Three Cup Lunar New Year

For quite a while now, I’ve kept with the tradition of celebrating Lunar New Year by cooking cuisine from countries that celebrate the holiday. This year we turned to China. After the traditional noodles for longevity and egg rolls for prosperity, the star was San Bei Ji, or Three Cup Chicken. Just as Pound Cake is named for a pound each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar, Three Cup Chicken is named for the equal parts of soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice wine that combine to make the sauce.

Three Cup Chicken

The dish interested me in part because I enjoy a history lesson with my cooking. Legend has it that this was first served to Wen Tianxiang, a hero of the Song Dynasty who is still revered today in China as a sign of patriotism and righteousness. After his capture by Kublai Khan’s Yuan army and four years of torture in captivity, a warden took pity on him and used the few available tools and ingredients to serve Wen his last meal before his execution, and San Bei Ji was born.

Traditionally, the three cups of liquids are used to slow cook a whole chicken in a clay pot until the sauce is mostly absorbed and evaporated so the chicken is left sizzling. The version I made trades some of the traditional techniques and textures for convenience, but keeps much of the flavor. Chicken thighs were easier than a whole chicken and I used less sesame oil, adding it at the end, but in keeping with common preparations, I cooked it along with scallions, large slices of ginger and garlic, and most uniquely, wilted leaves of Thai Basil. It’s sweet, salty, umami, and spicy from ginger, but you can add as much red pepper as you want for more heat. Delicious.

Enjoy your Year of the Rat!

Post-Christmas Goose

For years I have wanted to cook the classic Christmas goose, and I finally made it happen! Holiday schedules placed the meal on January 4th, but that's close enough ;-)

Roast Goose with Prune and Apple Stuffing and Red Wine Giblet Gravy

This entire meal was comparable to a full-on Thanksgiving dinner- a three day cooking event. The goose itself was cooked in a manner similar to Peking Duck, which is boiled for just a minute or so to tighten the skin before being left to dry for a day or more, so the skin crisps up when cooked. You know it's done boiling when you see... goosebumps. This was the first bird I ever stuffed and trussed (stitching up with a needle and thread), and in this case the bird was stuffed with apples, ham, bread, plenty of veggies, and prunes soaked in sherry. The gravy consisted of a slow cooked red wine goose stock, more sherry, and minced heart, liver, and gizzard. It was delicious and rich. I would place the flavor of the goose itself, which is all dark meat, somewhere between duck and dark meat turkey. The cooking methods kept the meal balanced, allowing the goose's fat to melt away, just moistening the meat, and being repurposed for stuffing and gravy, so it wasn't too heavy. Duck still holds its #1 place in my heart, but this was fabulous.

I served this with a Wild Mushroom Soup (a favorite simple recipe courtesy of the late Anthony Bourdain), Colcannon, Rosemary-Butter Yeast Rolls, and Broccolini and Swiss Chard with Peas and Seared Lemons. Dessert was a Blueberry Crumble.