Chicken And Wood Ear Fungus Wine Soup

This dish is a confinement dish.  The chinese, especially the cantonese would cook this dish as a post-natal diet for the whole month of confinement after childbirth.  During pregnancy, a woman may feel bloated and feel like there is a lot of gas in the tummy. This is due to the softening of our body ligaments and etc to make way for the baby’s growth. To expel those gas from the stomach, one soothing food we can take is ginger but after childbirth, gas is bloating in abundance, ginger and more ginger in every dish will help, as food prepared with ginger develop a tendency to move outward.  The chinese do not encourage fresh fruits and vegetables, so ginger is the only source of fiber.  After delivery, the body is susceptible to 'cold' and must be kept warm, therefore wine is the best as it moves  upwards and pushes up the energy. Wood Ear Fungus helps to prevent various forms of bleeding and prevents blood clotting   All these practices are considered efficacious for curing the body's imbalance but especially as a preventive therapy against ailments in later years.  I, the renegade must remain cognizant and respectful of the indigenous beliefs and practices linking the events of reproduction and the health status of women.



Ingredients and Method

 
Recipe is the same as Chicken With Stone's Ginger Wine except peanuts are omitted, vegetable oil and glutinous rice wine were used instead of sesame oil and Stone's Ginger Wine.  This dish was cooked for my friends to enjoy the Home-brewed Glutinous Rice Wine. 

 

Serves

How To Make Chicken Rolls

As promised, here is how to prepare the chicken rolls for Wine Steeped Chicken Rolls.  The wine used to steeped is Japanese Plum Gekkaikan and the taste is just as good as The Home-brewed Glutinous Rice Wine

Method:

How to serve refer to Wine Steeped Chicken Rolls


Serves

Wine Steeped Chicken Rolls

I have heard and even cooked Drunken Chicken  before but when i saw what my friend, Jinni brought to a Summer Potluck, i had to ask for the recipe.  The dish was so delectable and the chicken rolls so  delicately sliced and presented that i keep on coming back for more.  Jinni had a very light hand and the rolls were not very drunk.  I like the flavor very much, unlike the drunken chicken i made before, the chicken was drunk and the alcohol too overpowering.  Now that i have brewed some very light and sweet tasting glutinous rice wine, i decided that i had to "rock and roll " up some chicken thighs.  The result was so satisfying and i am sharing my version of the recipe.  Thank you, Jinni. I will be cooking alot more recipes using the home-brewed wine and the residues.  Please do come back and thanks for visiting.  Will be posting  step by step on how to roll the chicken thighs.

Ingredients:

6 boneless chicken thighs with skin

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 - 1 cup home-brewed glutinous rice wine (or use Wine that you will drink - I have tried with Japanese Plum Gekkeikan and it was very good)

Garnishes:

Sliced Cucumber, Carrot and Daikon

Spring Onions Shreds 

Method:

Lay 2 pieces of boneless chicken thighs with skin down on a large piece of plastic wrap.  Try and arrange the chicken skin neatly spread and meat as level as possible.

Sprinkle chicken thighs with salt and pepper.

Roll the meat up by holding the 2 ends of the plastic wrap, twist and roll it tightly like you would roll a sausage.  Fold the two twisted ends in to secure.

Repeat with the other chicken thighs - 2 thighs to a roll.

Wrap the rolls up with aluminium foil  and steam the rolls for 30 - 40 minutes until cooked through.  Let it cool. 

Mix the chicken stock and wine together in a large container and let the cooled chicken rolls(removed the foil and plastic wrap and discard) steep in this solution for a day or overnight.

Slice chicken rolls into 1/4 inch slices and serve cold or at room-temperature.

The stock and wine solution can be cooked down and reduced to a stock and drizzle over chicken rolls or use for dipping.

Serves

Moules Mariniere - Blue Mussels - Blue Monday

Blue Mussels


This photo courtesy of Andreas Trepte

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This lovely dish is another that comes from the French peasant kitchen and it is one for which I have a special fondness. Julia Child introduced Bob and I to moules mariniere the year our eldest daughter was born. At that time mussels had no cache and could only be found in ethnic markets where they sold for pennies on the dollar. The first time I made this dish I bought three pounds of mussels for a dollar. That same quantity cost fifteen dollars this afternoon. Once the mussels have been cleaned and purged of sand, the dish can be on the table in ten minutes. Fortunately, most of the mussels available in the supermarket today are farmed and not harvested in the wild. That makes the task of cleaning them much easier. Farmed mussels need to be scrubbed before being debearded and set to soak. The "beard" is the fibrous hairy thing hanging from one side of the shell. Pull it off with a side-to-side motion. Most experts recommend soaking mussels for about an hour to assure they will disgorge their sand. Should you have wild mussels, add 1/4 cup of flour to a container of salted water and allow the mussels to soak for two to three hours before cooking. The thought here is that the mussels will eat the flour and purge themselves of debris, as well as plump up. Discard any mussels that refuse to close when pressed. Nowadays, it's also important to know where your mussels have come from. Be sure to ask. I use a really good dry French vermouth to make this dish. There are three that I can recommend to you. My preference is Dolin, but Lille and Noilly Prat also work well. This makes for a lovely light supper. I served ours with a romaine and watercress salad and a crusty baguette to help mop up the sauce. Our meal ended with a warm lemon pudding. I do hope you'll give this recipe a try. You won't regret it. Here's how I make moules mariniere. Bon appetit.

Moules Mariniere...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup finely minced shallots
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 cup dry white French vermouth or 1 cup dry white wine
1/2 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 pounds scrubbed, soaked mussels
1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley

Directions:
1) Melt butter in a 6 to 8-quart stockpot set over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add vermouth or wine and stir in bay leaf, thyme and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
2) Add mussels to pan. Cover and boil over high heat for 5 minutes, shaking pan occasionally to redistribute mussels and assure even cooking.
3) Transfer mussels to a large serving bowl or to shallow soup bowls. Ladle cooking liquid over mussels, sprinkle with parsley and serve hot. Yield: 4 servings.

This recipe was featured in the Food News Journal Best of the Bogs feature on August 2, 2010.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Coconut Curry Mussels - Simply Recipes
Cedar Planked Mussels - Steamy Kitchen
Steamed Mussels with Coconut Milk and Thai Chiles - Food and Wine
Mussels in Red Chili Sauce - Rasamalaysia
Salmon Soup with Tomato and Dill - One Perfect Bite
Spring Salmon and Leek Soup - One Perfect Bite
Salmon Chowder - One Perfect Bite

This post is being linked to:
Smiling Sally - Blue Monday