At Home with Chinese Cuisine (19 page)
Read At Home with Chinese Cuisine Online
Authors: T P Hong
Chestnuts, Braised Chicken with Chestnuts
板栗,板栗燒雞
Chestnuts
When I first moved into our village in the UK years ago, three giant chestnut trees by the entrance to our street caught my eye. There were fruit scattered around, and some were run over by passing traffic. The fruit were plump, the shells shiny. And I thought people around here did not seem to like chestnuts. They were horse chestnuts, Bruce said. And they were “not edible”, he emphasised. When I shared this experience with a friend of mine Mr. Ho, a Master Chef of HuNan cuisine, he nodded and said that he had similar experience when he first visited Europe. I went further than you did and spent some time preparing them, he said gently. They were inedible, he added.
All my family members have soft spots for fresh chestnuts. For the first couple years of moving into the village, there were good quality chestnuts available from the farm shop. Roasting them by the fireplace was a treat in those cold winter nights. Explosions occasionally happened even though we made sure to score the skin on the curved side. Nobody seemed to mind to vacuum the fireplace the next morning. Roasted chestnuts were on the top of the list of winter comfort food. These days, good quality raw chestnuts are not easily available locally. We have to compromise and buy vacuum-packed or tinned ones with much less flavour than the real thing.
I look forward to be in China in the autumn. China is the largest chestnut producing country in the world at present. First documentary evidence of its cultivation in China could be traced back to around three thousand years ago. By 2013, seven chestnut production areas have been granted geographical indication protection by the Chinese government.
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They have texture and taste of their own, and can be distinguished by comparison tasting.
The chestnut is consumed for its flavour and its medicinal effects of protecting our kidneys, lungs, spleen, and the bone structure, according to TCM. Nutritionally, chestnut contains comparatively high quantities of potassium, Vitamins B1and B2. It is also high in dietary fibre. And it is gluten free. I often bought them by the kilogramme and had them as one of my major sources of carbohydrates when they were in season. For the health benefits it can offer, I did not need to find justifications for the indulgence.
During my stay in Shanghai, it was such a delight to find peeled fresh plump chestnuts easily available at a very affordable price in traditional markets from mid-autumn onward. There are two common varieties. One is very similar to what we have in the UK and Europe. It has a waxy texture with a fairly neutral taste. It is this variety, vacuum-packed raw, that we can find in supermarkets in China. The other variety is smaller in size and rounder in shape, similar to the bigger version of hazelnuts. It has a firmer texture with nutty taste, it cooks quicker and holds together better. Peeled chestnuts are freezable even though their surface colour turns brown after freezing.
Chestnuts are natural partners with poultry and pork in braising dishes. They pick up the flavour of accompanying ingredients and contribute to the dish their unique, gentle sweetness and texture. If you travel in China from the autumn onwards, you will come across this classic comfort food in many provinces with a local touch.
This recipe is from JiangSu Province in the south. A young cockerel less than 1 kg is preferred; chicken drumsticks are used in this recipe because they are easily available in supermarkets, and their texture goes well with the chestnuts. I suggest cooking the drumsticks with the bone and skin attached for a richer sauce full of collagen.
Try to get hold of fresh chestnuts if possible; tinned or vacuum-packed ones that have already been cooked can be used, but they have quite a different texture and taste. Fresh chestnuts are usually deep-fried in advance for braising dishes. Deep-frying dehydrates their surface so that they hold their shape better in cooking. Deep-frying also provides the benefits of the Maillard Reactions that wake up the aroma and taste molecules of the fresh chestnuts.
400–500 g chicken drumsticks 150 g whole chestnuts, peeled 4 star anise segments 3 cm cassia bark or cinnamon stick 10 g ginger, sliced 2 spring onions, cut into pearl size 4–5 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped 2–3 fresh red chilli (optional) 2-3 T dark soy sauce 2 T ShauXing wine or other rice wine 1 T ZhenJiang rice vinegar or other rice vinegar 2 t sugar or a small handful of crystal (rock) sugar 200 ml or so hot chicken stock or water 1 T sesame seed oil (optional) salt and pepper 100 ml cooking oil | Chop each drumstick into 3 pieces. Rinse to remove any trace of blood and small pieces of bones. Pat them dry and leave them in a bowl. Heat the wok until hot over a medium heat. Add 100 ml of the cooking oil and allow it to heat up. Put in the raw chestnuts and deep-fry until they turn golden on the surface. Bring them out to drain on a plate lined with kitchen towels. Leave 30 ml of oil in the wok to stir-fry chicken pieces until they pick up a light golden colour. Bring them out to drain on a plate lined with kitchen towels. Heat the wok over a medium heat until when splashing drops of water into the wok, they rapidly skitter around the surface before boiling off. Add 30 ml of the cooking oil followed by the star anise and cassia bark or cinnamon stick; stir. When the aroma of the spices can be detected, add the ginger and garlic, followed by the chicken pieces. Add the chilli at this stage and stir continuously. Add the dark soy sauce, rice wine, and sugar. Stir the chicken pieces to pick up the colour of the soy sauce. Add stock or water into the wok to just cover the chicken pieces, and allow the liquid to boil; skim off scum on the surface. Add the chestnuts into the mixture and adjust the cooking temperature to allow the cooking liquid to simmer steadily. Put the lid on and cook until the meat is done; it will take about 30 minutes. Taste the cooking liquid to season on the light side (the cooking liquid will be reduced significantly later to give a more concentrated flavour). Remove the lid and turn up the heat to reduce around 80 per cent of the cooking liquid. Stir continuously to prevent sticking. Taste to season again. |
When the cooking liquid is reduced and thickened, it gives the chicken pieces and chestnuts a glossy coating. Add the spring onion white at this stage and stir to mix. Drizzle the sesame seed oil (if used) in a circular motion. Switch off the heat, add the spring onion green, stir, and plate. If tinned or vacuum-packed chestnuts are used, they have already been cooked. Add them to cook with chicken pieces for the last 10 minutes of the cooking time. |
Shredded Chicken Stir-fried with Chrysanthemum Petals
菊花雞絲
Flowers have been used in the food preparation for centuries in China. The fresh ones appear in both savoury and sweet dishes, and dried ones are used mainly for tea and the fermentation of wine. In recent years, it seems to be a global fashion to use flower petals as the garnish to give a more delicate, seasonal touch to the presentation. The top-end restaurants in Beijing and Shanghai have been leading the trend in earnest.
For the Chinese, it is seasonal to eat flowers. Spring flowers are garnishes for salad at home. Flower blossoms from the fruit trees in the garden are picked in the name of sparing energy to do green harvesting later on. Magnolia petals are used for stir-frying or deep-frying in batter in China. I find it nicer eaten raw because they are very sensitive to heat. They are good in cold salad or as a spring topping for pizza.
Cucumber and courgette flowers are my favourite and bloom in late spring in China. They are not in regular supply, and it is a chancy encounter in the market that can brighten up my day. Even though these two vegetables are available all year round, cucumber flowers arrive in the market in Beijing, ahead of the courgette flowers. It probably is an indication of the timeline of farmers’ doing their green harvesting. Throughout the summer, flowers from honeysuckles, jasmine, roses, lotus, and nasturtium plants, to name just a few, provide us with colours to play with.
Roses are now widely planted for pastry making in the south. If you have the chance to visit YunNan Province, try out the local specialty pastries (
雲南玫瑰餅
) from reputable bakeries in the city KunMing. You will be spoiled by the choices of the fillings of rose petals mixed with different nuts and candied fruits. My favourite ones are the combination of rose petals with pine nuts (sourced locally and from nearby regions), and rose petals with walnuts. YunNan Province is also known for producing walnuts in a paper-thin shell. The walnuts have high oil content, and they taste light and clean. The film attached to the nut is thin and transparent, and so I do not need to soak the nut to remove the film in order to avoid the taste of tannin in the mouth.
Chrysanthemum and osmanthus are for the autumn. Because osmanthus flowers are strongly scented, especially the dried one,
they appear in desserts more so than in savoury dishes. Petals from chrysanthemum flowers are the opposite: they are delicate and reserved, and they are mostly incorporated into savoury dishes at the last minute before plating.
The white or yellow single bloom varieties, such as mop head and spider, are quite good for this dish. They taste slightly sweet and minty with a squidgy texture after brief cooking.
200 g chicken breast petals from 2 fresh chrysanthemum flower heads salt and pepper 35 ml cooking oil 3 dried shiitake mushrooms (optional) ½ t sesame seed oil (optional) For the marinade: 1 T rice wine 1/2 t sugar 1 t light soy sauce 1 t rice vinegar salt and pepper 1/3 medium-sized egg white 2 t potato flour | To reconstitute dried shiitake mushrooms and steam them for softer texture, please see “Dried shiitake mushrooms” in the Readers’ Guide to Recipes. Shred them finely (finer than the flower petals). Hold the stems of chrysanthemum and rinse the flower heads in clean water; shake off excess water. Pull off the petals and leave them in a colander. Slice the chicken breasts against the grain and shred them finely (0.2–0.3 cm thickness). Rinse off any blood and pat them dry. To marinade the meat, please see “Marinade (how to)” in the Readers’ Guide to Recipes. Bring the meat out of the fridge to return to room temperature before cooking. To season the wok before cooking, please see “Wok” in the Readers’ Guide to Recipes. Put the wok back to the heat source and adjust the heat to a medium level. Add 20 ml of the cooking oil, followed by the meat. Count to 5 and stir until the meat starts to turn white. Add the mushroom (if used) and stir. Season with salt and pepper and stir to mix. Add the flower petals and stir for just under 10 seconds. Drizzle the sesame seeds oil (if used) and stir or toss. Plate on a warm dish and serve immediately. |
This dish was invented by a court chef in Qing Dynasty and was made famous by a Muslim restaurant in Beijing. It is a soup dish but is prepared by steaming. It was named after the solar term White Dew (BaiLu in Chinese pronunciation).
The Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into twenty-four solar terms. White Dew is the fifteenth solar term that marks the arrival of autumn. This solar term usually starts around September 7 or 8 in the Western calendar. During my stay in Beijing, I was amazed by the accuracy of the Chinese lunar calendar telling the coming and going of seasonal changes. Heavy dews did start to appear in the morning from the first day of the solar term, which brought chill to the air. This is the time for light and nourishing dishes to gently introduce the body to the forthcoming colder months.
Traditionally, people want to eat something in white colour on the first day of this solar term because autumn is associated with the white colour, according to the Five Elements Theory. Lotus seeds, gingko nuts, and Chinese yams are ingredients to consider. This delicate dish of steamed meringue with the white meat of chicken is certainly fitting for the occasion to satisfy an emperor’s palate.
1 chicken breast 50 g white fish fillet, bone removed 5 medium-sized egg whites salt and pepper 1 T cornflour (to beat in with the egg white) 2 t cornflour (for the chicken slices) 9 fresh coriander or chervil leaves 1/6 red bell pepper, peeled, finely chopped, and dabbed dry For the fish fillet marinade: 1-2 T fresh milk or water 1 t rice wine salt and pepper For the broth: 500 ml chicken broth 1 t rice wine salt and pepper | Steam the chicken breast over a high heat until done (approximately 8–10 minutes). When it is cool enough to handle, hold the knife on a slant and slice the meat as thinly as possible along the grain. Arrange the pieces, overlapping a little, on a heatproof, shallow dish to form a 15 cm square. Dice the fish fillet and mince it finely (using a cleaver or a food processor). Mix well with the marinade ingredients. Push the mixture through a sieve and season well. Beat the egg whites with a whisk until they reach a soft peak. Add the fish mixture and the cornflour into the egg white. Continue whisking until the meringue mixture is well amalgamated and retains the soft peak. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top of the chicken slices to season. Sprinkle the cornflour thinly and evenly on the chicken slices and pat it down a little (the meringue mixture will stick to the chicken slices). Spread and pile up the meringue mixture evenly on the chicken square, about 3 cm high (it is a flat top, not a dome, for even cooking result), and garnish with the fresh coriander or chervil leaves evenly (you will later cut the square into 9 even pieces) and finely chopped bell pepper on top. Warm a flat-bottom soup dish that is bigger than 15 cm square. Place the dish in a hot steamer over a high heat for 3–4 minutes until the egg white mixture is just firm to touch. Bring the dish out to cool down a little and use a sharp knife to slice the steamed meringue mixture into 9 equal pieces. Make sure to cut through the base of chicken slices. Push and slide the whole thing gently into a soup dish. Place the chicken broth in a saucepan over a high heat. When the broth is boiling, add the wine. Bring the broth to a boil until it is reduced by a half; season to taste. Pour enough hot broth into the soup dish gently to allow the meringue mixture with chicken base to float. Serve immediately. |