Did you know that the Chinese have the most delicious vegetarian fare? There are even vegetarian restaurants which serve a throve of ‘meat’ entitled dishes entirely made from tofu! But note that, despite the names of the dishes, the ‘meats’ don’t actually taste like meat, they just taste veggie-licious!
We recently discovered a source of Shanghai style vegetarian chicken and so were able to make this truly yummilicious veggie dish. This Shanghai Braised Vegetarian Chicken 上海紅燒素雞 is deliciously creamy and tender and soaked thru with the five spice infused savory sauce.
First things first, let’s talk about the vegetarian chicken, know as 素雞 in Chinese. I’ve not seen this Shanghai style of vegetarian chicken in the regular grocery stores. We found ours in a specialty Shanghai grocery store called 同順興 that we discovered recently in one of our wanders about the city. It has all kinds of cool food stuff!
The vegetarian chicken is made of super thin tofu sheets that are layered and then rolled up and pressed together. As you can see from the picture it is then wrapped in a cloth and bound tightly with rope, forming its distinctive look.
Chinese vegetarian chicken does not taste like chicken! As with most Chinese vegetarian ‘meats’ there is an attempt to ‘look’ like the meat it is named for but the taste is just of delicious tofu and whatever sauce it is cooked in.
If you're looking for this vegetarian chicken go to the asian grocery stores, or better yet shanghainese grocery stores if you can find one, and look in the frozen foods sections. It's made then kept frozen til use.
This Shanghai vegetarian chicken comes frozen so an overnight defrost is in order. Then the ‘chicken’ is sliced into thick slices.
This next part is an important part of the preparation and is what creates the lovely aerated texture that allows the ‘meat’ to soak and hold in all that delicious sauce.
The vegetarian chicken slices must be deep fried until a hard skin is formed on the surfaces. This skin will help to hold the 'chicken' slices together during the braise. Make sure that the surface is nice and hard by tapping it with a chopstick.
Having prepared a bowl of iced water beforehand, plunge the deep fried slices into the water as soon as they are done. The slices will expand a lot, finishing the aeration of the inside. The vegetarian chicken is now ready to soak up sauce!
This traditional Shanghai recipe uses Chinese five spice powder, a spice mix that mixes five spices together: cinnamon for its warmth, fennel for its added licorice lick, clove for its sweetness and bite of bitterness, sichuan pepper for its floral spiciness and star anise for it licorice lick. We added an additional star anise for added yumminess.
Two other ingredients are added to the braise. On the right is the dried lily bulb, known in Chinese as 黄花菜 or 金針菜, an ingredient often used in Chinese braised dishes for its unique chewy texture and floral, woodsy flavor. It’s literally the dried bulb of the unopened lily, how cool is that?
The ingredient on the left is the dried cloud ear fungus, also known as 黑雲耳 and 黑木耳, a fungus that in nature grows on the trunks and logs of trees. These fungus are added to braises to provide a unique texture that is slightly gelatinous as well as slightly crunchy. Originally bland in flavor, these fungus soak in the flavors of whatever they are cooked with.
The cloud ear fungus and the dried lily bulb are soaked in water before use to rehydrate. The cloud ear will expand to 3-4 times original size.
The prepared vegetarian chicken slices are added to the pot along with the wood ear, dried lily bulb and spices. The sauce condiments are added. Everything is now simmered together in the pot. Look at that braise, bubbling away.
As there is no actual meat to cook the point of this braise is for all the flavors to come together and for the 'chicken' slices to soak up the sauce. And, boy oh boy, will that sauce get soaked in. That is the secret to this dish!
OMG…this dish is so good! We were oohing and aching all over this dish, stuffing our faces with total delight. Creamy, melt in your mouth bites of flavor infused sauce soaked ‘meat’, this Shanghai Braised Vegetarian Chicken 上海紅燒素雞 was seriously out of the veggie world!
Shanghai Braised Vegetarian Chicken 上海紅燒素雞
Soaking time: 2 hrs Prep time: 2 mins Cook time: 20 mins
Ingredients:
- 1 roll Shanghai vegetarian chicken, defrosted
- 1 bowl iced water
- 10 dried lily bulbs, 黄花菜 or 金針菜
- 10 cloud ear fungus, 黑雲耳 or 黑木耳
- 1 tsp five spice powder
- 1 star anise
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Directions:
Soak the dried lily bulbs and dried cloud ears in room temperature water for 2 hours.
Prepare the vegetarian chicken: Unwrap the vegetarian chicken. Slice into slices 1/2 inch thick. Prepare a pot with an inch of oil. When hot add in 'chicken' slices and fry until both sides are hardened. Check hardness by tapping with a chopstick.
When done frying slip 'chicken' slices into the bowl of iced water. The slices will expand.
Prepare the braise: To a large pot add the 'chicken' slices, reconstituted dried cloud ears and dried lily bulbs, five spice powder, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, shaoxing wine and salt. When the pot is boiling turn down to a simmer and let cook uncovered for 15 mins. The 'chicken' should be tender and soaked with the sauce without falling apart. Drizzle sesame oil over and serve hot, tender, and super yummilicious!
Veggie-licious at The Hong Kong Cookery:
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