Life is Great

The fish monger decided to be nice to me this morning to retrieve his high quality piece of Chinese salted fish (mui hiong ham yue in Cantonese) he kept hidden under his table from other customers. 80 grams (this is a little over 2 liang, 1 liang¹ goes for about RM4.80) of this delicious stuff set me back for slightly over RM10, can be used for only one meal and will be the most expensive ingredient in the entire recipe.

Salted fish has its status raised from the days where a poor man who can’t afford meat or chicken will gobble his whole bowl of rice or porridge with a small piece worth less than a few cents (neighbours smelling salted fish cooking usually made snide remarks, it’s not something they will ever eat) to the present time when I have to spend the cost of two meals to get what I need to go with my chicken.

It’s not just because of the inflation rate.

I blame the Singaporeans and Hong Kong dwellers who don’t have much good produce, resort to buying ours with higher prices to lure traders, thus we now no longer have the best humongous prawns, fragrant mangoes and salted fish² in abundance.

I had to make sure I had that tiny cube wrapped up safely in my bag before I proceeded with the rest of my shopping.

¹ The unstandardized traditional Chinese weight measurement method is still popular with our local wet markets. 1 jin (800 grams) is 16 liang instead of 10 liang, so at least I get more for what I pay.
² That huge block of salted fish the monger kept hidden is worth more than RM180. Studies have proven that salted fish (especially the Chinese variety from certain parts of China) is carcinogenic when consumed in high quantities.

Continue reading Salted Fish and Such

A friend has asked for the recipe Kung Pao chicken (gōngbäo jīdīng), a favorite Szechuan dish of mine originating from western China. This is a personalized recipe my father came up with to facilitate the preferences of my mother and I.

Kung Pao Chicken
Serves 4

• 3 chicken drumsticks, deboned


• 12 dried chillies, soaked, seeded and halved


• 1 onion, quartered


• ½ green capsicum, cubed


• ½ red capsicum, cubed


• 100g cashew nuts, deep–fried


• 2 tbsp peanut oil


Marinade for chicken:


• ½ tbsp light soy sauce


• ½ tsp sugar


• ½ tbsp sesame oil


• ½ an egg white


• a dash of pepper


Sauce:


• 1 tbsp oyster sauce


• 1 tbsp light soy sauce


• ½ tbsp black bean sauce


• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce


• ½ tsp sugar or to taste


• 1 tsp sesame oil


• ¼ tsp salt or to taste


• 1½ tbsp dark soy sauce


• 2 tbsp water


Thickening:


• 1 tsp corn flour


• 2 tbsp water

Marinate chicken for 30 to 45 minutes. Shallow fry chicken until fragrant and golden. Drain and set aside. Combine sauce ingredients and thickening separately.

Heat oil in a wok, fry dried chillies for 30 seconds. Add in the onions and capsicums, then the chicken. Stir–fry briskly, then add sauce. Bring to a simmer and thicken accordingly. Sprinkle with a dash of sesame oil. Plate and spread cashewnuts on top.

Serve hot with rice or Chinese flower rolls.

For variety and further customization, chicken drumsticks can be skinless or replaced with 250g breast meat. More cubed vegetables and spring onion can also be added to the recipe. Typical Szechuan choices are cucumber, celery, bamboo shoot, water chestnut or pineapple. Cashew nuts can be replaced with roasted peanuts. To enhance flavor, seafood or Hoisin sauce and Chinese rice wine can be added to the sauce and balsamic, black or white vinegar to the marinade.

Tips: When frying the cashew nuts, be sure the oil is hot enough (use the bubbling chopstick test) before adding nuts. Remove while color is still light as it will darken while being cooled. Similar style of sauce and vegetables can also used for Kung Pao seafood. Do not remove the dried chillies when serving as they provide flavor to the dish.

All the best girl!
Continue reading Kung Pao Chicken