494664 Fri Feb 29 23:40:46 -0800 2008 125 31 Home Cooking 0 3448887 Land of Plenty only has "Poultry", "Rev. Chinese" has "Poultry and Eggs" - both go here. Fri Feb 29 23:40:47 -0800 2008 10245 oakjoan 1 3449341 Woo hoo! My first ever COTM attempt. We tried "Steamed Eggs" from page 149 of "Revolutionary Chinese." Dunlop describes this as an evening, "comfort food" kind of dish, best eaten with plain steamed rice and stir-fried green vegetables and particularly recommended for invalids and infants. Eggs, at our house however, are a breakfast meal, so, this was our breakfast this morning, served with a side of wild rice and sliced papaya. Because I'm following Weight Watchers Core Plan, I made a couple of small modifications (switching from white rice to wild rice was one), which I think, worked out fine. I'm only allowed 2 tsp of oil a day, so, I cut back on the oil in this dish to make room for oil later in the day. Modifications: ~ Used regular chicken stock (since I haven't had time yet to make a batch of the "everyday" stock) ~ Used 1/2 tsp (instead of 1 tsp) of Canola oil ~ Used 1/2 tsp (instead of 1 tsp) of sesame oil Overall, we liked it. The custard was smooth and delicate (and, yes, perfect for someone who can't chew--maybe after having wisdom teeth pulled or something) and very mild. I turned this into 2 servings, but next time, I'd probably use the smaller ramekins and break it into 8 servings as just a little side instead of a main since it really is very gentle. A pretty easy first dish, as some of the recipes in this dish go. It probably took me a half hour, start to finish, most of it passive time and clean-up was easy. Photos attached (though, not great ones...) EDIT: for others of you following the core plan, technically, sesame oil is not a "healthy fat" and in accordance with the WW "Good Health Guidelines" you're supposed to count it, but, my attitiude from a "counting" perspective is oil is oil and I count sesame oil and peanut oil and chili oil the same way I count canola or olive oils--as long as I'm within my 2 tsp a day, I don't "count" it. The flavor difference is huge and my opinion is that they are calorically the same or same'ish and, therefore, shouldn't sabotage my weight loss. I know WW wants to encourage people to use healthy fats and, in general, I think that's great. You may choose to count them differently than I do, but this is just an FYI because I don't want to inadvertantly sabotage anyone's weight loss efforts with my own interpretation of the program. So, I count this meal as 100% core. If you are a core plan purist, you may wish leave out the sesame oil or look up the points for it and count it. ~TDQ Sat Mar 01 08:35:58 -0800 2008 3448887 12005 The Dairy Queen 1 3452095 Yolkless Eggs with Shiitake Mushrooms from Page 150-151 of RC (half recipe) So, I think I've topped even my Elvis Cake disaster, though, I'm not really sure you can call it "topping" yourself when you reach a new low... I've "lowed" myself! Against my better judgment (being the rather inexperienced and impatient cook I am) I tried the Yolkless Eggs with Shiitake Mushrooms from Page 150-151 of RC. I thought the "yolkless" eggs would be fun to serve at Easter in a "nest" of whole wheat noodles, so, today was going to be my trial run. Of course, I wanted to take it a step further and COLOR the yolkless eggs Easter colors, because I guess this recipe that Dunlop describes as "so challenging that it was actually an examination dish for the highest grade of Hunanese chef" just wasn't complicated enough for me. So, I added a small sliver of a blue food coloring tablet to the chicken stock, expecting to dye my "yolkless" eggs to look like robin's eggs. It was truly a disaster. The eggs bubbled up and flowed over, almost completely emptying their shells and sometimes even breaking the shells. It looked like robin's egg blue lava and had the texture of a sponge. (at least I achieved the color I was striving for...) My sweetie was trying to explain the fundamentals of fluid dynamics to me as I was mopping up my mess saying there were only three factors causing the pressure inside the eggshell to be greater than the pressure outside the eggshell forcing the contents of the inside out...well, only three factors that I had control over and, therefore, I need to adjust next time: temperature, volume, and, maybe the size of the hole I made in the top of the egg shell. We concluded that it probably wasn't the size of the hole. Maybe I tried to steam the eggs at too high a temperature, but, mostly likely, we thought, I overfilled the eggs. And here's how the overfilling came about. In one case, as I was draining the white from the eggshell, the jagged "hole" in the top of the eggshell pierced the yolk before I was done draining the white. I feared I lost a little egg white in the case of that egg (though, in hindsight, probably not that much) and, I thought that fear was validated when I went to refill the eggs with the egg white+chicken stock mixture and only had enough for 3 1/2 eggs (not four--remember, I cut the recipe in half from Dunlop's eight). So, I actually went ahead and broke open a fifth egg, mixed in more chicken stock and used this mixture to top off my fourth eggshell. I think this was a serious mistake. I don't think the eggshells are supposed to be 100% full. I think they need space in the top for expansion. What I should have done, I think, was fill all four eggs mostly full using only the whites from those four eggs (plus the chicken stock.) Some pointers. She has you empty the egg whites into a bowl. Then, later, she has you measure the egg whites and add the chicken stock to the whites. Then, after straining the whites, she has you pour them through a funnel into the egg shells. I think it would have been much easier to break the eggs into a bowl, then strain them into a measuring cup with a pointy spout, add the stock to that, then pour the mixture directly into the eggshells through the hole in the top of the shells. Using the funnel (which I bought at Sur La Table for this specific recipe) just resulted in a big mess. Plus, the more times you pour the mixture from container to container, the more air you introducing into the mixture, which is problematic. I'm definitely going to try this again--before Easter-- although, I will try without the dye on the off chance the dye caused the robin's egg blue lava flow. Photos attached. Photo #1--all the stuff--you'll notice I'm using wild rice (instead of white rice) for my core plan diet reasons and pak choy instead of baby bok choy, because, well, it's March in Minnesota and this is what I could get. Photo #2--the empty eggshells. Note the jagged holes. :(. Sorry for the fuzzy photo. Photo #3--the refilled-eggs with their paper caps, ready to be steamed. Photo #4--the robin's egg blue, spongy mess. ~TDQ Sun Mar 02 11:25:19 -0800 2008 3448887 12005 The Dairy Queen 2 3452110 More photos Photo #1 Blue egg sponges on a bed of wild rice and surrounded by stir-fried pak choy. Photo #2 The works covered with shiitake mushrooms. I guess I'm not quite ready for my examination for the highest grade of Hunanese chef, eh? ~TDQ Sun Mar 02 11:28:53 -0800 2008 3452095 12005 The Dairy Queen 3 3452153 Thanks for sharing your efforts! That picture of the eggs with the blue "sponge" oozing out is a doozy :-) What did it taste like? Sun Mar 02 11:42:13 -0800 2008 3452110 11028 DanaB 4 3452193 Dana, it tasted pretty awful. Mostly, it was the spongy texture that was a problem and to be honest, there just wasn't that much egg left as most of it bubbled over and into the steamer tray etc. The pak choy was a little bitter, but the shiitake mushrooms and rice were good! ~TDQ Sun Mar 02 11:59:26 -0800 2008 3452153 12005 The Dairy Queen 2 3464253 I absolutely love all the effort you are giving to this project and I have nothing but admiration for your persistence in keeping to your diet yet cooking these unusual recipes. Your reports are eagerly awaited by me, and all your insights and suggestions are gratefully acknowledged. Had to LOL at the color of the erupted eggs, however. Too bad the taste was not acceptable... would have made a super Easter presentation. Wed Mar 05 17:58:25 -0800 2008 3452095 75332 Gio 3 3464981 Gio, I'm going to try that yolkless eggs recipes one more time before Easter to see if I can't pull it off, partly because I love a challenge, partly because I want to see if I can learn from some key mistakes I made, and also because I still think it will be fun to serve! Thank you (and others) for all of your support and encouragement! ~TDQ Thu Mar 06 03:16:15 -0800 2008 3464253 12005 The Dairy Queen 2 3465041 wow - very illuminating! fluid dynamics, huh . . . THX TDQ Thu Mar 06 04:49:15 -0800 2008 3452095 11989 pitu 2 3495392 So, I tried this again (a half recipe again)--one more attempt to see if I'm going to try to do this for Easter. The good news is, it went better than before. The bad news is, I still don't think I'm ready to take the test for Hunanese chef of the highest order. It was a fun recipe to try, but I don't think my family will love it, even if I perfected it, so, I think this is the end of the line for me with this recipe. Here's the takeaway. Last time, I thought the problem was that I'd overfilled the eggs (by supplementing the whites from the four eggs I was using with the white from a fifth egg and the equivalent amount of stock). This time, I used only the whites from the four eggs I was using, plus the equivalent amount of stock. Exactly as per the recipe. This resulted in the eggs being about 60% full--I was hoping that the volume would somehow expand to fill the egg 100% full. Instead of "sealing" the eggs with a wet piece of paper as per Dunlop's instructions, I sealed them with a wet piece of paper towel. I think this worked much better. I'm going to spoil the surprise ending and say that the end result is that the final eggs turned out to be about 60% of an egg--there was little, if any, expansion of the egg white/stock mixture. Moral of the story--you need to fill the egg almost completely full, I think, even if that means supplementing with the white from a "spare" egg, plus the equivalent amount of stock of course. This time only two of the four eggs bubbled over. I noticed it happening right away. I forgot to mention that I used a stainless steel steamer (Dunlop calls for a bamboo steamer)--somewhere, I can't remember where, not even if it was this recipe--Dunlop says that the stainless steel steamers are much more air-tight than the bamboo ones and that you should crack the lid on your stainless steel steamer a tiny bit to let more air escape. Sadly, I hadn't done that straightaway--if I had, I think all would have been fine. But, I cracked the lid mid-way, and that did prevent any further boil-over. When I cooled down the eggs and cracked and peeled them, the texture of the egg was not firm. It was very custard-like, which is exactly how Dunlop describes it. It is extremely delicate and you must take an incredible amount of care. In fact, at some point, you can almost very gently "pour" the egg out of the shell. But you must handle them very carefully so they don't tear and break apart. Even the most perfect of my eggs didn't look appealing. They were pocked-marked and I think it would take an incredible amount of experimentation on my part to produce eggs where one's first impression is, "There must have been something seriously wrong with the chicken that laid that egg." Seriously, it just wasn't appetizing at all. I think this mixture would have stood up fine to a little food dye, though I didn't try it this time around and, I supposed the dye might add just enough distraction from the pock-markedness of the egg. How did it taste? Well, exactly like the stock I used. Second moral of the story--use only your very finest stock in this dish. The texture was very smooth and pudding-like--I liked the texture. That's it. Photos attached. The first is of the eggs in the steamer with their paper-towel caps; the second of the final product. The two eggs at the top of the frame are the ones that boiled over; the two on the bottom are the ones that were basically intact. I realize I don't have any dishes that aren't white or egg-shell colored. Sorry about that. Overall, this was a fun experiment and I'm glad I tried it. ~TDQ Sat Mar 15 09:35:41 -0700 2008 3452095 12005 The Dairy Queen 3 3497144 I loved reading about all the steps in both your experiments with this dish. Great to see the photos....especially the non-blue ones ;+) This sounds as if it's just too complicated and difficult for me to attempt, but I am very glad you did. Sat Mar 15 22:11:24 -0700 2008 3495392 10245 oakjoan 1 3459991 Has anyone tried either of the General Tso's Chicken recipes that are in Revolutionary Chinese? I seem to recall that there was an article about the recipes when the book was published, but can't find it. I am thinking of making one of the recipes for a dinner party later this month, but wasn't sure which one to go for. Thanks! Tue Mar 04 14:58:31 -0800 2008 3448887 11028 DanaB 2 3460800 Dana: Here's a link to the General Tso's Chicken recipe in the NYT. It's in a very interesting article written by.... you guessed it! ... Fuchsia Dunlop. It goes into the history of the dish and its origins. And it has a recipe. Prob. the same as in her book. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/magazine/04food.t.html?scp=2&sq=general+tso%27s+chicken&st=nyt If the link doesn't work, you can search their website for "style" (along the top it's one of the categories) and then, when you get to the Style page, type in Fuchsia Dunlop or General Tso's Chicken and it'll bring up the article. Tue Mar 04 19:31:28 -0800 2008 3459991 10245 oakjoan 3 3460817 I loved the General Tso's Chicken story in RC. I enjoy most of the background stories, actually. When I'm off this diet, I'm definitely going to try the General Tso's Chicken, though, I hope Dana tries it for us in the meantime! ~TDQ Tue Mar 04 19:37:55 -0800 2008 3460800 12005 The Dairy Queen 4 3462111 We tried the Gong Bao Chicken, page 237, Land of Plenty. It was very, very good. We used dried chiles that we purchased at United Noodle several years ago. They look exactly like dried Sichaun chiles, but the package said only, Grown and packaged in China. It was one of the hottest, spiciest dishes I've ever made! We loved it. I followed the recipe exactly, using cornstarch rather than potato starch. The finished dish had the wonderful numbing effect we were looking for. Wed Mar 05 09:11:16 -0800 2008 3460817 12658 zataar 5 3467225 Just made the Gong Bao Chicken. Oh, man! is that ever good. I used arbol chiles and sherry, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. It was hot, but not too. And I wasn't even anal about making sure I got rid of all the chile seeds--most, but not all. This is one terrific, quick, easy-to-make dish. There's only one problem with it. Kung Pao [Gong Bao] chicken was always my favorite Chinese takeout dish. No more. This is just world's apart from any Kung Pao chicken I've ever had before. Bye-bye takeout; hello LOP! Thu Mar 06 14:25:26 -0800 2008 3462111 11407 JoanN 6 3467264 Oh, that looks lovely! Kung Pao chicken is one of my favorite take-out dishes, too, but I guess I'll have to be a LOP convert, too, esp. if it's quick and easy! Thanks for sharing! ~TDQ Thu Mar 06 14:36:44 -0800 2008 3467225 12005 The Dairy Queen 7 3479268 great dish. I used the Bruce Cost method and fast deep fried the peanuts. Mon Mar 10 15:17:48 -0700 2008 3467264 20276 wew 8 3479511 Please tell us more. Do you deep fry already roasted peanuts? For how long? Any other Bruce Cost hints and tips? Mon Mar 10 16:34:02 -0700 2008 3479268 11407 JoanN 9 3496903 re: tip That Bruce Cost book was remaindered at The Strand, as a $5 paperback. Sat Mar 15 19:48:46 -0700 2008 3479511 11989 pitu 10 3497324 I was just thinking perhaps it was time for a trip to The Strand. Thanks for heads up. Sun Mar 16 01:26:37 -0700 2008 3496903 11407 JoanN 11 3508017 Waaaah! Waaaaah! No fair you guys get to go to The Strand! I once bought about 15 used cookbooks there and had them shipped back to Oakland at great expense. I still have ALL of them and several are among my all-time faves. Italian Regional Cooking by Ada Boni, Pleasures of the Good Earth by Edward Giobbi, Memories of Gascony by Pierre Koffman, and At Home With The Roux Brothers, but.....the Roux Bros! When I was there last year, I managed (with a forceful nudge from my husband) to buy NONE! I am sooooo jealous. Also jealous of that cookbook store on the Upper Upper East Side. Can't remember the name. In any case, this is enough of the off-topic posting. Wed Mar 19 12:26:37 -0700 2008 3497324 10245 oakjoan 12 3508023 Kitchen Arts & Letters - about a five minute walk from my apartment ;-). Wed Mar 19 12:27:55 -0700 2008 3508017 10985 MMRuth 12 3508114 No need to be too envious. They didn't have any of the Cost books left, and they didn't have either of the Dunlop's either. Yesterday may have been the first time in my life I walked out empty handed. Waaaah! Waaaah! Wed Mar 19 12:45:41 -0700 2008 3508017 11407 JoanN 13 3508508 wow! bad luck! Last time I was there, they had Cost and at least one of the Dunlop books in a stack on the first cookbook table. oakjoan, I know it's not the same, but the strand has a website now...strandbooks.com Wed Mar 19 14:10:17 -0700 2008 3508114 11989 pitu 14 3512238 Thanks, pitu, but it'll never replace walking down Broadway...or actually up Broadway from our friend's apt. It is always wonderful, even last April when we had to buy knit caps about 5 steps from his door because of the freezing winds. Hmph! April in Paris may be lovely, but April in Manhattan can certainly be colllllld and cloudy and windy. Thu Mar 20 14:31:07 -0700 2008 3508508 10245 oakjoan 10 3497397 Hey, good to know that book has been remaindered--I have a bookstore in my neighborhood that usually gets a lot of remaindered books. If we get a nice sunny day today like we did yesterday, I think I'll walk down there and have a peek! ~TDQ Sun Mar 16 04:29:38 -0700 2008 3496903 12005 The Dairy Queen 6 3602823 Made the Gong Bao chicken last night and loved it. The OH claimed it was too spicy, but I found out at the end of the meal that was because he'd eaten the chillies rather than leaving them behind! Doh.... The only modification I made was to cut the amount of oil slightly, and use less peanuts. I used dried Thai chillies, but the slightly bigger ones, not the tiny super-hot ones. Served with steamed rice, and kale in oyster sauce (I'm SO sick of kale now it's nearly Spring!). Thu Apr 17 02:25:07 -0700 2008 3467225 110146 greedygirl 4 3476488 I just found this thread last night! I have been cooking from Dunlop's books for ages now, and love them. I made the Taiwanese version of General Tso's chicken tonight and it came out well. I used 2.6 lbs of chicken breasts (not thigh); half black vinegar, half white; chicken stock instead of water; and added chopped sweet red peppers (fried in advance) to pad it out while cutting the calorie density. As I live alone, I always have leftovers, so rather than returning all the chicken to the wok at the end, I mixed enough sauce with the chicken I planned to eat tonight, keeping the rest of the chicken separate from the sauce. I think the chicken soaks up too much of the sauce if you mix them together and then let them sit for a day in the fridge. Incidentally, the sauce tasted spicy-hot, a bit unbalanced, so I ended up adding a little sugar to it to balance it, so maybe it was not a pure Taiwanese version. As an interesting aside (well, interesting to me!) - the ingredient list for General Tso is extremely close to that for Kung Pao. I was quite surprised when someone at the rec.food.asia newsgroup first pointed this out to me. Cook on, everybody - this is a great thread! Cheers, Ian Sun Mar 09 20:02:44 -0700 2008 3460817 173398 IanG 5 3476955 Interesting tips, Ian, thank you. I'm glad you found us--welcome! ~TDQ Mon Mar 10 04:08:47 -0700 2008 3476488 12005 The Dairy Queen 3 3462909 Yes, that was the article. Thanks for the link! I'm still torn as to whether I want to make the version that is "hot and sour" or the "sweeter" version that makes it closer to the Americanized one (see pages 120-122 in Revolutionary Chinese). If I have time, maybe I'll do a comparison of the two dishes! Wed Mar 05 12:05:10 -0800 2008 3460800 11028 DanaB 4 3464122 Great! I downloaded the recipe when she first wrote the article and your post reminded me I'd never made it. So we'll compare results. Wed Mar 05 17:16:26 -0800 2008 3462909 10245 oakjoan 4 3464180 I had a lack of success with the hot and sour version. Hope others get better results Wed Mar 05 17:33:28 -0800 2008 3462909 20276 wew 4 3464673 Here's a thread with reports from people who made the Gen. Tso's chicken after the recipe was published in the NY Times last year; generally rave reviews all around (for the non-sweet version in the article): http://www.chowhound.com/topics/369812 Wed Mar 05 20:45:32 -0800 2008 3462909 10074 Caitlin McGrath 1 3465003 Chicken with Chiles, pp 240-241 LOP Oh my, so many lessons learned. 1. Looks like a simple dish when you scan the ingredients, but, it's not quick. It took me about an hour an a half --all of it active time--and I had help cutting and seeding the chiles. (But, since I had the knife, cutting board, chicken and my "box o' ingredients" out, I also went ahead and cut up the chicken and started the marinade for the dish I'm making tonight--but that only took a couple of minutes.) The time consuming part is step 2. It's just one sentence "Wearing rubber gloves, snip the chiles in half with a pair of scissors and remove and discard as many seeds as possible," but it's a doozy. The first pair of rubber gloves were just too big for me, and I really struggled. Kept cutting the gloves and getting bits of rubber gloves in my chiles. I switched to a smaller, more form-fitting pair of surgical gloves and things went a little faster. So, remember to have your rubber gloves and scissors handy. But, do you realize how much two ounces of dried chiles is? It's one entire package! Look at photo #1 (these are all of my Dunlop ingredients, i.,e. my "box o' ingredients", not all needed for this dish) and you'll see the pack of chiles I used. It's not the bright red pack of chiles on the left--those are my fresh ones, but the ones to the right of those, in the pack that says "Jack Hua Co Ltd." in small print at the bottom (right behind the earthenware pot of pickled vegetables...) 2. Cutting back the oil. She doesn't say how much to use, just "peanut oil for deep-frying"--you know me, I thought I could get away with skimping (I used 3 generous tsp plus all the non-stick spray the pan would hold) so I could make the dish fit my diet, but, look, you just can't or you'll scald everything. "deep frying" should have been my clue, but, I'm clueless. What I ended up doing is, when I thought things were getting too hot and were about to burn the chiles, I transferred everything to a bowl, heated up another (nonstick) pan, and finished it in the new pan. Not super efficient, but it saved the dish from being completely ruined. If I were to try this again, I'd use more oil, though, I'm not sure how much more...I'd probably use 3 TBSP, but in a similar'ish recipe on pg 129 if RC, she calls for 1 1/4 cups peanut oil "for deep frying," so my guess is that's about how much Dunlop would want you to use in this recipe, too. 3. Heat. She says "it's not particularly hot. The chiles that make the dish look so dramatic are used to give fragrance and a gentle spiciness to the cooking oil AND ARE NOT GENERALLY EATEN. "...you're supposed to pick out and eat only the chicken. Well, that's what I did in the end, but I didn't realize it at first and so I thought this dish was intolerably hot (my husband said, "Hotter than I'd like, but not intolerably so"...I beg to differ, anyway...) but you're not supposed to eat the chiles. Normally I don't eat them when I dine out, but I thought maybe it was okay to in this instance, because they'd been de-seeded. No, no, no! The chicken, if you eat only it as instructed, is quite tasty. I had planned to make a vegetable dish, too, but ran out of time and just served it with a side of steamed vegetables. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but I served the chicken over whole wheat penne...not traditional, I'm sure, but it's what we had that we needed to use up. Tonight I'm planning to make "Numbing-and-Hot Chicken" from pg 129 of RC, since I've already got the chicken marinating. But, I'm worried how it's going to come out since I think it, too, will need more oil than I'll want to use. We'll see, I guess. Oh, and for dessert, we tried the frozen yogurt on Heidi Swanson's 101cookbooks.com--it's actually David Lebovitz' recipe from The Perfect Scoop. Again, not that traditionally, but the milk and the cooling were nice on the tastebuds after all that heat. http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/a-frozen-yogurt-recipe-to-rival-pinkberrys-recipe.html ~TDQ Thu Mar 06 04:02:13 -0800 2008 3448887 12005 The Dairy Queen 2 3465015 That looks delicious! I'll be sure to get a pepper helper when I make it. BTW - I have disposable surgical gloves that work really well for this sort of thing. Thu Mar 06 04:21:11 -0800 2008 3465003 10985 MMRuth 2 3465094 You actually seeded all of those little dried red peppers? I admire your spirit!! The dish looks delicious, and am excited to cook from these books, especially given your experiments and successes :-) Thu Mar 06 05:25:57 -0800 2008 3465003 11028 DanaB 3 3465105 Surprisingly, they are pretty self-seeding--when you cut them open, the seeds fly right out. I used 3 bowls for this process. First, a bowl of whole dried peppers. Then, I cut the peppers open and dropped them into bowl #2. Then, at the end, I just picked the red pieces out of bowl #2 and dropped them into bowl #3. MMRuth, surgical gloves will be perfect. ~TDQ Thu Mar 06 05:30:30 -0800 2008 3465094 12005 The Dairy Queen 2 5116432 Chicken with Chiles (la zi ji), LOP, p. 241. Taking cues from TheDairyQueen, to simplify, I used whole chiles and skipped cutting and seeding them (though did think leaving them whole made this dish not as spicy as I would like and so wouldn't do that next time). I also missed where it said 2 ounces, so probably should have used more - I used a large handful. Chicken is cut into cubes and marinated in Shaoxing rice wine, light and dark soy, and salt for 30 minutes (I did this earlier a couple of hours earlier in the day). I also should have fried the chicken more as it wasn't golden-brown, but I was afraid it would be too dry. The cooked chicken is mixed with garlic, ginger, chiles, whole Sichuan peppercorns, scallions, sugar, and sesame oi. It made a couple of great lunches this week. My favorite chicken dishes are still the Dry-Fried Chicken and Tai Bai Chicken, though this was quicker to put together for weekday lunches. Tue Oct 20 00:48:38 -0700 2009 3465003 10271 Rubee 3 5116475 Rubee, do you cook specifically for weekday lunches? Golly, I can barely squeeze in cooking for dinner and using my dinner leftovers for lunches... It might be kind of fun to have a "tried and true" listing of recipes from Dunlop. From all of the COTM's, actually. Kind of like the "recipe so good I've made it at least 3 times" thread, but specifically for COTM, since many of us have these books... ~TDQ Tue Oct 20 02:59:02 -0700 2009 5116432 12005 The Dairy Queen 4 5116501 If we did, then that dry fried chicken would definitely be on my list. And the shrimp with chinese chives too. Oh, and that cilantro salad. Tue Oct 20 03:59:51 -0700 2009 5116475 56762 LulusMom 5 5116659 The cilantro salad is divine. Have made the Mao-style redcooked pork from RCC many times as well. Tue Oct 20 06:21:51 -0700 2009 5116501 13709 buttertart 6 5117040 Cool! I just started a COTM repeat favorites thread. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/660908 It's been so long since I've looked at Dunlop that I don't even remember the cilantro salad, but, let me tell you, I was overwhelmed with CSA cilantro this past summer. I kick myself now! ~TDQ Tue Oct 20 08:52:50 -0700 2009 5116659 12005 The Dairy Queen 7 5117487 Too bad, this uses a good bit. Love love love cilantro. Tue Oct 20 11:06:44 -0700 2009 5117040 13709 buttertart 4 5117546 I do cook for weekday lunches since I work at home. I usually make a few dishes that heat up well (especially Dunlop favorites) on Sunday, or prep dishes the night before. For example, now when I make "Ants on a Tree", I cook the meat and make the broth the night before (sometimes I even freeze this), and soak the noodles. For lunch, all I have to do is heat up the stock and meat and simmer the noodles. Quick and easy. If I didn't plan, I'm afraid I'd be running out for fast food too often! Last night I made a Thai red curry roast chicken, threw the carcass in the crockpot with Shaoxing rice wine, ginger, star anise, and scallions to make stock overnight, and plan on some nice Asian soups the rest of the week. Love that idea of COTM favorites! Going to check it out now.... Tue Oct 20 11:27:45 -0700 2009 5116475 10271 Rubee 5 5117578 Rubee, I'm so inspired by your quick, overnight Asian crock pot stock! ~TDQ Tue Oct 20 11:36:43 -0700 2009 5117546 12005 The Dairy Queen 1 3467923 Tonight with the help of DH I made Black Bean Chicken. Internet version Surprisingly, the only thing we had to substitute was sherry for Shaoxing wine. We followed the recipe to the letter, other than the wine, and it turned out very tasty indeed if slightly salty.... even though I rinsed in many waters those black beans. I must say it's a very easy recipe and a good introduction to this style of cooking. What you don't know is that before I became incapacitated, DH would not even boil water by his own admission. So, to have him in the kitchen, reading and following a recipe is a tremendous accomplishment for both of us. We've worked out a system wherby I prep and he cooks, but I'm there to give him encouragement and direction. Once a teacher always a teacher. LOL I love the lingering aroma from the cooking. Not off putting at all. In fact kind of homey. I want to make this again but with the required wine. DH made jasmine rice to serve with the chicken and all in all it was a very satisfying dish. Thu Mar 06 17:50:27 -0800 2008 3448887 75332 Gio 2 3468063 Gio - that sounds wonderful - both the food and the story! Do you know off hand if that recipe is in one of the cookbooks? So glad you didn't have to substitute much (grin!). Thu Mar 06 18:47:23 -0800 2008 3467923 10985 MMRuth 3 3468825 Good Morning MM.... I don't know in which book that recipe is referenced. In fact the correct name of the dish is, "Authentic Black Bean Chicken". It was on the supplimentary list that you posted on the links page. DH is still talking about "how terrific" the dish was. There wasn't a crumb left. This week-end we plan to make Velveted Fish and Fisherman's Shrimp with Chinese Chives. He can't wait. Fri Mar 07 05:26:37 -0800 2008 3468063 75332 Gio 4 3468830 Reminds me that I want to track down some of those chives this weekend too. I'll see if it's in RCC as well - the black bean dish. Thanks Gio. Fri Mar 07 05:29:20 -0800 2008 3468825 10985 MMRuth 5 3468921 I was in Chinatown yesterday and saw Chinese chives at a number of stands. But one of my favorite produce markets, where I also found Chinese leeks for a dish I want to try, is on the south side of Bayard Street between Mulberry and Mott. It's a very narrow storefront with produce piled up outside and more in the back. The owner, I presume, is always toward the front of the store working the scale and the cash register and his English is excellent. And just fyi, right down the street, also on the south side of Bayard, near Elizabeth (#57 I think) is a meat market where I buy a lot of Chinese ingredients: whole chickens with head and feet; duck, beautiful chicken legs with thighs) at excellent prices. Yesterday I bought a gorgeous looking pork belly and some ground pork. There's only one young man in the store who speaks English well, but he's always been very good at helping me find what I need. Fri Mar 07 06:19:56 -0800 2008 3468830 11407 JoanN 6 3469046 Thanks - I've been wanting to try some of the pork belly recipes. Fri Mar 07 07:03:04 -0800 2008 3468921 10985 MMRuth 2 3468806 Sounds delicious, Gio. Dunlop offers sherry as a completely acceptable substition for the wine, so I don't think you should give that substitution a second thought. My husband and I like to cook together, too, in the way you describe, where I prep and he cooks. Often, in my posts I say, "We tried" or "we did this or that" and really, it's because I often have a helper. I think it makes cooking more fun. Although, I don't think I come across as a teacher like you do, more of a drill sergeant, I'm afraid. I get so panicked in the heat of the moment, I have a tendency to bark orders. Have to work on that! ~TDQ Fri Mar 07 05:14:56 -0800 2008 3467923 12005 The Dairy Queen 3 3468832 LOL TDQ!! Most times I'm in Drill Sergeant mode myself. I get so animated it seems like I'm wired for sound. DH has come a long way from boiling water to stir frying in a wok. Never thought it would happen. Fri Mar 07 05:30:09 -0800 2008 3468806 75332 Gio 1 3468792 Numbing and Hot Chicken pg 129, RC I prepared this recipe with chicken breast, which is a choice offered by the recipe (and without the skin, which is not,), dried chile flakes (another choice allowed by the recipe), onions without the scallions (accidental subsitution--I thought I had more scallions and in the heat of the battle, I realized I must have used them all the night before), and only 1 tsp of peanut oil (instead of the 1 1/4 cups of the oil that the recipe calls for--and, again, for reasons of sticking to my weight loss program). I had cubed the chicken the previous evening while making another of Dunlop's chicken recipes, so this chicken had marinated overnight. All was going well until I got to step 5 that said, "give the sauce a stir and tip it in to the wok..." Wait a minute, sauce? At no point previously was there a discussion of preparing the sauce, although there were clearly ingredients for a sauce shown in the left-hand margin. My sauce was not ready to go in the critical moment. Anyway, I (with help) threw the sauce together in the last moment, using regular white vinegar because in my panic I couldn't find my clear rice vinegar and I figured that was better than the black vinegar, but, I THINK threw in 1 TBSP potato flour (the amount needed for the marinade) instead of the 1/2 tsp needed for the sauce. Way too much, I think. The minute I poured the sauce into the pan, it "seized up" into a lumpy, clear gelatin. I had the feeling this was supposed to be more sauce-y, but think I must have used too much potato flour accidentally. So, this recipe, with the error I made, was okay, but neither numbing or spicy. Had the sauce been less of a gelatin and more of a liquid, I think it would have coated the chicken and noodles more evenly and made everything tastier. (And I'm sure leaving the skin on would have made it more delicious, too!) Oh well. Live and learn. I hope you can see the the gelatinous sauce in the photo--I know it's a little dark. We served this with whole wheat penne pasta and with "noodles with shiitake mushrooms and baby greens," which I discussed in the "bean curd" (and vegetables) thread. Don't tell anyone, but scooted the chicken on my plate over into the "mushroom and baby greens" sauce, which improved matters. (I'm trying to attached the photo but it doesn't want to attach... So, I'll try to attach the photo later.) ~TDQ Fri Mar 07 05:01:05 -0800 2008 3448887 12005 The Dairy Queen 2 3590881 Numbing and Hot Chicken (RCC, pg. 127) This was a disaster but part of it was my fault. I was using cornstarch and misjudged the substitution. But I also think using less oil didn’t help the recipe. The recipe called for 1 ¼ cups and I only used a couple of tablespoons. The problem is that the potato starch on the meat begins to congeal on the bottom of the pan. The meat also has to be stir fried longer than the 1 minute the recipe called for. But, the flavor of the sauce was only ok. Even with my mistake, I thought the flavor would have carried through. There wasn’t a huge spicy ma la flavor that I had thought there would be. This was disappointing. Sun Apr 13 18:11:38 -0700 2008 3468792 10214 beetlebug 1 3470732 I had to work until 6 PM the other night so DH made the Kung Pao from Land of Plenty. It was delicious. He also made a mixture of baby bok choi and snow peas from Irene Kuo's Key to Chinese Cooking. With the snow and wind today meatloaf and a baked potato are going to be cold night comfort food. Fri Mar 07 14:10:10 -0800 2008 3448887 10285 Candy 1 3487056 Tonight we made General Gao's Chicken with modifications. This was an internet version And, although it was hot and sour it did not have the sweetness of the Americanized counterpart. It was delicious. Let me say at the outset, we did not deep fry the chicken. We are becoming concerned with the amount of oil used in every dish so we wanted to modify and adapt the dish to our liking, and I can't help but think that Chinese people may opt to do the same in certain circumstances. Anyway we followed the original recipe with the exception of the frying stage. First of all I cut the boneless, skinless chicken thighs in small chunks instead of 1/4 inch slices. DH used 2 Tblspns of peanut oil to fry the first 2 batches, and then added one more TBLSPN for the third and last batch. (We had 5 thighs in all). I did not substitute anything else in this recipe and proceeded as directed. With the sauce added at the end, this dish was spectacular. I served it with the rest of the baby bok choy I commented on previously which I stir fried with reference to past recipes....and DH made steamed jasmine rice to accompany. The whole dinner was fabulous and I can't wait to make it for other members of my family who have lived in Hong Kong. Wed Mar 12 17:26:10 -0700 2008 3448887 75332 Gio 2 3487117 Sounds fantastic and I'm so glad to hear the lower fat version worked for you...because it might work for me, too! ~TDQ Wed Mar 12 17:50:05 -0700 2008 3487056 12005 The Dairy Queen 3 3487985 DQ, I think it will work for you, especially if you use the oil that's allowed in your diet plan. Gen. Gao's Chicken is DH's very favorite Chinese food and he had his serving and then finished what was left on the platter. Thu Mar 13 04:44:56 -0700 2008 3487117 75332 Gio 2 3490518 I also tried the General Tso's Chicken (the un-sweet version). I had hoped there would be sauce to flavor the rice, but there was none. It completely adhered to the chicken. Also, my chicken didn't stay crispy once I put the sauce on it. I don't know if that is because my chicken was skinless or if it was due to some other cause. Perhaps it is in how I mixed the marinade? When I see ingredients that are set apart with a label of "marinade", I just mix the marinate up near the start of the dish. It didn't occur to me that she would have directions in the recipe saying that you put the cut chicken in the dish and then individually stir the marinade ingredients into the chicken. So by the time I read that, I already had the entire marinade mixed up. The dish was noticeably sour, which I'm not sure I liked. Perhaps I would have liked the sweetened version better. I don't like sweet main dishes, but I wonder if I would have found a little sweet to feel more balanced. In the picture, you can see that there is no sauce. The colors are wrong. The dish had a slightly red cast. Thu Mar 13 16:48:46 -0700 2008 3487056 166172 saltwater 3 3497146 Well, saltwater, your dish LOOKS gorgeous. Too bad it wasn't quite to your taste. Sat Mar 15 22:13:53 -0700 2008 3490518 10245 oakjoan 1 3506778 Dry Fried Chicken (LOP, pg. 243) This dish was great. Complex flavors with a fairly simple prep. It goes really well with rice. I didn’t fully read the recipe before I started cooking, consequently, it took a little longer to cook than I had planned. I used a lot less oil than called for (recipe called for ¼ cup, I used about a tablespoon). Add chunks of chicken thighs and stir fry until it’s lost it’s water content. Then, add dried peppers, Sichuan peppercorn, chile bean paste, shaoxing wine and soy sauce (I usually omit the salt). Then, you continue to stir fry for almost 15 minutes until the chicken has dried out and all the sauce has caked on to the pieces. Lastly, add chopped celery and serve. The celery worked beautifully because it was a cooling factor to the heat of the chicken chunks. This whole dish is just addictive. Wed Mar 19 07:04:07 -0700 2008 3448887 10214 beetlebug 2 3507517 Looks wonderful - I'll have to add that one to the list! Wed Mar 19 10:19:45 -0700 2008 3506778 10271 Rubee 3 3775021 Dry Fried Chicken (LOP, p 243) I'm so glad you pointed this recipe out BB. I agree with the others, if not for your pic and report, I would have skipped over it, but it's one of my favorites. Since it's pretty easy too, it's going to be part of my weekly rotation of recipes I make from this book to have leftovers for lunch (dan dan noodles and ma po tofu are a couple of the other ones). Not much to add. I used what chicken I had, which was boneless chicken tenders I cut into chunks. I used 8 chili peppers, and a heaping TB of chili bean paste and thought the heat level was perfect. I'm also glad everybody mentioned how good the celery was in this. I thought about skipping it and doubling the scallions, but due to the comments, followed the recipe as is. I thought the crunchy celery really added to this dish. Pics of dinner last night, and leftovers for lunch today (w/rice and kimchee): Thu Jun 12 13:34:43 -0700 2008 3507517 10271 Rubee 4 3777372 Looks wonderful - it really is so much better than it reads, doesn't it? Glad you liked it so much. I need to make this again soon (once this month of insane travel is over and I can get back into the kitchen). Fri Jun 13 08:25:49 -0700 2008 3775021 56762 LulusMom 5 3778274 I loved it. The leftovers are a bit dry with the white meat chicken, but that's to be expeced. Next time I'll use boneless thighs. Thanks too for mentioning how good the celery was in it, I'm so glad I didn't leave it out. Fri Jun 13 12:18:36 -0700 2008 3777372 10271 Rubee 2 3507707 Looks and sounds so much better than somehow I'd gotten from the description in the book. I'm going to put it on my Try list. Wed Mar 19 11:00:47 -0700 2008 3506778 56762 LulusMom 2 3599163 I finally got around to the Dry Fried Chicken and totally agree with beetlebug - very easy and delicious. Actually sort of weirdly easy. I love the slight crunch and clean flavor that the celery gives it adds. Raves from all on this. Wed Apr 16 06:11:24 -0700 2008 3506778 56762 LulusMom 3 3599400 I've made this twice. The first time, I did it "wrong" and used ground toasted sichuan peppercorn. The second time, I used the whole peppercorn. I like it better with the ground because it just sits on the chicken pieces. Wed Apr 16 07:18:41 -0700 2008 3599163 10214 beetlebug 4 3599948 I did the same thing (although with me it was because I originally misread it) and used ground. Wed Apr 16 09:43:59 -0700 2008 3599400 56762 LulusMom 2 3600101 WHHAAAA! I tried this and it was a disaster. The dish looked lovely, but now that I re-read your review, my sauce did not cake onto anything but itself and some on the pan. It sort of formed clumps. The dish tasted flavorless and slightly oily. The numbing effect came through nicely, though. I cooked it for less time than stated because it looked like the chicken was dry and the sauce gone. The chicken pieces themselves looked lovely and well browned. I used boneless breast. They ended up a bit dryish inside. I wish I knew why I can't cook these "dry cooked" type of dishes. I tried in the beef chapter, too, and I thought my beef came out rather flavorless as well (I didn't report on the thread, though, since I figured I'd get it right the next time). I did follow the directions to turn the heat down to medium before I added the sauce ingredients. Then I lowered it more, since that seemed necessary. Wed Apr 16 10:19:17 -0700 2008 3506778 166172 saltwater 3 3600232 Hmmm, I did cook mine for the full time (also used chicken breasts) but it turned out so well. Was a bit dry on the inside, but I think that sort of goes with the territory for dry-fried and chicken breasts. The flavor was so good, and again, that nice zippy crunch from the celery was just right with it. I never would have even looked at this recipe if I hadn't seen beetlebug's pictures, but it ended up being one of our favorites. I'm really sorry it didn't work out for you! Wed Apr 16 10:56:39 -0700 2008 3600101 56762 LulusMom 4 3602510 Thanks for reading and replying, LulusMom. :-) Just that someone listened helps it seem better. I liked the crunch of the celery, too. I love how there are so many different ways to cut a vegetable (she has you cut it rather thickly at a steep angle in this one). The cut was a good one for this dish. Wed Apr 16 21:10:47 -0700 2008 3600232 166172 saltwater 3 3603294 So sorry this dish didn't work for you. I wonder if it's because you used breast meat v. dark meat. I find that the dark meat stays more moist then the white meat. Maybe that, combined with a longer cooking time will get the desired dry cooked result. I do wonder why the dish tasted flavorless. I find that anything with that chile bean paste always pops with flavor. Especially combined with the sichuan pepper (I used ground v. whole). Maybe it just didn't get enough time to adhere to the chicken? Thu Apr 17 07:24:04 -0700 2008 3600101 10214 beetlebug 4 3604713 You know, maybe I needed to use low heat. You are right, it did not adhere at all to the chicken. That is why it had no flavor. I ended up with a clump of sauce in a hard lump that I could push around the pan but not separate, a fair amount of clear oil covering the bottom of the pan, and the chicken cubes (it was after that that I added the veggies). If the sauce had done something different, it would have had flavor. I agree. Dark meat would have been less prone to dry. Maybe heat made the sauce seize into that inseparable clump. If I brave it again, I'll use low heat (after the initial cooking of the chicken). Thu Apr 17 13:15:15 -0700 2008 3603294 166172 saltwater 3 4295246 Finally got around to trying the Dry-Fried Chicken and although mine certainly wasn’t a disaster, I had some of the same problems you did, saltwater. Mine, too, was more oily and less dry than I’d expected and my chili bean paste tended to clump a bit as well. First, I used bone in, skin on chicken breasts because she doesn’t say to use skinless, so even though I used only about 2 tablespoons of oil instead of the quarter cup called for, I suspect the skin was contributing to the excess oil in the wok. The bone-in breast meat wasn’t dry, though. But I still think next time I’ll use thighs instead.( Did you use skinless thighs, beetlebug? And what did you do? Just whack them in half with a cleaver?) Also, my chili bean paste is the “wrong” kind; it’s made with soybeans, not favas. I suspect that may be part of the reason for its clumping. Mine was very, very spicy. Not too much for me, but I wouldn’t want to serve it that way to anyone else. I’m guessing my bean paste may be hotter than many and I probably shouldn’t have broken up the dried chiles to release the seeds when I put them in the pot. Even with these minor problems, it was awfully good. So I’ve made a bunch of notes in the book and will definitely be trying it again. Thanks from me, too, beetlebug, for pointing this one out. Sun Jan 04 13:36:22 -0800 2009 3600101 11407 JoanN 4 4295494 I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs. And, I cut them into one inch chunks. I don't have the book handy, but that's how I've always pictured the dish. Bite size chunks and easy to pick up with chop sticks. Also, I don't break up the dried chiles. And, for all these dishes, I use ground toasted sichuan pepper. I don't like biting into whole sichuan peppercorns. Glad you liked the flavor. It's time for me to toast and grind more peppercorns. Sun Jan 04 15:11:35 -0800 2009 4295246 10214 beetlebug 5 4315700 Made the Dry-Fried Chicken again, this time playing (mostly) the beetlebug variations. Used skinless (but not boneless) chicken thighs, used maybe 2 tablespoons of oil, used ground peppercorns, used the right kind of chili bean paste, and didn’t break up the dried chiles. Now I see what everyone was talking about. It was almost as though it was a different dish. Now this (along with most of the other chicken recipes in this book) will be going into regular rotation for me as well. Next time, though, no bones. There were too many little bone shards. And I’d break up one or two of the dried chiles to make it just a bit spicier. Sun Jan 11 07:20:17 -0800 2009 4295494 11407 JoanN 6 4315739 I want to try the dry fried chicken soon. What kind of chili bean paste did you decide was the right kind? Sun Jan 11 07:45:02 -0800 2009 4315700 16407 Jane917 7 4315846 The label will say it contains either fava beans or broadbeans, not soy beans. Here's a link with some photos. #2 would be preferable since it contains only favas, no soy beans. And here is a photo of the one I have, which lists only broadbeans on the label. Sun Jan 11 08:30:38 -0800 2009 4315739 11407 JoanN 8 4316151 Darn! The only chili bean paste in my pantry is made with soy beans. I will have to add the broadbean or fava bean paste to my next mail order. Sun Jan 11 10:44:58 -0800 2009 4315846 16407 Jane917 9 4327552 After placing an on-line order for the right kind of chili bean paste (toban dyan), I found it at ......... Safeway. So I made it tonight, being a bit fearful of 1/4 cup peanut oil. We loved it, and I will put it on my list of regulars. I will use less oil next time. Wed Jan 14 20:21:37 -0800 2009 4316151 16407 Jane917 10 4327954 That's really funny. I looked for it all over Chinatown (more than once) and you found it in Safeway. Beetlebug uses only one tablespoon of olive oil. I think I used maybe two. This is definitely one recipe where you don't need a quarter cup. Thu Jan 15 04:09:58 -0800 2009 4327552 11407 JoanN 11 4328324 If I had paid closer attention to the other posts about the dry fried chicken, I would have decreased the oil. It didn't feel or taste oily, but just knowing how much oil it had was a bit alarming. I will decrease greatly next time. One of my next adventures will be the dry fried beef. The nearest Chinatown to me is 150 miles away. I live in a small rural area. My Safeway doesn't carry peanut oil.....but does carry toban dyan. Go figure! Thu Jan 15 07:24:30 -0800 2009 4327954 16407 Jane917 8 4316425 I'll add a couple of pics of the chili bean paste I use too: http://www.chow.com/photos/235142 http://www.chow.com/photos/151497 I'm making a bunch of dishes from LOP today to have for lunch during the week: stir-fried cabbage, mapo tofu, dry-fried beef slivers, and fish-fragrant pork slivers. Today for dinner I'm finally going to make the hot-dry noodles from RCC. Sun Jan 11 12:32:02 -0800 2009 4315846 10271 Rubee 9 4316571 I may have to wait for my next trip to Seattle to pick up the chili bean sauce. Thanks for the pictures. Sun Jan 11 13:32:51 -0800 2009 4316425 16407 Jane917 2 4287478 We made the Dry Fried Chicken last night as a component of our New Year's Eve Asian meal. Traditionally we have Chinese food on NYE and it was wonderful to be able to make our own instead of ordering take-away. The DFC was so delicious and easy. Like beetlebug, we used less oil and no salt. Used the Sechuan peppercorns whole and 9 dried red chilis! Definitely will make this again. FWIW: the other dishes we made came from The Complete Asian Cookbook by Charmaine Solomon, a food writer born in Singapore. She covers 15 countries and the recipes are fabulous. The dishes we prepared were: Pot Roasted Rice - Vietnam Stir Fried Vegetables - Vietnam Scallops with Snopeas - China Thu Jan 01 08:49:13 -0800 2009 3506778 75332 Gio 3 4288162 Funny, we made the dry fried chicken last night too. It has become a real staple around here, and my husband always raves. Thu Jan 01 14:38:34 -0800 2009 4287478 56762 LulusMom 1 3510191 Last night it was Braised Chicken with Chestnuts, LOP, pg. 247....... With the mind boggling and completely irrational substitution of water chestnuts for... well... chestnuts. This is Chinese cuisine, right? She certainly can't mean Italian chestnuts can she? MInd you, I *had* read the lntro notes before setting out for the market. I *had* read that, "Chestnuts had been cultivated in China since antiquity." At the market I just blanked. So here's what we did - Everthing according to the recipe - except - with that particular odd-ball substitution. And, by jove, it turned out to be quite a satisfying dish. Not very spicy, by any means, but comforting with a pleasant gingery flavor. Very easy prep and execution. DH loved it. Next I want to try that dry-fried chicken dish before the books have to go back to the library. Something tells me Fuchsia is going to have a home on one of my cookbook shelves in the very near future. The chicken was accompanied by a vegetable stir-fry that I knda sorta made up as I went along, basing the ingredients on Ms. Dunlop's previous recipes, the main ingredient was regular cabbage but included other veggies as well. Since it's not a Fuchsia Dunlop recipe I won't be reporting it in the usual thread. The two dishes went very well together. Thu Mar 20 06:03:52 -0700 2008 3448887 75332 Gio 1 3539948 Gong Bao (Kung Pao) Chicken with Peanuts (LOP p. 237). My husband was crazy about this; I thought it was good, but not great. I thought there was waaaay too much peanut (easy enough to fix if made again). I like peanuts a lot, but this seemed like over-doing it. Simple enough to make and without many of the hard to find ingredients, I just think I've liked other dishes more. However, I really want to say that this book has been a revelation for me. There isn't a good Chinese restaurant anywhere around (plenty of good fusion places, and any Chapel Hill hounds that know of something - PLEASE let me know), so getting to eat such high quality chinese food this month has been a treat. Maybe I've spoiled myself with some of the other dishes. Sat Mar 29 06:37:23 -0700 2008 3448887 56762 LulusMom 2 3539960 I'm surprised to hear you say that (read you write that?). This was one of my favorite recipes from either book and I definitely didn't think there were too many peanuts in it. It seemed very much in balance to me. Oh, well. Chacun à son goût, as they say. Sat Mar 29 06:45:42 -0700 2008 3539948 11407 JoanN 3 3540371 My husband was very much in your camp - he said it was his favorite of the ones I've made so far. Sat Mar 29 09:41:19 -0700 2008 3539960 56762 LulusMom 2 3590884 Kung Pao Chicken (LOP, pg. 237) Another excellent recipe. I used thighs instead of breasts and probably a bit more peanuts. I didn’t think there were too many nuts, but I’m fond of nuts in my food. I really liked the sauce and I don’t usually like sweet sauces. I think there was enough spice in it to offset it for me. I used less oil with no discernable effect. Sun Apr 13 18:13:10 -0700 2008 3539948 10214 beetlebug 1 3566869 I made Steamed Chicken with Chopped Salted Chiles from RCC p 123 as a topping for a bowl of soupy noodles, as she suggests is possible in the recipe blurb. The broth that formed as the chicken steamed was very good. I wanted to drink it down as soon as I sampled it. I overcooked the chicken, though. Her directions call for placing chicken chunks in boiling water and waiting until it returns to a boil. Then you drain and steam the chunks. I knew her directions at 20-30 minutes of steaming would be too long, so I started sampling before then, but not soon enough before . If you make this, either use large chunks of chicken, or start sampling after 10 minutes, perhaps. I think the problem is that she does not define bite-sized or maybe that she doesn't tell you how much water to use in the saucepan. The volume of water entirely determines how long it will take to return to a boil. I pulled the chicken out of the water before it returned to a boil. Next time, I'd use more water. This made a good, mild soupy noodle topping. Also, it was nice to have a dish from this book with no added fat. It made me think of TDQ and core plans, etc. :) Sun Apr 06 10:31:56 -0700 2008 3448887 166172 saltwater 1 3595108 gong bao chicken (LOP) i'm a bit late joining in on the dunlop cookbook of the month series, unfortunately. i made this dish tonight, using dried arbol chiles. it was delicious but so painful to eat. dunlop calls for a small handful of "at least ten" dried chiles, with seeds removed. i threw in maybe 16 or so. ow. i anticipated the burn, but not the lingering fumes in my throat, causing me to cough. i'm not foreign to heat, having a korean background, but this dish was painful. the sauce was delicious, though. my question is this: do i just cut back on the snipped, de-seeded dried chiles, or leave them whole, so that the seeds don't break open into the dish? also, i've never experienced arbol chiles being this hot before. i know that the potency of chiles can vary widely, so does it sound like i used a particularly hot bunch? thanks from a late participant. Tue Apr 15 03:49:07 -0700 2008 3448887 27741 augustiner 2 3595162 I, too, used arbol chiles in the Gong Bao Chicken. I broke off the ends of ten of them, then broke them in half and got rid of most--but not all--of the seeds. I like hot foods and thought that this was a good amount of heat for me, although I did note it might be a bit much for guests. I guess it's entirely possible that your chiles were hotter than mine--or, it could just be that you need to cut back on them a bit. Tue Apr 15 04:54:48 -0700 2008 3595108 11407 JoanN 1 3677453 Gong Bao (Kung Pao) Chicken with Peanuts (LOP, p. 237) My turn to finally get around to making this dish. Not much to add to the above reports. I made it as is, but threw the chilis in whole since they were small. As a result, the dish wasn't as spicy as the above reviews mention, though the bites with the whole Sichuan peppercorn had nice heat. I like it spicy so next time I would pick out the largest chilis and cut them in half. OTOH, E and his son thought the heat level was perfect. Sun May 11 17:06:30 -0700 2008 3448887 10271 Rubee 2 3677456 Pics didn't load, so trying again: Sun May 11 17:08:28 -0700 2008 3677453 10271 Rubee 1 3868143 Chicken with Ginger, RCC, p. 131 Made this over the weekend, and served with Noodles with Shitake Mushrooms and Baby Greens. I used half thights, half breast, as I prefer white meat. I think I didn't heat the wok up enough again after having stir fried the shitakes/bok choy, so I didn't get the meat "tinged golden", and had to cover it to get the stock to reduce. That said, we enjoyed the flavors - it would have been better with some rice, but since I'd made the noodle dish, we ate it alone and added it into the noodles. Over all, a quick dish that I'd make again. Mon Jul 14 14:10:41 -0700 2008 3448887 10985 MMRuth 1 3982033 Last night I made Chicken chunks in red-oil sauce (Sichuan Cookery p5 and Fish-fragrant chicken slivers (p7). I had a whole free-range chicken which I poached for half an hour as per her instruction. Then I shredded half of it, and mixed in some spring onions. The idea is that you add the sauces at the table, to taste. I also steamed some rice and made some stir-fried broccoli (with szechaun peppercorns and chillies, a la Dunlop). We loved this - especially the fish-fragrant sauce which was absolutely delicious. As she says, it's a lovely, intensely flavoured sauce, with a kick from the pickled chilli (I used sambal oelek) and sweet-sour notes from the Chinkiang vinegar and soy sauce. Just lovely. Mr GG practically hoovered it up! And now I have some nice chicken stock and half a poached chicken left over. I think I'm going to get ahead of myself and make Vietnamese chicken pho tonight. Sun Aug 24 02:33:41 -0700 2008 3448887 110146 greedygirl 2 4100458 Made this again last night and can I just reiterate how great it is, and how easy. Perfect for a Chinese-themed dinner party as well, as it can all be made in advance, freeing you up for last-minute stir-fried dishes. The fish-fragrant sauce is particularly delicious. Mon Oct 13 04:25:51 -0700 2008 3982033 110146 greedygirl 1 4298837 Tai Bai Chicken (LOP page 245) Yet another not-to-be-missed chicken dish from the inimitable Ms. Dunlop. You quickly stir-fry a pound of leg or thigh meat, remove it from the oil before it’s fully cooked, and dump most of the oil. Then you quickly stir fry, one after the other, dried chiles, pickled chiles (I used the alternate Thai pickled chiles with a bit of Sambal Olek), and scallion whites. Add back the chicken and some everyday stock; stir in Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, Sichuan pepper, sugar, salt, and white pepper; and simmer over moderate heat for 20 minutes. When the sauce is almost completely reduced, you removed the dried chiles and the scallion whites, add the scallion greens, and stir-fry for 30 seconds before removing from the heat and stirring in some sesame oil. I hardly know how to describe it. It was earthy, and unctuous, and spicy and altogether delicious. I didn’t think I could like anything better than her Gong Bao Chicken, but now I’m not so sure. Guess I’ll have to make the Gong Bao again sometime soon to see if I can make a decision. Life is hard. Mon Jan 05 16:29:58 -0800 2009 3448887 11407 JoanN 2 4298849 That does sound good - I want to revisit her book - though, which one is this from? Mon Jan 05 16:33:24 -0800 2009 4298837 10985 MMRuth 3 4298905 Sorry about that. I only have Land of Plenty. Forgot there was another one. I've edited the post to add the title. Mon Jan 05 16:50:20 -0800 2009 4298849 11407 JoanN 2 4299002 This was the dish I had waffled about for our NYE dinner and chose the Dry Fried Chicken instead. I guess I'm going to have to try this one too..... thanks for the incentive JN!. Mon Jan 05 17:30:01 -0800 2009 4298837 75332 Gio 2 4302268 Wow. That looks so good JoanN. I'm going to have to make it this weekend. Tue Jan 06 17:25:25 -0800 2009 4298837 10271 Rubee 3 4327797 Tai Bai Chicken (LOP, p. 245) Thanks for reporting on this JoanN and convincing me to make this delicious dish. I made it tonight, and it was just as good as you said. It's definitely going into the regular rotation of Dunlop recipes I make for lunch every week. I only had boneless chicken breast, so instead of simmering for 20 minutes, I simmered for a few minutes, removed the chicken and reduced the sauce a bit, and then added it back in for a few more minutes to finish. I loved it, but looking forward to making it with dark meat next time. I served it with steamed rice and ma po do fu (LOP, pg. 313) Wed Jan 14 22:43:49 -0800 2009 4302268 10271 Rubee 4 4327957 Glad you liked it as much as I did. I made the Gong Bao chicken again the other night just to remind myself of what it was like and decided I definitely like the Tai Bai Chicken better. Just curious what you used for pickled chiles. Thu Jan 15 04:19:48 -0800 2009 4327797 11407 JoanN 5 4329485 I used the same chilis you did - pickled Thai chiles and some sambal oelek. Pics of pickled chilis: http://www.chow.com/photos/152449 http://www.chow.com/photos/152456 Thu Jan 15 12:15:30 -0800 2009 4327957 10271 Rubee 6 4329708 Did you chop the chiles? I don't see any whole ones in your photos as there are in mine. If so, it wasn't too spicy? Thu Jan 15 13:08:55 -0800 2009 4329485 11407 JoanN 7 4329791 I cut them in half. It ended up the perfect amount of heat, but I've noticed the more I cook Sichuan, the spicier I like it. Thu Jan 15 13:32:12 -0800 2009 4329708 10271 Rubee 8 4329834 Thanks, Rubee. I like spicy, too. I'll try it that way next time. Thu Jan 15 13:45:02 -0800 2009 4329791 11407 JoanN 2 4397673 Thanks to JoanN for reporting on how great the Tai Bai Chicken is. I had passed this recipe without really giving it a thought. I made it last night and we loved it. I used *only* sambal oelek since I realized at the last minute that I didn't have any pickled chilies. Still absolutely delicious. I had doubled the recipe thinking that way there might be a light lunch for one of us, but my husband loved it so much he ate it all. Served it with dry fried green beans (these are just SO good) and rice. No photo - the last minute nature of this cooking gets me a little frazzled and I just forgot. Oops. Sun Feb 08 04:55:51 -0800 2009 4298837 56762 LulusMom 2 4790100 I finally tried this dish (thanks JoanN) and really liked it. It's ridiculous since it's so easy but I love that dry fried chicken dish. But, this will soon join the rotation. A few notes: my chicken dish took a lot longer than 20 minutes for the sauce to simmer down. I even turned the heat up a bit because it wasn't making that much progress. Also, next time, I would chop up the pickled peppers so the dish is spicier and picklier. But, another winner from one of my favorite cookbooks. Sat Jun 20 09:33:20 -0700 2009 4298837 10214 beetlebug 3 4790463 I just made this again the other night as well. This and the dry-fried chicken are the two dishes, of all the recipes I've tried during three years of COTM, that I've made most often. (Her Gong Bao is right up there on the list, too.) I am now more likely to run out of homemade chicken stock than I am to run out of Dunlop's Everyday Stock. You're right about it taking longer than 20 minutes for the sauce to simmer down. I've thought about using less than the full cup called for, but what I usually do is just keep the sauce at a very brisk simmer for 20 minutes, then turn it up to a full rolling boil after that and just keep an eagle eye on it until the stock is almost completely gone. The only kind of whole pickled red chiles I've ever been able to find are the Cock brand Thai bird peppers. I leave those whole, but add a teaspoon of either Sambal Olek or a bottled Chinese chili paste. I like foods pretty spicy, and that seems to do it for me. One of my very favorite cookbooks as well. Do you own RCC, too? I don't, but I keep looking for it at a bargain price. I vaguely recall that many people who had both said they preferred RCC. I can't imagine liking it better, but almost as well would be more than good enough. Sat Jun 20 12:36:41 -0700 2009 4790100 11407 JoanN 4 4790606 I do have RCC but I don't like it nearly as much as LOP. It's funny, I've only made a few things from it, and I've liked them ok, but the recipes seem more forced v. flowing naturally the way LOP does. I think it's because Dunlop wrote LOP from her heart and soul and RCC was a struggle for her. I think it comes out within the books themselves. Sat Jun 20 13:47:24 -0700 2009 4790463 10214 beetlebug 5 4790728 Another thing for me is that I like Sichuan cooking more than Hunan cooking. And, I just ate my way through ChengDu about a month ago, so I like to try and recreate the flavors as well. ;=) Sat Jun 20 14:36:43 -0700 2009 4790606 10214 beetlebug 6 4791043 I watched Tony Bourdain in Beijing and ChengDu this morning while on my treadmill (isn't DVR the most wonderful invention?) and thought about the fact that you were travelling there. Was it incredible? Sat Jun 20 17:21:21 -0700 2009 4790728 56762 LulusMom 7 4791253 The food was unbelievable. Below is my Chengdu report. There are also reports for HangZhou, SuZhou and Shanghai for the China board and one on Cambodia on the Greater Asia board. They are a bit long since we ate a lot. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/616339 Sat Jun 20 19:17:49 -0700 2009 4791043 10214 beetlebug 4 4790613 I just made the dry fried chicken last week too. That one is such a favorite around here. I think it and the ginger chicken from Pham (and my tofu variation) are probably the things I've made most often from COTM books. Oh, and maybe the grilled 5 spice chicken from Pham too. I started with LoP and got RCC for Christmas. I've cooked maybe 3 things from RCC and like it a lot, but I still think LoP would be the favorite (for me). Maybe once I've cooked more from both that will change. Sat Jun 20 13:49:46 -0700 2009 4790463 56762 LulusMom 5 4790857 So glad you mentioned both those Pham recipes, LLM. I don't have the book, but had copied and filed the ginger chicken recipe and completely forgotten about it. Time to try it again. And I missed the five-spice chicken discussion. Just found that recipe on Epicurious and added it to my Pham file. At this rate, I might not have to buy the book. Then, after what both you and beetlebug have to say about RCC, perhaps it should be Pham that's on my shortlist. Off to see what I can get it for on Amazon. Sat Jun 20 15:45:04 -0700 2009 4790613 11407 JoanN 6 4791049 Love both books, but I'd definitely choose Pham over RCC. Remember that the 5 spice chicken is a grilled dish though. That fried rice of hers is also pretty wonderful. Sat Jun 20 17:22:59 -0700 2009 4790857 56762 LulusMom 1 4327047 Chicken with Vinegar (LOP page 241) This is very different from most of her other chicken recipes. It’s delicate rather than bold and the flavors are far more subtle than I expected. It’s also a bit (but only a bit) fussier to prepare because the timing is rather unforgiving. You marinate small lozenge-shaped pieces of skinless, boneless chicken breasts in Shaoxing wine and salt while preparing the rest of the ingredients. A batter of egg white and potato flour is stirred into the chicken. You bring 1-1/2 cups (!) of oil to 200F, add the chicken and celery, and stir gently just until the chicken turns white, but before it’s cooked through. Remove the chicken and celery and dump nearly all the oil. (!) Quickly stir fry chili paste, add ginger and garlic, return chicken and celery to the wok and, working quickly, add a sauce of sugar, black vinegar, salt, more Shaoxing, more potato flour, and chicken stock (I used everyday stock because it was thawed and the chicken stock wasn’t). Toss a few times, add scallions, toss a few more times, and get it off the heat. The chicken is cooked, but just barely, so it’s very tender and juicy. I expected the vinegar to be more assertive; it’s noticeable, but as with all the other flavors, quite subtle. Although I didn’t like this as much as some of the other chicken dishes as a stand-alone dish (and I don’t mean I didn’t like it; it’s just not the knock-your-socks-off wowser that some of the others are), I think it would be marvelous if served along with one or two other bolder dishes. And especially for those who prefer white meat, here’s a way to ensure that it remains succulent. Wed Jan 14 16:41:41 -0800 2009 3448887 11407 JoanN 1 4997620 General Tso's Chicken (Changsha Version), RCC, p. 122 I chose this version, thinking that E would like it better since it had sugar, but neither of us found it sweet (a good thing for me, though I think he would have preferred it to be more like the American versions he's had). I thought it was delicious - spicy and maybe just a hint of sweetness to balance the black vinegar. I'm not sure I would like the Taiwanese version on p. 120 better since this was perfect as is. I used slices of boneless and skinless chicken thighs marinated in light soy, dark soy, and egg yolk, and then coated in potato flour. The chicken is deep fried to crisp up the batter, though it doesn't really get crunchy; more like a coating of batter for texture. Dried chiles are stir-fried in oil, add sliced ginger, tomato paste, and then sauce - potato flour, 2 tsp sugar, 2 tsp Chiankiang vinegar, dark soy, light soy, and chicken stock. Once thickened, add chicken and stir to coat in the sauce/glaze, stir in sliced scallions, and finish with sesame oil. Loved it, and leftovers have been good too heated in the microwave - the chicken stayed moist and tender. Another Dunlop dish to add to the work-week lunch repertoire. Recipe Link: http://www.kitchenlink.com/cookbooks/2007/0393062228_3.html Tue Sep 01 18:54:02 -0700 2009 3448887 10271 Rubee 1 4999194 I love the Sichuan book's recipe for yu xiang chicken shreds. The flavor is 100% authentic. For those in NY still cooking from this book, some good news re pickled chilis: there are now a lot of brands available in CN grocery stores here - I usually buy the one in small jars with the very cute little enraged hot chili pepper blowing off steam cartoon on the label. It comes in green, red, mixed, and chili with black bean added. Wed Sep 02 10:25:20 -0700 2009 3448887 13709 buttertart