Sautéed Chicken Chengdu Style (成都子鷄)

A few days ago, Ariel asked me to make "five spice chicken," which I had apparently made before from a Peimei recipe. Unfortunately, I had no idea what this was and had no recollection of making it. I eventually realized it was an edited version of her "Sautéed Chicken Chengdu Style." The Chinese name (Chengdu ziji - Chengdu chicken) refers to the capital city of Sichuan province. As such, the recipe includes the two classic hallmarks of Sichuanese food: Sichuan peppercorn and hot bean paste. Peimei very rarely uses five spice, but I find it is a useful substitute for the peppercorns if a less pungent flavor is desired. 

This is an interesting recipe coming from Peimei. With no marinade and no deep frying, this one is unusually quick and hassle-free. I follow the basic premise of the dish, but make significant alterations to my own taste; as such, this one is best considered "inspired by" Peimei. While simple, this dish is very nice. The chicken is tender and juicy, and the sauce is great soaked up into a bowl of rice. The five spice itself lends a subtle aroma, as opposed to the assertive Sichuan pepper.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb boneless chicken (any parts of your choice)
• 1/2 Tbs five spice powder (can use Sichuan pepper here)
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs minced ginger
• 2 Tbs bean sauce (use hot bean paste or a combination of the two for a spicier dish)
• 1 Tbs sherry or Shaoxing wine
• 1 Tbs black vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 Tbs corn starch
• Splash of cold water
• Salt to taste
• Vegetable oil

The original recipe suggests using a half chicken. I used thighs instead, and whatever you have on hand should work fine. Oddly enough, Peimei says to cut the chicken into cubes, bones and all. This didn't make much sense to me, so I deboned mine. The spice level can be adjusted by mixing regular fermented bean sauce and hot bean paste (doubanjiang). Going full hot bean is very spicy, and you may wish to experiment with half-hot or quarter-hot. I do this to tone down many Sichuanese recipes, such as Mapo doufu. 

Instructions

Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Remove bones, leave skin if desired (I removed it). Heat oil on high heat. Toss chicken with five spice powder. 

Stir fry the chicken for a few minutes, until lightly browned, but not cooked through. Add the celery, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry briefly. Add the bean sauce and continue cooking for a few more minutes.

Mix wine, vinegar, sugar, and hot water and add to the pan. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium. Cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Mix the corn starch into a paste with a little water and add to the pan. Reduce for a few minutes and stir in green onion. Salt to taste. Serve with rice.

Cheesy Polenta with Spinach and Beans

Most recipes on No Free Lunch fall into two categories: recipes I've tinkered with and perfected over a long time and recipes I've whipped up on the spot that happened to turn out well. This time, I have both. I have been making Alton Brown's polenta quite often for a few years, and it's always been a hit. I have experimented with the amounts of ingredients, and the recipe can be played with quite a bit. In fact, this time I completely forgot the butter, and it still turned out great. It's all a matter of taste.

Recently, I have been trying different ways to prepare beans, and today I came up with a quick and simple spinach and bean combination that goes very well with the polenta. My original plan was just to post the polenta, but the whole thing came together nicely, and I highly recommend giving it a try. That being said, the polenta on its own is great as a side for any dish. I suspect Sam's spaghetti sauce would be a terrific addition, as well.

A quick note on the cornmeal: I find that coarsely ground cornmeal is essential. I always use Goya, which can be found at international grocery stores. I have tried it with regular cornmeal, and it came out rather like paste.

Ingredients

Polenta

• 3/4 cups diced onion (about 2 small onions or 1 large onion)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 cup coarse ground cornmeal
• 4 Tbs grated Parmesan
• 2 Tbs butter (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil

Spinach and Beans

• 3/4 cups diced onion (about 2 small onions or 1 large onion)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Large bunch of spinach, about 1 lb
• 1 can of beans, drained and rinsed (I used red beans)
• Dash of oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil

Instructions

Polenta

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a dutch oven, heat olive oil on medium heat, enough to cover the bottom. Cook onions until softened. Add garlic and cook a few more minutes. 

Pour chicken stock into the pan and turn heat to high. Once the mixture boils, slowly add the cornmeal while whisking vigorously. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes. 

Ready to bake

Remove the pan from the oven and add the cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste, and butter if desired. Make sure to taste the polenta as you go. Brown's recipe calls for 3 Tbs of butter. I usually cut this down, and it is fine without any, as well. 

Out of the oven

Spinach and Beans

The spinach and beans can be started about halfway through the baking time. Heat some oil in a large saucepan on medium high. Cook onion and garlic as before. Season with salt and pepper. 

Add spinach a handful at a time. Stir in and let each handful wilt a bit before adding the next. Once all the spinach is in, add the beans. Add oregano and season to taste. Stir together and cook for a few more minutes. Turn the heat to low to hold until the polenta is done.

Sam's Spaghetti

Happy Halloween and a happy birthday to my father, Sam. Today, I am pleased to present one of his original creations, a historical recipe from his younger days. In the late 1970s, he was working in his first job out of college. His colleague, Dan, asked if he had a spaghetti sauce recipe, and he came up with something on the fly, and likely forgot all about it. Soon after, both he and Dan had moved on from the company. Decades later, they reconnected, and he learned that "Sam's spaghetti," as it was now known, had become a beloved family tradition. To this day, Dan's (now adult) sons still ask for it.

The sauce itself is quite thick, and a deep red. Using tomato paste is an interesting choice, and gives the sauce a real intensity compared with my usual sauces with crushed tomato as a base (see beef ragù and fettuccine in tomato sauce). This sauce is certainly of the "old school" of Italian-American cookery, but continues to be delicious nearly forty years after its inception.

This version is slightly edited from the one provided by Dan. The original uses "3 mushrooms," but I brought this up a little to use an 8 oz. package. I used my own mixture of herbs rather than the recommended Italian seasoning, which I do not have. Finally, it can be useful to save a little pasta water to thin the sauce to your desired consistency.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
• 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 12 oz. tomato paste (1 large can)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cooked pasta (reserve some of the cooking water)

Instructions

In a large saute pan, heat a bit of olive oil on medium high heat. Add onions and mushrooms and cook until softened. Remove from pan and set aside.

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Add to the pan with the garlic. Add more oil if needed. Turn heat up to high and cook until the beef is browned. Deglaze the pan with wine. Add tomato paste, water, and herbs. Return the mushrooms and onion to the pan. Mix well and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. This will be just enough time to prepare the pasta. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper as desired. If the sauce is too thick, mix in a splash of the pasta water. Serve with grated parmesan.

Potstickers, the Hard Way

I've been working on perfecting my potstickers for years now. I look at my original post from 2012, and it's almost funny how simplistic it is. Last year's "Part II" stepped things up considerably, and at the time I thought that was going to be it. In that post, I said "the entire process is now done from scratch." As it turns out, that wasn't completely true. The day has finally arrived where I decided store-bought ground pork is not good enough. That's right, folks, the meat grinder, passed down from Ariel's bubbie, came out to play for the first time today. You might be wondering if it was worth it. Oh, yes. These are the best potstickers I have ever made. 

Creating the perfect potsticker filling is the real focus of this post, but I also include all the other steps for completeness. As I've mentioned before, grandpa and grandma have always been vague about what goes into the filling, and I have tinkered with it a lot over the years, incorporating elements of other recipes and my own experimentation. I think I've finally nailed it here. The dried mushrooms contribute their nice earthiness. Using both parts of the napa, and lots of it, lightens the texture and adds a little crunch. The classic combination of ginger and garlic comes through on each bite. And then, of course, there's the meat.

The trouble with prepacked ground pork is that the customer typically gets no information about either the cut it came from or the fat content. Contrast this with beef, where you get the lean/fat ratio and the cut (sirloin, chuck, and so forth). Last time I made dumplings, the pork was too lean and they ended up a little dry. I chose pork shoulder for grinding. Importantly, there is a good amount of fat throughout that keeps the dumplings moist. It's also my preferred cut for char siu, which was the delicious destiny of the rest of the roast. Shoulder is also excellent for any kind of stew. Using the rather ancient and venerated grinder was a little intimidating at first, but it ended up working very well. It will no doubt feature in future posts.

This recipe will make at least 150 potstickers, with a little filling left over. It's a good thing they freeze well. I like making potstickers in large batches, as you save time in the long run. You can put frozen potstickers right in the pan and they defrost as they steam for a quick and easy meal. The leftover filling can be cooked like a burger and put on a sandwich. It can be stir fried with a little bean sauce and noodles, or it can go into a frittata. The possibilities are quite endless.

Ingredients

Filling

• 2 lb pork shoulder, with fat
• 2 lb napa, both stalks and leaves
• 1 cup dried black mushrooms, minced (about 12-15 mushrooms)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbs fresh ginger, minced
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup green onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh chives, finely chopped
• 3 Tbs soy sauce
• 1 Tbs salt
• 1 Tbs sesame oil
• 1 tsp black pepper
• Extra salt for the napa

Wrappers

• 7 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2/3 cup cold water

Everything Else

• Vegetable oil for frying
• Chinese black vinegar for dipping
• Splash of soy sauce for dipping

Instructions

Filling

Ahead of time, put the mushrooms in a bowl of hot tap water. Let stand at least 30 minutes. Once soaked, remove the stems and finely mince the caps.

Roughly chop the napa, including both the white center parts and the yellowish/greenish leafy parts. In a large bowl, salt the napa and toss to combine. Let stand at least 20 minutes. Working in batches, wrap the napa in a clean towel and wring. Squeeze out as much water as possible. Once this is done, finely chop the napa.

If using ground pork, skip the next step. Otherwise, continue on. Cut the pork into small chunks, making sure to include the fat, and grind. A food processor can be used in place of a grinder. The grinder was quite straightforward to use, and the only challenge was figuring out how to best clamp it down. We ended up opening a drawer to give it room to screw in, and then putting some cardboard on the contact spots to protect the surfaces and stabilize the grinder.

Meat grinder or time machine? Maybe both.

Combine mushrooms, napa, and pork in a large bowl. Add all other filling ingredients and mix thoroughly but gently. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator until ready to fill dumplings.

The filling can be varied to taste. A good way to test the filling is to form a small patty and cook it in a frying pan.

Wrappers

Mix the flour and boiling water, and let stand for 3 minutes. Add cold water and knead into a smooth dough. Roll out on a floured surface, as thin as possible. Using a pint glass or similarly sized glass, cut circles out of the dough. Ball up and scraps and roll out again until all the dough is used.

To avoid dough drying out, it is best to keep the dough in a bag or under plastic wrap. Roll out dough as needed as the dumplings are filled. Usually, we make the dough in two batches -- the amounts given in the ingredients section reflect a double recipe.

Assembly

Prepare the "assembly station" with a large sheet pan and a bowl of water. For each dumpling, take a round wrapper and add a small amount of the filling, around 1/2 Tbs. Take care not to overfill. Over time, you will get the feel for it. It is important to also make sure the filling stays in the center and does not get into the seal. Usually, I form the filling into a slightly elongated shape parallel to the direction of the fold.

Dip a finger in the water and run it around the edge of the wrapper. Fold over and pinch into a moon shape, making sure to seal tightly. Wet the top edge and form 2-3 pleats in the same direction. For detailed photos of wrapping potstickers, see my original post.

Once the sheet pan is filled, place in the freezer. Once the dumplings are fully frozen, they can be transferred safely to a bag. If the dumplings are bagged too early, they will stick together. The potstickers can also be cooked immediately, but I find they are much easier to detach from the sheet pan once they are at least a little frozen.

Cooking

The key to cooking is the right pan. Nonstick with a well-fitting cover is essential. Add just enough oil to the pan to make a thin layer. On medium high heat, cook the potstickers until the bottoms are lighly browned. Add about a centimeter of water (if the pan is full) and cover. Cook until the water is fully absorbed. Add more oil if needed and fry until the bottoms are crunchy and well-browned.

Serve with Chinese black vinegar, either straight or with a splash of soy sauce.

Chicken and Mushroom Curry

It's been over 3 years since my last curry recipe, and I think it's about time we returned. I've done two other chicken curries in the past, but this one is a little different. Those used dairy-based sauces for a creamy texture, whereas this time I've gone tomato and stock-based. This dish is inspired by some curries I've had in restaurants along with recipes I found online. And by the fact I had a half pound of mushrooms in the fridge. Speaking of the fridge, this was also equally delicious the next day.

The curry turned out quite spicy, and this will come down to how spicy your particular garam masala blend is. It may be best to leave out the crushed pepper until the end if it is still desired. Always taste your sauce (after the chicken is cooked) and season accordingly. This curry also goes well with some plain yogurt or Greek yogurt on the table to cool things off to taste.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb chicken thighs, deboned
• 2 onions, diced
• 1/2 lb sliced mushrooms
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs ginger, minced
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
• Dash of cinnamon and cardamom
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Canola oil

Instructions

Ahead of time, chop the onion, mushroom, garlic, and ginger. Remove skin and bones from chicken, if needed. Cut the chicken into 1 inch squares, then season lightly with salt and pepper.

 In a deep saute pan, dutch oven, or wok (anything with a lid works), heat a bit of oil on medium high. Briefly brown the chicken on both sides, then set aside. Add more oil if needed. Add all the spices to the pan and stir into the oil for a minute. Add onions and saute for a few minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, and ginger, and cook a few more minutes, until mushrooms start to soften.

Pour in the tomatoes and the juice from the can into the pan. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and cook uncovered 10 more minutes to let the sauce reduce.

Salt to taste. Serve with rice and plain yogurt, if desired.

Pork and Cabbage Goulash

Longtime readers of No Free Lunch know that I am a big fan of stews. We have traveled from Ireland to France to Belgium, and even to Africa in search of the most delicious stews. Today, we land in a new country: Hungary. Goulash is a dish virtually synonymous with Hungary, though the dish has become popular, in various forms, all over central and eastern Europe. My version is based on  the Goulash à la Széged recipe from Plachutta and Wagner's 100 Classic Dishes of Austria (Hungary's neighbor and historical partner). The biggest difference is that their recipe, and others I have found, use sauerkraut. Cooking for someone who does not like sauerkraut, I used fresh cabbage instead. For those wishing to use sauerkraut, simply add a pound of sauerkraut to the stew about halfway through cooking instead.

There are two interesting ingredients at work here. The first is Hungarian paprika, also called sweet paprika. This type of paprika has a nice pungency and is less dark in color than others. I have seen it in grocery stores, so I don't think it is terribly hard to find, but other paprika can be substituted if unavailable. The other ingredient is caraway. I had never used it before, but it is apparently quite common in central European cuisine. The aroma is quite striking, and it immediately struck me as the smell of rye bread, which is flavored with caraway.

Ingredients

• 2 lb pork shoulder
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbs flour
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 1/2 Tbs Hungarian paprika
• 2 tsp caraway
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 lb cabbage, roughly chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Canola oil

For serving

• Sour cream
• Boiled potatoes

Instructions

I used two different vessels -- a saute pan and a stock pot -- to prepare this dish. I will refer to these as the "pan" and the "pot." With a large enough dutch oven or similar equipment, it could be made using one. However, using two does speed things up a bit.

Cut the pork into one inch squares. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Heat some oil in the pan on medium-high heat. Working in batches, sear the pork on both sides and set aside. This should take 3-4 batches. Be sure not to crowd the pan.

While the pork is browning, heat some oil in the pot on medium heat. Brown the onions. When the pork is almost done, add the garlic to the pot. Once the pork is all browned, add it to the pot. Add flour and mix together. Add chicken stock, paprika, caraway, and bay leaf, and bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce to low and simmer.

While the stew cooks, clean out the saute pan. Work in batches to cook down the cabbage. Heat a little oil on medium heat, fill with cabbage and a dash of salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes. Add each batch to the pot when done.

Let the stew cook on low heat for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with boiled potatoes and top with sour cream. If preferred, noodles or dumplings could be substituted for the potatoes.

Discussion

Compared to the original recipe, I have greatly increased the amount of onion. The original is also quite vague and does not do any pre-browning of the meat, a step I find difficult to omit. 

Indy's Pittsburgh Cassoulet

I got this recipe from my friend, Harrison "Indy" Turner, who came to visit nearly three years ago. Right before leaving, he handed me a tiny piece of paper with the recipe on it. I stuffed the paper into my coat pocket, where it sat until last March, when I suddenly remembered its existence and rediscovered it. In true Indy style, the recipe is deliciously vague, with such gems as "<1 pound of hot dogs" and "large can o' baked beans." As such, I've done some interpretation, as well as elevating the technique (slightly) beyond "mix ingredients in dish; bake 40-45 min at 350° F."

I do not know whether the recipe is an old family secret or Indy's own concoction; both seem rather plausible. In any case, the use of chopped hot dogs certainly appeals to my Midwestern sensibilities. We regularly added them to boxed mac and cheese or ramen for a quick meal when I was a kid. The basic formula of a bean and sausage casserole is also quite close to my heart as a big fan of cassoulet. It is this resemblance that led me to dub this dish "Pittsburgh Cassoulet." The original recipe did not specify what type of mustard. Since hot dogs are featured, I went with yellow mustard. Going along with the theme, both the ketchup and mustard were Heinz.

The original recipe

Ingredients

• 6 hot dogs, sliced into discs
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 lb canned baked beans (2 standard sized cans)
• 10 oz canned pineapple chunks, drained (1/2 standard can)
• 1 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 Tbs ketchup
• 2 tsp yellow mustard (or more to taste)
• Olive oil
• Black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a dutch oven or heavy saute pan, cook the hot dogs and onion with a splash of olive oil until hot dogs are lightly browned and onions are softened. 

Add the beans, pineapple, brown sugar, ketchup, and mustard. Mix well and transfer to the oven. 

Bake for 45 minutes. Add black pepper to taste.

Flammekueche (Tarte Flambée)

Bonne fête and welcome to the 2015 edition of the No Free Lunch Bastille Day special, which I think is fair to say has become a tradition here. This time, we head to Alsace for flammekueche, known in French as "tarte flambée." It translates roughly as "flame cake," but can be thought of as a thin crust pizza. Although flammekueche is not part of the "core" library of French cuisine, it is an Alsatian classic. In a way, Alsatians were the first to celebrate Bastille Day, storming the Strasbourg city hall just a week after the Bastille fell. Today, we salute their revolutionary spirit.

Alsace is one of the world's fascinating border regions, being passed from the Austrian-led Holy Roman Empire to Burgundy, to France over the years. Seized by Otto von Bismarck in the Franco-Prussian War, Alsace became a part of the German Empire until returning to France, where it has remained, in the Treaty of Versailles. Traditional Alsatian cuisine is a testament to the cultural blending that came out of this history. Where else in France is sauerkraut a central part of the cuisine? Their coq au vin is even made with Riesling. In fact, the first time I had flammekueche was in Germany.

As with many traditional dishes, my investigations turned up a lot of variation. The biggest differences are in the dough. Some use yeast and rise the dough, while others do not. Since the Wikipedia article describes it as "bread dough" I went the yeast route. There are also a variety of takes on the topping. I had decided on a mix of crème fraîche and fromage blanc, a tart fresh cheese from France. I was unable to get fromage blanc, so I am substituting fat free Greek yogurt. I also had some of the crema Mexicana left from the corn, and used that in place of crème fraîche.

Ingredients

Dough

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 tsp (1 package) dry active yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)

Topping

• 3/4 cup crème fraîche (substitute crema Mexicana)
• 3/4 cup fromage blanc (substitute fat free Greek yogurt)
• 1 onion
• 6 strips thick-cut bacon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Dough

Start by preparing the dough about 2 hours ahead of time. Mix the flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour the water in. Slowly mix the flour into the water until everything is integrated. 

Before kneading

Knead until smooth. I did this in the stand mixer. Note the dough is quite sticky compared to bread dough. 

After kneading

Transfer the dough to a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. Punch down, cover again and let rise for 1 more hour. Punch down again and divide the dough in half.

Assembly

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Halve the onion and cut it crosswise as thin as possible. Cut the bacon into thin strips, about 1/4 inch wide. Mix together the crème fraîche and the fromage blanc/yogurt. 

Ready to bake

Roll both pieces of dough into large, thin rectangles. Transfer to oiled sheet pans. Spread the topping mixture over both, and sprinkle onion and bacon on top. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake on lower rack for 15 minutes. Cut into squares for serving. Wine pairing would traditionally be Riesling, but Vouvray did nicely today.

Mexican Street Corn (Elotes)

Although I've wanted to make these for a long time, this recipe was inspired by eating a delicious cup of Mexican street corn from a food truck in Michigan City last weekend. The timing was good, as the local farmers selling sweet corn in the Pizza Hut parking lot have just set up shop. Now that I've tried it, I'm convinced this is a fantastic way to eat corn. As the name suggests, elotes are a street food in Mexico. Of course, they are also quite a mess to eat, so the version in a cup, known as esquites, are also an option. You could simply follow this recipe, but cut the kernels off and mix in the coating ingredients. Either way, making street corn is very easy and a great way to shake up your corn-eating experience.

I bought two new ingredients for this recipe. Crema Mexicana, or Mexican cream, is a cultured cream mostly interchangeable with the French crème fraîche. Compared with sour cream, the flavor is milder and the texture is looser.

Cotija is a hard, crumbly Mexican cheese made from cow's milk. The cheese is salty, and squeaks a little when biting in, kind of like cheese curds. It can be crumbled by hand. If unavailable, substitute another hard, crumbly cheese. A lot of recipes use parmesan. If doing this, I would definitely try to get a good, strong Parmigiano-Reggiano from Italy. I found both of these ingredients in the regular supermarket. The crema was located with some other Mexican products, such as tortillas and queso fresco, while the Cotija was in the cheese section.

Ingredients

• 4 ears corn
• 1/4 cup crema Mexicana or crème fraîche
• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• Chili powder to taste
• 1/2 cup crumbled cotija or parmesan
• 1 lime, quartered into wedges

Instructions

Remove husks and hair from the corn, but leave the stem attached. This will act as a handle once the corn has been dressed. Preheat the grill and brush oil on the grate. Grill the corn on a relatively high flame with the cover down. Turn occasionally until all sides are browned. 

While the corn is cooking, mix the crema and mayo together. Once the corn is done, spread the mixture all over the corn. Dust with chili powder, then sprinkle the cheese all over. You may want to press the cheese in so that it sticks to the cream. Finally, squeeze the lime on the corn.

Steamed Beef with Spicy Rice Powder (粉蒸牛肉)

Fenzheng niurou, translated as "powder steamed beef" (one of the more intuitive translations we've seen so far), hails from the western province of Sichuan. I am still quite a novice when it comes to the various regional cuisines of China, but I'm pleased to say traveling the provinces with Peimei has certainly broadened my knowledge. After dad spotted boxes of spicy rice powder (discussed below) in the Chinese store, I had to give this one a go. He seemed very familiar with the dish, but I don't recall ever eating it before, so we're off into terra incognita with this one. I was immensely pleased with the results. As one of the pictures later shows, the beef goes in fairly dry and emerges as a deep, rich stew, I think in large part due to fat and connective tissue breaking down. I was amazed by how tender the beef was and how well the flavors developed and blended in just 30 minutes of cooking time. 

The unusual ingredient here is the spicy rice powder. This is really a misnomer, as I really wouldn't describe it as a powder, but more like broken up rice. I used prepackaged rice powder. Preparing the powder involves toasting rice with star anise and Sichuan peppercorns, then crushing the rice up. This then becomes a quasi-breading for the beef. Note that the above photo was made with only 1.75 oz of rice powder (one box), but I would double that, as the recipe suggests.

Hot bean paste and Sichuan peppercorn, the staple Sichuan ingredients make their return here, after their first appearance in mapo doufu. These two combine give western Chinese dishes their distinctive heat and aroma. Unlike most of her recipes, Peimei is completely vague on the cut, asking only for "beef" (I did check the Chinese recipe, and it is equally vague). I went with chuck for its good flavor and utility in stews and braises, and this worked out very well. Interestingly, I bought the meat as "western ribs" or "country ribs" -- mostly boneless shoulder cuts of meat sliced into strips, so it was quick to break these down into the slices I needed. Pork country ribs are, by the way, my favorite cut to make char siu.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb beef chuck
• 3.5 oz (100 g) spicy rice powder
• 2 green onions
• Sichuan peppercorn powder to taste (optional)

Marinade

• 1 1/2 Tbs minced ginger
• 1 tsp five spice powder
• 2 Tbs hot bean paste (doubanjiang -- see Exotic Ingredients)
• 4 Tbs soy sauce
• 2 Tbs Shaoxing wine or dry amontillado
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 c vegetable oil

Instructions

Cut beef across the grain into thin slices, 1 to 1 1/2 inches across. Combine the beef and all marinade ingredients in an airtight bag and let stand in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Spread out the rice powder on a plate and dredge each slice of beef on both sides. 

Steam the beef for 30 minutes. If you have small, shallow bowls that can fit inside a bamboo steamer, then use those. I did not have bowls that fit, so I put the beef in a 10 x 10 inch cake dish and set this inside a wok with boiling water below, then covered with a lid. Whatever your strategy, you need the steam to be trapped over the beef. 

Once the beef is done cooking, add the remaining green onions and dust with peppercorn powder, if desired. Mix together and serve. I served with rice and Chinese vegetables.

Commentary

I made minimal changes to the original recipe. The main thing was that I swapped out star anise for the more readily available five spice powder in the marinade. Other than that, I played with the marinade proportions a little. Peimei also calls for an entire cup of rice powder per 3/4 lb. beef, which seems absurd to me.

As a final note, it's worth mentioning that the way my version turned into a deep and delicious stew does not seem to be universal. The photo in the cookbook looks a lot dryer, as well as others I saw on the internet. 

Chicken Kebabs

Cooking a great meal can be the source of much pride and satisfaction. Sometimes, that satisfaction comes from doing lots of research, gathering ingredients, and pulling off a long, complex recipe. Something like Shanghai-style dumplings comes to mind. Other times, though, coming up with a simple dish on your own and having it exceed expectation can be just as satisfying. With just some chicken thighs on hand, I started looking at some Turkish kebab recipes and came up with this. The result was incredibly delicious. The chicken gets a good char, but is nice and juicy on the inside. They are just a little spicy, but not overwhelming at all.

I found out after the fact that yogurt-marinated chicken kebabs are called şiş tavuk in Turkish. I believe this is pronounced something like "sheesh tah-vook." It occurs to me that Turkish cuisine is one that hasn't quite caught on the US in the way that a lot of others have. If only we had a döner stand on every corner like the Germans do. On a side note, I still remember the first jet lagged kebab we had after touching down in Munich so many years ago, so it must have been pretty good!

A quick note on equipment: The use of metal skewers, from what I've heard, is preferred for chicken because the skewers conduct heat to the center of the meat, whereas for beef, wooden skewers are preferred. Besides, I love an opportunity to use my fun Turkish-styled skewers that invoke images of the Janissaries marching around the Ottoman Empire. Or maybe that's just me. 

Ingredients

• 4 lb boneless chicken thighs
• 2 cups plain Greek yogurt (I used fat free)
• 1 Tbs cumin powder
• 1 Tbs paprika
• 3 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions

Trim off any skin or large areas of fat from the chicken. Cut into small pieces, about 1 1/2 inches across. In a large bowl, combine chicken with all other ingredients. Mix well with hands to coat the chicken. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

Preheat grill to about 400° F. Assemble the kebabs on skewers. I used 5 skewers. Place the kebabs on the lower rack, right above the flame. Cook with the cover closed until lightly charred on all sides, turning occasionally. If the chicken starts to get done before the char develops, turn the heat up and cook uncovered.

I served with rice. The chicken was also excellent on sandwiches the next day.

Shredded Pork with Steamed Buns (京醬肉絲)

Today's post is inspired by two recipes I found in Peimei's Chinese Cookbook. The first recipe, the shredded pork, is transliterated jingjiang rousi. This is a classic northern Chinese dish, and as such was sort of outside my normal milieu when it comes to Chinese cooking. Peimei serves it with dan bing, the same super-thin pancakes which often wrap Peking duck. As these are quite labor intensive, I decided to save them for another day and make the much simpler sandwich-style buns in the picture. I have been dabbling with various bun recipes for a few years now, but have been waiting to perfect them before posting. These buns, by contrast, are stunningly simple, containing no yeast and requiring no raising. Peimei's recipe, called "Flower Shaped Buns," has a few extra steps to make them prettier, which I omitted.

The name translates literally to "capital city paste meat strings," but as with many Chinese expressions, brevity rules over ease of translation, and implied meaning is left out. A more accurate translation might be "shredded meat with bean paste from Beijing." Peimei goes with "Shredded Pork with Bean Sauce." I made relatively few departures from the original recipe, other than roughly doubling it. For the buns, we used butter instead of lard, and they came out just fine.

Today's recipe features a new "exotic ingredient" -- sweetened soybean paste. Just when I think I have used just about every possible fermented bean product, another one always manages to pop up. This stuff is quite thick, and has a smooth consistency and that deep umami that only fermented beans can provide. It's definitely milder than the funky fermented black beans or fermented tofu I have used in the past. Despite the name, I did not find the paste to be all that sweet, as the whole fermented bean thing tends to take over. I found it at the Asian grocery store.

Ingredients

Pork

• 3 1-inch thick slices pork loin (about 20 oz)
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 2 Tbs cornstarch
• 3 Tbs cold water
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 4 large green onions

Sauce

• 3 Tbs sweetened soybean paste
• 1 Tbs sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbs water
• 3 Tbs vegetable oil

Buns

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 Tbs melted butter (substituting for lard)
• 1 Tbs sugar
• Sesame oil

Instructions

Shredded Pork

Cut the pork into long, thin strings. I cut each piece of pork loin into thin strips, then halved these lengthwise, as shown in the picture. In retrospect, I think going thinner is better, perhaps into 3 or 4 pieces instead. In a bowl, mix the pork with the soy sauce, cornstarch, and water. Let this marinate in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes. Cut the green onions into pieces about 2 inches long, then slice them up lengthwise into 2-4 smaller pieces. Set these aside. If you are making the buns, you can make them while the pork marinates. The recipe for the buns is set aside at the end of this post.

Heat up plenty of oil in a wok on high heat. Stir fry the pork until browned and cooked through. Set aside and clean out the wok. I found the marinade really burned onto the wok, and had to deglaze with water and scrape before moving on.

Heat up the 3 Tbs oil for the sauce, again on high. Combine soybean paste, sugar, and water in a dish and stir well. Add this mixture to the hot oil and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the pork and stir to coat. Serve with the green onion and buns and eat as small sandwiches.

Buns

Combine the flour, baking powder, butter, and sugar in a large bowl. Use your hands to mix together, then knead into a smooth dough. Cut the dough into about 20 equal pieces (for larger buns, you can do fewer). 

Flatten each piece of dough into rounds by hand, with the cut sides aligned as the top and bottom. These should be around 3 inches in diameter. Brush one half of each round with sesame oil, and fold them over into half-circles. This method is quite rustic, and they will not all end up exactly the same, but that's fine.

Place the buns in a bamboo steamer and steam for 8 minutes. As usual, we used steamer liners, but you can also put parchment paper under each bun.