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The Wise Choice: Kung Pao Chicken and Indonesian Rice

11/19/2017

Recreated from Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

--I’ll have the Kung Pao chicken.
--Wise choice.

There’s a lot of incidental food in fiction – things that characters happen to be eating as part of the everyday – and then there’s Significant Food. I'd say the two most meaningful meals in Sylvain Neuvel’s Sleeping Giants are cinnamon buns (File No. 189) and Kung Pao chicken (File No. 230). The cinnamon buns are camaraderie on a plate, while the Kung Pao chicken is about taking heed. To declare my full cooperation, I’ve chosen to recreate the Kung Pao chicken. I’d serve it with Indonesian rice if I were you, just to be on the safe side.

--How big was the hand?
--6.9 meters, about twenty-three feet; though it seemed much larger for an eleven-year-old.

Lontong (compressed jasmine rice) is a sticky Indonesian rice dish that holds it shape when formed into, say, body parts. I served my Kung Pao chicken on a hand (more modestly proportioned than the one we first encounter in the Prologue) because it's the piece that sets all that follows in motion. It’s also a heavy-handed nod to the notion that some things are just out of our hands; like what happens when we don’t go to fetch the cinnamon buns.

Ingredients

400g jasmine rice
2 large chicken breasts
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp ground
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3cm ginger, finely diced
4 spring onions, chopped
2 bell peppers (different colours), chopped
50g unsalted peanuts

For the marinade

3 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp soy sauce

To coat the marinated chicken

4 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp Scezhuan peppercorns, ground

For the sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tbsp runny honey
1 tablespoon cornstarch

To cook

2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp dried chilli flakes (or ½ for a milder dish)
½ tsp Schezuan peppercorns, ground

A note for your tongue: Exceeding the recommended amount of Schezuan peppercorns may cause your mouth to go numb in a way that is interesting and not entirely pleasant.

A note on the hand: Creating a mould took me about 20 minutes. Compressing the rice into the mould took an extra 3-5 minutes per serving. It’s time consuming but worthwhile. To reduce the pressure, you could cook and prepare hands of rice an hour or so before cooking the chicken. It’s still delicious at room temperature.

To prepare in advance: make a mould for the rice (optional)

Cooking instructions:

Cube the chicken breasts and marinade in the Shaoxing wine and soy sauce for at least 15 minutes or until ready to fry at Step 5.
In another bowl, combine all the sauce ingredients and set aside.
Weigh your rice in a measuring cup, noting where it reaches. Measure out double the volume of boiling water, transfer to a saucepan and return to the boil. Add the rice and return to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Coat the marinated chicken in the cornstarch and ground Szechuan peppercorns (1 tsp for this part).
Heat the oil, chilli flakes and ½ tsp ground Szechuan peppercorns on a medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes (you want the oil to get hot but not burnt). Add the chicken and fry for 5 minutes, turning the chicken when necessary so none of the sides are left raw.
Add the garlic, ginger, spring onions, peppers and peanuts to the wok and stir fry for 5 minutes.
Stir in the sauce you made at Step 2 and leave to cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Mash the cooked jasmine rice with the back of a fork then transfer and compress into your pre-prepared mould.
Reheat the Kung Pao in the wok if necessary before serving over the rice.

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Not Man-Meat: Falafel Patties and 'Moss'

11/13/2017

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Inspired by Mac Rogers' Steal the Stars

Patty: So, lunch? We can prep to meet with the big guy?
...
Dakota: Go ahead without me. I gotta go up--I've left mine in the car.
...
Patty: What, that falafel crap?
Dakota: That's the one.
Patty: You know I don't respect your vegetarianism, right?
Dakota: Yeah, it keeps me up at night.

There's not much mention of food in Tor Labs' debut science fiction podcast, Steal the Stars, but what there is helps to give colour to the relationship between two of its leading characters, Dakota and Patty. Banter between the two veers several times into mock denigration of the other's eating habits, where vegetarianism (e.g. "that falafel crap") is pitted against images of cannibalistic devouring (e.g. "eat dick, made of meat"). In the strict confines of Quill Marine, teasing seems like a sensible way of staying within the limits of permitted intimacy. And in the confines of The Speculative Kitchen, I'm not about to rustle up a penis. So, falafel it is. With moss on top.

Falafel (makes 12-15 patties)

2 tins chickpeas, drained
1 red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
½ small bunch parsley
1 tbsp olive oil
½ lemon, juiced
4 tsp Lebanese spice blend*
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Pinch cayenne pepper

*or combine what you have of the following to make your own: black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon (not too much), clove, coriander, cumin, nutmeg

Tahini peas

2 tbsp tahini
½ lemon, juiced
150g peas
1 tsp runny honey
1 garlic clove
20 mint leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) fan.
Blend the chickpeas, onion, garlic and parsley in a food processor until coarsely ground.
Transfer to a mixing bowl and combine with the rest of the falafel ingredients by hand.
Shape into patties and freeze for 30 minutes.
Transfer to a lined baking tray and bake for 30 minutes, flipping them over gently after 20.
Meanwhile, blend together all the tahini peas ingredients in a food processor until reasonably smooth.

Serve together in a wrap with Greek yoghurt and a salad of your choice. Mine had tomatoes, cucumber, mint, lemon, salt and pepper.

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