Thread: supper tonight
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aem aem is offline
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Default supper tonight

On Jun 28, 4:59 pm, "Nancy Young" > wrote:
> >

> Nice. And this time of the year, finding dinner all but ready to
> go is appreciated. What's Chinese red-cooking? Drumsticks
> cooked this way sound good to me.
>


Chinese Red-cooking (Loo)
One of the easiest things to do, good hot or cold, good for cooking in
advance for a picnic or patio dinner. Mix together:

4 TB soy sauce
4 TB sherry or rice wine
1/4 teaspoon sugar (or a small piece of rock sugar)
2 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed
1 thick slice fresh ginger, quarter-sized, crushed
2 whole star anise
2 dried red chile peppers, broken in half (including seeds)
1/2 cup chicken broth (or water, in a pinch)

(This is a good basic master sauce. Many variations are possible,
using dark soy sauce, adding a splash of rice vinegar, or a TB or two
of ketchup/tomato paste, for example. A few drops of sesame oil are
often added to the finished dish.)

Cook drumsticks or wings at a bare simmer in this liquid until done,
turning pieces as necessary to color all over. Browning them first
will add a layer of flavor but only a subtle one and it may be
skipped. After use, the liquid may be strained and saved multiple
times. Some fat may congeal on top which can be spooned off. If
saving for longer than about a week, freeze it. When reusing it, add
whatever seems to be needed--more garlic or ginger or star anise or
chiles.

If serving the chicken hot, you can make a lemon sauce: simmer 3/4
cup sugar and 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice together for 10 minutes.
Thicken with a cornstarch slurry--about 2 teaspoons each cornstarch
and cold water--and finish with some grated lemon rind/zest. -aem