Cooking Challenge Week 10 - Literature/Media - Congee

From the movie Blood Brothers.  We rented it a few years ago, and one of the only things I remember about it was that whenever the gang is sitting down to eat, Daniel Wu's character wants/asks for congee, and the others make fun of him for not being more sophisticated.

I was going to get all fancy and do multiple garnishes, but then (as Jon Stewart would say) I got the bubons.  Three days of fever, chills, deep hacking cough, sinus headache, the works.  Fortunately for me, congee is basically the Chinese version of chicken noodle soup--comfort food and medicine all at once.  I'm still pretty wretched today, but I at least have the energy to type this up before I go back to sleep.

Congee

• 1 cup rice
• 8 cups chicken stock (or water, or a combination)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (more to taste if desired)

Potential garnishes

• green onion
• chopped preserved turnip
• thousand-year-old eggs
• cilantro leaves
• fried dough sticks
• toasted sesame oil
• sesame seeds
• chopped roasted peanuts

 Combine the rice and chicken stock in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer very gently for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the rice is breaking down and the mixture is very thick.  Add the soy sauce and serve with your choice of garnishes.

Cooking Challenge Week 2 - Chinese - Braised Lemon Chicken

I had intended for this challenge to make one of two things: Spicy Tangerine Beef (one of the few non-Good Eats recipes I've ever used from any Food Network show) or barbeque pork buns, as I'm a huge dim sum fan.

To my dismay, none of the appropriate cuts of meat for either were on sale this week at my local grocery.  The beef, okay, that was a long shot, but I swear, some form of pig is always on sale.  And this week, it was tenderloin.  I'm not paying even sale tenderloin prices!

Chicken thighs, on the other hand, were $0.79/lb.  A few hours later, three pounds of chicken thighs became, courtesy of my new pressure cooker, eight cups of chicken stock and three cups of cooked chicken meat, which will probably be chicken salad in a few days.  The other two pounds found themselves first in a marinade, and then slowly braised in a rich lemon-ginger sauce.   That's a happy chicken.

Braised Lemon Chicken
(adapted from China the Beautiful Cookbook)

• 2 lbs chicken thighs, skinned
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• oil for shallow frying

 Place the chicken thighs in a resealable plastic bag or a shallow dish.  Combine the soy sauce, rice wine, and lemon juice and add to the chicken; marinate at least an hour.  Remove the chicken and place on a rack to dry slightly; reserve the marinade.  Heat enough oil in a wok or skillet to fry the chicken pieces on both sides until golden.  Move the chicken to a dutch oven or other large saucepan.

For the sauce: 

• 2 cups chicken stock, or water
• 3 tsp ginger paste, or freshly shredded ginger root
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt

Add all sauce ingredients and reserved marinade to the chicken.  Heat just to boiling, then reduce to a simmer and cover.  Cook gently for one hour.

Remove the chicken from the sauce and debone, cutting or shredding the meat into bite-size pieces.  Meanwhile, boil the sauce rapidly to reduce.  When thickened, stir the chicken back into the sauce, and serve.