November 8, 2016

How to Make Chen Pi Dried Tangerine Peel 陳皮做法

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By Published: 2016-11-08
Inspired perhaps by the seasonal chill finally blowing our way, I remembered this year, finally, to try making my own Chen Pi Dried Tangerine Peels (also known as Dried Mandarin Peels), or 陳皮.  These wonderful dried citrus peels are used as a flavoring agent in both savory and sweet dishes in Chinese cuisine as well as being used as an ingredient in Chinese medicine to help digestion and relieve nausea and cough.  

Every year come early autumn I've seen fruit vendors at the wet market making the chen pi, hanging the graceful loops of drying citrus peels topsy turvy from every nook and crook they could find and have always wanted to try making it at home.  

Chen Pi is, after all, what the Cantonese would call an essential in the Chinese kitchen, the flavor of this humble dried tangerine peel is out of this world unique, based in citrus but much, much more nuanced, with an aromatic slightly bitter taste that whets the appetite and prepares the palate for more.  As the Chinese saying '苦盡甘來' goes: 'When bitterness ends, sweetness begins.'

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The making of Chen Pi has been going on since the Eastern Han Dynasty 漢朝 (25AD-220AD), eventually even being designated as official tribute by the Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty 清朝 (1644-1912).  That's around 1500 years!

We were lucky enough to source the Xinhui Tangerine 新會柑 at our local wet market fruit vendors.  This is traditionally and officially the fruit used to make chen pi and comes from an area of Guangdong 廣東 called, of course, Xinhui 新會.  These tangerines have particularily fragrant peels which is the hallmark of the chen pi and you can smell the unique scent right away when you peel the fruit.  

You'll note that the fruit we used is still green.  Green fruits are typically used to make the chen pi nowadays (at least that I've seen in HK) because it is easier to peel and dry, but if you can find ripe Xinhui mandarins those are the best ones to use, producing the most fragrant peels.  If you can't find Xinhui mandarins, look for alternative thin skinned mandarins or tangerines with tender, fragrant peels.

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Pierce the skin
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3 equal parts

Score the tangerines from the bottom, not the top,  into 3 equal parts.  Not four.  Three.  Four will, apparently, make unstable peels.  Try not to cut into the flesh of the fruit.  A trick to help start the scoring is to use the sharp corner of your knife end to carefully score the bit at the beginning (see photo above).  Or you could just use a nifty citrus peel remover thingy.

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Peel back the peel slowly along the score lines.  If you go slowly you can do a neat job and not break the peels at the wrong place.

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Don't score all the way down!  Leave off a bit before you reach all the way down so that the peel will still be attached in one piece when you prise the fruit off.

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See, lovely 3 petaled Chen Pi flowers!  Damn, the house sure smelled good at this point, fresh fragrant citrus smells from the huge pile of gutted xinhui mandarins thoroughly scenting the air and making us feel wonderfully refreshed.  The fruit left over was not really that edible, being unripe and a bit sour, and we put it aside with the hopes of making some sort of tangerine-ade, aka lemonade, with it.

Now string, hang and dry your lovely citrus wreaths in a sunny well ventilated spot.  Once it is completely dry you can store the chen pi away for aging.  Then, in true old fashioned style, the aging of the chen pi takes years.  

That's right I said years and, yeah, my jaw dropped too the first time I heard that.  I've seen anywhere from 3 years to 5 years as the usual recommended aging time with the chen pi turning a dark reddish brown as time passes.  Aging improves flavor.  Chen pi aged over 30 years can sell for as much as 14800 HKD for 1 kg, or 2000 USD for a little over 2 lbs!  

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I'm going to make a string of these every year, date them, and hoard them away for my little girl!  Hopefully, if we're doing things right, she'll appreciate these aged chen pi as much as we do!

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This is my homemade chen pi after drying for a couple of months.  Isn't it just gorgeous?  Time to store them away to age!  Can't wait to try them!  

Psst...if you can't wait three years to dry out your Chen Pi you can first get some Chen Pi here.
Homemade Chen Pi Dried Tangerine Peel Recipe 陳皮做法
Prep time: Drying time: 2 wks  Cook time:

Ingredients
  • 30 Xinhui tangerines 新會柑
  • 1 yard wire or string, approx 1 m

Directions:

Wash and dry tangerines thoroughly.  Score the tangerine peels into three equal sections starting from the bottom of the tangerine, leaving 1/2" to 3/4" unscored as you near the top stem side of the tangerine.  Score lightly, trying not to cut into the flesh of the fruit.

Peel each section of the tangerine peel slowly along the score lines until the entire peel can be removed from the fruit.  Repeat for all the tangerines.  

Prepare your wire or string for stringing up the peels for drying.  If you use a wire you can just poke the wire end straight through the tender peel.  If you use string use a needle to poke a whole in the peels to fit your string through, or use a needle threaded with string. 

For each peel poke through the peel at two spots.  See the photo above for reference.  After each peel is added, knot a simple knot after it so that the peels will stay separated.  If using wire just crimp the wire a bit and the peel will stay in place.

Hang in a well ventilated, sunny spot for a couple of weeks until completely dry.  Once completely and truly dry you can store in an air tight jar or bag in a dark cool environment.  Some folks recommend a breathable cloth bag for storage but I think the extreme humidity of Hong Kong will not make this practical.  

You can use them once they are dried but optimal flavor is achieved as the chen pi ages, so it is recommended to wait of at least 3 years for good flavor.

Tip:  Mark the chen pi wreath with a date so that you can keep track of the aging time!

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15 comments:

  1. Once you start the aging process, are you simply holding the oranges in an airtight container? Thank you for the recipe.

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    1. When completely dried you can store in airtight container ~ellen

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  2. Can you oven dry the Chen pi instead of sun dry?

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  3. Hi Lizzie - good question, you probably could though I've never heard of it being done like that. If you want to try, oven dry at lowest temp with the oven door open a crack and keep a close eye on it. You don't want it to cook, only to dry. It might take quite a while though. Let me know if you do try, I'd be interested to know if it works! ~ellen

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  4. Hi
    What is the actual variety of tangerine that is grown in xinhui?

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  5. Hi Charlie - The actual variety is known in Chinese as 新會柑 and in English as Xinhui Pi or Guang Chen Pi. ~ellen

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  6. Hi Ellen, do i need to wash or soak the chen pi that i bought from chinese herbal store? Thanks

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  7. To use chen pi soak give it a quick rinse, then soak in room temp water until soft. Use knife to scrape off the white pith (bitter) and the chen pi is ready to use. ~ellen

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  8. I have also heard about another processing method which requires the peels to be steamed 9 times during the process of drying in the sun. Is this another secret of preservation?

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  9. I've never heard of that method at all. It seems that all that steaming might steam the oil right out of the peels, wouldn't it? Anyone else heard of it? ~ellen

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  10. Hi Ellen! Is the Xinhui tangerine seedless and sweet? I wish we have Xin Hui tangerine in the U.S.

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  11. Hey there - the Xinhui tangerine is not seedless. As the tangerine is usually peeled when green if making the dried chen pi, the fruit is not sweet, ie not yet ripe. It's probably sweet when ripened to an orange color but I haven't personally tried it when ripe. It's not available, I believe, except regionally, but I think that's kinda cool that foods follow the region and the season! ~ellen

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  12. Hi, thanks for the method. What can you do with the unripe flesh?

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  13. The unripe oranges are very sour. You could maybe juice them and make a 'lemonade' kind of drink. Should be refreshing. ~ellen

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