Just make sure they’re not the ear-splitting Indian or Thai varieties (or reduce the quantity accordingly).įuchsia Dunlop’s kung pao chicken – sun-dried chillies are indispensable. Look for “red and lustrous, fragrant and not overpoweringly hot” examples – as she says, thanks to the increased popularity of Sichuan food overseas, many Chinese supermarkets now stock bagfuls of suitable chillies, either “small, pointy” ones or plump “heaven-facing” or “bullet” types. Dunlop explains that “sun-dried chillies are indispensable in Sichuan cooking several varieties can be found in the region’s markets”. This dish requires only two spices, and, since they are its defining characteristic, do not accept substitutions. (Plus I now have a vat of sweet-and-sour sauce in the fridge for all my late-night needs.) The aromatics and vegetables It is indeed much sweeter than the others I try but, balanced by the green pepper and roasted nuts, not unpleasantly so. The results, which bring back many happy memories, are then mixed with spicy bean paste and dark soy sauce in the wok, and thickened with starch, as usual.
PICTURE OF KUNG PAO CHICKEN PROFESSIONAL
While wonderfully fragrant and intense, outside a Michelin-starred kitchen, it’s hard to justify 25 minutes of work, when most of the other sauces can be whisked together in 25 seconds.Īndrew Wong’s kung pao chicken starts with a kung pao stock, flavoured with Sichuan peppercorns, dried chillies, ginger and garlic.Īnother recipe designed for a professional kitchen is Chin and Choo’s, which starts with a takeaway-style sweet-and-sour sauce that’s “very different from the traditional” version, in that it’s made with malt vinegar, vast amounts of white sugar and double-concentrated orange squash, boiled up with ginger, garlic, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, orange slices and tomato puree. Wong starts with a kung pao stock, flavoured with Sichuan peppercorns, dried chillies, ginger and garlic, as well as the usual sugar, vinegar and soy, which is then reduced, as opposed to thickened.
PICTURE OF KUNG PAO CHICKEN FREE
Feel free to add a splash, if you disagree. The same goes for Tan’s dash of sesame oil, which to my mind clashes with the actual nuts. In such small quantities, however, I don’t think there’s much point in using stock, unless you happen to have some to hand the soy should give it enough savoury oomph on its own. Tony Tan’s kung pao sauce is thickened with water or stock.įuchsia Dunlop’s masterwork, The Food of Sichuan, informs me that the sauce in this dish is known as li zhi wei, or “lychee-flavoured”, a milder version of sweet-and-sour made with a mixture of sugar, soy sauces and rice vinegar, thickened with corn or potato flour and loosened with water (or chicken stock, as Tony Tan does in his book Hong Kong Food City). Most recipes marinate the raw meat briefly before cooking, usually in a mixture of starch and water seasoned with soy sauce and rice wine – the classic “velveting” technique that helps form a protective barrier between the chicken and the hot wok keeping it, well, soft as velvet. This is boneless breast poached at 80C for 30 to 40 minutes, then cooled and sliced ideal if you want to get ahead, though it lacks the juiciness of the stir-fried stuff. Don’t worry: the rest is just water and salt, rather than anything sinister). This seeks to mimic the pre-cooked meat apparently used by many restaurants (though it seems it will never be quite as soft as the 60%-80% meat in the products available in catering quantities. Interestingly, Chin and Choo’s Chinese Takeaway Bible, the book based on the popular YouTube channel devoted to divulging the secrets of takeaway classics, starts with “pre-prepared chicken”. Harry Eastwood’s kung pao chicken – use plenty of spring onions or even some leeks.
0 kommentar(er)
