The Hirshon Fujianese Fried Rice – 福建炒飯

November 7, 2016 by The Generalissimo Leave a Comment

Fujian Fried Rice Image Used Under Creative Commons License From daydaycook.com

Citizens! Fried rice is, of course, one of the most popular dishes at any Chinese restaurant. Yet, you may be unaware that there are several versions of the recipe, with one in particular barely ever showing up in Cantonese restaurants (Which are the staple province of origin for most Chinese restaurants).

One of TFD’s favorite alternative recipes for fried rice is from the southern province of Fujian. one of the ancient capitals of gastronomy in China!

Fujian (Chinese: 福建; pinyin: Fújiàn), formerly romanized as Foken, Fouken, Fukien, and Hokkien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. The name Fujian came from the combination of Fuzhou and Jianzhou (a former name for Jian’ou) two cities in Fujian, during the Tang dynasty. While its population is chiefly of Han origin, it is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse provinces in China.

Fujian Province, where most of the overseas Chinese in southeast Asia originated from, is still famously known as the Hokkien Province, based on the local pronunciation of the two Chinese characters “福建”.

Because of its mountainous nature and the numerous waves of migration from central China in the course of history, Fujian is one of the most linguistically diverse places in all Han Chinese areas of China. Local dialects can become unintelligible within 10 kilometres (6.2 mi). This is reflected in the expression that “if you drive five miles in Fujian the culture changes, and if you drive ten miles, the language does”.

Most varieties spoken in Fujian are assigned to a broad Min category. Early classifications, such as those of Li Fang-Kuei in 1937 and Yuan Jiahua in 1960, divided Min into Northern and Southern subgroups. More recent classifications subdivide Min into:

Southern Min, including the Amoy dialect,
Pu-Xian, spoken in central coastal areas,
Eastern Min (the former Northern group), including the Fuzhou dialect,
Northern Min, spoken in inland northern areas,
Central Min, spoken in the west of the province, and
Shao-Jiang, spoken in the northwest.
(The seventh subdivision of Min, Qiong Wen, is not spoken in Fujian.) Hakka, another subdivision of spoken Chinese, is spoken around Longyan by the Hakka people who live there.

As is true of other provinces, the official language in Fujian is Mandarin, which is used for communication between people of different localities.

Fujian cuisine is from one of the 8 great Chinese cooking regions derived most notably from the area of Fuzhou. Fujian-style cuisine is known to be light but flavorful, soft, and tender, with particular emphasis on umami taste, known in Chinese cooking as “xianwei” (simplified Chinese: 鲜味; traditional Chinese: 鮮味; pinyin: xiānwèi), as well as retaining the original flavor of the main ingredients instead of masking them.

Many diverse seafoods and woodland delicacies are used, including a myriad variety of local fish, shellfish and turtles, or indigenous edible mushrooms and bamboo shoots, provided by the coastal and mountainous regions of Fujian. The most commonly employed cooking techniques in the region’s cuisine include braising, stewing, steaming and boiling.

Particular attention is paid on the finesse of knife skills and cooking technique of the chefs, which is used to enhance the flavor, aroma and texture of seafood and other foods. Strong emphasis is put on the making and utilizing of broth and soups. There are sayings in the region’s cuisine: “One broth can be changed into numerous (ten) forms” (simplified Chinese: 一汤十变; traditional Chinese: －湯十變; pinyin: yī tāng shí biàn) and “It is unacceptable for a meal to not have soup” (simplified Chinese: 不汤不行; traditional Chinese: 不湯不行; pinyin: bù tāng bù xíng).

Fujianese fried rice takes many of these characteristics in its recipe – rice and egg are stir-fried together and then a gravy made of fresh seafood, poultry, dried mushrooms and vegetables is poured over it.

I found these tips to be particularly useful in making fried rice:

Yi’s Guide to Make Restaurant Style Fried Rice at Home:

1. Use long grain non-sticky rice. This would help achieve that signature fluffy and non-sticky texture you find in restaurants without having the same high heat stove that restaurants use.
2. Use overnight leftover rice to efficiently avoid rice from lumping together. If you don’t have previously refrigerated rice then try to cook the rice with 1 tsp of cooking oil and slight less water. Cool the rice to room temperature before frying
3. Fry over high heat. This is especially important if you add vegetables to the fry rice because you’ll end up with watery fried rice if your wok is not hot enough.

This is a delicious recipe that has more than a touch of TFD’s magic in it, my Citizens! 🙂

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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For the Fried Rice
4 cups Cooked 1 day old rice
1 Egg, beaten
Salt and pepper

Shrimp marinade:
3 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine
A dash of ground white pepper
Dash of salt

For the Gravy:

12 small shrimp
½ cup grilled chicken or duck (chopped)
¼ cup Carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions, minced
2/3 cup dried Shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated in 2 cups chicken stock (reserve stock) and diced
¼ cup diced seeded Tomatoes
2 Choy sum or Chinese broccoli stems, diced
3 Chinese dried scallops, soaked in water overnight, water discarded then diced
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Oyster sauce
2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp White pepper powder

Cornstarch dissolved in stock (thickening sauce)

1 tsp Sesame oil

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1. Prepare the shrimps. Cut into small pieces (optional). Let them sit for 10 minutes in iced heavily-salted water. Drain and reserve.
2. In a frying pan, heat up some peanut oil on high heat. Add minced garlic and sauté with diced mushroom. Add diced vegetable, scallions and shrimp. Sauté thoroughly until fully cooked, about 3 minutes.
3. Add remaining brown sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer, about 2 minutes.
4. Add a bit of thickening sauce and reduce to low heat – thicken to taste with more sauce if needed. Set aside.
5. In a separate pan, add beaten egg to cook on high heat. When egg is half cooked, add rice and mix well. Stir-fry until all egg is cooked and the grains of rice are separated. Add salt to taste and sesame oil and stir.
6. Transfer the fried rice onto a serving bowl. Pour the shrimp brown sauce over rice.

The Hirshon Réunionnais Vanilla Duck Curry With Coconut Rice

June 21, 2016 by The Generalissimo Leave a Comment

Vanilla Duck Curry Image Used Under Creative Commons License From retrofoodformoderntimes.com

Citizens, the gorgeous island of Réunion (French: La Réunion, previously Île Bourbon) is found far out in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar and 175 kilometers (109 mi) southwest of the island of Mauritius. As of 2014, it had a population of 844,994.

Administratively, Réunion is actually one of the overseas departments of France! Like the other four overseas departments, it is also one of the 18 regions of France, with the modified status of overseas region, and an integral part of the Republic with the same status as Metropolitan France.

As a result, Réunion is the outermost region of the European Union and, as an overseas department of France, also part of the Eurozone!

The island has been inhabited since the 17th century, when people from France, Madagascar and Africa settled there. Slavery was abolished on 20 December 1848 (a date celebrated yearly on the island), after which indentured workers were brought from South India, among other places. The island became an overseas department of France in 1946.

The local language, spoken by the majority of the population, is Réunion Creole – the official language is French.

The Réunionnaise tradition of using vanilla as a spice in savory dishes may seem odd to a Western palate only used to tasting vanilla in ice cream and desserts.

However, when used in moderation with duck, chicken, or fish the spice shows off a side of itself that is truly sublime (it is, after all, the most complex flavor in the world!).

Super-Chef Pierre Gagnaire first opened my eyes to the use of vanilla as a seasoning in his recipe for poached vanilla lobster – a true epiphany for me!

In this curry, the vanilla is allowed to interact and blend with more flavors. In a nod to the other major spice of the island, I added in a mélange of different peppercorns, including the pink peppercorn that is native to this magical land.

***IMPORTANT NOTE*** – THE PINK PEPPERCORN IS NOT A TRUE PEPPERCORN, IT IS ACTUALLY A NUT – DO NOT GIVE PINK PEPPERCORNS TO ANYONE WITH A NUT ALLERGY!

Citizens – this is a wonderful recipe, first reported by one of my favorite and most talented of celebrity chefs, the mighty Andreas Viestad of Norway, host of New Scandinavian Cooking.

Battle on – The Generalissimo

The Hirshon Réunionnais Vanilla Duck Curry With Coconut Rice

Rate this recipe

Ingredients

4 duck thighs
½ vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped out, seeds and bean reserved
2 teaspoons mild curry powder
Salt
3 tablespoons butter or palm oil
3 onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup diced butternut squash, peeled and seeded
2 to 3 sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of freshly-ground [easyazon_link identifier="B0161VEE44" locale="US" tag="t0c5f-20"]4 peppercorn seasoning[/easyazon_link]
1 clove
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For Coconut Rice:
250g Long grain rice
1 whole Coconut
50g Butter
2 tbsp. Oil

Instructions

Rub the duck with the vanilla seeds, curry powder, ground peppercorns mixture and salt to taste. Cut the vanilla bean in smaller pieces.
Heat the butter in a large, deep skillet or a wide pot over medium heat. Add the duck and vanilla bean and sauté for 15 minutes, turning occasionally. Add the onions and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 20 minutes, or even longer for falling-apart-tender duck thighs. Serve with coconut rice.
***
Prepare The Rice:
Split the coconut in half and recover the coconut water.
Grate or finely mix the coconut meat and soak in warm water.
Leave for 20-30 minutes and collect milk by pressing in a cloth. Simmer chopped onions in some butter, salt and pepper and add the raw and unwashed rice.
Allow the rice to absorb the ingredients and add the coconut water + hot coconut milk (the amount of liquid should be one and half times the volume of rice).
Boil, then finish cook in a low oven and cover (until complete evaporation of the liquid and cooking of the rice).
Finish by adding the remaining butter and fluffing with two forks.
You can decorate this dish with some coconut slices. You can also replace the fresh coconut milk with the canned version, if needed.
Enjoy this delicious dish and Bon Appetit Biensure!

https://www.thefooddictator.com/hirshon-reunionnais-vanilla-duck-curry-coconut-rice/

The Hirshon Chef Salad

May 12, 2016 by The Generalissimo 2 Comments

Chef Salad Image Used Under Creative Commons License From lemonythyme.com

Citizens, Chef salad (or chef’s salad) is an American salad consisting of hard-boiled eggs; one or more varieties of meat, such as ham, turkey, chicken, or roast beef; tomatoes; cucumbers; and cheese; all placed upon a bed of tossed lettuce or other leaf vegetables. Several early recipes also include anchovies. A variety of dressings are used with this salad, but Thousand Island is considered canonical.

Food historians do not agree on the history and composition of chef salad, much less who assembled the first one. Some trace this salad’s roots to Salmagundi, a popular meat and salad dish originating in 17th century England and popular in colonial America.

Others contend chef’s salad is a product of the early twentieth century, originating in either New York or California. The person most often connected with the history of this salad is Louis Diat, chef of the Ritz-Carlton in New York City during the 1940s.

While food historians acknowledge his recipe, they do not appear to be convinced he originated the dish, which is more popularly attributed to either chef Victor Seydoux at the Hotel Buffalo, a Statler Hotel in Buffalo, New York or chef Jacques Roser at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City.

Roser worked in various culinary positions in Paris before being invited to become head chef at the prestigious 1920s Hotel Pennsylvania, where he worked for more than fifteen years. Seydoux first learned his craft in Montreux, Switzerland, and continued his studies in France and England before coming to work in the United States.

Seydoux’s first experiences in the U.S. included positions at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and the Ritz-Carlton. Although the origin of the salad is not generally known, as reported by Alice Rose Seydoux, widow of Victor, the salad was officially launched at the Hotel Buffalo.

When the customers started requesting the off-menu salad made with cuts of meat, cheese and hard boiled eggs, the hotel decided to add it to the menu. Giving chef Seydoux the honor of naming the salad he is purported to have said “Well, it’s really a chef’s salad.”

The chef salad probably owes much of its popularity, according to Evan Jones in American Food: The Gastronomic Story (1975), to Louis Diat, chef at the Ritz-Carlton.

Cooking a la Ritz includes Diat’s recipe: “Chef’s salad. Place separately in a salad bowl equal amonts of chopped lettuce (place on the bottom of the bowl), boiled chicken, smoked ox tongue and smoked ham, all cut in julienne style. Add ½ hard-cooked egg for each portion. Place some watercress in the center and serve with French Dressing.”

Diat did not invent the salad (older recipes exist), but its inclusion on the menu at the Ritz-Carlton would have introduced the salad to more of the public. It’s possible that the inclusion of Thousand Island dressing is also linked to the Ritz, since the hotel also introduced the dressing to New York.

This recipe, while containing smoked ox tongue, still contains the primary chef salad ingredients: meat, eggs, greens and presentation: julienne sliced meat, and sliced eggs. Several other early chef salad recipes mention crumbling Roquefort cheese over the salad.

The 1936 2nd printing of The Joy of Cooking is the first known printed recipe for a traditional “Chef Salad” and cites most of the ingredients found in later Chef Salad recipes.

Citizens, my version of the classic recipe is spot-on delicious and includes the classic but usually left-out anchovy as well as some cooked duck and avocado. Feel free to omit if you so prefer. I also like the zip added by using horseradish cheddar – feel free to use regular cheddar if you don’t dig the spicy as TFD does.

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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¾ head Iceberg lettuce (don’t use the core)

¼ head Boston lettuce (outer leaves)

4 ounces thick-sliced Black Forest ham, julienne cut

4 ounces cooked thick-sliced duck breast, julienne cut (substitute chicken, if you must, but the duck is much tastier)

4 ounces cooked thick-sliced turkey breast, julienne cut

4 ounces cooked thick-sliced roast beef, julienne cut

4 ounces thick-sliced Horseradish Cheddar Cheese, julienne cut

4 ounces thick-sliced Swiss Cheese, julienne cut

4 ounces thick-sliced Provolone Cheese, julienne cut

4 hard boiled eggs, sliced in quarters

12 cherry tomatoes, halved

½ English cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeds removed and very thinly sliced

½ cup California sliced pitted black olives

Avocado Slices

8 anchovy fillets (Ortiz brand strongly preferred) (optional)

Snipped Chives

16 ounces salad dressing (your choice, but I personally can’t imagine anything other than the Hirshon Thousand Island Dressing)

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In 4 large salad bowls, divide the lettuce.

Add 1-ounce each of ham, duck (or chicken, if using), turkey, roast beef, cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, and Provolone. Place the quarters of hard-boiled egg around each salad bowl.

Garnish with the black olives, 2 anchovies per bowl (if using), cucumber, tomatoes, chives and avocado slices. Allow those enjoying the Chef’s Salad to add their choice of salad dressings, as long as it’s Thousand Island.