute. Add the mushroom broth, soy sauce, ginger, and korean pepper paste and stir until uniform. Heat through until thick, then gently add the tofu which should be easy now that it's in that neat little box and should drop without too much effort because of that vent. Using a broad, flat, soft object (i.e. wooden spatula) very gently stir the tofu into the sauce and simmer for 1 or 2 minutes. To serve, carefully pour the tofu into a bowl, then top with the fried chili flakes/peppercorns/mushrooms you removed earlier, then top with the green onion greens, cut however you believe is the most visually appealing (I like using the shredder thingy that looks like 4 x-acto knives glued together to make long strings).
- 1 brick of silken tofu (16-20oz), cubed into 10mm (see below). Firmer tofu is for n00bs
- .5C dried shiitake broth and the two associated mushrooms
- 1t cornstarch
- .25C oil
- 2TB crushed red chili flakes
- 1TB sichuan peppercorns
- 2TB soy sauce
- 1TB 辣豆瓣醬 (Chinese spicy chili broad bean paste)
- 1TB korean red pepper paste
- 1TB fermented black beans, rinsed of grit
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 green onions, whites and greens separated
- .5" minced ginger
IMO the main difference between lame mapo tofu and good mapo tofu is the use of silken tofu, and then maintaining it in neat cubes for texture. To cut the tofu: first cut the top plastic film off using scissors. Then , cut off one of the bottom corners of the tofu box. Place a small cutting board on top of the tofu box and then invert: now that you've just cut a vent, you should be able to pull the box off of the tofu without breaking the brick (save the box). You'll probably need to do two cuts parallel to the cutting board plane to split it into thirds: this is the most annoying part: if you find it too annoying, just do one cut to split it in half (newb). Then, cut the tofu from the top into 10mm squares: err on the side of smaller, being careful to keep all the pieces together. Get that box you saved and put it back on top of the now cubed tofu, invert, and now your tofu will be MUCH easier to work with now that it's in a vented box.
The rest
Slice the mushrooms you got from making half the recipe of that mushroom broth into thin strips, about 2mm wide. Coat with about 1 teaspoon cornstarch. Heat the oil with the peppercorns on medium high heat. When they turn dark brown, add the mushrooms and lower the heat to medium after the coating first solidifies. Add the chili flakes and cook until the oil is red and the chili flakes are darkened but not burnt (this can be tricky...). When the chili flakes look done, scoop all the solids out with a strainer and set them aside: don't worry about being too thorough. Add the garlic, green onion, and chili bean paste and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to a minute. Add the mushroom broth, soy sauce, ginger, and korean pepper paste and stir until uniform. Heat through until thick, then gently add the tofu which should be easy now that it's in that neat little box and should drop without too much effort because of that vent. Using a broad, flat, soft object (i.e. wooden spatula) very gently stir the tofu into the sauce and simmer for 1 or 2 minutes. To serve, carefully pour the tofu into a bowl, then top with the fried chili flakes/peppercorns/mushrooms you removed earlier, then top with the green onion greens, cut however you believe is the most visually appealing (I like using the shredder thingy that looks like 4 x-acto knives glued together to make long strings).
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
宮保雞丁 (kung pao chicken)
Note: new version here
What makes mine different is: ground peanuts, chili oil in lieu of whole chili/peppercorns, lemon juice.
The stuff
-To get peanuts roasted, dry toast in a wok or skillet on medium heat until fragrant. Or, put in a 350F oven, stirring every 5 minutes, for a total of 15 minutes, or until fragrant.
-Once chicken is brined, thoroughly wash chicken and drain. Mix with just enough cornstarch that the chicken starts sticking to itself, probably 2 to 3 tablespoons.
-Heat a well seasoned wok with about 1 tablespoon of cooking oil until shimmering. Add the chicken and spread out into a single layered "pancake" (if your wok is small, divide the chicken into appropriate sized batches). Cook for about 2 minutes or until you can see the chicken start turning white from cooking up to about a third of the thickness. Use a thin, wide spatula to loosen the chicken and rotate in the pan to make sure that your "pancake" is holding together. Flip the pancake (or slide the chicken out onto a plate and flip the whole assembly back into the wok uncooked side down). Cook another 2 minutes or until this side starts showing white coming up the sides of the chicken as well. Break the pancake with the spatula, then stir fry quickly, tossing in the wok until the chicken is just tinged pink in most areas, about another minute or two. Reserve chicken.
-Heat the sauce ingredients excluding the chili oil and 1 reserved tablespoon of lemon juice on high until it turns into a very thick, dark caramel with lots of small bubbles forming. You want this to be REALLY thick because the juices and oil on the exterior of the chicken will dilute the sauce when you mix it. Add the ginger, green onion whites, and garlic and cook in the caramel until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken, half of the peanuts, chili oil, and remaining lemon juice and coat the chicken and finish cooking it, about another 30 seconds to a minute. Plate the chicken, sprinkle with remaining roasted peanuts and green onion greens and serve immediately.
What makes mine different is: ground peanuts, chili oil in lieu of whole chili/peppercorns, lemon juice.
The stuff
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed to L = 15mm, brined. If you're not sure what 15mm looks like, get a ruler. This dish works with pieces up to 1" cube in size.
- 1/3c coarse crushed peanuts, roasted (see below)
- 2 green onions, whites thinly sliced and greens reserved for garnish
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- .5" ginger, grated
- 3 TB soy
- 2 TB 紹興酒 Shao xing rice wine
- 2 TB dark brown sugar, packed
- 2TB lemon juice, divided (Using a sour grapefruit also works)
- 2TB chili oil
- OPTIONAL: zest of a half a lemon (or grapefruit zest if using for the acid)
-To get peanuts roasted, dry toast in a wok or skillet on medium heat until fragrant. Or, put in a 350F oven, stirring every 5 minutes, for a total of 15 minutes, or until fragrant.
-Once chicken is brined, thoroughly wash chicken and drain. Mix with just enough cornstarch that the chicken starts sticking to itself, probably 2 to 3 tablespoons.
-Heat a well seasoned wok with about 1 tablespoon of cooking oil until shimmering. Add the chicken and spread out into a single layered "pancake" (if your wok is small, divide the chicken into appropriate sized batches). Cook for about 2 minutes or until you can see the chicken start turning white from cooking up to about a third of the thickness. Use a thin, wide spatula to loosen the chicken and rotate in the pan to make sure that your "pancake" is holding together. Flip the pancake (or slide the chicken out onto a plate and flip the whole assembly back into the wok uncooked side down). Cook another 2 minutes or until this side starts showing white coming up the sides of the chicken as well. Break the pancake with the spatula, then stir fry quickly, tossing in the wok until the chicken is just tinged pink in most areas, about another minute or two. Reserve chicken.
-Heat the sauce ingredients excluding the chili oil and 1 reserved tablespoon of lemon juice on high until it turns into a very thick, dark caramel with lots of small bubbles forming. You want this to be REALLY thick because the juices and oil on the exterior of the chicken will dilute the sauce when you mix it. Add the ginger, green onion whites, and garlic and cook in the caramel until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken, half of the peanuts, chili oil, and remaining lemon juice and coat the chicken and finish cooking it, about another 30 seconds to a minute. Plate the chicken, sprinkle with remaining roasted peanuts and green onion greens and serve immediately.
嗆包心菜 (Charred cabbage)
One of my favorite foods both to cook and eat. Short ingredient list. Neat technique. Smoky. Traditional. About 60 cents per dish. The final product's taste is highly dependent on the process: too little char and you get tough, flavorless cabbage with bitterness from the raw vegetable taste. Too much char and it's cancerlicious and bitter from the burnt flakes of cabbage-turned-into-carbon. When it's done right, it's sweet, smoky; it's tinged with bitterness, complex, and tender-crisp. I still mess this up.
You need to have a well-seasoned wok or cast iron skillet to make this. If you don't, don't bother trying. To make it spicy, I find it simpler to substitute chili oil for the neutral oil rather than trying to cook chilis and peppercorns into the dish, but feel free to do whatever you want. I like it both ways depending on what else is going on the table.
Note on plating: when using green cabbage, I use shredded dried Korean chili for garnish. For red, I use slivers of green onion greens. When using both red and green, I arrange the red on the outside in a ring, green mounded in the center with dried Korean chili on top.
You need to have a well-seasoned wok or cast iron skillet to make this. If you don't, don't bother trying. To make it spicy, I find it simpler to substitute chili oil for the neutral oil rather than trying to cook chilis and peppercorns into the dish, but feel free to do whatever you want. I like it both ways depending on what else is going on the table.
- 1 small head of cabbage (~ 1lbs.) OR .5 lbs each of red and green cabbage or some combination thereof. Smaller cabbages tend to be sweeter, so go for them.
- 1 tablespoon canola oil OR 1 tablespoon chili oil
- 2 gloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt, or kosher salt in a pinch
- OPTIONAL: 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar or balsamic vinegar
- OPTIONAL: Pinch of shredded Korean chili OR a few slivers of green onion green (see note on plating)
Note on plating: when using green cabbage, I use shredded dried Korean chili for garnish. For red, I use slivers of green onion greens. When using both red and green, I arrange the red on the outside in a ring, green mounded in the center with dried Korean chili on top.
麻辣紅油 (Tim's chili oil)
You could buy the stuff in a bottle, but it won't taste like mine. This recipe is essentially making 花椒油 and then using that while still hot to make 辣椒油. I use a french press and tea kettle so that my kitchen is still clean when I'm done. Make absolutely sure there isn't any water anywhere on anything during this process or your hands and arms are going to start looking like mine (that is, messed up).
Variation: you can omit the peppercorns and use Korean coarse chili flakes to make an extremely fragrant, almost sweet oil. Put the chili flakes in the french press as above. Heat the oil until it just smokes, then remove from heat and wait for the oil to just stop smoking, then pour into the press. This is necessary because the flavor of Korean chili is much more delicate and it's easier to burn. Oh yeah, this costs a junk load of money if you use good chili flakes.
- 4C canola, soybean, or other neutral oil
- 2C crushed dried Sichuan chilies (or whatever crushed dried chilis you can find)
- 1C dried Sichuan peppercorns (no substitute for these exists)
Variation: you can omit the peppercorns and use Korean coarse chili flakes to make an extremely fragrant, almost sweet oil. Put the chili flakes in the french press as above. Heat the oil until it just smokes, then remove from heat and wait for the oil to just stop smoking, then pour into the press. This is necessary because the flavor of Korean chili is much more delicate and it's easier to burn. Oh yeah, this costs a junk load of money if you use good chili flakes.
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