#chinese eats

[jeseniasgoodiebag]

Best Easts & Stays in Philly

Photo: @jeseniasgoodiebag

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[lazydad]

Chinese eats in America (particularly on the east coast) tend to get a bad rap for being unhealthy, partly cuz some American Chinese eats are basically like eating candy, but mostly cuz candied Chinese eats aren’t even Chinese in origin but are actually purely American inventions. Take everyone’s favorite American Chinese dish, General Tso’s Chicken. As much as I enjoy the occasional indulgence of eating candied chicken for dinner (and who doesn’t, amirite?), letting General Tso’s Chicken represent the pinnacle of Chinese eats is like considering Chicken McNuggets American haute cuisine.

Still, sometimes a bowl of General Tso’s Chicken really hits the spot, and since I had a hankerin’ for the sweet stuff, I decided to make some for dinner tonight. Here’s how:

General Tso’s Chicken is basically fried chicken coated with a sweet-spicy sauce. For the fried chicken, I cut two pounds of skinless, boneless chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces and tossed the chicken bits in a batter made of 1/4 cup corn starch, three tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce), three tablespoons of canola oil, three egg yolks, and a couple grinds of salt and pepper.

Working in batches, fry the batter-coated chicken bits in about an inch of oil until the coating is lightly browned and crispy. Remove the fried chicken bits from the oil and set aside.

For the sauce, combine 1/4 cup Chinese cooking wine, 1/4 cup tamari (or soy sauce), three tablespoons of rice vinegar, three tablespoons of corn starch, and 1/4 cup sugar, then whisk until incorporated.

Heat some canola oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add two tablespoons of minced garlic, two tablespoons of minced fresh ginger, a coupla dried red peppers, and a dash of sesame oil, then stir fry for about 30 seconds. Add the sauce, and cook until the sauce starts to thicken a bit.

Toss the fried chicken bits in the thickened sauce and stir until evenly coated.

Voilà! I served the General Tso’s Chicken over garlic fried rice and topped the dish with some sliced green onions. It was pretty good!

[lazydad]

The boy said he could eat at least a dozen soup dumplings for lunch. He was right. (at Shanghai Noodle House)

[winsesweewok]

Braised Duck in Soy Sauce 燉 酱 油 鴨

Braised Duck in Soy Sauce 燉 酱 油 鴨

Not much-needed to say about this duck braised in aromatic…

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[lazydad]

I dunno about you, but sometimes I get a hankering for hearty Chinese comfort food like my mom used to make. Like, when the weather starts to cool down and it actually starts to feel like fall, there's nothing better than tucking into a yummy, super-fatty bowl of braised pork belly with rice. It's like getting a warm, greasy hug from your mom. Because, you know, your mom is a greasy old Chinese lady and stuff. No? It's just me? Alrighty then.

The best part about braised pork belly: it's super-easy to make! I didn't even have to ask my mom for the recipe. Here's how:

Bring a pot of water to a boil, then add a pound of fresh, uncured pork belly and let it boil for five minutes. I buy pork belly from the butcher at the Chinese market, but I suppose you can get it from any butcher? When the pork belly has boiled, drain and discard the hot water, rinse the pork belly, pat it dry and set it aside. Sometimes peeps like to cut the pork belly into two-inch pieces at this point, but I prefer to keep the pork belly as a whole strip and cut it later so that it doesn't fall apart while it's braising.

In a cast-iron Dutch oven, heat about a tablespoon of oil. When the oil just starts to smoke over medium heat, add and sauté a knob of fresh ginger that's been peeled and sliced, five cloves of smashed garlic, and two sliced bulbs of shallots. Cook until aromatic, about five minutes, then add about a quarter cup of cold water. Simmer for 10 more minutes.

Add three tablespoons of light soy sauce and three tablespoons of dark soy sauce (or six tablespoons of whatever soy sauce you have on hand), three to six tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine, two teaspoons of brown sugar (or rock sugar, if you have it), and two pieces of star anise. Stir to incorporate.

Add the boiled pork belly, skin-side down, then add enough water to just cover the meat. Turn the heat to medium-low to simmer the pot, then cover and let the pork belly braise for about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes or so, turn the pork belly so that it's skin-side up, then braise over medium-low heat for another 90 minutes or 2 hours, or until the meat is tender. 

You may have to adjust seasoning at the end, like, add more sugar or soy sauce, but it's pretty foolproof.

Voilà! I served the braised pork belly with brown sticky rice. Don't be afraid of the fatty parts. The gelatinous, creamy yumminess of the pork belly fat is what makes this dish, trust me. It's really good! You should try it!