Maine Pau

I'm back. (Ta da!)

As we prepare for a year of perpetual motion, we're hiding out in a beautiful, remote spot on Maine's central coast. Supermarkets and restaurants are thin on the ground, so I've been preparing three meals a day, mostly American summer food: grilled steak and chicken, corn on the cob, tomato-basil-etc. salads.

This weekend, however, E's friend S (who is a great food person) came out for a visit and E declared that I would make Kung Pao chicken. I'm not even sure that Kung Pao is a real Chinese dish. Maybe it's one of those 1950s-era dishes that no one makes anymore, like chicken a la king. In any case, the version I make is adapted from Yan-kit So's Classic Chinese Cookbook and I know it like the back of my hand...using a gas stove, my own wok, and Chinese ingredients.

Can Kung Pao be made-in-Maine? I was not feeling optimistic. The local Hannaford 's "Asian food" section was a minute 1/4 of an aisle long and definitely did not include dried chilis. (S generously brought these from Boston). In the end I wound up making a whole bunch of dubious substitutions forgetting that all my staple ingredients are not staples here: I used canola oil instead of peanut oil, Planter's dry-roasted peanuts in a jar instead of fresh, plain peanuts, some unfamiliar looking "Oriental" chili sauce, and vermouth instead of Shaoxing wine. The worst substitution I confess was purely the result of poor planning...I had to use bouillon instead of chicken broth! Oy!

Did I mention the electric stove? Not ideal for stir frying. But actually, I think it was the ancient cast iron pan and the burner on the electric stove that goes nuclear when you leave it on too long that made this dish work. It was surprisingly tasty in the end. So yes, you can make Pau in Maine! Thank God.

S gave me a great Chipotle mayo recipe, so here is my adaptation of Yan-kit So's Pau recipe for her (the original is here):

KUNG POW! (serves 2 people with rice and a veggie dish)

Ingredients
1 large pan with tall sides (so the dish won't fly out as you're stir-frying)
2-3 tbsp peanut oil
1-1.25 lbs of chicken "fillet"
4 dried chilis, de-seeded & chopped (approx 1 tbsp)
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
8-12 thin slices ginger
1.5 tbsp Shaoxing wine (common stuff at Asian markets)
6-8 scallions (spring onions), cut into 1" segments
1/2 c lightly salted peanuts

Marinade
2/3 tsp salt
4 tsp light soy sauce (buy at an Asian market; it's thinner and saltier than "dark soy")
4 tsp Shaoxing wine
1.5 tsp cornstarch
1.5 tbsp egg white

Sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (used for giving dishes a rich auburn color)
1-2 tbsp chili sauce (smooth bright red sauce with vinegar in it)
2 tsp rice vinegar
1.5 tsp corn starch
6 tbsp chicken broth (not too salty)

Instructions
Keep in mind that everything about this dish is dictated by the fact that you're going to cook it really quickly in a hot pan. I always have to get myself ready, as if I'm about to do a 5-min performance.

Step 1: Marinate chicken 15-20 mins

Cut chicken into uniform 1"-cubes/chunks so they'll cook evenly. I use "fillets" because they're a more uniform thickness than breasts. Put all of the marinade ingredients in a bowl and toss the chunks in it lightly with chopsticks. The egg whites help to make the chicken juicier.

Step 2: Prepare the sauce & set aside wine

You'll notice that the sauce and the marinade have a lot of the same ingredients. I prepare the sauce next so I can put the bottles away and not have them cluttering the counter. Measure out the 1.5 tbsp of wine for cooking now too and stick it in a ramekin (you don't want to be measuring when you're cooking). Leave a pair of chopsticks in the sauce so you can re-stir it quickly when you're cooking. Be prepared!

Step 3: De-seed and chop dried chilis

Slice length-wise, remove the seeds, then chop cross-wise into small pieces. Start with 1 tbsp chopped chilis and adjust in subsequent batches if you like it spicier. Stick chili pieces in a ramekin. Wash your hands (no, seriously).

Step 4: Slice garlic and ginger

Slice the garlic first, then slice the ginger into similar size/thickness slices. Volume-wise you should have 20-30% less ginger than garlic. Put both ingredients in one dish so you can add them quickly together.

Step 5: Wash, dry, cut, and separate the scallions

Make sure they're totally dry, otherwise they'll steam rather than fry. Cut into 1" segments to match the chicken chunks. Depending on how big the onions are, you may need to slice them lengthwise first so the pieces will cook quickly enough. Envision a smallish, tender little scallion and shoot for that thickness. Put the whites and greens in separate bowls.

Step 6: Toast the peanuts

Toast on a medium heat until you can see the oils start to glisten and the peanuts get a little brown.

Step 7: Get organized

Lay out your ingredients next to the stove in the order you will use them:

-- Oil
-- Chili
-- Garlic & ginger
-- Chicken
-- Shaoxing wine
-- White onion parts
-- Sauce
-- Green onion parts
-- Peanuts
-- Serving plate

Step 8: Cook!

-- Get your diners to the table.
-- Heat pan so it feels very warm when you hold your hand 5" above the surface.
-- Add oil to the center of the pan. Let it heat 5-10 seconds.
-- Add the chilis to the center of the oil and stir as they fry. They'll turn almost black in about 20 seconds.
-- Add the garlic and ginger quickly together. Stir until they get a little tender and you get a big whiff of their aroma (20-30 seconds). Yum!
-- Add the chicken and spread out so it covers the surface evenly. Then keep turning from the bottom so the pepper/garlic/ginger gets distributed. After that you can leave it to pan-fry a bit and pick up some brownness. After 2-3 mins of stir-frying all the pink should be gone.
-- Pour in the Shaoxing wine around the edges while you continue stir-frying the chicken. This deglazes the pan (5-10 secs).
-- Add the white onion parts. Distribute quickly in 2-3 stirs.
-- Clear a space in the center of the pan. Quickly re-stir the sauce and pour half of it into the center of the pan. Give it a couple of seconds to start thickening, then toss the chicken through it. Add the second half of the sauce the same way. Stir-fry until sauce is thickened and coats the chicken. (approx 1 min)
-- Add the green onion parts. Stiry fry until you see them wilt just slightly. (15-20 secs)
-- Add the peanuts. Distribute in 2-3 stirs and pour entire contents of pan immediately onto a plate. Bring the plate quickly to the table so your diners can enjoy the "wok hay". In my experience, the wok hay is gone within 2 mins. The dish will be much more delicious if you can get people to eat it immediately.

So that's it!

If you try it, let me know how it goes.

Bon appetite!