Eating all over the world: C - China
Bags packed? Passport in your hands? Perfect, let’s head to China.
I have to admit, before I got Jeremy Pang’s book, Hong Kong Diner, my knowledge of Chinese food was very much limited to what you would get in restaurants and take aways. Even if I went to London to China Town, I most likely stuck to dishes I knew. Reading Hong Kong Diner was a complete revelation, it got me really excited about the cuisine and I found myself fully immersed in the book and buying different spices and ingredients, and cooking in a completely new way. When I first started cooking from the book, I knew I was in love with this cuisine with its aromatic, savoury and nutty flavours.
Most people will have tried crispy duck from either a restaurant or take away and let’s be honest, it still remains one of the most popular dishes for a very good reason, it is utterly delicious. The skin savoury, salty and crispy and the inside super soft and tasty, the cucumber cutting through the fat and the sweet umami rich sauce bringing it all together.
Crispy duck
I love eating dishes that are full of flavour and this was one of the things I noticed very early on in my culinary journey of Chinese food, everything is always so flavourful. Among my favourite ingredients (ever, not just with Chinese food) are star anise, sesame oil and chiu chow chilli oil. The difference a drizzle of sesame oil on a finished dish really cannot be underestimated, it gives interest, nuttiness and lifts the dish. As far chiu chow goes, genuinely not a week goes by without this being reached for, it is spicy, nutty, full of umami and garlicky and honestly so special, it truly brings alive the simple egg on toast or noodles. If there is one ingredient you get from the list below, make it this. It is incredible.
Star anise is my ultimate favourite however, it just makes me smile and it goes so well with both savoury and sweet dishes - it is especially good with chocolate. If you are making brownies for instance, melt the butter with star anise and leave to infuse for an hour then carry on with your recipe. You can’t distinguish it as star anise but it does have such an amazing flavour.
Other ingredients that sum up Chinese cooking for me is:
Soy sauce (both light and dark),
Shaoxing rice wine
Oyster sauce
Hoisin sauce
White pepper
Sichuan pepper
Five spice
Chinkiang vinegar
Ginger, garlic and spring onions
Stuffed bao buns
Char siu pork bao buns
I have learnt how to make fluffy light beautiful bao buns which are fantastic with duck and char siu pork (char siu pork is absolutely gorgeous) and dumplings filled with prawns, pork, mushrooms or cabbage, I mean I can make dumplings but I still need to master some of the pleated varieties.
Dumplings
Of all the dishes however, the master stock is my absolute favourite. It is essentially a braising liquid/broth that is reusable and made of soy sauce and aromatics. It is deeply savoury and aromatic and is, for me, feel good food. You can poach meats, poultry or tofu and the more you use it, the more flavour is imparted into it and the better it tastes. You just need to strain it and store in the fridge or freezer, boiling it weekly (or monthly if in the freezer). Think of it much like a sourdough starter that improves with age.
When I boil mine I tend to put leftover meat or poultry in it so it picks up the flavours but you don’t have to, you could just stick to adding fresh aromatics only. One of the nicest flavours to add was duck, we made crispy duck for Chinese New Year and then used the leftover skin and bones in the pot when we next boiled it and the flavour was absolutely delicious.
We keep a container of master stock in the fridge and do try to use it weekly when we boil it. Some of the dishes you can make are:
Think of master stock as the equivalent of Jewish chicken soup, it has a certain feel good factor and is great for when you a cold or generally are not feeling great. Why does it work? I don't know but what I do know is I will be ill and not feeling like eating at all and a steaming bowl of master stock with a few dumplings will arrive and I just feel a little less rubbish.
So, give it a go, I hope you love it as much as we do here.
Thanks for joining us in China, next stop on our culinary adventure around the world is Denmark.