Cantonese Roast Pork

Perhaps one of the most enticing smells in the whole repertoire of Chinese cooking is that of ‘Chahsiu’ (Cantonese roast pork), with its subtle blend of spices and roast meat. It floats out to meet you as you pass a cooked-meat stall, where the shiny sides of roast pork wait to be chopped into small pieces and sold either to be taken home or eaten on the spot with a bowl of boiled rice. Not only are sides of pork roasted but also ducks, geese and, for special occasions, sucking pigs. ‘Chahsiu’ is eaten cold in a family meal, along with hot dishes; in a more formal meal it can be part of a plate of mixed cold meats. Several pieces of chahsiu on a bowl of rice together with a few stalks of choisam and tea to drink can often comprise lunch for a working man in a street restaurant in Hong Kong. In China it is not usual to roast meat at home, but in the Western kitchen equipped with an oven, it is quite easy to make ‘chahsiu’.

Ingredients:

• 2 pork tenderloins, about 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. each
• 4 tbsp. soy sauce
• 4 tbsp. Hoisin sauce
• 3 tbsp. rice wine or dry sherry
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 4 tsp. honey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Chinese Chicken Recipe

Chicken and duck are the principal poultry in the Chinese kitchen and there are innumerable ways in which they can be served, many of them new to the Western world, for instance, 'Paper Wrapped Chicken'. They range from the simple to the exotic. The more familiar ones to the West are the appetizing Sweet and Sour chicken and orange chicken; the flavorful Sesame Chicken and Garlic Chicken, and the savory Kung Pao Chicken, just to name a few. Some of them would be ideal for appetizers and salad.

Chickens are considered something a little more special than just meat by Chinese. One large chicken can often be worked in several different ways. For instance, the white meat can be sliced to make a stir-frying dish. Dark meat and bones can be used for slow-cooking soup. The meat in the soup , if not overcooked, can be used to make White Cut Chicken, or combined with dark soy sauce to make one form of Red-Cooked Chicken, an Eastern or Shanghai style cooking. With young chicken, after the white meat is used in shallow fry, the other parts can be used in deep fry. Thus, Chinese have names like Chicken-in-Three-Flavors or three dishes coming from one chicken.

While most Westerners discard them, chicken giblets and other parts such as necks are very useful in the Chinese kitchen. Some like them better than meat and chicken. Chicken gizzards, hearts, skinned feet and necks make beautifully clear stock. Chicken livers are never used in the stock but are reserved for inclusion in special dishes, or cooked as a dish itself. The feet have more goodness than one might think and is very delicious cooked in Chinese recipes. For soup, Chinese usually use big fat hens. When the recipe calls for spring chicken, it is usually young roosters.

Kung Pao Chicken /宫保鸡丁

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb. chicken, boned and skinned
• 2 tbsps. oyster sauce
• 2 1/2 tbsps. cooking oil
• 8 small dried red chilies
• 4 tsps. minced garlic
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1−inch squares
• 1 can (8 oz.) bamboo shoots, sliced and drained
• 2 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/3 cup roasted peanuts

Sauce:

• 3 tbsps. Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
• 1/4 cup Chinese black vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tbsps. hoisin sauce
• 2 tsp. sesame oil
• 2 tsps. chili garlic sauce
• 2 tsps. sugar

Szechuan Beef Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. beef flank steak
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce, low sodium
• 4 tsp. Oriental dark roasted sesame oil, divided
• 1 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp. fresh ginger root, minced
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper pods, crushed
• 1 sm. red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 8 oz. frozen baby corn, defrosted
• 1/4 pound pea pods, julienned

Directions:

1. Cut beef steak lengthwise into 2 strips; slice across the grain into 1/8 inch thick strips.
2. Combine soy sauce, 2 tsp. oil, sugar and cornstarch; stir into strips.
3. Heat remaining 2 tsp. oil in wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger and pepper pods; cook 30 seconds.
4. Add bell pepper and corn; stir-fry 30 seconds.
5. Remove vegetables. Stir-fry beef strips (half at a time) 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Return vegetables and beef to wok and heat through. Serve with hot cooked rice.

Featured Hubei Cuisine

Mianyang Three Steamed Dishes

The three steamed dishes refer to steamed fish, pork, and meat or shrimp balls. Mianyang (currently called Xiantao City in Hubei Province) natives have maintained the traditional method of preparing steamed dishes for centuries. The difference is that now modern chefs have tailored the ingredients, cooking methods, and techniques to suit the palette of a wider range of people, not only the Mianyang locals.