Orange chicken

Made orange chicken tonight, best crust ever so far. This recipe calls for 75:25 ratio cornstarch-to-flour. This worked really well, I think it maybe was just a tad too thin. However, I have to say that parts of it fried up exactly like restaurant-style chinese fried chicken: that kind of crispy, almost glassy transparent yet toasty thickness with a good crunch. More than the batter, the key I think is the double-fry technique: blanch at low temp, cool, then re-fry at high temp.

Next time I recommend:

1. Try cornstarch only; cornstarch lends crunch, flour lends chew.
   
2. Try using a bottle of Blue Moon Amber Ale for the batter: should make it more crispy, and Blue Moon naturally pairs well with orange, as any respectable bartender will tell you. Or, seltzer water should help enhance crispness.
   
3. Make sure the liquid that's added to the batter is cold! May even consider refrigerating the batter.
   
4. Slightly thicker batter. The recipe below has been adjusted to reflect this already.
   

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs, de-boned, skin off and cleaned of excess fat, cut into 1" chunks
Marinade
Batter
Sauce
3 thick scallions, cut into 1" rings
At least 4 c. vegetable oil, for frying

1. In a plastic bowl, combine chicken pieces and marinade. Stir to combine, and let sit 1-2 hours.
   
2. Drain chicken in colander, reserving 1/3 cup of marinade. Pat chicken dry with towels.
   
3. Make sauce (without slurry) and set aside.
4. Combine batter ingredients and set aside.
5. In a large pot, heat oil to 350 degrees (use a fry thermometer!).
   
6. Working in 4 batches, dip 1/4 of chicken in batter, shake off excess, and add pieces quickly but one at a time (so they don't stick together), fry for 1 min, turn, fry for 1 more minute (2 min total). Use spider or slotted spoon to remove to paper-towel-lined plate or sheet pan to drain and cool.
7. Repeat for remaining 3 batches. Make sure oil temp stays around 350 degrees. Don't stack cooked chicken on top of each other, it needs to be spread out to cool.
   
8. Reheat oil to 375-380F.
   
9. Starting with coolest pieces (1st batch that has cooled), work in batches to refry the chicken for 1.5-2 minutes. Return the oil to temperature before adding next batch. Drain on separate paper-towel-lined sheet pan.
   
10. When last batch is finished, heat sauce to boiling, whisk in slurry, bring to boil.
    
11. Pour over chicken, toss chicken (like you would for chicken wings), then serve immediately.
    

Marinade

1/4 c mirin
2-3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 c vegetable oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 pinch chili flakes

Batter

(3/4 c cornstarch + 1/4 cup all purpose flour) OR (1 c cornstarch)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup COLD liquid (cold water, cold beer (see intro note), or cold seltzer water...)
1-2 tbsp water (extra)

Whisk dry ingredients together. Whisk in 1/2 cup liquid ingredients except extra water together. When combined, batter should coat a piece a chicken so you can't see the raw meat when you dip and shake off the excess batter. I think perfect crust would be at just the moment when it ceases being transparent; too thick and then it's not good either. Whisk in extra water only if the batter is too thick (it may be).

Sauce

1 c chicken stock
1/4 c ketchup
1/4 c white sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 c chicken marinade, reserved
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sesame oil
1 pinch chile flakes
Juice of 1 orange
4-5" x 1" strip of orange peel, chopped into 1/2" pieces
Corn starch slurry: 1 tbsp corn starch, dissolved in 2 tbsp water

Combine all ingredients except slurry, bring to a boil in a sauce pan, reduce heat to low. When chicken is ready, bring back up to a boil, whisk in slurry all at once, return to a boil and boil for 1 minute till you get sugary, foamy bubbles. Pour immediately over chicken, toss and serve.

fish tacos and french fries

Made fish tacos and homemade fries tonight, in part based on this fish taco recipe.

Some notes:

• If you're gonna do fries as well, you really should have 2 separate fryers going. I blanched and fried the fries first, then did the fish, and the fries were a little cold.
• Blanched the fries for 2 minutes at 325 degrees, then about 2-3 minutes at 375 degrees. They puff up this way, and have a perfect texture (used yellow potatoes).
• For fish sauce, yogurt would be good...I thinned it out with a little milk. Really needs crema or something for a more sour tang. Maybe buttermilk? It needs to be thinned out enough to be kinda runny.
• Batter in the original flour-to-beer ratio was pretty runny, perhaps too runny. You get more of a gossamer-thin layer of crust this way; you could see the fish texture thru the batter. Adding about 1/4 cup of flour made it thicker like a fish n chips thing, a non-translucent coating. Thinner, original consistency would be a more crispy, wispy layer, and I like something a little more substantial.
• Sauce: good flavors, but I think maybe too much spices, it needed something to kick up the freshness. Less dill next time! Next time, use yogurt like original recipe, mexican crema, or buttermilk. Also consider adding some garlic, like in aioli.
• Fresh tilapia works well: it's semi-firm, very clean and very mild tasting, totally delish.
  

Fish Tacos My Way
Serves 2-3

Batter
Sauce
Corn tortillas
2 tilapia filets, cut into 1" wide strips, 2.5-3.5" lenghts
1/2 head of cabbage (green preferred, or red), sliced very thin
At least 4 cups vegetable oil

Mix the sauce ingredients, and set aside.
Heat oil to 350-375.
Mix batter ingredients with whisk.
Dip fish in batter, shake off excess, and put into fryer (about 7-9 pieces at a time, depending on the pot)
Fry for 1 minute, flip sides, fry for 1-2 minutes.
Remove onto paper towels.
Season with salt, and serve immediately.
Make a taco with some cabbage, corn tortilla, some fish and some sauce.


Sauce

1/2 cup mayo
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp dried dill (was originally 1/2 tsp, was too much)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
Salt + pepper to taste
1 habanero or jalapeno, minced* (I left this out)

Batter
1c flour (+ extra 1/4c)
1 tsp baking powder
1 can/bottle (12oz) cold beer (preferably a golden Mexican lager, like Corona, Pacifico, Tecate, etc. I used Olympia, which worked fine)
2 tsp table salt

Whisk together all but 1/4 c. flour all ingredients just before battering fish. Whisk together; add as much reserved flour (up to 1/4 cup) to make it "thick enough", so that it's not transparent when it's on the fish. The batter should be thick enough so that it's just beyond watery, runny, and transparent, so you don't see the fish through the batter. Not quite as thick as pancake batter, maybe a little thinner. This photo of how the batter drips off in the original recipe is a good example. If it's too thick, thin out with a little more beer (or water, or seltzer water), if necessary. Too thin, add some more flour.

oh man eggplant parmigiana

I made this recipe based on what I had seen on Bobby Flay's Throwdown episode with Mike's Deli for Eggplant Parmesan. Bought some beautiful eggplants at the Ojai farmer's market, and decided to try this recipe earlier this week. It was totally amazing! If there was ever a meal that a vegetarian would enjoy, this is it!

Oh Man Eggplant Parmigiana

Serves 4

• Vegetable Oil
• 2 medium eggplants
• 1-2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs, beaten
  
• Homemade Bread Crumbs
  
• 1 jar Classico Roasted Garlic tomato sauce (or marinara sauce)
  
• 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced or crumbled.
  

Homemade Crumbs

• 4 cups stale white bread, cubed about 3/4-1" pieces (such as homemade sourdough)
  
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp table salt

Combine all ingredients in food processor. Process to desired consistency (a sandy consistency works well for the eggplant parmigiana).

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and heat oil in a large pan, Dutch oven or deep-fryer.
2. Wash the eggplant, and slice into 1/4-inch thick slices the long way using a mandoline (or a commercial bread/meat slicer). You don't have to peel it! Sprinkle with flour as you place it in a bowl.
   
3. In a separate bowl beat eggs with 1 tbsp water. Dip the eggplant into the egg to coat both sides. Then dip in bread crumbs, pressing breadcrumbs in place on each side. Shake off excess, and place on a large tray.
4. Once the oil is hot, put the eggplant in the hot oil a few pieces at a time (in batches, don't crowd!) and fry until golden brown on both sides, about 60-90 seconds on each side. Remove with skimmer and drain on paper towels, salting immediately after.
   
5. Once all of the eggplant has been fried, get a rectangular baking pan and start the layering as follows:

• tomato sauce to the bottom of the pan,
• then the eggplant, more sauce, fresh mozzarella, Romano cheese,
• eggplant-sauce-cheese
• repeat until you have reached the top of the pan. Top off with sauce, mozzarella, and grated Romano

Place the eggplant into the oven and cook for 20 to 25 minutes.

Here are some photos of my recent results: