XO Soused

Soy chicken is Andrew’s favourite dish to cook and eat. And as a poached dish it sits apart from all the other roasted meats of the Chinese roasting kitchen. How does residual heat work to cook this chicken perfectly and how is this different from sous vide? How did Chinese chefs cook slowly at low temperatures in the past without technologies such as thermostats? How does this boost the dish’s health-giving qualities and what is the medicinal or flavouring function of the aromatics sealed in with the chicken as it gently cooks?

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

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Rice flour is the key ingredient that makes hundreds of different types of dim sum possible. Is it still as important in the Chinese kitchen as it was 2,000 years ago? What happened when wheat flour arrived? What does rice flour do that wheat flour doesn’t? What is the difference between glutinous and non-glutinous rice flour? Find out how to use this ingredient to create a variety of dishes with many different finishes, from crispy outer textures for pastries to a squidgy chewiness for cakes.

Intro and outro music by mafmadmaf.com

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What revolutionises everyday cooking into an effort that is considered gastronomy? How did parts of French cooking and Japanese food culture become elevated into ‘gastronomy’? What factors need to exist for this transformation to happen? This special feature-length episode explores these question by looking at the work that chefs in France, Spain, Japan and other countries do, the ingredients and techniques that they use, but also the kind of food media that surrounds them and the diners that support them. And what could be next for Chinese cuisine?

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Andrew’s mum always says ‘get the sauce right and the cooking will take care of itself’. What Chinese sauces are available to chefs and home cooks? What are the big differences between Chinese sauces and European sauces? Why are Chinese base stocks different from European versions, and how are they used to lengthen the fermented, umami ingredients at the centre of Chinese sauces? How have Chinese sauces developed through time? Andrew also shares his techniques for enhancing the humble bottle of soy sauce with spices and stock to turn it into a superior condiment for your table.

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Learning to make noodles teaches you about touch, the feel of flour, hydration rates, and fermentation. What is the right flour for noodle making? How much gluten should it contain? Why does Chinese culinary culture place an emphasis on the amount of gluten contained in flour (low, medium and high), rather than its use (bread flour, etc). Why are measurements for dried ingredients such as flour so complicated to western readers of Chinese noodle recipes? Which doughs truly sing when you make and eat noodles immediately and just how many different kinds of noodles are out there?

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Roast duck is a centrepiece of Chinese gastronomy. Why can it take two decades for specialist roasting chefs to perfecting “Beijing” roast duck? What corners are sometimes cut and what difference does it make? What wood should be used for roasting and what techniques result in a chef being able to take off the crispy skin in one go at the table?

Errata: Major apologies for the constant mispronunciation of Jia Sixie’s name [賈思勰] throughout this episode - we don’t plan these conversations in advance and sometimes our [on the fly] recollections of the names of people, books and dishes can be flawed!

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Chinese New Year is here! How do people in the Chinese restaurant sector celebrate Chinese New Year? Just how many red envelopes do you have to give out once you’re married and own a business? What kind of dishes are eaten for the special Chinese New Year eve dinner, and what’s the secret to getting a crispy coating on your sweet sticky rice cake?

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How is dairy used in Chinese cooking?

How have minority groups in parts of China turned milk into cheese and what kind? Does ice cream have its origins in China? When did the first few references of iced butter, iced cream and iced yoghurt appear in Chinese history? Has ice cream always been a novelty in China, and what role did missionaries play in popularising condensed milk in Hong Kong and Guangdong?

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‘Puff pastry’ in Chinese cooking is a very different beast. But what is unique about the laminated dough that dim sum chefs make to wrap, cocoon or encase dim sum fillings? What ingredients, ratios and techniques create the pastry of the Hong Kong egg tart or the millefeuille effect of baked dim sum savoury puffs? Was this mastery something that came out of early Chinese dynastic history? Or did it emerge during the later tumultuous centuries when European settled in China? Did their interactions with an open minded professional dim sum system lead to experimentation?

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The recent media interest in Andrew - following the award of 2 Michelin stars to his restaurant A. Wong this week - has caused him to reflect on his identity and position as a British chef of Chinese heritage.

In this special episode of XO Soused, Andrew and Mukta grapple with today’s thorny questions. Who has the right to cook what? What is cultural appropriation? What does borrowing from another food culture actually mean? How might chefs treat ingredients, techniques and dishes that seem far removed from their own background and cultural context?

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