XO Soused

With so many oil and fat substitutes available to the modern chef, what role does lard still play in professional Chinese kitchens? What classical Chinese - and particularly dim sum - recipes require lard? And how is the fat from the pork put to other uses by Chinese chefs, including and legendary Cantonese chef, William Poon? What techniques using pork fat has Mr Poon taught Andrew recently?

How have dim sum chefs adapted their pastry making to suit western palates unused to the porcine aroma of lard-laminated dough? And what of the other dishes that use lard - how have these recipes changed in recent time? And does this lard taming mirror the work that Chinese chefs had to do in the past?

Intro and outro music: 遊子 [wanderer] by mafmadmaf.com

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What is tofu? What reputation does tofu have among western diners and chefs? What varieties of tofu can you find in supermarkets and how does this effect the way that tofu is used and enjoyed? When was soybean curd first formed and pressed into existence and when did varieties of dried, smoked, fried and fermented tofu become ubiquitous? What are the differences in the way these varieties absorb flavour and impart mouthfeel?

How are tofu skins now being used by other 3-star Michelin chefs? And how and why does Andrew use tofu in vegetarian and meat dishes? How does his use in meat and vegetarian dishes subvert or mirror vegetarian practices and meat eating identities in the UK and in China?

If you’d like to learn more about tofu (and soy milk) in 20th century China: Fu, Jia-Chen. (2018). The Other Milk: Reinventing Soy in Republican China. University of Washington Press, Seattle.

Intro and outro music: 遊子 [wanderer] by mafmadmaf.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit andrewwongandmuktadas.substack.com

XO Sauce - a combination of dried seafood, ham, chillies and other seasonings in a stock - has grown to be a Hong Kong condiment par excellence. How is this condiment now used in the Chinese kitchens, and what ingredients does it go well with during the cooking process? What does the XO in the name signify, and what are the origin stories surrounding the sauce, and how does it play up the distinctions and disjunctures in Hong Kong society?

In this edition we revisit and do a deep-dive into our ‘sort-of’ namesake. How many ways do you enjoy XO sauce? Do you add it as a savoury topping to comforting congee, to spread it like jam on wagyu beef? Are there hard and fast rules defining how XO sauce is created? And, now that East Asian dried scallops are no longer available in the UK, how has Andrew adapted these rules for making a London-style XO sauce?

If you’d like to learn more about Hong Kong cuisine in the 1970s and 1980s: Cheung, S, C. H., 2012, ‘Food and Cuisine in a changing society' in D. Wu and S. C. H. Cheung (eds) Globalization of Chinese Food, Routledge, pp. 120-132.

Intro and outro music: 遊子 [wanderer] by mafmadmaf.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit andrewwongandmuktadas.substack.com

For an ingredient that entered into China in the 16th century - the chilli pepper has become a fundamental part of Chinese cooking. How does a chef learn to use this vegetable and it complex palate and texture? What was Chinese cuisine like before the chilli arrived? And how did it change the idea of Chinese ‘pungency' or 辛 [xīn]?

How would you use salted chillies, dried chillies, pickled chillies, fresh chillies and chillies in oil? What techniques are best and what attention to do you need to pay to the texture and cut of the meat and or plant protein that you are adding these to? How do chillies work with other kinds of spices to create flavour profiles like Sichuanese 麻辣 [Málà] that prolong the pleasurable exposure to the chilli hit?

Intro and outro music: 遊子 [wanderer] by mafmadmaf.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit andrewwongandmuktadas.substack.com

Many Chinese dishes use a spiced chicken stock as a building block. This is a meat broth infused with cinnamon, cassia bark, fennel seed, angelica root, liquorice, and star anise. How are these spices used? What use do pre-mixed spice powders have, and why does Andrew prefer 13-spice powder (a classic western Chinese spice mix) over the Cantonese 5-spice powder for some dishes?

How is history reflected in the different regional spicing cultures and spiced cooking techniques in China? And have Chinese cooks gradually eased off on spicing over the centuries? Could a 12th century Chinese recipe for a spiced meat paste appeal to modern eaters?

Intro and outro music: 遊子 [wanderer] by mafmadmaf.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit andrewwongandmuktadas.substack.com

Cheese, like milk, has always been an important part of the Chinese diet. The remnants of China’s artisanal cheese sector are found in China’s western regions - and made by ethnic communities - Rushan [乳扇, rǔshān], Rubing [乳餅, rǔbǐng], are the better known. But Nguri in Hokkien or Niuru in Hanyu [牛乳, niúrǔ], made in Fujian and Guangdong show that artisanal Chinese cheese making was more widespread and made deep in the Chinese heartland.

Why are fresh cheeses preferred over aged cheeses in Chinese gastronomy? How is Chinese cheese integrated into cooking and what flavours and textures does it impart? What difference does terroir make to the cooking and presentation process? What cheeses pair well with Chinese food?

Intro and outro music: 遊子 [wanderer] by mafmadmaf.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit andrewwongandmuktadas.substack.com

Cooking and presenting a whole fish - from nostril to tailfin - is a classic approach in Chinese gastronomy. Meanwhile, in Western kitchens filleting is the usual practice. What difference does it make to the taste and texture of the fish to cook it on the bone and with the head? How does the collagen from the bone keep the flesh moist? What techniques make the best of this and how many ways to cook whole fish demand preparation as opposed to the a la minute methods of western cookery?

Has whole fish always been prized? How obsessive were Chinese chefs about cutting fish in the correct way? How important were fish heads in the history of Chinese cuisine, and how has the market for dried fish heads, lips and maw generated enormous wealth for some in Hong Kong? What special knife skills, and techniques for deep-frying, are required to recreate the visually amazing plates of whole fish in Chinese cuisine?

Intro and outro music: 遊子 [wanderer] by mafmadmaf.com

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A star-player in Chinese nose-to-tail (or beak-to-claw) cooking, chicken feet have been a long-term staple in dim sum restaurants. In what solution do you blanch chicken feet to cleanse them? How does deep-frying improve the falling-off-the-bone quality of the cut and its absorption of steamed aromatics and flavourings?

And why does Andrew cook it so infrequently? Why is does the dish have an alternative name of ‘Pheonix claw’ (or Fèng zhuǎ, [鳯爪], if you want to find it on the menu once Chinese restaurants reopen after lockdown)? What is the difference between British and European dish naming conventions and Chinese approaches? What do chefs have to think about when naming their dishes?

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What is the difference between Cantonese crispy pork belly and British roast pork belly with crispy crackling? How does a chef achieve the ‘digestive-biscuit-y’ quality of the Cantonese style finish rather than the toothy crunch of the British dish?

Should we serve it with infused soy or mustard sauce?

Why is the fat in the cut as crucial to Chinese cuisine as the meat? How did pork become so important? How is pork’s popularity in China connected with not eating beef?

And how exactly has Andrew recreated Cantonese crispy pork belly for vegetarian diners?

With a 50:50 ratio of pork and fat, pork belly still isn’t as fashionable in British cuisine as it is in Chinese gastronomy. This is the first of several episodes dealing with unusual cuts of meat from the Chinese kitchen, and special skills and techniques that such cuts demand.

Intro and outro music: 遊子 [wanderer] by mafmadmaf.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit andrewwongandmuktadas.substack.com

Andrew is in New Delhi for work in this double-length episode, and oof, is he working through some stuff! How does a British-born Chinese chef contend with the parameters of Chinese food in India, or of Indo-Chinese food?

What is the difference between Chinese food in India and Indo-Chinese food? What are the flavour profiles of this hyphenated cuisine? What can these dishes tell us about how Chinese food travels and lands in distant places? And what mental and physical work do chefs have to do to translate Chinese food for local palates?

Intro and outro music: 遊子 [wanderer] by mafmadmaf.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit andrewwongandmuktadas.substack.com