Meal fit for a Chairman

Our honeymooning friends Dave and Karena are back with us before going back to the States and we decided to have an authentic Chinese food throwdown before they left. Any of these ingredients can be found at a reputable Asian food market, and once you have bought a few key pantry items, you can make a wide range of stuff. All of these recipes appear in cookbooks written by a British woman named Fuchsia Dunlop, who is the first Western woman to ever be allowed to study (and graduate) from the Chinese Culinary Academy in Sichuan Province. She has written two cookbooks, "Sichuan Cookery" and "The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook", the latter dealing specifically with Hunan food.

The Dishes:
-Beef with Cumin
-Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork
-Fragrant and Hot Prawns
-Steamed Aubergines with Chili Sauce
-General Tso's Chicken (Taiwan Version)

A few observations:
1) We had six people over and made five dishes, plus some rice and it turned out to be just the right amount of food, with everybody being able to sample some of everything and not get too full.

2) The dipping sauce which accompanies the steamed eggplant (aubergine) is good enough to put on anything you want to eat which needs a spicy Asian kick.

3) Any of these dishes can be made on their own, put with some rice, and would comfortably serve two.

4) All of these dishes destroyed anything you could ever get in a mall food court or even most Chinese takeaways. That, and they were super easy to make. No reason to buy Chinese take-out again, in my book.

After this we watched The Big Lebowski, drank white russians and then played competitive sports on the Nintendo Wii until late. A good evening was had by all. Hope you like this food.

Beef with Cumin (Hunan)
340 g sirloin, trimmed of fat
2 teaspoons ginger, finely chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
2 red chilies, deseeded, finely chopped
3 teaspoons red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons cumin
½ teaspoon salt
2 spring onion, green parts only, finely sliced
1 teaspoon sesame oil
400 ml groundnut (peanut) oil , for frying
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon corn flour
1 tablespoon water

Cut the beef across the grain into thin slices. Add the marinade ingredients (Shaoxing wine through the 1 tablespoon of water) and mix well.

Heat the peanut oil to about 140C/275F. Add the beef and stir gently. As soon as the piece have separated, remove them from the oil and drain well; set aside.

Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the oil. Over a high flame, add the ginger, garlic, fresh chilies, chili flakes and cumin, and stir-fry briefly until fragrant. Return the beef to the wok and stir well, seasoning with salt to taste.

When all ingredients are sizzlingly fragrant and delicious, add the spring onions and toss briefly. Remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve.

Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork (Hunan)
500 g pork belly, skin removed
2 tsp. peanut oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
20 g ginger, skin left on and sliced
1 star anise
2 dried red chilies
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
1 spring onion, finely sliced on the diagonal

Plunge the belly pork into a pan of boiling water and simmer for 3-4 minutes until partially cooked. Remove, and when cool enough to handle, cut into bite-sized chunks.

Heat the oil and sugar in a wok over a gentle flame until the sugar melts, then raise the heat until the sugar turns a rich caramel brown. Add the pork and splash in the Shaoxing wine.

Add enough water to just cover the pork, along with the ginger, star anise, chillies and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 40-50 minutes.

Towards the end of the cooking time, turn the heat up to reduce the sauce and season with soy sauce, salt and a little sugar to taste. Add the spring onion just before serving.

Fragrant and Hot Prawns (Hunan)
500 g tiger prawns, thawed
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chili bean paste
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons water
¼ teaspoon soy sauce
2 spring onion, finely sliced
1 tablespoon red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sesame oil
peanut oil, for frying

Twist the heads off of the prawns and get rid of the legs. Remove the veins. Rinse the prawns, then mix with the salt and Shaoxing wine and set aside.

Heat the groundnut oil (about 300 ml) in a wok over a high flame until it reaches 180C/350F. Shake the prawns dry. Tip them into the wok and deep-fry for less than 30 seconds, until they have turned pink and are partially cooked. Remove from the wok with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the oil, and return the wok to the hob over a medium flame. Add the ginger, garlic, chili bean paste and pepper flakes and stir-fry until the oil is fragrant and is stained red by the chili bean paste. Add the water and soy sauce and bring to the boil.

Add the prawns and then cook over a high flame to reduce the sauce, stirring constantly. When the water in the sauce has evaporated, add the spring onions and red pepper to give them a lick of heat. You should smell the fragrance of the onions after a few seconds, at which point remove the wok from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve.

Steamed Aubergines with Chili Sauce (Sichaun)
2 eggplant, large
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
1-½ teaspoon Chinese vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons chili oil, with chili flake sediment
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Cut the large aubergines (eggplant) in half and sprinkle the cut sides lightly with salt. leave for at least a half hour to draw out the bitter juices. Oriental aubergines (the smaller ones) do not need this treatment and can be left whole.

Steam the aubergines over a high flame for 5-10 minutes, until tender. Leave to cool then cut into chunks.

Combine the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the oils.

Serve the aubergines and the sauce as a dip.

General Tso's Chicken (Taiwan Version)
340 g chicken thighs, boned, skin on
6 dried red chilies
2 teaspoons ginger, finely chopped
2 teaspoons garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sesame oil
peanut oil, for deep frying
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
½ teaspoon soy sauce
1 egg yolks
2 tablespoons corn flour
2 teaspoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon tomato puree, mixed with 1 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon corn flour
½ teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 tablespoons water

Unfold the chicken thighs and lay them, skin side down, on a chopped board. Use a sharp knife to make a few shallow crosscuts into the meat (this will help the flavors to penetrate). The cut each thigh into bite-sized pieces. Place the chicken in a bowl.

To make the marinade, add the soy sauces and egg yolk to the chicken and mix well, then stir in the corn flour and lastly the peanut oil; set aside while you prepare other ingredients.

Combine the sauce ingredients (tomato puree through the 3 tablespoons of water) in a small bowl; set aside. Use scissors to snip the dried chilies into 3/4 inch pieces, discarding as many of the seeds as possible.

Heat enough oil for deep-frying to 180-200C/350-400F. Add the chicken and deep-fry until it is crisp and golden (fry in batches, if necessary, to not crowd the pan). Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and set aside. Pour the oil into a heatproof container, and clean the wok if necessary.

Return the wok to a high flame with 2-3 tablespoons of the oil. Add the dried chilies and stir-fry briefly until they are just changing color (do not burn them). Toss in the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds longer, until fragrant. Then add the sauce and stir as it thickens. Return the chicken to the wok and stir vigorously to coat the pieces in sauce. Remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and then serve.