Spicy Fermented Bean Curd Chicken Wings (辣椒腐乳鷄翼, Laat6 Ziu1 Fu6 Jyu5 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was updated on 27 Aug 2015. Some instructions were changed.

This is a one pot (or Dutch oven) meal. The chicken wings are first browned, and then the bean curd knots and fermented bean curd with chili are added before cooking. Finally the vegetables are added at the very end of cooking to complete the dish.  The one ingredient that is probably most unfamiliar is the bean curd knots. Bean curd knots are available fresh or dried, in this case I used dried, and are bean curd skin tied into a knot. Bean curd knots are available at your local Asian market in the dried foods or if you want fresh, in the refrigerated section. Bean curd sticks can be substituted if bean curd knots are not available.

Finally, this dish is not spicy even though that’s in the title. The fermented bean curd I used has small bits of chili in it, but it’s not all that hot. However, if you are adverse to any chili spiciness, regular fermented bean curd (without chili) can be substituted.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 lb.	1 kg.	Chicken wings (鷄翼, gai1 jik6), separated into pieces
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
4 cloves	4 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
½ cup	120 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
½ cup	120 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
1 lb.	500 g.	Fuzzy melon (節瓜, zit3 gwaa1), quartered and cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
3 oz.	85 g.	⅓ package Two Swallows brand dried bean curd knots (百頁結, baak3 jip6 git3) or equivalent, rehydrated
1	1	Red bell pepper (紅椒, hung4 ziu1), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
4-6	4-6	Cakes fermented bean curd with chili (辣椒腐乳, laat6 ziu1 fu6 jyu5)
		Water to cover the ingredients
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Water
		Oil for cooking

 

Equipment

		Garlic press
6 qt.	5.7 L.	Dutch oven

 

Two Swallows Brand
Dried Bean Curd Knots
(百頁結, baak3 jip6 git3)

Preparation Instructions

1. Pour boiling water over the dried bean curd knots in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the bean curd knots overnight. Remove the bean curd knots from the rehydration liquid and discard the liquid.
2. Prepare the chicken wings by separating into individual pieces. Marinate the chicken for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. If marinating the chicken overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
3. Remove the chicken wing pieces from the marinade. Reserve the marinade for later use in the cooking process. Drain as much liquid from the chicken wings as possible (or pat dry with a paper towel) to make browning the chicken easier.
4. Scrape off the “fuzz” from the fuzzy melon by holding the melon in one hand and scraping a cleaver or knife in reverse over the skin of the fuzzy melon under running water. This means putting the cleaver at the half way point of the melon with the blade of the cleaver pointing towards you and while holding the cleaver almost parallel to the surface of the fuzzy melon, moving the cleaver away from you, scraping the skin of the fuzz. Reverse the fuzzy melon and repeat the procedure, scraping the fuzz off the other half. Cut the fuzzy melon into quarters lengthwise and then cut each melon quarter into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
5. Wash and cut the red bell pepper into 1- (2.5 cm.) x 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces. First cut off the ends of the bell pepper, leaving an open cylinder. Remove the seeds and central core of the bell pepper and make one cut lengthwise to open the cylinder. Flatten the open bell pepper cylinder and cut 1- (2.5 cm.) x 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.
6. Crush the fermented bean curd with chili cakes in a small bowl. In another small bowl, prepare the corn starch slurry by mixing the corn starch and water together.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a Dutch oven or pot over medium- to medium-high heat and before adding oil. Add the chicken pieces to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and brown the outside. You may have to cook the chicken in batches, so be sure to reheat the Dutch oven before adding more oil. Return all the chicken to the Dutch oven, and then add the bean curd knots, chicken marinade, fermented bean curd with chili, and enough water to just cover all the ingredients.
2. Increase the heat to high and bring the contents of the Dutch oven to a boil before reducing the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the fuzzy melon, red bell pepper, and corn starch slurry to the Dutch oven and increase the heat to high. Mix and bring the ingredients to a boil while thickening the sauce, then reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 2 minutes. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve with steamed rice.