Jiaoma Jipian (Chicken in Sichuan Peppercorn and Scallion Sauce)

Although I have been cooking for years, I find that I still have a lot to learn. This observation rings especially true as I explore the cuisines of different cultures around the world. My explorations take me back to one of my favorite regional cuisines, at least in China. That cuisine can be found in the Sichuan province. The cuisine has a special place for me because it caters to my love of spicy food. Yet, the spice does not always come from the use of hot chiles, such as the Tien Tsin. In the Sichuan province, "spice" does not always equate to "heat."

There is a different kind of "spice," namely numbness, which comes from the Sichuan peppercorn. That is not actually a pepper; instead, it is the berry from the prickly ash tree. I previously explored this ingredient when I made Qiatou Ni Yen, which is a hot chicken dish from Sichuan province. The recipe came from Fuschia Dunlop's The Food of Sichuan. Dunlop's book provides a fascinating look at the region's cuisine, and, I have quite a few recipes that I have wanted to make from the book. 

This recipe represents a return to that book and the cuisine, but with a twist. I chose to prepare Jiaoma Jipian. The word, jiaoma, refers to the Sichuan peppercorn; and, this dish features that ingredient in the sauce. The sauce combines a modest amount of the peppercorns with a lot of scallion greens and some salt. These ingredients are then combined with a mixture of sesame oil, soy sauce and cold chicken broth or stock. 

Once the sauce is prepared, it is poured over some pre-cooked chicken that has been cut into bite-sized pieces. The recipes typically leave it to the cook as to how to prepare the chicken. However, I decided to poach the chicken because I could use the liquid in the preparation of the sauce. So, I used some bone-in chicken thighs, as both the bone and the skin would help to flavor the broth as the chicken cooked.  

This recipe represents a departure from what I generally make. As I think about it, I usually make hot dishes, whether meat or vegetable, appetizer or main course. It is relatively rare for me to prepare a cold dish. However, this dish was very easy to prepare. A simple poaching of the chicken (which Fuschia Dunlop provides instructions for in her book) and an equally simple combination of the sauce ingredients. 

In the end, this dish is very delicious. The only change that I might make is to add some more Sichuan peppercorns because I did not get as much of the numbing effect as I expected. It works just like chiles: the amount can be adjusted if you want more of the heat (or numbing feeling) or reduced if you want less of that effect. Something to try the next time that I prepare this dish. 

JIOMA JIPIAN

(Chicken in Sichuan Pepper and Scallion Sauce)

Recipe from Fuschia Dunlop, The Food of Sichuan, page 71

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 14 ounces cold poached chicken meat, off the bone
• 1/2 teaspoon whole Sichuan pepper
• 1 3/4 ounces scallion greens
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 2 Teaspoons sesame oil
• 7-8 tablespoons cold chicken stock
• Salt

Directions:

1.  Prepare the chicken. Cut the chicken into bite-size slices. Place in a serving dish.

2. Prepare the sauce. Cover the Sichuan pepper with a little warm water and let soak for about 20 minutes. Wash the scallion greens thoroughly, shake dry, and then slice thinly. Place on a chopping board with the drained Sichuan peppercorns and a pinch of salt, then use a sharp knife or mezzaluna to chop them together extremely finely. 

3. Finish the sauce. Transfer the chopped ingredients to a small bowl, then add the soy sauce, if using, along with the sesame oil and 7 tablespoons of stock and mix well. If you are not using soy sauce, add an extra tablespoon of stock and season with salt to taste. 

4. Finish the dish. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Mix well before eating. 

PEACE.

Grilled Clams with Mexican Salsa and Crumbled Chicharrones

Grilling clams is an easy way to prepare the shellfish. The heat of the grill cooks the clams in just minutes. The clams can be plucked off the grill, thereafter removing the top shell. The clam rests on the bottom shell, ready for whatever topping you wish to apply. I have experimented with a few different toppings, which seem to gravitate around Southeastern Asian cuisine. I have prepared Grilled Clams with a Cambodian Ginger Sauce and Vietnamese Grilled Clams with Oyster Sauce and Peanuts.  Both recipes were delicious.

However, this time I wanted to draw inspiration for a topping from a different part of the world. I chose Mexico because I thought that a take on a salsa would be a great topping for grilled clams. I looked for recipes, which were not too hard to find. However, I wanted to do more than simply create a Mexican-inspired topping. I wanted to go above and beyond. I really wanted a recipe that would stand out.

Looking at the recipes, some of them called for the use of bacon. Pork goes very well with clams. Look at any clam chowder and you will find some kind of pork (usually bacon, salt pork, or ham) used to make the recipe. There also also many dishes, like Porco Alentejana, that combine a cut of pork (like a pork butt) with clams. For this recipe, I wanted to take a more Mexican approach. The pork would not be bacon. Instead, it would be chicharrons.

Generally speaking, chicharrones are pieces of fried pork skin. There are many versions of chicharrons, but the classic version involves pork skin or pork belly that is deep fried. If it is just the skin, the process produces a light, puffy, crackling goodness. Chicharrones did not originate in Mexico; instead, these fried pork rinds got their start in Spain, and, more specifically, in the Andalusia region. Spanish conquistadors and colonialists brought not only pigs with them, but the recipes to prepare, among other things, chicharrones. The fried pork rinds took hold across much of the Spanish speaking world, including Mexico, where they are often added as an accompaniment or to finish a dish. 

That is how I used them in this grilled clams recipe. I prepared a Mexican salsa, drawing from recipes that I could find from Baja California. That is the Mexican State where one is most likely to find and harvest clams in Mexico. I took that recipe and then used crumbled chicharrones as a way to finish the dish. The end result was amazing.  I definitely need to incorporate this ingredient into my cooking more often.

GRILLED CLAMS WITH MEXICAN SALSA AND CRUMBLED CHICHARRONES

Recipe adapted from E is for Eat

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of top neck clams (about 8-12 clams)
• 1/4 cup chicharrones, crumbled
• 1 bunch scallions, white parts finely diced, green parts thinly sliced
• 1 small serrano pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 tomato, seeded and diced
• Splash of tequila (about 1 ounce)
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• Couple dashes hot sauce (optional)
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• Sea Salt
• 2 tablespoons minced cilantro
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Sauté the onions, pepper and garlic. Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the scallions, peppers and garlic. Sauté for about 4-5 minutes. Add the crushed red pepper and oregano. Stir the mixture. Add the tequila and cook for about another 2-3 minutes until the tequila has cooked down. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  

2. Finish the sauce. Remove the onion mixture from the heat, add the lime juice, lime zest and sea salt. Stir to combine. Pour the sauce into a bowl, garnish with the cilantro and chicharrones. 

3. Grill the clams. Heat a grill on high heat. Place the clams on the grate. Close the grill and cook the clams until they open, at most 5 minutes.  Remove the clams from the grill.

4. Finish the dish. Remove the top shells from the clams. Spoon some of the salsa over each clam. Serve immediately. 

PEACE.

Louis Armstrong's Creole Red Beans and Rice

Red Beans and Ricely Yours,

-- Louis Armstrong

That is how the Great Satchmo, Louis Armstrong, signed his correspondence. This signature was Armstrong's nod to one of his most favorite dishes, red beans and rice. This dish has a long history in New Orleans, Louisiana, where Louis Armstrong was born and raised. It was often deemed the dish for Monday dinners, a simple one to prepare while engaged in a long day of work. One could simply get the pot going, leave it alone for a few hours, and return to finish preparing the meal. 

The highlighted ingredient of this dish - red beans - has a very special place in the cuisine of New Orleans. Indeed, the Crescent City is really a red bean city, in the words of Willie May Seaton, of the famous Scotch House.  The Federal Writers Project - which I have posted about before - likened the red bean in New Orleans to the white bean in Boston or the cowpea to any city in South Carolina. 

The one indisputable fact is that Red Beans and Rice not only had a place in the correspondence of Louis Armstrong, but also in his heart. Patrick Jarenwattananon once wrote about Armstrong's love for the dish in an article for National Public Radio. He quoted from Armstrong's own work, In His Own Words: Selected Writings (ed. Thomas Bros. 1970), in which Louis recounted the dish prepared by Lucille, who he would later marry: 

The Red Beans + Rice that Lucille cooked for me was just what the Doctor ordered. Very much delicious and I ate just like a dog. I said forgive me after I had finished eating. I just had to make some kind of excuse. She accepted it very cheerful. Because I am sure that Lucille has never witnessed any one Human Being eating so much. Especially at one sitting. I had her to save the rest of the beans that was left over. Then I'd come another time and finish them. We commenced getting closer 'n' closer as time went by. 

I guess one could say that Louis Armstrong's love of this one dish led to the greater love of his life.

The special place of Red Beans and Rice led those close to him to memorialize the dish for posterity. In fact, one can find numerous pages that include the recipe, which is set forth to the right. 

I decided that I would make this dish, principally because of my love of Louis Armstrong's music. It is that love that led me to use salt pork (which I generally avoid for health reasons) and ham hocks (which, I'll be honest, I had not used in cooking before). Yet, with Louis Armstrong's songs playing in the background, I assumed the role of a cook, trying my best to recreate the recipe that would have been prepared for the Great Satchmo. That's when I remembered one important thing about recipes: they may list all of the ingredients and provide the directions, but recipe's rarely capture the cook's special touch. The knowledge of exactly how long to let things simmer, how to eyeball salt to get the right "taste," and other aspects that one develops as they make the dish over and over again over time. 

My first effort to make Louis Armstrong's Red Beans and Rice was a success in my humble opinion. I made a tasty dish that may not have gotten Pop's attention, but it definitely made a few great meals for me.

CREOLE RED BEANS AND RICE

Recipe from Louis Armstrong

Serves 4-6

Ingredients (for beans):

• 1 pound kidney beans
• 1/2 pound salt pork (strip of lean, strip of fat, slab bacon may be used if preferred)
• 1 small can of tomato sauce (if desired)
• 6 small Ham Hocks or one smoked pork butt
• 2 onions diced
• 1/4 green bell pepper
• 5 tiny or 2 medium dried peppers
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• Salt, to taste

Ingredients (for rice)

• 2 cups white rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Prepare the beans. Wash beans thoroughly, then soak overnight in cold water. Be sure to cover the beans. 

2. Cook the beans without ham hocks. To cook, pour water off beans, add fresh water to cover. Add salt pork or bacon, let come to a boil over full flame in covered pot. Turn flame down to slightly higher than low and let cook one and one-half hours. Add diced onions, bell pepper ,garlic, dried peppers, and salt. Cook three hours. Add tomato sauce, cook one and one-half hours more, adding water whenever necessary. Beans and meat should always be just covered with water, never dry. 

3. Cook the beans with ham hocks or pork butts. Wash meat, add water to cover and let come to a boil in a covered pot over medium flame. Cook one and one-half hours. Then add beans (pour water off, add rest of ingredients to meat. Cook four and one-half hours. Add water when necessary. 

4. Prepare the rice. Wash rice thoroughly, have water and salt come to a boil. Add rice to boiling water. Cook until rice swells and water is almost evaporated. Cover and turn flame down low. Cook until rice is grainy. To insure grainy rice, always use one and one-half cups water to one cup of rice.

PEACE.