General Tsos Chicken (a poor picture, sorry!)

I had some friends for dinner on Saturday and, for the first time in ages, cooked General Tso’s chicken. This, as some of you may know (especially any Americans), is the most famous “Hunanese” dish in America…. but is virtually unknown in Hunan itself. Exploring its origins was one of the unintended highlights of my research for Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, and the piece I wrote about it was excerpted in the New York Times.

Although it’s not the most traditional dish, it is incredibly delicious when done properly, with good chicken. On Saturday I used the Taiwan version of the recipe, which I was taught in the kitchens of the man who invented it, Peng Chang-Kuei, in Taipei.  I’d forgotten quite how good it was, but after the reception it got from my friends the other night, I suspect I’m going to be making it regularly!

The full menu on Saturday was Sichuanese cucumber salad, smoked beancurd with chilli oil, General Tso’s chicken, Red-braised beef with Asian radish, Pock-Marked Woman’s Beancurd (mapo doufu), stir-fried mixed mushrooms with garlic, stir-fried water spinach with chillies and Sichuan pepper, and stewed peaches with crystal sugar. With steamed rice, of course. And raspberry pavlova for pudding, thanks to my friend Penny!

The picture to the left was taken in Taipei in 2004. It was an incredible honour to meet Chef Peng, who is one of the most celebrated chefs of his generation, and used to be in charge of state banquets in Taiwan.

P.S. the recipe is at the bottom of the New York Times article.

Chinese mince pie dumplings
In the photographs you will see two different kinds of mince pie dumpling. The plainer kind is wrapped exactly like a typical northern Chinese jiaozi, with one side of the wrapper pleated. The other kind is a ‘cockscomb’ dumpling, where the edges are pinched together into a frilly edge.  The easiest way to learn to wrap them is to ask a Chinese friend to show you (or perhaps I should put a little video up here on my blog?)

Ingredients
300g plain flour, with some extra for dusting
Pinch of salt
150g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
One egg, beaten
One jar of mincemeat

Method

1. Set the oven to 190 degrees centigrade (375 degrees F)
2. Stir the salt into the flour in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. (I like to do this by hand, which takes about five minutes, but you can also use a food processor to save time). Add just enough cold water to bind the mixture into a ball of dough. Wrap in greaseproof paper and leave in the fridge for half an hour or so.
3. Roll out the pastry fairly thinly on a lightly floured surface. Cut out rounds with a 3” (7.5 cm) biscuit cutter. Place a round in the palm of one hand, add a scant teaspoon of mincemeat, and then draw the opposite edges of the circle together and pleat to make a Chinese dumpling.
4. Place on a buttered or non-stick baking sheet. Brush the finished dumplings with beaten egg, prick each once with a fork, and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Makes about 40 mince pie dumplings

Sichuanese turkey salad
The recipe below was concocted during the photoshoot for my FT article, with the help of the photographer, who was enlisted as a food-taster. Don’t feel bound by the exact measurements: mix up your sauce like a vinaigrette, to taste. You might like to add some crushed garlic instead of Sichuan pepper, or to vary the proportions of soy sauce and vinegar. If the meat is a little dry, you can dilute the sauce with a couple of tablespoonfuls of turkey stock.

Ingredients
350g leftover turkey meat
300g cucumber
4 spring onions
A little salt
For the sauce:
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinkiang vinegar
2 tsp white sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
4-5 tbsp chilli oil, with sediment*
1/2 – 1 tsp ground, roasted Sichuan pepper (optional)

Method

1. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. Scrape out and discard the pulpy centre, and then cut the flesh into thin strips. Sprinkle with a little salt and leave for about half an hour to draw out some of its water.
2. Cut the turkey meat into slices and then slivers, or tear it into strips with your fingers. Sprinkle with just a little salt, and mix well. Cut the spring onions at a steep angle into thin slices.
3. Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well
4. Just before serving, put the turkey into a deep bowl. Drain and squeeze the cucumber, and add it to the turkey with the spring onions. Give the sauce a stir, pour it over the turkey and toss everything throroughly together. Pile up on a more elegant dish if desired, and then serve.

Serves 2-4 people, with bread and a couple of other salady dishes

*I make my own chilli oil by heating 550ml groundnut oil to about 200 degrees centigrade, then allowing it to cool to 130 degrees C and pouring it over 100g ground Korean chillis in a heatproof container. The Korean chillies are mild: if you use bought chilli oil that is very hot, you will want to use much less in your sauces.

N.B. the sauce is a variation on one of the classic Sichuanese sauces you can find in the appetisers/cold dishes chapter of my Sichuan Cookery book (a.k.a. Land of Plenty). Any of these sauces can be used to dress leftovers from a roast Turkey or chicken.

The Independent newspaper in Britain used this recipe from my Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook to accompany an article about… chillies. This is Georgia Glynn-Smith’s beautiful photograph of the dish, taken in my flat in London during the shoot for the book (it appears on the cover of the US edition). The pork is served in a bowl made during the Cultural Revolution: you can’t see very clearly in the photograph, but it’s emblazoned with a picture of a truck and a revolutionary slogan. I picked it up when I was living in Hunan in 2003.