Jellied Beancurd and Stick-Beaten Chicken Shreds
It is a traditional Beijing specialty, while in colour, delicate in texture and savoury in taste. There are the Moslem recipe and the vegetarian recipe. Here is the Moslem recipe.
Ingredients: soy bean 5kg, tender mutton 1.5kg, soy sauce 500g, plaster powder 225g, cornstarch 3.25kg, salt 100g, Chinese prickly ash 5g, garlic 500g, chili oil 100g, seasame oil 100g, MSG 5g (for 100 bowls)
Preparation:
1 steep soy beans in water till swollen. Rinse and grind the swollen soy bean with water into pulp. Add water and stir well, then filter with a cloth bag or a fine sifter. Repeat till the bean dregs are not stickly. Skim off the froth and bring it to a boil with high heat. Then ladle to a container to keep warm. Dissolve the plaster powder in hot water, then pour into the bean milk, be sure that they are thoroughly mixed. Afer 25 minutes, skim off the froth, the rest is the jellied beancurd.
2 Heat seasame oil 100g, when hot put in sliced mutton, grated scallions and ginger, soy sauce, salt MSG. Stir-fry for seconds, then add boiled water. When it boils, add wet cornstarch.
3 Ladle jellied beancurd into a bowl, add mutton soup and mashed garlic or chili oil, then serve.
Stick-Beaten Chicken Shreds
This is one of the well-known Sichuan local dishes that originated before the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in a small town named Hanyang by the Mingjiang River in the present Qingshen County, Sichuan Province. A chef created the dish by boiling chicken first, then beating with a stick till spongy. Then he tore the chicken meat into shreds, which was seasoned with spices. The dish features a spicy flavour and tender texture, which is popular among local people. Now, the dish is also served in Sichuan food restaurants in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. In recent years, many visiting overseas Chinese and foreign guests have tasted it and they are enchanted by its unique way of cooking and its uncommon nice flavour.
Ingredients: tender rooster breast or leg 250g, seasame sauce 5g, scallion 5g, red chili oil 10g, surgar 2.5g, soy sauce 15g, MSG 0.5g, Chinese prickly ash 0.5g, seasame oil 1.5g.
Preparation:
1. Boil the chicken breast or leg for about 10 mimutes till done. Take out and let cool. Then beat with a club so that the meat becomes spongy. Tear the chicken meat into shreds and put on the plate. Sprinkle on some scallion slices.
2. Make seasoning in a bowl with soy sauce, seasome sauce, chilli, sugar, MSG, Chinese prickly ash and seasame oil. Mix them evenly and sprinkle on the chicken shreds and scallion shreds.
