Casserole recipes: mutton with fermented bean curd, and chicken and chestnut
Casseroles are good at keeping the chill at bay. Here are two easy-to-make winter warmers
Cold-weather Chinese cooking means fewer light steamed dishes and more braised food with rich sauces. For the following recipes, use Chinese sand pots, which are inexpensive and come in many sizes. The vendor will (or should) have a bucket of water near the pots - submerge the one you're thinking of buying to see if it has any fissures; if it does have a crack, small bubbles will form on it. If you don't have a sand pot, use an enamelled cast-iron pot.
Mutton casserole with fermented bean curd (pictured)
This is one of my favourite winter dishes. It's easy to make but the flavours are deep and complex. If you can't find mutton, which has a gamier flavour, choose lamb that's on the bone, preferably with some tendon, which will give the sauce a deliciously sticky quality.
6 large dried Chinese mushrooms
10 fresh water chestnuts
200 grams fresh bamboo shoots
500 grams mutton or lamb
About 30ml cooking oil
Fresh ginger, as needed
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 spring onions, cut into 2cm pieces
About 45ml soy sauce
About 45ml rice wine
4 squares fu yu (fermented bean curd), plus extra for serving
1/2 tsp sugar, or to taste
1 medium-sized piece chun pei (dried tangerine peel)
2 sheets fu juk pei (dried beancurd sheets), soaked in warm water until pliable
2 fresh kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
2 large Thai red chillies, sliced
Lettuce leaves (such as romaine or a-choi)
Cornstarch (to thicken the sauce)
Fine-grained salt, as needed
Rinse the mushrooms briefly then soak them in warm water until soft. Squeeze out the water, remove and discard the stems then cut the caps into thick slices. Peel the water chestnuts and cut them into large cubes. Peel the bamboo shoots, cut them into halves or quarters (depending on the size) then slice about 5mm thick.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil then add some salt and a few thick slices of ginger. Put the meat into the water, simmer for about two minutes then drain. Coat the meat lightly with soy sauce. Peel a 2.5cm chunk of ginger and slice it about 2mm thick. Heat the cooking oil in a wok and add the ginger slices, garlic and spring onion. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds then add the meat pieces. Lightly brown the meat on all sides then transfer the contents of the wok to a medium-size Chinese sand pot and add the mushrooms, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots. Mash the fermented bean curd with the rice wine and add it to the pot, along with 30ml of soy sauce, the sugar, the dried tangerine peel and 500ml of water. Bring to a simmer over a medium flame then cover, lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about two hours, or until the meat is very tender. If too much sauce evaporates, add a little water. Taste the sauce for seasoning and adjust as needed. The sauce should lightly coat the meat; if it needs to be thickened, dissolve some cornstarch in water and stir it into the sauce. Squeeze the liquid from the dried beancurd sheets then tear them into large pieces, add to the pot and simmer until soft. Just before serving, stir in the lime leaves, chilli and lettuce. Serve with a small bowl of mashed preserved bean curd mixed with a little rice wine.
Chicken and chestnut casserole
You can use fresh chestnuts and cook them yourself but it's far easier to buy roasted ones from a vendor, and the way they're cooked (roasted in charcoal with sugar) adds a smoky-sweet flavour. Chestnuts are easiest to peel when hot - zap them in a microwave for about 30 seconds and the shell and thin, papery skin will come away easily.
250 grams roasted chestnuts, shell and skin removed
1.5kg bone-in chicken legs and thighs, cut across the bone into 2cm pieces (or use chicken wings - drumettes and middle joints - cut between the joint)
About 30ml soy sauce, or to taste
About 40ml rice wine, or to taste
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
2 tsp cornstarch, plus extra if needed for thickening the sauce
2 spring onions, cut into 3cm pieces
5 3mm-thick slices fresh ginger, peeled
Cooking oil, as needed
About 15 grams Chinese brown rock sugar
About 350ml water or unsalted chicken stock
Put the chicken pieces in a Chinese sand pot, add the soy sauce, rice wine, white pepper, two teaspoons of cornstarch, 15ml of cooking oil, the spring onion and ginger. Mix well then leave to marinate at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes.
Heat cooking oil to the depth of about 3cm in a wok. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade, leaving behind the spring onion, ginger and as much liquid as possible. When the oil is hot (190 degrees Celsius), fry the chicken in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels then put the chicken pieces back into the sand pot. Add the sugar, chestnuts and water or chicken stock. Bring to a simmer over a medium flame then cover, lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about an hour, or until the chicken is tender. Taste the sauce for seasoning and adjust the flavours as needed. The sauce should lightly coat the chicken; if it's too thin, dissolve some cornstarch in a little of the sauce, stir it back into the rest of the casserole then simmer until thickened.
Styling Corner Kitchen Cooking School