Gong Bao Chicken, Ginger Shiitake Noodles and Tiger Skin peppers

Chinese New Year was upon us (which just goes to show just how far I have to go to catch up with my posts on the blog) and naturally I wanted to have a Chinese inspired feast. My original notes showed that rather than go the 100% Fuchsia Dunlop route as I would normally I had decided to give my Ching Huang book a bit of an outing. On the menu it seems were Ching’s Sichuan (I can’t help myself) style Chilli Tomato Chicken with a little bit of garlic rice to soak up the juices, some noodles (which mustn’t be cut as they symbolise long life) and, because I can’t ignore my Fuchsia books entirely, Tiger-skin peppers.

Well I don’t know what happened as while the tiger-skin peppers and noodles featured the chilli tomato chicken morphed into Gong Bao chicken and the rice disappeared completely. Still if anything I have now made a mental note to try that chilli chicken one day. I love Gong Bao chicken but it is time to try something new I think.

Tiger skin peppers are so called because of the slight charry streakiness they get. I added a green chilli as in China this wouldn’t be made with “bell” peppers but rather a thinner skinned variety (more similar to those found in Turkish & Middle Eastern shops) where a certain level of heat may be present - its a bit of a gamble (I guess similar to a plate of padron peppers) so I thought I would emulate that in a very small way by adding the chillies.

All the below serve 2 as part of a larger meal with a selection of other dishes.


Ginger Shiitake Noodles

100g medium dried egg noodles
dash of toasted sesame oil
1½ tsp groundnut oil
1 inch piece fresh root ginger, grated
75g fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 spring onions, cut into thirds, then thinly sliced into length-ways strips
1½ tsp oyster sauce
1½ tsp light soy sauce

Cook the noodles according to pack instructions, then toss with a little sesame oil to stop them clumping together so much.

Heat a wok over a high heat, then add the groundnut oil. Once it’s smoking, add the ginger, stir-fry for a couple of secs, then add the mushrooms with a splash of water to create steam, and cook for 1 min.

Toss through the cooked noodles for 2 mins until hot, then add the spring onions, oyster and soy sauces, and a dash more sesame oil.

Tiger Skin Peppers

2 green peppers, deseeded, cut into eighths then halved
green chilli, deseeded and sliced into strips then halved
1 tbsp groundnut oil
1 tbsp chinkiang black vinegar
pinch sugar
pinch salt

Heat the oil in a pan until it begins smoking. Add the peppers, Stir-fry over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes, pressing the peppers into the sides of the wok until the peppers are tender and their skins blistered and streaky.

Be careful not to cook on too high a temperature or the skins of the peppers will burn before you cook them through.

Add the salt, sugar and vinegar, and stir fry for 2 more minutes until everything is mixed well and fragrant.

Gong Bao Chicken

300-350g chicken thigh fillets cut into small cubes
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
ginger, and equivalent amount, thinly sliced
5 spring onions, white parts only, sliced into lengths as long as they are wide
5-10 facing heaven (or other red dried chilli) chillies, cut in half
2 tbsp groundnut or rapeseed oil
1 tsp whole Sichuan peppercorns
75g unsalted, roasted peanuts
For the marinade
½ tsp salt
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp Shaoxing wine
1 ½ tsp potato flour
For the sauce
½ tbsp caster sugar
¾ tsp potato flour
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp black Chinkiang vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp water

Put the chicken cubes along with the marinade ingredients and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.

Discard the seeds from the halved dried chillies as far as possible and set aside.

Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Heat a wok over a high flame and then add the oil along with the chillies and Sichuan pepper. Stir-fry briefly until the chillies are darkened but take care not to burn them and remove from the heat if necessary.

Throw in the chicken and stir fry, stirring constantly. As soon as the bits of chicken have separated from each other add the ginger, garlic and spring onions, continuing to stir-fry until fragrant and the chicken is just cooked through.

Give the sauce a stir in its bowl and then stir that it, tossing and stirring so it is all well mixed. As soon as the sauce is thickened and shiny, stir in the peanuts and then serve immediately.

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Sauté Pork with Tomatoes & Sweet Peppers

Another recipe borne out of necessity to use up vegetables in the fridge (often the best kind of recipes of course), in this case mini sweet peppers.

This, inspired by a recipe here is actually a little bit like the venison and sour sweet peppers I have posted previously but with a little more of an Asian flavour owing to the inclusion of black vinegar and rice wine.

The slightly sweet sour goes really well with pork (like, duh) and you can substitute other types of vinegar (balsamic would work well) of course and omit the Shaoxing or even use a different type of wine as you see fit.

A perfect speedy mid week supper for two.


Sautéed Pork Chops with Tomatoes & Sweet Peppers
serves 2

2 tsp teaspoons rapeseed oil
2 boneless pork loin chops
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 banana shallot, thinly sliced
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
15 mixed colour cherry tomatoes, halved
3 mixed colour mini sweet peppers, sliced
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
big pinch of sugar
small handful basil leaves, torn

Sprinkle the pork chops evenly with a little salt & pepper.

Heat up a large non-stick frying or sauté pan and add 1 teaspoon of oil. Swirl around to coat the pan well then add the chops and cook until just cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the pan and while the oil is heating combine and toss the tomatoes with the remaining salt, ground pepper and sugar in a bowl. Set aside.

When the oil is hot add the shallots, peppers, chilli and garlic and cook until aromatic.

Add the vinegar and rice wine and stir well then throw in the tomatoes and most of the basil, stirring everything together to combine. Add the pork chops and any juices from the plate back to the pan and cook until the tomatoes are soft, around 5 minutes.

Divide the tomato & pepper sauce between 2 plates and top each with a pork chop. Garnish with a little basil and serve immediately with your choice of vegetables.

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Beef with Cumin and Sichuan Broad Beans

Number two in operation “Open a Cookbook at Random”. Spookily Beef with Cumin was one that I first remember seeing (and thinking looked great) in Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook but as I tend to shy away from deep frying as I find it a bit of a faff (and don’t have a deep frying pot and can’t think of where to store the oil after) I never tried it. That’s not to say I haven’t attempted any of Fuchsia Dunlop’s other “deep fried” recipes as I have, namely here. 

Pre deep-frying is a method known as “velveting” which results in tender & juicy meat. When I have done it before the results really do speak for themselves but all the same I was glad to see a version of the same recipe in Every Grain of Rice where just stir-frying is employed. And more, what I found was that if you buy a good cut of beef - a very good sirloin steak in my case - and make sure to cut the slices across the grain, the result will be in my opinion, pretty close to that derived by velveting anyway.

As ever, this is slightly adapted and as I wanted a bit more sauce coating the meat I increased the quantities of marinade (bar the potato flour).

The chilli I had incidentally was quite large so I actually only used half of it in the end... that said, I’m effectively using 4 types of chilli here: fresh, dried and “red pepper” flakes and sedimented oil. The original recipe calls for dried chilli flakes and optional fresh which I’m sure would be quite sufficient. The other two I added for further depth of flavour and the fact that I bloody love Sichuanese chilli oil.

Overall this seems to be another great book from FD, her latest, and concentrates on Chinese (and again largely Hunanese and Sichuanese) “home cooking”. A lot of recipes showcase humble vegetables: very simple preparations that make these simple ingredients sing.

This broad bean recipe (not by the way chosen at random but selected as I had some fresh broad beans in the fridge) is a very good example; admittedly they are probably one of my favorite veg anyway but with just a couple of other ingredients and pretty quick cooking and prep they are taken to a whole other level.

Cumin with Beef - Zi ran niu rou (孜然牛肉)
serves 2

250g v. good quality beef steak, cut into 1-2cm wide slices 

½ red pepper, cut into strips 1–2cm wide on the diagonal
½ green pepper, ditto
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tsp ginger, finely chopped 
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped 
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried chilli flakes (or to taste)
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tsp chilli oil with sediment
2 spring onions, green parts only, finely sliced
1 tsp sesame oil
for the marinade
4 tsp Shaoxing wine
½ tsp salt1 tsp light soy sauce
1½ tsp dark soy sauce
1½ tsp potato flour

Mix the marinade ingredients with 1½ tbsp water in a bowl and stir the meat in. Set aside

Heat a wok over a high heat and when hot add 3 tbsp and swirl it around.

Add the beef (keeping the marinade to one side) and quickly stir-fry to separate the slices. When they have, but are still a bit pink, remove from the wok and set aside.

Return the wok to the flame with the remaining oil.

Add the ginger and garlic and allow them to sizzle for a few seconds until fragrant, then tip in the peppers and fresh chilli, and stirfry for a few minutes.

Add the beef slices and the marinade back into the wok, giving everything a good stir before adding the cumin, chilli oil and chilli & red pepper flakes. 

After a minute or so when it is all sizzling and fragrant add the spring onions. Stir around for 30 seconds then remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve with plain rice and the beans as below.

Sichuan-style Broad Beans with Spring Onion

serves 2

440g broad beans (about 145g podded)

salt

1½ tbsp oil

1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

2 spring onions, finely sliced

Sichuan pepper oil

Boil the podded beans in lightly salted water for 3-4 minutes then refresh under cold running water. When they are cool enough to handle, slip the skins off the broad beans.

Heat a small wok over a high flame, add the oil and thrown in the garlic & let sizzle for a few seconds.

Add the beans, the white parts of the spring onions and a little pinch of salt. Stir fry for a few minutes until the beans are heated through.

Add the green parts of the spring onions, stir around and then take off the heat. Sprinkle in a little Sichuan pepper oil and serve with the beef and steamed rice.

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Hunan Feast

Last weekend, as a thank-you for generally being lovely but for also feeding and medicating the little monsters during my recent Italy trips, I had my friends Steve & Linda over for dinner.  The last time I cooked for them it was back in February for Chinese New Year.  They seemed to enjoy the Sichuan dishes I served up that night so this time I thought I would give them a taste of Hunan.

Similar to Sichuan, Hunan cooking is known for its liberal use of chillies.  However it tends to be more "purely hot" rather than málà (hot and numbing) that distinctive taste that Sichuan cuisine is known for. 

As usual when I am cooking either Sichuan or Hunan food I turned to the excellent Fuchsia Dunlop and on this occasion The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook.

It should be noted that all recipes below serve four with three or four other dishes, plus rice (or two people with just one or two other dishes).  There were three of us so this was more than plenty. We had: General Tso's chicken, farmhouse stir-fried pork with green peppers (which I have actually cooked before and can be found here), fisherman's prawns with Chinese chives and stir-fried broad beans with Chinese chives plus steamed rice.


General Tso's Chicken - zuo zong tang ji
This is chef Peng Chang-kuei's General Tso's Chicken, invented in Taipei, Taiwan. This version is hot and sour, more so than the Changsha (capital of Hunan) version which is closer in flavour to the sweeter Americanised dish.

4 boned, skinless chicken thighs
groundnut oil, for deep-frying
2 tsp sesame oil
For the marinade
2 tsp light soy sauce
½ tsp dark soy sauce
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp potato flour
2 tsp groundnut oil
For the sauce
1 tbsp tomato purée
½ tsp potato flour
½ tsp dark soy sauce
1½ tsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp clear rice vinegar
3 tbsp stock
8 dried red chillies
2 tsp finely chopped ginger
2 tsp finely chopped garlic

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and set aside

Unfold the chicken thighs and lay them what would have been skin-side down, on a chopping board. If some parts are very thick slice them in half horizontally, parallel to the board.

Using a sharp knife make a few shallow criss-cross cuts into the meat to help the flavours penetrate then cut into bit sized pieces about 5cm or so in thickness

Put the chicken pieces into a bowl, pour over the marinade and toss until well coated.

In a large pan or wok, heat enough groundnut oil for deep-frying (it doesn't have to be too deep as you can easily do this in batches) to 180-200C. Add the chicken and fry until golden - remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Mix the tomato purée and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl, then add the potato flour, soy sauces, rice vinegar and set aside.

Use a pair of scissors to snip the dried chillies into 2cm pieces.

Heat a wok with 2-3 tablespoons of groundnut oil. Add the dried chillies and stir-fry briefly until they are fragrant and just changing colour (they will turn dark but don't let them burn). Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds longer, until fragrant.

Pour in the combined sauce ingredients and stir until the sauce thickens. Return the chicken to the wok and stir well to coat the pieces in sauce. 

Remove the wok from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Serve with steamed rice and other dishes.

Fisherman's Prawns with Chinese Chives - yu jia chao xia qiu

500g prepared raw large prawns (you can use frozen but thaw first)

100g Chinese chives, trimmed and cut into 1¼ inch pieces

2 tsp garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp dried chilli flakes (or if you have them 1 tbsp chopped salted chillies)
1 tsp Chinkiang vinegar
1 fresh red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced
salt
1 tsp sesame oil
200ml groundnut oil for cooking
For marinade

1 tsp salt
1 tbsp potato flour
1 small egg white

Put the prawns in a bowl with the marinade ingredients, mix well and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan or wok over a high flame until it reaches 150C (about 300 F). Drain off excess egg white from the prawns in a colander or sieve then add them to the wok and fry briefly until pinkish but not fully cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Drain off all but 3 tbsp of the oil.  Add garlic and chilli flakes and stir-fry briefly until fragrant.  Add the prawns, stirring well, followed by the vinegar.  

Add the chives and fresh chilli and stir-fry unil they are barely cooked.  Season with salt to taste, remove from the heat, stir in sesame oil and serve.

Stir-fried Broad Beans with Chinese Chives - jiu cai can dou

100g fresh Chinese chives, washed trimmed and cut into 1¼ inch lengths

200g shelled broad beans (about 800g in the pod)

2tsp finely chopped fresh red chilli (or chopped salted chillies, again if you have them)

2tsp finely chopped fresh ginger

2 tbsp groundnut oil

salt

Blanch the beans in boiling water for about 1 minute so barely cooked, drain and set aside.

Heat a wok over a high flame until smoke rises then add the oil and swirl around.

Add the chillies and ginger and stir-fry briefly until fragrant before adding the beans and stir-fry until hot & sizzling. Add salt to taste.

Throw in the chives and stir-fry a little longer until just tender and serve immediately.

And just as a reminder, here's what the farmhouse pork looks like:

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Farmhouse stir-fried pork with green peppers (nong jia chao rou)

So I mentioned I believe that I'm a big fan of Fuschia Dunlop and have recently been cooking from her Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook.

My next foray, after Dong'an Chicken has been Nong Jia Chao Rou, or Farmhouse stir-fried pork with green peppers.  Strangely, as one of the things that I like about both Sichuan and Hunan cookery is the regions' exuberant use of chillis, those Hunan recipes that I have tried from the book so far have been extremely mild on the hot and spicy front and this was no exception.

Apparently this is one of the most popular dishes in Hunan cuisine, found in almost every home and restaurant in the province and yet rarely included in cookery books.  Which  of course is where Ms. Dunlop comes up trumps yet again - bringing to life a dish from a vibrant regional cuisine that would otherwise be little known to us.

I'm not sure what the green peppers used in China would be like but Fuschia suggests using the long, light green, mildly hot peppers found in Turkish or Greek supermarkets which luckily is exactly what I have access to here in my North London kitchen.

The recipe that follows is taken (with a few minor changes) from Revolutionary Chines Cookbook ..again, I strongly suggest buying a copy.


Farmhouse Stir-fried Pork with Green Peppers

250g long light green (thin skinned) peppers, stem discarded then sliced at an angle into 3cm chunks
50g streaky bacon, thinly sliced
200g lean pork, thinly sliced
1 tsp Shaoxing wine
1 tsp light soy sauce
½ tsp dark soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tsp black fermented (salted) black beans, rinsed
2 tbsp lard

Add the Shaoxing wine and soy sauces to the pork slices in a bowl and set aside to marinate briefly.

Wipe the wok with a little oil or lard and heat over a medium flame. Stir fry the peppers for a good 5-10 minutes, pressing the pepper pieces down with a wooden spoon occasionally. When tender and fragrant and skins starting to pucker set aside.

Reheat the wok (make sure that there aren't any pepper seeds left in the wok) over a high flame until it starts to smoke then add the lard and swirl it around the wok. Add the bacon and stir fry until starting to turn golden.

Add the garlic and black beans, stir fry briefly until fragrant then add the pork (and the marinade). When the pork is almost coooked, return the peppers and continue to stirfry for a couple of minutes until the pork is cooked through and it is all thoroughly mixed.

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