Preserved mustard root like this (often labeled “Sichuan Preserved Vegetable”) can be found in cans or jars in your Chinese market. Once opened, they’ll last for months in a sealed container in the fridge. You don’t need much to add big flavor to dishes.
“It’s important to consider your main flavor and texture when pairing wine with Chinese food. If it is a dark sauce, like the plum sauces or soy based, these are high in sodium, so a wine that is high in fruit focus is best. Wines like Dolcetto, Barbera, Blaufrankisch for reds and Riesling, Sylvaner, Cortese, Prosecco and Champagne in general work best.”— Molly Wismeier, Restaurant R’evolution (New Orleans)
The pork is the odd man out in the traditional recipe. Fortunately, much like with the beef in Sichuan mapo tofu, the pork is not the star player of the dish. Its role is mainly textural, adding a bit of meaty, bouncy chew that clings to the slippery noodles as you slurp them up. Having already addressed an identical issue when finding a suitable replacement for ground beef in my vegan mapo tofu recipe, I knew what I had to do here: I chopped up a bunch of mushrooms in a food processor, then employed the Chinese technique of dry-frying—cooking them slowly in oil—until they were mostly dehydrated, lightly shriveled, and deeply browned. The resulting little nuggets have great texture and a flavor that is not really pork-like, but savory and rich in its own unique way.
Our original attempt at real-deal Chinese kung pao chicken , adapted from a recipe by a Sichuan chef working in Boston, gets its mouth-numbing heat from Sichuan peppercorns. So does the kung pao chicken from Kenji’s book , based on the version he tried in Sichuan Province. This Chinese-American take, meanwhile, is much less spicy, with cubes of chicken in a thick, slightly gloppy sauce, permeated by a gentle heat. It’s a quick and easy recipe, too: Just stir-fry marinated diced chicken with roasted peanuts, diced celery and peppers, ginger, and red Chinese or árbol chilies, then coat it all in a mixture of soy sauce, chicken broth, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, and cornstarch. Dinner’s on the table in 30 minutes.
This fried rice is studded with sweet and salty Chinese sausage and tender leaves of Napa cabbage. Juicy green peas and sliced scallions add a touch of brightness while a sauce made of Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and sesame oil brings together more savory notes. Wok hei flavor is added first to the cabbage and then to the entire dish at the end, allowing its signature smoky aroma to permeate throughout.
Yes, these are derivative of jalapeño poppers, noodle game strategy|https://noodleinsight.com/ but jalapeños are great, refried beans are great, and golden brown and crunchy is great, so why not stick them all together? Crisp on the outside and creamy in the middle, they come out of the fryer super hot, so make sure you’ve got plenty of cold beer on-hand.
To make the roasted chile oil, just toast a handful of whole Chinese chiles (or if you want, red pepper flakes) in a dry skillet until fragrant and ever-so-slightly smoking (about 30 seconds). Transfer them to a food processor with a cup of neutral oil, like canola, and whiz the whole thing up. Let it sit in a sealed container in the fridge for a week or so, and you’re good to go. You can even top up the jar with more oil and toasted chiles every time you seem to be running low. Make some, have it on hand at all times, and it will revolutionize your mapo tofu, ramen, dumplings, stir-fries, and countless other dishes.
Dry-frying is a technique in which vegetables or meat is fried in oil until much of its moisture has cooked off. Though you might imagine this would produce tough and dry beef, it actually provides a pleasingly chewy, crisp texture. Here, once the steak has finished cooking and most of the oil has been poured off, the meat is added back to the wok with garlic and spicy chiles as well as sliced carrot and celery. The dish is finished with a dusting of numbing Sichuan peppercorns.
Done right, takeout fried rice is a thing of satisfying, well-balanced beauty. But it’s frequently served clumpy and over-sauced, or, worse, bland and oily. Making it at home gives you more control over the final dish, plus it’s a great way to use up leftovers. Our approach busts a few myths—no, your rice doesn’t have to be medium-grain, or day-old, for that matter. While this version calls for vegetables, like carrots and peas, you can easily bulk it up with pork , kimchi and Spam , Thai-style crab , chicken, or your protein and garnishes of choice.
The problem with so many steam-table iterations of this dish lies in the broccoli: It’s too often mushy and bland. To keep it crisp and flavorful here, and get a good sear on the strips of beef without overcooking them, we stir-fry the ingredients over very high heat, using a wok or a wok insert over a grill.
Place mushrooms in the bowl of a food processor and process until pieces no larger than 1/2-inch remain, about 6 short pulses. Transfer to a small saucepan. Add vegetable oil and stir to combine. Place over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushroom pieces shrink and are deep golden brown, about 8 minutes. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer set over a small bowl. Reserve mushroom pieces and discard all but 1 tablespoon oil.
