Jono & Jules do food & wine

We made this on Chinese New Year when the Chinese were unable to celebrate due to the outbreak of Coronavirus. Over a month later and we’re still not sure what the implications of the Covid-19 outbreak will be. In the meantime we’ll keep calm and carry on cooking.

This is a recipe by Fuchsia Dunlop who recommends using tender ginger that’s not too fibrous – it should be easy to snap off a piece with no fibres showing from the cut. We’re not sure our ginger quite met that criteria but the dish was very tasty nonetheless.

Wine Suggestion: white, aromatic and with a fresh acidity. Pikes “The Merle” Riesling from Clare Valley made a great aperitif while cooking and then stepped up and paired wonderfully.

Chicken with Young Ginger – nen jiang chao zi ji – serves 2 with rice

• 75g plump fresh ginger (see note above), peeled and sliced very thinly
• 1 scallion, white part only (save the green part), smacked with a cleaver or rolling pin
• 350g boned chicken thighs, cut into 2cm cubes
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• ¼ tsp potato starch mixed with ½ tsp cold water
• a few 5cm pieces of scallion, green parts only
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ground white pepper

FOR THE MARINADE:

• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 tsp potato starch
• 2 tsp cold water

FOR THE SAUCE:

• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• ½ tsp dark soy sauce
• ½ caster sugar
• 2 tbsp stock or water

Put the chicken into a bowl with the marinade ingredients and stir.

Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

Heat the oil in a wok over a high flame. Add the ginger and scallion white and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the chicken and continue to stir-fry over a high heat, until cooked through and beginning to colour.

Add the Shaoxing wine to the chicken, then stir the sauce and add to the wok. Bring to a fast boil and season with white pepper.

Stir the starch mixture and this to the wok, stirring. The sauce should thicken and become glossy.

Add the scallion greens and toss briefly, before removing the wok from the heat. Stir in the sesame oil and serve.

(Original recipe from Land of Fish & Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop, Bloomsbury, 2016.)