《鱼翅与花椒》中的菜谱

1 Fish-fragrant eggplant

21-25 oz (600-700 g) eggplant Salt Peanut oil for deep-frying 1½ tbsp Sichuanese chilli bean paste 3 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger 3 tsp finely chopped garlic 2/3 cup (150 ml) stock 1½ tsp white sugar ½ tsp light soy sauce ¾ tsp cornstarch, mixed with 1 tbsp cold water 1½ tsp Chinkiang vinegar 4 spring onions, green parts only, sliced into fine rings 1 tsp sesame oil

1. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and then crosswise. Chop each quarter lengthwise into 3 or 4 evenly sized chunks. Sprinkle generously with salt and leave for at least 30 minutes to drain.

2. In a wok, heat oil for deep-frying to 356-392°F (180-200°C). Add the eggplant in batches and deep-fry for 3-4 minutes until slightly golden on the outside and soft and buttery within. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

3. Drain off the deep-frying oil, rinse the wok if necessary, and then return it to a medium flame with 2-3 tablespoons of oil. Add the chilli bean paste and stir-fry until the oil is red and fragrant; then add the ginger and garlic and continue to stir-fry for another 20-30 seconds until they too are fragrant.

4. Add the stock, sugar and soy sauce and mix well. Season with salt to taste if necessary.

5. Add the fried eggplant to the sauce, bring to the boil and then let them simmer gently for a few minutes to absorb some of the flavours. Then sprinkle the cornstarch mixture over the eggplant and stir in gently to thicken the sauce. Next, stir in the vinegar and spring onions and leave for a few seconds until the onions have lost their rawness. Finally, remove the pan from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve.

2 Xie Laoban’ s Dan Dan noodles

Feeds 2 for supper, 4 for a street snack

7 oz (200 g) dried Chinese flour-and-water noodles

For the meat topping:

1 tbsp peanut oil

3 Sichuanese dried chillies, snipped in half, seeds discarded

½ tsp whole Sichuan pepper

0.9 oz (25 g) Sichuanese ya cai or Tianjin preserved vegetable

3.5 oz (100 g) minced beef

2 tsp light soy sauce

Salt to taste

For the sauce:

½ tsp ground roasted Sichuan pepper 2 tbsp sesame paste 3 tbsp light soy sauce 2 tsp dark soy sauce 4 tbsp chilli oil with chilli sediment Salt to taste

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of peanut oil in a wok over a moderate flame. When the oil is hot but not yet smoking, add the chillies and Sichuan pepper and stir-fry briefly until the oil is spicy and fragrant. Take care not to burn the spices. Add the ya cai or preserved vegetable and continue to stir-fry until hot and fragrant. Add the meat, splash in the soy sauce and stir-fry until the meat is brown and a little crisp, but not too dry. Season with salt to taste. When the meat is cooked, remove the mixture from the wok and set aside.

2. Divide the sauce ingredients among the serving bowls and mix together.

3. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet. Drain them and add a portion to the sauce in each serving bowl. Sprinkle each bowl with the meat mixture and serve immediately.

4. Before eating, give the noodles a good stir until the sauce and meat are evenly distributed.

3 Twice-cooked pork

Serves 2 as a main dish served with plain rice, 4 with two or three other dishes as part of a Chinese meal

12 oz (350 g) pork belly, with skin still attached 6 baby leeks 2 tbsp peanut oil or lard 1½ tbsp chilli bean paste 1½ tsp Sichuanese sweet wheaten paste or sweet bean paste 2 tsp fermented black beans 1 tsp dark soy sauce 1 tsp white sugar Salt

1. Bring a good panful of water to the boil. Add the pork, return to the boil and then simmer at a gentler heat until just cooked – this should take 20-25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pork. Remove the pork from the water and allow to cool. Refrigerate the meat for at least a couple of hours to firm up the flesh – this makes it easier to cut.

2. When the meat is completely cold, slice it thinly – ideally, each piece should be a mixture of fat and lean, with a strip of skin at the top.

3. Chop the leeks diagonally at a steep angle into thin slices.

4. Heat 2 tablespoons oil or lard in a wok over a medium flame, add the pork pieces and stir-fry until their fat has melted out and they are toasty and slightly curved. Push the pork to one side of the wok and tip the chilli bean paste into the space you have created. Stir-fry it for 20-30 seconds until the oil is richly red, then add the sweet paste and black beans and stir-fry for another few seconds until they too smell delicious. Mix everything in the wok together and add the soy sauce and sugar, seasoning with a little salt if necessary.

5. Finally, add the leeks and stir and toss until they are just cooked. Turn on to a serving dish and eat immediately, with plained steamed rice.

4 English cooking, Chinese-style: Stuffed squid in black pepper and minced apple sauce

1 fresh squid

3.5 oz (100 g) minced pork

0.2 oz (5 g) finely chopped shallot

0.2 oz (5 g) finely chopped celery

0.2 oz (5 g) finely chopped carrot Salt and ground black pepper 1 tbsp olive oil Beef stock 2 bay leaves

0.7 oz (20 g) tomato 2 pickled gherkins

0.4 oz (10 g) cooked diced carrot 1 tbsp (0.5 oz/15 g) butter

1.4 oz (40 g) finely chopped apple 1 tsp red wine

1. Clean the squid.

2. Mix the pork with the shallot, celery and carrot and salt and pepper to taste, and use it to stuff the squid. Close the squid around the stuffing and fix with small bamboo skewers.

3. Fry the squid in olive oil on both sides, and then add the stock with some more shallot, the bay leaves and seasoning to taste. Bring to the boil, and then simmer until cooked through.

4. Place the squid on a serving dish. Garnish with the tomato, gherkins and cooked carrot.

5. Pour over a sauce made from butter, beef stock, apple, black pepper and red wine.

5 Gansu New Year Dumplings

Serves 6-8

60-80 circular flour-and-water dumpling wrappers

For the filling:

10.6 oz (300 g) Asian green or white radish

8.8 oz (250 g) minced pork

One egg

Salt and pepper to taste

To serve:

Soy sauce

Chinese black vinegar

Chilli oil

Crushed garlic

1. Peel the radish. Cut into very thin slices, and then into very fine slivers. Blanch the slivers in boiling water, and then drain well. When they are cool enough to handle, squeeze as much water out of them as you can.

2. Mix the radish slivers with the minced pork, the egg, and salt and pepper to taste.

3. Place a dumpling skin flat on your hand, and place a good teaspoonful of filling in its centre. Fold one side of the skin over the meat, make one or two tucks in it, and then press it tightly to meet the other side to make a little, half-moon-shaped dumpling. You can seal the dumpling with a series of little pinches if you wish. Make sure you pinch the skins together tightly so the filling can’t ooze out. Lay the dumplings, separately, on a lightly floured tray, plate or work surface.

4. Place the soy sauce, vinegar, chilli oil and crushed garlic on the dining table in separate containers. Give each guest a small dipping dish and encourage them to make their own dipping sauce from the seasonings.

5. Heat a generous panful of water to a vigorous boil over a high flame. Stir the water briskly, and throw in a couple of handfuls of dumplings. Stir once to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the water has returned to the boil, throw in a coffee-cupful of cold water. Allow the water to return to the boil again, and throw in another coffee-cupful of cold water. When the water has returned to the boil for the third time, the dumpling skins will be glossy and puckered and the meat should have cooked through – cut one dumpling in half to make sure. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, drain well, and serve steaming hot. Dip into the seasonings to eat.

6. Xin nian kuai le! Happy New Year!

6 Chicken and papaya soup, good for the pneumonia

1 really good chicken, preferably an organically reared boiling bird (about 3½ lb/1.5 kg)

A 0.7 oz (20 g) piece of fresh ginger, unpeeled

2 spring onions

2 tsp Shaoxing wine

2 ripe papayas

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Blanch the chicken in a panful of boiling water, and then rinse.

2. Slightly crush the ginger with the side of a cleaver or a heavy object. Wash and trim the spring onions and break them into a few long sections.

3. Place the chicken in a saucepan or casserole dish with just enough water to cover it (2½-3½ quarts/2.5-3.5 litres). Bring the liquid to the boil over a high flame, and skim off any scum that rises to the surface. Add the ginger, spring onions and wine, then turn the heat down and simmer gently, half-covered, until the chicken is very tender and comes easily away from the bone.

4. Shortly before the chicken is ready, peel and de-seed the papayas, cut them into chunks and add them to the soup.

5. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Serve each guest with some chicken and some papaya, covered in broth.

7 Chairman Mao’s red-braised pork

18 oz (500 g) belly pork (traditionally including skin)

2 tbsp peanut oil

2 tbsp white sugar

1 tbsp Shaoxing wine

0.7 oz (20 g) ginger, skin left on, sliced

1 star anise

2 dried red chillies

A small piece of cinnamon stick or cassia bark

Light soy sauce, salt and sugar to taste

A few lengths of spring onion greens

1. Plunge the belly pork into a panful of boiling water and simmer for 3-4 minutes until partially cooked. Remove and, when cool enough to handle, cut into ¾-1¼inch (2-3 cm chunks).

2. Heat the oil and sugar over a gentle flame until the sugar melts. Then raise the heat and stir until the melted sugar turns a rich caramel brown. Add the pork and splash in the Shaoxing wine.

3. Then add enough water to just cover the pork, and add the ginger, star anise, chillies and cinnamon. Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for at least 45 minutes. Towards the end of the cooking time, turn up the heat to reduce the sauce, and season with soy sauce, salt and a little sugar to taste. Add the spring onion greens just before serving.

8 Steamed chickens' feet with black bean and chilli

Serve these for breakfast with some nice tea and steamed buns.

18 oz (500 g) chicken’s feet

1/3 cup (75 g) white sugar

Oil for deep-frying

1 tsp Sichuan pepper

1 star anise

A piece of cinnamon stick or cassia bark

2 spring onions, white parts only

0.7 oz (20 g) ginger, unpeeled, sliced

¾ tsp salt

2 tbsp peanut oil

2 tsp finely chopped garlic

1 tbsp fermented black beans, rinsed

3 tbsp oyster sauce

Salt and sugar to taste

One fresh red chilli, cut into thin slices

1. Bring a quart (a litre) of water to the boil in a saucepan.

2. Cut the tips off the chickens’ feet, along with the toenails.

3. Add the 1/3 cup (75 g) sugar to the boiling water and stir to dissolve. Then add the feet, return to the boil and blanch for a couple of minutes. Remove and set aside until completely dry.

4. Heat the deep-frying oil to about 392°F (200°C). Add the dried feet and deep-fry until golden-brown. Drain and set aside.

5. Place a quart (a litre) of water in a saucepan with the Sichuan pepper, star anise, cinnamon, spring onions, ginger and ¾ tsp salt. Add the feet, bring to the boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes until tender. Drain and shake dry.

6. Heat 2 tbsp peanut oil in a wok, add the garlic and stir-fry briefly to release its fragrance. Add the black beans and sizzle for a few seconds more. Add the oyster sauce, stir a few times amd then pour in 100 ml water.

7. Add the chickens’ feet, bring the liquid to the boil and season to taste with salt and sugar if necessary. Stir vigorously for a couple of minutes until the feet are covered in sauce and the liquid is much reduced.

8. You can eat them immediately or - in the dim sum fashion - place the feet in a small bowl in a bamboo steamer. Scatter over the chilli slices and then steam them until you wish to eat them.

This recipe is based on one told to me in great detail by chef Zheng of the Royal China Club restaurant in Baker Street, London, with the kind permission of manager Edward Jia.

9 Qingxi red-braised beef hotpot

You will need a tabletop burner to make this recipe authentically. Serves 4-6

2 lb 3 oz (1 kg) beef chuck steak

3 tbsp rapeseed oil or beef dripping (or a mixture of the two)

5 tbsp Sichuan chilli bean paste

0.7 oz (20 g) ginger, unpeeled, sliced

1 tbsp whole Sichuan pepper

1 tbsp ground chillies (optional)

2 tsp dark soy sauce

To serve:

18 oz (500 g) Asian white radish (daikon)

3 Chinese leeks (or 2 celery sticks)

Half a Chinese leaf cabbage

8.8-10.6 oz (250-300 g) beancurd

A good handful of coriander

1. Cut the beef into bite-sized chunks and blanch in boiling water. Drain.

2. Heat the oil and/or dripping in a pan over a medium flame. Add the chilli bean paste and sizzle until the oil is red and fragrant. Add the ginger and Sichuan pepper and stir-fry briefly until you can smell their rich fragrances. Add the ground chillies (if using) and fry for a few moments more. Add the beef to the pan.

3. Add hot water to generously cover the beef, with the dark soy sauce and a little salt, if necessary. Bring to the boil and then simmer over a low flame for a couple of hours until tender.

4. Peel and slice the radish, and trim the leeks or celery and cut into batons. Lay them in the base of a large metal serving bowl. Slice the Chinese cabbage and the beancurd, and place in two small serving dishes.

5. Switch on the tabletop burner. Add a little more water to the beef if necessary (it should still be immersed in liquid). Place the serving bowl on the burner and pour the beef stew over the vegetables. Scatter over the coriander.

6. As the hotpot bubbles away on the table, let your guests help themselves to beef, and the radish and leek when they are cooked. Encourage them to dip the Chinese cabbage and beancurd into the hotpot to cook.

7. Offer steamed rice separately.

If you do not have a burner, omit the leek or celery, the cabbage and the beancurd: simply add the radish to the stew when the beef is nearly cooked, and simmer until tender. Serve as a stew, garnished with coriander.

10 Kashgar kebabs

1 lb (450 g) lamb shoulder meat

Salt

Pepper

1 small egg

3 tbsp cornstarch

Ground cumin

Ground chillies

1. Cut the lamb into ¾ inch (2 cm) chunks and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Combine the beaten egg with the cornstarch in a small bowl and add to the lamb. Mix well and set aside for half an hour or so.

2. Heat the grill or prepare the barbecue.

3. String the lamb chunks onto flat metal kebab skewers.

4. Grill or barbecue the kebabs. As they cook, sprinkle them generously with salt, cumin and ground chillies to taste.

5. Serve with fresh bread.

Note: if you have access to the flesh of the fat-tailed sheep, alternate the chunks of lean meat with chunks of tail-fat.

11 Stewed bear’s paw

One fresh bear’s paw

An old female chicken

2 lb 3 oz (1 kg) pork

9 oz (250 g) ham

3.5 oz (100 g) ginger and 3.5 oz (100 g) spring onion whites, crushed slightly

½ cup (100 ml) Shaoxing wine

1 gallon (4 litres) fine clear stock

3.5 oz (100 g) reconstituted dried bamboo shoots, sliced

3.5 oz (100 g) large reconstituted dried shiitake mushrooms, sliced

Dark soy sauce

Salt and white pepper to taste

Cornstarch mixed with water

1 tbsp chicken fat

1. Singe the bear’s paw in a naked flame, taking care not to damage its skin. Soak it in boiling water for one hour and then strip away the fur.

2. Bring a large panful of water to the boil. Add the paw and boil vigorously for forty minutes. Remove and rinse thoroughly under the tap.

3. Place the paw in a large heatproof pot with the chicken, pork, ham, 2.5 oz (75 g) ginger, 2.5 oz (75 g) spring onion whites and 1/3 cup (75 ml) Shaoxing wine. Heat the fine stock and pour over the bear’s paw and other ingredients. Cover the pot with a lid and put it in a steamer. Steam over high heat until the stew has come to the boil; then reduce the heat to medium and steam for 2-3 hours until the paw is tender.

4. Remove the paw from the pot and set aside to cool. While it is still warm, remove its bones.

5. Make crosswise incisions in the paw at half-inch (1.25 cm) intervals, cutting deeply but not all the way through. Place the paw in a deep dish. Place in each incision a slice each of bamboo shoot and of mushroom. Scatter with the remaining ginger, spring onion and Shaoxing wine, and pour over 2/3 cup (150 ml) of the strained cooking broth. Place the dish in a steamer and steam over high heat for 15 minutes.

6. When the paw is ready, discard the ginger and spring onions, drain away the cooking liquid and arrange the paw elegantly on a serving platter.

7. Reheat 7 fl oz (200 ml) of the original cooking broth. Add enough soy sauce to give it a rich caramel colour, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Thicken the sauce with a little cornstarch mixture, and then pour it over the waiting paw. Scatter over the chicken fat, and serve, garnished with carved vegetables if you desire.

Adapted from ‘Imperial Dishes of China’, China Travel and Tourism Press, Beijing and Tai Dao Publishing Limited, Hong Kong, 1986. Please note that my version of the recipe has not been tested and is included for illustrative purposes only!

12 Yangzhou fried rice

Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as part of a Chinese meal

0.7–1 oz (20–30 g) raw pork fillet

0.7–1 oz (20–30 g) small frozen prawns

0.7–1 oz (20–30 g) cooked ham or salami

0.7–1 oz (20–30 g) cooked chicken

2 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for half an hour

0.7–1 oz (20–30 g) bamboo shoot

3 spring onions, green parts only

1 egg

Salt and pepper to taste

5 tbsp gpeanut oil

0.7–1 oz (20–30 g) frozen peas or soybeans

2 tsp Shaoxing wine

7 fl oz (200 ml) chicken stock

21 oz (600 g) cold, cooked Thai fragrant rice (9 oz/250 g when raw)

1. Cut the pork, frozen prawns, ham or salami, chicken, mushrooms and bamboo shoot into very small dice. Finely slice the spring onions greens. Beat the egg with a little salt and pepper to taste.

2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok over a high flame. Add the raw pork and prawns and stir-fry briefly, until the pork is pale. Add the ham, chicken, mushrooms, peas or soybeans and bamboo shoot and continue to stir-fry for a minute or two, until everything is hot and sizzling. Add the Shaoxing wine, then pour in the stock and bring to the boil.

3. Season with salt to taste, and then pour off into a bowl.

4. Rinse and dry the wok. Return it to the heat with 3 tbsp oil. When the oil is hot, add the egg and swirl around the base of the wok. When the egg is half-cooked, add all the rice and stir-fry, using your ladle or wok scoop to break up any lumps of rice.

5. When the rice is very hot and smells delicious, add the bowlful of prepared ingredients in their stock sauce. Mix well, add the spring onion greens and stir briskly for another half minute or so, seasoning with salt or pepper if you wish. Serve immediately.