Hunan Cuisine: Sauces for Noodles

Sauces for Noodles

Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook by Fuchsia Dunlop

Hot Sesame Sauce

2 Tbsp sesame paste

2 Tbsp cold water

1 Tbsp fermented bean curd, mixed with its juice

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 Tbsp light soy sauce

1 Tbsp Chinkiang vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil

Combine ingredients together.

Toppings

2-4 Tbsp chili oil with sediment

5 Tbsp preserved mustard tuber (about 2 ounces), rinsed and finely chopped

1/3 cup crushed roasted peanuts

2 scallions, green part, finely sliced

Sauce can be served with liang fen, mung bean jelly.  Soak dry liang fen in boiling water for about 30 minutes.

Or try with Korean noodle.  (?)

Cold-Tossed Noodle Sauce

1.5 Tbsp sesame paste

1.5 Tbsp fermented bean curd, mixed with its juice

2 tsp light soy sauce

1.5 Tbsp clear rice vinegar

1.5 Tbsp chili oil with sediment

2 tsp sesame oil

Cook the plain flour-and-water or egg noodles per instruction.  Drain, dry.  Can mix with a little peanut oil to prevent sticking.

Same toppings as above, minus the oil.  Can also add cilantro.

Yueyang Hot-Dry Noodle

1 Tbsp chopped salted chilies

4 tsp sesame paste

1 tsp crushed garlic

2 tsp light soy sauce

1 Tbsp chili oil with sediment

Cook 7-oz dried or 1 lb 6-oz fresh Chinese noodles and drain well.  Add the sauce and mix well.

Toppings with mustard tuber, scallions and sesame seeds.

Hunan Cuisine: Fragrant-and-Hot Spare Ribs

Fragrant-and-Hot Spare Ribs

Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook by Fuchsia Dunlop

2.5 lb meaty spare ribs, 3 1/4-inch sections
2 quarts aromatic broth (see below)
2 tsp garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp chili bean paste
1 tsp chopped salted chilies
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried chili flakes
2 tsp sesame seeds
2 Tbsp finely chopped red bell pepper
3 scallions, green parts only, finely sliced
2 tsp sesame oil
Peanut oil for deep-frying

Blank the ribs in boiling water.  Drain.

Simmer the ribs in aromatic broth for about 40 minutes, until tender.  Drain.

Heat the oil to 350F.  Deep-fry the ribs until golden.  Drain.

Add 3 Tbsp oil to wok.  Add 2 tsp garlic, 2 tsp giner, 1 tsp chili bean paste, 1 tsp chopped slated chilies and stir-fry until fragrant.  Add 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp dried chili flakes, and 2 tsp sesame seeds and stir a couple times.

Add 3 Tbsp water and the fried ribs and toss them in the sauce.  Add red bell pepper and scallions.  Off heat, stir in the 2 tsp sesame oil.

Aromatic Broth

2 quarts stock or water
1 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peel left on, sliced
2 scallions
4 Tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1.5-2 tsp salt
Caramel color if you want a golden broth

(some of all of the following spices)
small handful dried chilies
2 Tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
1 Tbsp fennel seeds
3 slightly crushed dried/red cadamom (cao guo)
few pieces of cassia bark
6 bay leaves
4 star anise
6 gloves
6 cardamom (green?) pod

Hunan Cuisine: Spiced Salt

Spiced Salt

Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook by Fuchsia Dunlop

4 Tbsp salt

4 Tbsp whole Sichuan pepper

couple pieces of cassia bark

2 crushed red/dried cardamom

5 bay leaves

2 star anise

8 cloves

Stir-fry all the ingredients in a dry wok over medium flame for about 10 minutes, until the salt is brownish and the aromas is deep.  Store in airtight jar.

Hunan Cuisine: Red-Braised Pork

Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork

Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook by Fuchsia Dunlop

1 lb pork belly (skin optional)

1 Tbsp peanut oil

2 Tbsp white sugar

1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine

3/4-inch piece fresh giner, skin left on and sliced

1 star anise

2 dried red chilies

a small piece of cassia bark or cinnamon stick

light soy sauce

salt

sugar

a few pieces scallion greens

Blanch pork belly in boiling water for 3-4 minutes.  Remove.  Cool.  Cut into bite-size chunks.

Make a caramel with 2 Tbsp peanut oil and 2 Tbsp sugar.  Add cut pork belly.  Splash 1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine.

Add enough water to cover pork, along with ginger, star anise, chiles and cassia.  Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 40-50 minutes.

Toward the end of cooking time, turn up the heat to reduce the sauce.  Season with soy sauce, salt, and a little sugar to taste.  Add the scallion greens before serving.

Variations

With water chestnut-

Peel the water chestnuts and deep-fry until taking color.  Drain well.  Add to wok with some cooked red-braised pork, light soy sauce, sugar, ground white pepper, and dark soy sauce for color.  Reduce the sauce.

With garlic cloves-

Similar with water chestnut, replace with garlic cloves.

With deep-fried bean curd-

Add deep-fried bean curd puffs to the red-braised pork, adding stock and simmer until bean curd absorbs the meat flavor.  Finish as in the water chestnut version.

With bean curd skin-

Soak the brittle yellow bean curd skin rolls in cold water overnight, or in hot water for 30 minutes, then drain and cut on an angle into chunks.  Cook with prepared red-braised pork as above.

With "Tea-Tree" mushrooms-

Stir-fry the mushrooms, adding the pork.  Simmer. Proceed as above.

With preserved mustard greens-

Put the red-braised pork in a bowl, top with preserved mustard greens and steam for 20-30 minutes.

Hunan Cuisine: Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs

Sweet-and-Sour Spare Ribs

Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, Fuchsia Dunlop

1 lb. meaty spare ribs, cut into bite-size sections
2 1-oz pieces fresh ginger, unpeeled and crushed
4 scallions, white parts only, crushed
1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine
salt
2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp Chinkiang vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
Peanut oil for cooking

Bring water to a boil.  Add ribs.  Skim.  Add one piece of ginger, 2 scallions, 1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine, and salt to taste.  Boil for 15 minutes, until ribs are cooked and tender; strain and set aside, reserving the cooking liquid.

Optional deep-frying step:  Heat the oil to 350-400F.  Add the ribs and fry for 5 minutes, until golden.  Drain and set aside.

Add 3 Tbsp oil to wok.  Add the remaining 2 scallions and ginger and stir-fry until fragrant.  Add the ribs and toss for a couple minutes.

Add less than 1 cup of reserved cooking liquid, 2 tsp dark soy sauce, 4 Tbsp sugar, and a bit of salt.  Simmer over medium heat, spoon the liquid over ribs, until sauce has reduced to a heavy, syrupy consistency.

Add the 1 Tbsp Chinkiang vinegar and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Off heat, stir in the 1 tsp sesame oil

Bánh Bột Lọc Trần (The Naked Transparent Dumplings!) :-)

I had a few failed attempts at making this dumplings because I over-complicated the process by making the dough using the bread machine.  The dough became gluey and I couldn't make anything with it.

So keep it simple, mix it with a wooden spoon at first, then by hand later.  It should take less than 5 minutes for the dough to come together.

400-g tapioca starch
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/3 cup boiling water.

Put all the tapioca in a bowl.  Add 1/3 cup of boiling water at a time.  Mix with wooden spoon. Continue adding boiling water 3 more times.  By the 4th time, dough should come together with the "right" consistency (i.e. not sticky to hand, pliable, rollable, etc.)

Filling (using the same filling for Bánh Ít Ram)
3/4 lb pork belly, cut into small cubes
1 lb peeled shrimp, cut into small cubes
3 shallots, minced
2 Tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp black pepper (or more)
2 tsp mushroom seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp powdered annatto (optional.  Or 1 Tbsp annatto seeds fried quickly in hot oil to color the oil)

Bánh Ít Ram

Dough Ingredients:
16-oz (one bag) glutinous rice flour
1 tsp mushroom seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1-2/3 cup hot water

Mix all ingredients together to make dough.  I used about 30g of dough for each dumpling.
Use the filling recipe above.  Puree the leftover filling and saute until dry.  Use as topping.  (That's because I was too lazy to make a shrimp topping separately).

Steam for 5-7 (or was it 7-10) minutes.

Use banana leaves, brushed with oil, as dumpling liners.  I used wax paper once and the flour on the bottom was still raw because steam can't cook through was paper (?).  Also, it was super sticky, so I ended up pan-frying the dumplings after steaming.  They were super delicious that way.

Vietnamese Meatballs (Xíu Mại)

I made xíu mại based on this recipe.  There were so many out there, and most are similar, but I liked the proportions of the ingredients in this recipe.  However, my husband thought there was too much onion.  Maybe it was my fault, because I didn't follow the recipe that closely.  Or I used a lot of shallots, and it might be more pungent than regular onion.

To make the meatballs
1 lb ground pork
2 eggs
1 medium jícama, julienned
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp mushroom seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup minced shallots
1/2 Tbsp (~3 cloves) minced garlic
1/4 cup (6-8 stalks) chopped green onions, only green part.

Blanch julienned jicama in boiling water until wilted.  Drain.  Squeeze out water.  Chop the jicama into bits. You should have about 2 cups, more or less.

Mix the chopped jicama, ground pork, eggs, sugar, black pepper, mushroom seasoning, salt, minced shallots, minced garlic, chopped green onion.  Mix well.  Form into bite-sized balls.

Steam for 10 minutes.

To make the tomato sauce
3 tablespoon oil
1/4 cup minced shallot
1/2 - 1 Tbsp (~5 cloves) minced garlic
6-8 green onion, white part, finely chopped.
3 ripe tomatoes, squeeze out seeds, chopped.
2 cups (14.5 oz can) chicken broth.
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp corn starch + 2 Tbsp water, make a slurry.  ]

Heat oil.  Saute minced shallot, garlic and green onion until fragrant.  Add tomatoes, chicken broth, fish sauce, sugar, salt and water released from steaming meatballs.

Bring to boil, simmer.  Add corn starch slurry to thicken sauce.  Add meatballs.  Simmer for 5 minutes.