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rushthatspeaksTake a pound of chicken per person eating and cut into bite-sized pieces.
Consider ways to cook chicken. Chop two cloves of garlic very small, also a shallot, on the grounds that this is a good start to any dinner.
Examine what the farm share brought. Take a green bell pepper, seed it, and chop it into bite-sized pieces. The peaches are underripe, but they went bad last time before ripening. One of them is edible uncooked and can be dessert, so chop the other into small pieces, holding it over a sauté pan because somehow it has managed to be underripe and juicy at the same time.
Oh hey mushrooms exist! Take some of those dried mushrooms that have been sitting about forever and put them in warm water to hydrate. Chop some white mushrooms.
Everything sensible has now been chopped. A little oil in the bottom of the pan. Garlic, stir till it starts to smell, shallot, stir till it goes translucent, bell pepper. The bell pepper is not going to cook through like this, is it. Chicken, sear on all sides. Grind in some black pepper. The bell pepper is still not going to cook through like this.
Pour in about an inch of the dried-mushroom water. That’s better. The peach goes in now.
White mushrooms, some lemon juice, cooking sake, soy sauce. Salt. Taste. Bring to high boil.
There must be more complexity to life than this.
Spicy is not an option tonight due to preferences of persons eating. Rummage through fridge.
Ketchup. Well. Dubious cook is dubious. Better this than nothing.
Good squirt of ketchup, throw in the dried mushrooms, and lower heat to sensible.
Taste.
Best sweet and sour chicken you’ve ever had, complex and not too sweet and both recognizably the same dish as the restaurant version and just simply better in every direction. Serve over rice.
Unexpected Sweet and Sour Chicken
Please note that all liquid measurements are approximate as I cook by smell.
1 lb. of chicken per person eating, cut into bite-sized cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into bite-sized squares
1 underripe peach
1 cup dried black fungus (also called cloud ear; it has no taste of its own and is used for accent, body and crunch-- you could use wood ear, or if you want some mushroom taste shiitake; you do not want a strong mushroom)
1/2 lb. white mushrooms
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 tablespoon cooking sake or Shao Hsing wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 tablespoons tomato ketchup
salt and black pepper
Put the dried mushrooms to soak in warm water to cover them for at least half an hour. Save the water.
Dice the peach over the pan you're going to cook in, to catch the juice.
Pour the canola oil into the pan with the peach juice and stir. Heat over medium-high until tiny bubbles form around the tip of a wooden spoon dipped in the oil.
Add the garlic and cook stirring continuously until it starts to smell, probably less than a minute. Add the shallot and cook stirring continuously until it goes translucent, probably another two to three minutes. Add the bell pepper and the chicken.
Sear the chicken on all sides until it is consistently white. Grind in some black pepper.
Pour in mushroom water until there is about an inch of water in the pan. Do not allow any grit or dirt in the bottom of the mushroom container to get into the pan. Throw in the diced peach.
Add the white mushrooms, lemon juice, cooking sake, and soy sauce. Salt to taste. Saute until the mushrooms are starting to go soft but are nowhere near cooked through.
Raise heat to high and bring liquid in pan to a rolling boil. Boil until juices have reduced by about a third.
Stir in the ketchup while it's still boiling, bring to a simmer, and add the dried mushrooms. Cook until chicken is done in the middle, green pepper is done but not limp, and dried mushrooms are heated through-- I think it was less than five minutes.
Serve over rice.
Consider ways to cook chicken. Chop two cloves of garlic very small, also a shallot, on the grounds that this is a good start to any dinner.
Examine what the farm share brought. Take a green bell pepper, seed it, and chop it into bite-sized pieces. The peaches are underripe, but they went bad last time before ripening. One of them is edible uncooked and can be dessert, so chop the other into small pieces, holding it over a sauté pan because somehow it has managed to be underripe and juicy at the same time.
Oh hey mushrooms exist! Take some of those dried mushrooms that have been sitting about forever and put them in warm water to hydrate. Chop some white mushrooms.
Everything sensible has now been chopped. A little oil in the bottom of the pan. Garlic, stir till it starts to smell, shallot, stir till it goes translucent, bell pepper. The bell pepper is not going to cook through like this, is it. Chicken, sear on all sides. Grind in some black pepper. The bell pepper is still not going to cook through like this.
Pour in about an inch of the dried-mushroom water. That’s better. The peach goes in now.
White mushrooms, some lemon juice, cooking sake, soy sauce. Salt. Taste. Bring to high boil.
There must be more complexity to life than this.
Spicy is not an option tonight due to preferences of persons eating. Rummage through fridge.
Ketchup. Well. Dubious cook is dubious. Better this than nothing.
Good squirt of ketchup, throw in the dried mushrooms, and lower heat to sensible.
Taste.
Best sweet and sour chicken you’ve ever had, complex and not too sweet and both recognizably the same dish as the restaurant version and just simply better in every direction. Serve over rice.
Unexpected Sweet and Sour Chicken
Please note that all liquid measurements are approximate as I cook by smell.
1 lb. of chicken per person eating, cut into bite-sized cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into bite-sized squares
1 underripe peach
1 cup dried black fungus (also called cloud ear; it has no taste of its own and is used for accent, body and crunch-- you could use wood ear, or if you want some mushroom taste shiitake; you do not want a strong mushroom)
1/2 lb. white mushrooms
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 tablespoon cooking sake or Shao Hsing wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 tablespoons tomato ketchup
salt and black pepper
Put the dried mushrooms to soak in warm water to cover them for at least half an hour. Save the water.
Dice the peach over the pan you're going to cook in, to catch the juice.
Pour the canola oil into the pan with the peach juice and stir. Heat over medium-high until tiny bubbles form around the tip of a wooden spoon dipped in the oil.
Add the garlic and cook stirring continuously until it starts to smell, probably less than a minute. Add the shallot and cook stirring continuously until it goes translucent, probably another two to three minutes. Add the bell pepper and the chicken.
Sear the chicken on all sides until it is consistently white. Grind in some black pepper.
Pour in mushroom water until there is about an inch of water in the pan. Do not allow any grit or dirt in the bottom of the mushroom container to get into the pan. Throw in the diced peach.
Add the white mushrooms, lemon juice, cooking sake, and soy sauce. Salt to taste. Saute until the mushrooms are starting to go soft but are nowhere near cooked through.
Raise heat to high and bring liquid in pan to a rolling boil. Boil until juices have reduced by about a third.
Stir in the ketchup while it's still boiling, bring to a simmer, and add the dried mushrooms. Cook until chicken is done in the middle, green pepper is done but not limp, and dried mushrooms are heated through-- I think it was less than five minutes.
Serve over rice.
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-17 12:30 pm (UTC)The peach, though: I am on board with the peach.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-17 05:55 pm (UTC)There should be more cooking with stone fruits in the world.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 01:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-17 06:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 04:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-19 04:57 am (UTC)Bitter melon: Oh god no. The whole house smells of bitter melon. The next time I cook this I am using something else, anything else. Possibly old shoes. Perhaps the man at the farmers' market assumed I already knew what I was in for.
The texture is really good, like jicama or pepper, but god, I don't know how people eat this. Maybe you have to salt it beforehand like eggplant.
This is from the girl who ate maple leaves and didn't find those tannins too bitter.
I had to drink a gin and tonic to wash the taste of bitter out of my mouth.