I've currently got a thing about Chinese supermarkets. I like the serried rows of colourful, chromo-lithographed tins, cartons and bottles; the general abundance, the kitsch, the smell of sweet Duck fat, the fact that you can buy a steel wok for a few quid, or a lethal looking cleaver for slightly more.
The brusqueness is quite appealing in a funny sort of way too- it's the diametric opposite to the hushed atmosphere of old school English establishments such as Bate's the Hatter, New & Lingwood or Budd of Piccadilly arcade- Chinese supermarkets are no place to linger, especially. There's pace in spades - and don't the shop owners let you know it?
Last night I dreamt again of Chicken in a Black Bean Sauce. Nothing special, just the ordinary, slighty tacky dish you get delivered from a Chinese takeaway, the sort of thing you might eat with chopsticks in front of the television, straight from the tin-foil carton. Strips of chicken, bound in a starchy, slightly piquant, peppery black sauce, stir fried with crunchy green peppers. Always crunchy green peppers.
As with Indian food in this country, I expect that Chicken in a Black Bean Sauce is about as authentic as a pizza cooked with pineapple; not of course that I am recommending you add pineapple to your pizza; that would be a heresy. But just sometimes, there's something comforting about re-creating simple, bastardised dishes: I think they've become modern classics in their own right.
Researching the recipe, I found all sorts of versions on the net. Some were spicier than others; one even used grated orange and ginger. I've come up with a simple, relatively authentic recipe you can easily make at home, although I admit that I have no idea if this is exactly how your local Chinese take-away makes it. Please feel free to add your own twists. You'll see that I have deliberately avoided using that pre-made black bean sauce you can buy in a tin. You can buy packets of fermented black beans (soy beans which have been dried and fermented in salt and spices) and from Chinese grocery shops. We're lucky enough to live relatively close to London's China Town. If you don't, I think you can buy these on the net. Incidentally, they're a different thing from the black beans used in Mexican or Caribbean cooking, which you can buy tinned from supermarkets. Here's how you make Chicken in a Black Bean Sauce:
First, you will need to make up your own black bean sauce mixture. In a bowl, combine the following ingredients: two heaped tablespoons of Chinese fermented black beans (rinsed and mashed), two cloves of minced garlic, one tablespoon of dark soy sauce, one teaspoon of Chinese oyster sauce (from the bottle), one teaspoon of sugar, two teaspoons of cornstarch, 1/2 cup of chicken stock, and a dash of rice wine or sherry. Put to one side.
Heat up your wok over a medium heat, and add a dash of toasted sesame oil. Warm for about thirty seconds. Add a teaspoon or so of minced garlic and your home-made black bean sauce. Cook, stirring for thirty seconds.
Add some chicken (which you've previously cut into thin strips) and cook through. If the sauce gets too thick (or there's not enough of it) add some more chicken stock or water. Cook, stirring occasionally so that the sauce doesn't stick to the wok.
When the chicken's almost cooked, add diced onion, sliced spring onions, green pepper (cut up into chunks), a further generous dash of soy sauce (this will help to turn the sauce a darker colour) and lots of fresh black pepper. Cook quickly (so that the vegetables are still crunchy) and serve. Steamed rice would be just the ticket.
I'm fortunate enough (or unlucky enough, depending on your point of view) to work next door to the new Westfield Shopping Centre in darkest Shepherd's Bush. For those of you who don't know about it, this is a spanking brand new Shopping Mall built on American lines, and apparently, the largest shopping complex in Europe. I'm sure you'll get the picture: squeaky clean chain shops, giggly teenage girls hanging out in pairs, bland post-modern architecture, bored looking Security Guards talking into mobiles. Escalator Heaven.
It's a useful place to get a quick lunch, and I've been to that fast-food Chinese place on the first floor a few times. They cook an excellent, crispy squid, which they serve with black pepper, salt, and thinly sliced chili; along with a further chili dipping sauce. It's delicious and given me a quite a taste for the thing. It would make an excellent Chinese influenced canapé, and I think, would work well with a Dry Martini. It needs to be served very hot, and very crispy. The following recipe is based on Rose Prince's version in the Daily Telegraph:
Use fresh squid. Cut them open lengthways and remove the insides including the hard quill. With a pair of scissors cut away the tentacles and any hard, boney bits. Dry the squid with paper towels, and then score one side of the squid with a sharp knife to make a lattice pattern. Cut the squid into bite sized pieces.
Heat up somegroundnut oilin a wok. Groundnut (or peanut) oil is excellent because it has a high smoking point. Carefully drop a tiny globule of water into the hot oil. If it sizzles, you will know that it is ready.
Dip the squid into some flour, and fry in small batches for two minutes. If you overcrowd the wok this will lower the temperature, and stop the squid from frying properly. Remove the crispy squid and let them cool down in a paper-lined sieve or colander.
When the time comes for you to eat them, reheat the oil and re-fry the squid for 3-4 minutes, or until they are a pale golden brown.
Serve them with fine salt, freshly ground black pepper, strips of red and green chili and a chili dipping sauce.
When I'm in the mood, it's fun to try and work out how Indian and Chinese restaurants make their time honoured favourite dishes. I'm not talking here about authentic regional cuisine, but more about those bastardised dishes we're used to back here in Blighty. You know the sort of things I'm talking about: Chicken Korma, Won Ton Soup, Meat Madras, Sweet and Sour Pork Balls. It's comfort food of a sort, and I think there's a place for it.
I've come up with a way to make Crab and Sweetcorn Soup. It tastes almost exactly like the stuff you get in Chinatown, so I'm pleased with the results. Talking of which, I once caught a waiter hiding behind a curtain sprinkling on some MSG straight from the packet before he served it- my version, I stress, does not include this.
Here's how you do it: Flake up some white crabmeat into chunks. I bet my bottom dollar the Chinatown establishments use the tinned variety; tinned crabmeat ain't that bad, in my opinion, but obviously, if you can get hold of the realy McCoy, so much the better. Chop up some root ginger into fine pieces, and mix it in with the crabmeat. Beat up two egg whites until they are frothy, and then add a tablespoon or so of cornflour, and some milk. Beat until smooth, so that you end up with a creamy liquid. Mix this in with the crabmeat and the ginger.
In a reasonably sized pan, bring some stock to the boil. I reckon that the Chinese restaurants make an Oriental style stock out of ginger, spring onions and the like; but for my version I used a light chicken stock. Add a tin of sweetcorn. Again, I've worked out that they probably use creamed sweetcorn, which is not readily available in British supermarkets (I could rant all day about how understocked our supermarkets are compared to other countries), so I just "crushed" the sweetcorn in the Magimix.
Stir in the crabmeat and ginger mixture, and simmer briefly. The cornflour will act as a thickening agent. Check the seasoning, and add a dash of sherry, or rice wine. Make sure the alcohol is burnt off, and finish off the dish with a a garnish of chopped spring onions.
Apologies for my absence over the last few days. On Friday I was invited to a Bond-themed party, and was told to come in fancy dress. I rocked up in full naval rig; finding to my horror that no-one else had bothered, so ended up feeling like an extra from Follow the Fleet surrounded by kids in jeans and t-shirts. Heigh ho.
Anyway, this morning's gem of wisdom is taken from A. A. Gill's excellent book on The Ivy Restaurant in London's Covent Garden. I had a feeling that Bang Bang Chicken was one of those dishes that had been bastardised by British and American Chinese restaurants- but I've discovered that it is a reasonably authentic Szechuan thing.
This is how you make The Ivy version: Spoon 250g smooth peanut butter into a bowl, and place it over a saucepan of hot water for about ten minutes. The peanut butter should soften up- and you need to stir it now and again. Remove from the heat and stir in a dash of sweet chili sauce. Then add five tablespoons of sesame oil, and six tablespoons of vegetable oil. Stir carefully so that they form an emulsion.
Get hold of a smoked chicken, remove the skin, and take the meat off the bone, shredding it as you go. Put to one side.
Now for the Chinese style vegetables. This is easy. It's just two carrots, peeled and finely shredded; spring onions and cucumbers cut into strips, and shredded in the same way. Pile them up on a plate and sprinkle them with rice vinegar. Arrange the chicken on top, and pour over the peanut sauce. Finally, finish the dish off, by sprinkling some toasted sesame seeds on top.
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