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Sichuan Vinegar Chicken (Culiuji, 醋熘鸡)

Servings: 2
Author: Kathy Yuan | The Mala Market | Inspiration & Ingredients for Sichuan Cooking

Ingredients

PREP

  • ¼ cup dried cloud ear/wood ear fungus approx. 10g
  • 2 boneless chicken thighs, cubed approx. 300g or ⅔ lb
  • splash Shaoxing wine approx. 1 tablespoon
  • ½ teaspoon salt approx. 4g
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tablespoon potato starch (or tapioca/corn starch) approx. 15g
  • 6 inches celtuce stem or fresh bamboo shoot or any combination of similar (bell pepper can be nice), peeled and sliced into inch-long pieces approx. 200g
  • 2 paojiao pickled chilies, chopped into inch-long sections approx. 40g
  • ½ thumb fresh ginger, washed and thinly sliced into matchsticks approx. 7g
  • 3-4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and thinly sliced approx. 7g
  • 2 whole fresh scallions, thinly sliced, dark green and light green/whites divided approx. 15g

STIR-FRY SAUCE

  • drizzle Shaoxing wine approx. 5g or 1 teaspoon
  • 2 tablespoons chicken broth approx. 35g
  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Zhenjiang vinegar, divided approx. 25g
  • ½ teaspoon salt, more or less to taste approx. 4g
  • pinch MSG (optional)
  • 2 teaspoons sugar, more or less to taste approx. 10g
  • ½ tablespoon potato starch (or tapioca/corn starch) approx. 5g
  • 4 tablespoons caiziyou (Chinese roasted rapeseed oil) approx. 100g

Instructions

PREP/MARINATE

  • Soak the cloud ear/wood ear fungus in a medium bowl with room temperature water. Agitate the fungus to release sediment and dirt build-up. Scrub well once the wood ear begins to soften, and rinse in several changes of water until the water runs clear of debris. Refill with lukewarm water and let rehydrate 1-1.5 hours total. The fungus will expand 4x in size.
  • Slice the chicken leg or thigh into long strips, then chop into inch-long portions.
    In a bowl, mix the raw chicken with a splash of cooking wine and salt. Add the egg white and mix again. Lastly, add the starch and mix until evenly coated. Set aside while you prep the other ingredients.
  • Peel the celtuce stem and slice longwise into thin planes. Stack and slice perpendicular to the first cut into strips, roughly the width of the chicken. If using bell pepper, shape similarly. Set aside.
    Add the chopped pickled chilies, garlic, ginger and scallion white/light green sections to a small bowl. Set aside.
  • In a smaller bowl for the stir-fry sauce, mix a drizzle of cooking wine with the broth, one tablespoon of black vinegar, salt, MSG (optional), sugar and starch. Set aside.

COOK

  • In a wok, blanch fresh bamboo shoots briefly if using. Strain and set aside. Boil the cloud ear fungus for 1-2 minutes (longer if using wood ear), then strain and discard the cooking water. Set aside.
  • Add the caiziyou to the wok or skillet and heat on medium-high until the surface shimmers and the oil begins to smoke (skip the smoking step if not using caiziyou). This is a regular step to smoke off the raw odor of uncooked caiziyou and prepare it for cooking.
    Add the marinated chicken and shallow-fry, prodding with a spatula or chopsticks to break up the pieces. When they start turning white, flip them. Monitor their progress by checking that the sides are all white and cooked through at the surface, then strain the chicken from the wok, leaving as much oil behind as possible.
    Par-cooking the chicken keeps the end result tender and juicy. The bite-size pieces finish cooking very quickly in the stir-fry step.
  • Immediately add the bowl of pickled chilies and other aromatics to the hot oil and let it bloom. When you can smell the garlic, add in the celtuce or bell pepper and stir-fry briefly to incorporate. (Celtuce can be eaten raw, so do not fear undercooking.)
    Add the cooked wood ear fungus and chicken and toss to mix. Break up the settled starch in the stir-fry sauce by mixing it back into liquid before pouring the sauce down the sides of the wok while tossing to coat the chicken. Keep stir-frying until the starch slurry thickens and begins to bubble.
    Taste to make sure the seasoning is as you like it. At the last second, with the pan hot and liquid bubbling, quickly splatter a teaspoon of black vinegar down the sides of the wok and toss one last time before plating. The walls of the wok must be appropriately hot to volatilize the vinegar aroma on contact. Garnish with the rest of the scallion greens and enjoy immediately!