Chicken Soup with Pearl Barleys and Ginkgo Seeds

中文： 薏米白果鸡汤

When the weather gets cold, I am always automatically set to soup mode.  And my kitchen is always filled with aroma from all kinds of soups.  I cannot go through long cold Michigan winter without a bowl of hot soup, just like we cannot tolerate the whole summer without ice cream.   How boring would life be without these seasonal delights!

I bought an organic free range hen from Chinese grocery store, and I intend to make a pot of good chicken soup with it.

Ingredients：

1 organic free range hen
1 piece of ginger, crushed
12 ginkgo seeds
1/4 cup pearl barleys
10 lotus seeds
1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sugar
water
salt to taste

Directions：

Rinse the hen and dice it into 2 by 2 inches pieces.  Soak them in a large pot of cold water for 30 to 60 minutes.  Change the water twice in between.  Drain well. 

Add diced hen, ginger and rice cooking wine to a medium cast iron pot.  Add enough water to the pot, about 3 to 4 inches above the chicken.

Heat over high heat; when the soup boils, keep it boiling over high heat for 5 to 10 minutes.  Use a spoon to get rid of any impurities coming to the top.

Cover with lid; reduce the heat to simmer for 1 hour.

Add lotus seeds, pearl barleys and ginkgo seeds, and crank up the heat to medium high.  When the soup boils again, reduce to simmer for another hour or so. 

10 minutes before serve the soup, add sugar, white ground pepper and salt to taste.  Boil the soup over medium high for 10 minutes.

Serve immediately. 

It is like liquid gold on top the chicken soup.  All the aroma and fragrance come from that thin layer of golden chicken fat. That tells you this is a pot of good chicken soup.  And it is exactly the chicken soup I had when I was growing up in southern China. 

Asian Style Stewed Chicken with Mushrooms

 中文： 小鸡炖蘑菇

This is one of my favorite ways to cook young hen or chicken.  The broth is loaded with intense chicken and mushroom flavor.  It is really the go-to comfort food during chilly season. 

Ingredients：

1organic Cornish hen (can also be substituted with 6 chicken wings or drumpsticks)
1 package of crab mushrooms (150g, available in Asian grocery store)（约454克）
2 packages of enoki mushrooms (100g/3.5 oz each, also available in Asian grocery store)
1 piece of ginger, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
3 to 4 fresh chili peppers
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
1 star anise
5 to 6 tablespoon soy sauce
1 to 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
2 to 3 teaspoons sugar
4 to 6 dried Asian dates (optional)
2 to 3 tablespoon cooking oil
salt and black pepper to taste
2 cups of boiling water

Directions：

Trim the mushroom roots. Wipe clean with damn kitchen paper tower or rinse quickly under running water.

With a sharp cleaver, dice the Cornish hen into 1 by 2 inches pieces.  Soak in a large bowl of water for 20 to 30 minutes.  Rinse and drain well.

Heat a large wok over high heat.  Add oil and sugar.  Wait for the sugar to melt and become amber color.  Add chicken and stir fry for a couple minutes.  Add ginger, chili pepper, Sichuan peppercorns and star anise; continue to stir fry until the chicken is golden brown. 

Add boiling water along with soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice cooking wine and dates.  Cover with lid and reduce the heat to simmer for 30 to 35 minutes.  Add mushrooms and salt to taste. Cook over high heat until the broth is boiling again.  Continue to cook over medium heat for another five to six minutes. 

I love to serve it in a mini cast iron wok which my husband brought back from China.  It can be heated over a candle or chafing dish fuel so that the whole dish can stay hot for the entire meal.  That is really comforting in cold winter. O(∩_∩)O~ 

Chicken Noodle Soup

中文： 鸡汤小面

The chicken noodle soup I am talking about is most likely completely different from what you are thinking about.  Our chicken noodle soup is made with long thin noodle, chicken stock, and a variety of toppings and seasonings.  What is in common with American chicken noodle soup is that it is also our comfort food.

I use egg and water to make noodle dough which can make noodle more elastic and al dente.

Ingredients for noodle dough：

1 cup of bread flour
1/4 cup liquid: half egg + half water
a pinch of salt

Seasonings and toppings：

Chicken stock (either homemade or store bought one is fine)
Sichuan style pickled vegetable (available in Asian grocery store)
Sichuan style chili sauce (also available in Asian grocery store but I prefer to use homemade one )
smashed garlic
Sichuan peppercorn oil (available in Asian grocery store)
sesame oil
soy sauce
sugar
salt
chopped green onion
chopped cilantro
fried soy beans
dry roasted peanuts, finely chopped

Directions:

Combine flour, salt, water and egg in a medium bowl, knead until a smooth dough forms.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least an hour.

Run the dough through kitchen aid （AMAZON link) pasta roller (AMAZON link) several times. 

Set the thickness to 4 and run the dough for one last time.

While making the noodle dough, heat a large pot with water over high heat.  bring it to boil.

Use the pasta cutter to make long thin noodle.

Tadah! Freshly homemade noodle!

Spread them out a little bit.  

Cook the noodle in boiling water for about 40 to 50 seconds, drain well and place the noodle into soup bowls.  Add chicken stock, pickled vegetable, chili sauce, garlic, Sichuan peppercorn oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, salt; and then top with green onion, cilantro, soy beans and peanuts.

Isn't it beautiful?

Time to enjoy! O(∩_∩)O~

Hot and Spicy Diced Chicken

中文菜谱： 辣子鸡丁

This is my number one comfort food.  As a matter of fact, all hot and spicy food can be my comfort food.  But this hot and spicy chicken gets the crown.

Chicken thighs are perfect for making this dish.  They are tasty and tender, and they don’t easily get dry when frying.   

My husband is from Sichuan, China.  That is a place most famous for hot and spicy food in China. (Yes, they also have panda there too.)  Sichuan pepper corn gets its name because they have the best quality pepper in Sichuan. 

After living together for a long time, I find myself crazily in love for hot and spicy food too!  We both learn to like what the other likes to eat.  That is good. 

Ingredients:

6 to 8 chicken thighs
1 to 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
3 to 4 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2  teaspoon dried ginger powder/ or freshly ground ginger
freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 cups of dried chili pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons Sichuan pepper corns
3 to 4 gloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
2 to 3 green onions; keep the white part and chop coarsely
1 small piece of ginger, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon white sesame seeds
salt to taste
oil for deep frying and cooking

Directions:

Remove the fat, bones and skin from chicken thighs, and cut into half inch cubes. 

Place chicken in a large bowl, add soy sauce, rice cooking wine, sugar, ginger, salt and black pepper, mix well, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. 

Heat a wok filled with oil over high heat.  Fry the chicken in several batches until they are golden brown.  Drain well.

Heat another wok over medium low heat; add oil along with garlic and ginger. When garlic turns slightly golden brown, add Sichuan pepper corns and dry chili peppers. Fry them in oil for 1 minute; add fried chicken; season with salt.  Stir fry chicken and pepper over low heat for 4 to 5 minutes.  Add sesame seeds and keep stir frying for another couple minutes.  Serve immediately. 

It goes great with icy cold beer!

Teriyaki chicken with snow peas

中文菜谱: 照烧鸡柳炒甜豆

This is definitely a quick and tasty dish.  I always serve it with a sizzling hot cast iron plate.  Simple dish can be impressive too!  O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients:

I package of snow pea (8 oz, 227g)
1 large chicken breast or 2 to 3 piece chicken thighs
2 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice cooking wine
1/4  teaspoon ginger powder/ ground ginger
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
2 to 3 tablespoon cooking oil 

Directions:

Chicken breast is great for stir fry, but I always prefer chicken thighs which have smoother texture and can be cooked without getting dry like chicken breast meat. 

Rinse the chicken well, pat dry, remove fat and skin and then cut into bite size.  In a glass bowl, combine teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, rice cooking wine, ginger, black pepper, mix well, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.  

15 minutes before stir fry, take out chicken from refrigerator and let it rest in room temperature for 15 minutes. 

In a large wok, add oil, heat over medium high heat and then add marinated chicken.  Do not stir.  Turn the chicken over when bottom side is golden brown.  When the other side gets golden brown, remove chicken from wok.   Drain the oil back to the wok. 

Add garlic and snow peas, stir fry over medium high heat until the peas become tender and sweet.  Add chicken, add salt and pepper, and stir fry for about 1 minute. 

While stir frying, heat another cast iron skillet until really hot, top with stir fried Teriyaki chicken with snow peas.  Serve immediately.  

Remember that Applebee’s commercial?  Everybody stops talking when the sizzling hot plate comes out of kitchen.  You can have that wonderful moment at home too!