Dish of Chicken in Sour Sauce
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Chicken in Sour Sauce


China - Sichuan   -   Culiu ji
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 3 w/rice
***
1 hr
Prep		 This recipe is for unusually smooth, moist and sophisticated chicken, combined with the tender crunchiness of Bamboo shoots, all in a delicate, lightly sour sauce. For a similar but simpler recipe see Dong'an Chicken.

10
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1/4
1/2
2
2
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6
1/2
4
3
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1
1/4
1
2
1
3
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1-1/2
2
2
oz
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t
T
T
T
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oz
in
cl
T
---
t
t
t
t
t
T
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c
T
t
Chicken Meat (1)
-- Marinade
Salt
Rice Wine (2)
Egg White
Potato Starch
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Bamboo, or (3)
Ginger Root
Garlic
Scallion Greens
-- Sauce
Sugar
Salt
Potato Starch
Chinkiang Vinegar (4)
Rice Wine
Stock or Water
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Oil, Deep Fry
Chili Paste (5)
Chinkiang Vinegar (4)
Prep   -   (45 min)
  1. Cut CHICKEN into strips about 1/2 inch wide and at most 1/4 inch thick. Cut these strips diagonally into small lozenges - or, however works with your chicken, but not thick because cooking time is very short.
  2. Tumble Chicken with Salt and Rice Wine. Separately, beat EGG WHITES and slowly beat in Potato Starch to make a light batter. Tumble this into the Chicken to coat evenly. Set aside.
  3. Slice BAMBOO SHOOTS less than 1/4 inch thick (or Celery, see Note-2) and cut into small lozenges similar to the Chicken.
  4. Slice GINGER very thin. Cut slices into threads, then chop the threads fine. Crush GARLIC and chop fine. Mix.
  5. Cut green part of SCALLIONS into thin slices.
Run   -   (15 min)
  1. In a wok, heat Oil to about 265°F/130°C - not too hot. Stir up Chicken mix and stir into the Oil along with the Bamboo Shoots (or Celery). Stir over moderately high heat, breaking apart Chicken until it has completely lost its raw color and is all separated. It should be only partially cooked at this point - do not overcook. Scoop out with a Spider and set aside. to drain.
  2. Pour out most of the Oil, leaving 3 Tablespoons in the wok. Heat the oil and stir in the Chili Paste until it is well distributed and the oil is red. Then stir in the Garlic Mix until it is aromatic.
  3. Return the Chicken mix to the wok. Stir it in for about two minutes. Quickly stir up the Sauce mix and stir it into the wok, stirring until it thickens.
  4. Stir in Scallion Greens and Chinkiang Vinegar. Check the largest piece of Chicken, it should be just cooked through - don't overcook. Take off the heat.
  5. Serve hot with plenty of steamed Jasmine rice.
NOTES:

  1. Chicken:

    Weight is boneless, but can be skin-on or skinless. I use Thigh and Leg meat which has better texture and flavor than the cardboard breast meat we get around here, though breast does slice more neatly.
  2. Rice Wine:   Use a good, drinkable Chinese rice wine, not that horrid salted "cooking" version. If you don't have this, use a Dry Sherry. Sake is made from rice but is not considered a good substitute, it's beer, not wine. For details see our Chinese Rice Wine page.

  3. Bamboo Shoots, or:

    Über expert Fuschia Dunlop reports that in Sichuan the vegetable used is Winter Bamboo Shoots, but that when she is home in London, she uses 5-1/4 ounces of Celery, de-stringed and cut into lozenges similar to the Chicken. I used vacuum packed Green Bamboo Shoots, because a vacuum pack of Winter Bamboo Shoots weighed a whole pound. I did use celery leaves for the garnish. For details see our Bamboo page.

  4. Chinkiang Vinegar:

    This is an unsweetened dark rice vinegar (water, glutenous rice, salt). Gold Plum is a good brand that's widely distributed in North America, but there are others. For details see our Sours page.

  5. Chili Paste:

      Officially, this should be Sichuan Pickled Chili Paste, but Huy Fong's Sambal Oelec, available almost everywhere, is considered an excellent substitute. For details see our Huy Fong Chili Sauces page.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch ar=as required tt=to taste
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