Tea and Spice Smoked Quail with Sweet-and-Sour Cucumbers
serves 4
PROCEDURE
serves 4
PROCEDURE
- 1 Combine seasoning salt ingredients and rub on quail; marinate 30 minutes.
- 2 Combine smoking mixture ingredients. Line bottom of a wok with foil. Place smoking mixture on foil and place over high heat.
- 3 Place a rack in the wok and cover until it begins to smoke. Reduce heat and place quail on rack. Cover and smoke quail, 2–3 minutes. Watch to ensure quail is cooked only to rare. Remove quail and hold until ready to serve.
- 4 Set wok over high heat. Heat oil to 350°F (176°C°). Deep-fry quail until golden brown and crispy, 3–4 minutes. Serve with sweet-and-sour cucumbers.
Sweet-and-Sour Cucumbers
serves 4
PROCEDURE
serves 4
PROCEDURE
- 1 Combine all dressing ingredients; mix well to dissolve sugar. Toss cucumbers with dressing; let sit 30 minutes before serving.
Ma-Puo (Mapo) Doufu
serves 4
PROCEDURE
serves 4
PROCEDURE
- 1 Combine half the soy sauce, half the wine, bean paste, and pork. Mix well.
- 2 Combine remaining soy sauce and wine with chicken stock.
- 3 Set wok over high heat; when very hot, add oil. Add pork mixture; cook, stirring, to separate the grains of meat, about 30 seconds. Add ginger, garlic, and green onion; stir- fry 1 minute. Add chicken stock; cook 1 minute.
- 4 Add bean curd. Stir mixture gently; the bean curd breaks easily. Cook just to heat through, about 1 minute. Sprinkle Sichuan peppercorns over the mixture.
- 5 Blend water and tapioca powder and add, stirring gently to thicken. When dish is thickened, add sesame oil and transfer to serving dish and garnish with cilantro.
Sichuan Stuffed Eggplant
serves 4
Chef Tip The cornstarch between the eggplant slices helps to maintain the positioning of the ground pork.
PROCEDURE
serves 4
Chef Tip The cornstarch between the eggplant slices helps to maintain the positioning of the ground pork.
PROCEDURE
- 1 Combine pork with the soy sauce from the seasoning. Mix with your fingers, scooping up pork mixture with your hand and beating it back into the bowl several times until firm. Add the remaining seasoning and mix well.
- 2 Cut eggplant into ¾- to 1-inch (1.8 cm to 2.4 cm) pieces using a vertical slope-cut. Make a slit down the center of each slice and cut two thirds of the way down, forming double- layer slices with skin side not cut all the way through. Gently open up the double layer and brush the inside surface lightly with cornstarch. Slice and brush the remaining pieces the same way, noting that they are not uniform in size but in thickness only.
- 3 Stuff about one tablespoon of pork mixture into each piece of eggplant. Then dip the back of a spoon in a little water and smooth the pork mixture.
- 4 Mix the glazing sauce ingredients; set aside.
- 5 About 10 minutes before cooking, beat eggs with ⅛ teaspoon salt until smooth. Dip each piece of stuffed eggplant into the egg mixture, then coat with cornstarch. Shake off excess cornstarch.
- 6 Set a wok over high heat. When hot, add 4 cups oil. Heat oil to 375°F (190°C), or until a piece of green onion or ginger sizzles noisily and quickly turns brown.
- 7 Add the eggplant pieces in succession to the oil; deep-fry until the coating is set, then remove. Reheat oil to very hot 400°F (204°C) and return all eggplant pieces to the oil. Deep-fry until golden, then remove and drain on paper towels.
- 8 Set in a separate wok or pan over high heat. When hot, add remaining tablespoon oil. Stir the glazing sauce and add it to the wok. Bring to a boil, glaze sauce with sesame oil.
- 9 Plate hot eggplant and glaze with sauce. Eggplant should be glazed within a minute or two after frying.
Kung Pao Chicken
serves 4
PROCEDURE
serves 4
PROCEDURE
- 1 Combine marinade ingredients; mix well. Add chicken pieces and marinate 30 minutes.
- 2 Combine all sauce ingredients, whisking in tapioca powder last.
- 3 Set a wok over high heat. Heat the 3 cups oil to 350°F (176°C) or until a piece of green onion dropped in oil bubbles, sizzles, and moves around. Carefully slide the chicken into the wok; fry for 3–4 minute, until the cubes separate and turn white. Remove and drain on paper towels. Remove all but one tablespoons (½ ounce, 315 ml) of oil from the wok.
- 4 Heat oil, add chiles, and stir-fry until the skin starts turn dark red and chilies plump. Add garlic; stir-fry until you smell the garlic aroma, 10 seconds, add Sichuan peppercorn.
- 5 Return chicken to wok; stir-fry 30 seconds. Stir the sauce, and pour into the center. Toss with chicken, cook until sauce thickens, add the peanuts, and mix well. Serve hot.
Stir-Fried Long Beans
serves 4 PROCEDURE
serves 4 PROCEDURE
- 1 Wash beans, trim the ends, and cut diagonally into 2 inch (2 cm) pieces.
- 2 Blanch the beans in boiling salted water, remove, shock in ice water, drain, and set aside.
- 3 Set wok over high heat; when very hot, add oil. Swirl around wok, add garlic and ginger, and stir-fry 30 seconds.
- 4 Add long beans and stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes. Glaze with sesame oil, add vinegar, and correct seasoning.
Dan Dan Mian
Spicy Noodles
serves 4
PROCEDURE
Spicy Noodles
serves 4
PROCEDURE
- 1 Soak shrimp in hot water 20 minutes. Chop finely and reserve soaking liquid.
- 2 Rinse chile and spices off the preserved vegetables; chop finely.
- 3 Toast the sesame seeds until golden; set aside.
- 4 Mix ingredients for the dan dan sauce until smooth.
- 5 Set wok or heavy saucepan over medium high heat. When very hot, add one tablespoon (½ ounce, 15 ml) oil. Add shrimp; stir for 2 minutes or until oil is well flavored. Add the preserved vegetables; stir-fry 1 minute. Remove from heat.
- 6 Combine the dan dan sauce ingredients, the shrimp mixture, and 2 tablespoons (1 ounce, 30 ml) oil. Set aside.
- 7 Heat chicken stock and shrimp soaking liquid over very low heat.
- 8 Cook noodles following directions. Strain, shake the colander to drain excess water, and toss with remaining oil.
- 9 Serve the dan dan sauce in 4 separate bowls and place ¼ of the hot noodles on sauce. Sprinkle chopped green onions and sesame seeds on top. Serve with chicken/shrimp stock in separate bowls.
Fish-Flavored Pork Shreds
serves 4
There is no fish in this dish from fish-starved Sichuan. The flavor is adapted from the sauce used in braising fish.
PROCEDURE
serves 4
There is no fish in this dish from fish-starved Sichuan. The flavor is adapted from the sauce used in braising fish.
PROCEDURE
- 1 Mix ingredients for sauce mixture; set aside. Mix seasoning ingredients and combine with pork.
- 2 Set wok over high heat; when very hot, add 2 cups (16 ounces, 360 ml) oil. Heat oil to 375°F (190°C), or until a piece of green onion or ginger sizzles noisily and quickly turns brown. Add the pork shreds, stirring to separate; stir-fry 1 minute. Pour both meat and oil into strainer-lined bowl to drain, leaving about 1 tablespoon (½ ounce, 15 ml) oil in wok.
- 3 Place wok over medium high heat and add the wood ears, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and carrots stirring for 1 minute. Season with salt, stir, and remove.
- 4 Add remaining two tablespoons (1 ounce, 30 ml) oil to the wok. When the oil is hot, add green onions, ginger, and garlic. Stir for 10 seconds, then return pork to wok. Sizzle in the sherry along the edge of the wok, stirring constantly. Add wood ears, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and carrots.
- 5 Stir sauce mixture and add to the center of the wok, stirring until thickened. Glaze sauce with sesame oil, mix well, and serve.
Sichuan Spicy Fired Beef Shreds
serves 4
PROCEDURE
serves 4
PROCEDURE
- 1 Mix marinade ingredients, add the meat, and toss. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Turn the meat occasionally.
- 2 Set wok over high heat; when very hot add ½ cup (4 ounces, 120 ml) oil. Flavor the oil with the garlic; remove the garlic when it turns brown.
- 3 Add meat; stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes, or until strips separate. Turn heat to medium low; continue to stir-fry until strips turn brown, 1 to 2 minutes; remove from wok.
- 4 Rinse wok and wipe dry. Set on medium high heat; when hot, add sesame oil. Flavor oil with dried chile until brown. Add celery, carrots, and fresh chiles, stirring 30 seconds to 1 minute; season with salt.
- 5 Return meat and mix with vegetables. Glaze the meat with sesame oil and serve with rice.