**Shenzhen Chicken Pot: A Cantonese-Sichuan Fusion Delight**
The Shenzhen chicken pot is a dish that embodies the perfect blend of Cantonese and Sichuan culinary traditions. This popular Chinese dish has gained a cult following among food enthusiasts, and for good reason. The combination of flavors and textures in this dish is nothing short of magic.
To begin with, we need to prepare the marinade for our chicken pieces. A half teaspoon of salt, a half teaspoon of white pepper powder, and one tablespoon each of cornstarch, soy sauce, and liaojiu (a.k.a. Shaoxing wine) are all you need to give your chicken a delicious flavor boost. Mix these ingredients together with about a tablespoon of oil, and let the marinade do its magic for about half an hour or an hour if you're using wings.
While the chicken is marinating, we can move on to preparing the sauce. This is where things get really interesting, as this sauce is essentially a grab bag of Cantonese-Sichuan flavors. To make it, simply toss together a tablespoon and a half of soy sauce, a tablespoon of liaojiu (Shaoxing wine), a half tablespoon of natural peanut butter, another half tablespoon of Sichuan chili bean paste, one cube of fermented tofu (furu), a half teaspoon of white pepper powder, a quarter teaspoon each of five spice powder, chicken bouillon powder, and Sichuan peppercorn powder. Don't forget to add an eighth teaspoon of MSG and an eighth teaspoon of salt, and finally, stir in a tablespoon of Hoisin sauce and a half tablespoon of Chu Hou paste (or swap it out for additional Hoisin if needed). Mix everything together until smooth, and then thin it down with six tablespoons of water.
Now that we have our marinade and sauce ready, let's move on to the cooking process. In a large clay pot or cast-iron pan, heat up about four tablespoons of peanut oil over medium-low flame. Add in two shallots, quartered, and a quarter of an onion cut into slices, and fry them until the onion is softened and sweet, about ten minutes. Then, toss in four cloves of smashed garlic and an inch of smashed ginger, and fry those for another two minutes. Next, add in six hot dried chilis (which are essentially heaven-facings) and mix everything together.
Now it's time to bring everything together. Add the chicken pieces to the pot, along with the sauce, and give everything a good stir. Sprinkle over an additional quarter of an onion and about three sprigs worth of cilantro, and then it's ready to be devoured.
To serve, place the pot over some sort of portable burner, and let everyone admire how deliciously good-looking your chicken pot is. Then, cover the pot and let everything fry and roast together over a medium flame for about eight minutes or ten for big wings, stirring every two minutes or so while everyone gets hungry.
**The Final Touches**
Once you're basically done with the bird, don't forget about the best part – the hotpot transformation. Simply hit that with enough hot, boiled water to make something hotpot-y, and boil up whatever you want to boil up. Two of my favorites are thinly sliced beef and deep-fried tofu skin, but feel free to get creative with your toppings.
One thing I would highly recommend trying is a bit of noodles. These are just some dried Hong Kong-style egg noodles that do end up aggressively delicious together with this sauce. It's worth giving them a quick shot at least.
**The Evolution of Shenzhen Chicken Pot**
It's worth noting that the Shenzhen chicken pot is not a fixed entity, but rather a dish that has evolved over time and can vary greatly depending on where you are in the city. Sometimes it can be more Cantonese-heavy and doesn't use any chilis, while other times it can be a lot more Sichuan-influenced and spicy. So don't be afraid to play around with the chili quantities and varieties to find your own heat level.
**Recipe for Success**
If you're looking to try this dish out for yourself, here's what you'll need:
* 2 cups of chicken pieces (wings, legs, or a combination)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
* 1 tablespoon soy sauce
* 1 tablespoon liaojiu (Shaoxing wine)
* 1 tablespoon peanut butter
* 1 tablespoon chili bean paste
* 1 cube of fermented tofu (furu)
* 1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder
* 1/4 teaspoon five spice powder
* 1/4 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
* 1/8 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn powder
* 1/8 teaspoon MSG
* 1 tablespoon Hoisin sauce
* 1/2 tablespoon Chu Hou paste (or additional Hoisin)
* 6 tablespoons water
* Peanut oil for frying
* Shallots, quartered
* Onion, sliced
* Garlic, smashed
* Ginger, smashed
* Hot dried chilis
* Cilantro
**The Verdict**
The Shenzhen chicken pot is a dish that will leave you wanting more. With its perfect balance of flavors and textures, it's no wonder why this dish has gained such a following among food enthusiasts. So go ahead, give it a try, and experience the magic for yourself!
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enSo… for the unaware, maybe let’s justget the whole Shenzhen story out of the wayat first.See, in the late 70s, in the initial stagesof Deng Xiaoping’s famed post-Mao reforms,as a test run of sorts Beijing circled fourcities on the map – Shenzhen, Xiamen, Shantou,and Zhuhai – to give this whole capitalismthing a quick whirl, y’know, just see howwet this water really is.And while all of those four cities succeededto one degree or the other, it was Shenzhen– owing to its advantageous location a quickslip away from Hong Kong, that really exploded.What happened, of course, is pretty well known.Hong Kong manufacturers and to a lesser extentTaiwanese, rife with their institutional knowhowand international connections from the AsianTiger period flooded the city… drawn bya flexible bureaucratic environment, and ofcourse a relatively educated labor force thatwas – importantly – absolutely dirt cheap.And drawn by those opportunities migrantsfrom all across the country from Sichuan toHunan to Chaozhou to Hubei to the Northeastmoved down to Shenzhen in droves – eitherpermanently or for at least a quick spell.For a while there in the 90s and 00s, if yousaw a product that was “made in China”,odds would’ve been pretty decent that itwas made in Shenzhen.On the cultural side, however, as tends tohappen worldwide with bordertowns, Shenzhenended up being a place where – for betteror worse – Hong Kongers could skip overto and cash in some of that unrealized economicprivilege.Shopping, restaurants, massages, you nameit.Shenzhen became a sort of weekend destinationwhere Hong Kongers – men, in particular– could eat, drink, and play happy…all under the hue of red lights and greenbottles.And crucially, for our story today, at leasta tangible number of Hong Kong dudes wouldeven leave second wives, and in some casesentire second families, over on this sideof the border.That was the size of the economic gulf betweenthose checkpoints.Of course, that was then and the world doesmarch forward.Shenzhen over time ended up getting increasinglydeveloped, and increasingly expensive, soboth manufacturing and… massages…ended up moving north to neighboring Dongguan,leaving Shenzhen as a bit more normal of abig city with a bit more normal of a mix ofTech Trade and Finance.But unique still to Shenzhen in China is thatyou did end up having this mix living therehailing from all across the country.So then, getting back to food – pop quiz– what happens when you when you mix peoplefrom Sichuan Hunan Chaozhou Hubei and theNortheast all in one city all against a Cantonesebackdrop?What does THAT do to a cuisine?And… the unfortunate answer is… not reallyall that much.You see, doesn’t matter where you are inthe world, when people migrate, they tendto… stew instead of pot.So at best in Shenzhen you can get some authentictasty fare from all across the country…and of course at worst, some bland, gimmickycorporate chains.Cuisines are like languages, or accents – theytake generations to crystallize, and you’renot probably not gunna find too many interestingchanges over the space of forty years.That said, you can sometimes, I think, stillsee the potential beginnings of a cuisinesprouting up here or there, however faintly,and that’s where our dish today, chickenpot, comes in.You see, Chicken pot or gai bo, is this Cantoneseclassic – you can really find it all acrossthe Pearl River Delta.There’s a number of variations on the theme,but generally it’s a whole chicken cleavedacross the bone, cooked together in a claypotalong with aromatics and sauce.It’s a Dai Pai Dong mainstay, a great latenight snack to have alongside a bottle ofstrong rice wine, but also a reasonably commonsight for dinners in home kitchens as well.So.Against that backdrop, enter the Shenzhenversion.You see, the story goes that there was a HongKong man that often went to Shenzhen for business,and as was common at the time found a secondwife to keep him company.And also common enough given the demographicbreakdown, this apocryphal second wife apparentlyhailed from Sichuan.The Hong Kong man would often go out to eatchicken pot, his favorite dish, and his mistressresolved to cook it for him at home.But in the process, she added chilis, chilibean paste, and a few Sichuan spices to thepot and with that this whole Shenzhen chickenpot was born.And while, again, probably apocryphal, whatis established is that the first Shenzhenchicken pot restaurants were born out of theurban village of Xiangxi Cun right near theLuohu border checkpoint with Hong Kong, andthey are this interesting little twist.That said, my personal favorite Shenzhen chickenpot restaurant is a hot jump away in the Futiandistrict, run by a famously mustachioed manchurning out pseudo-industrial quantitiesof delicious chicken pot.The best part, I think, is that halfway throughthe meal you end up adding in some water andturning it all into a hotpot, so that’sgunna be the chicken pot that we’ll be mimickingtoday.So… right.To finally get started with your Shenzhenchicken pot you’re predictably gunna need…some chicken.This was just one bird, about one kilo, cleavedinto one inch pieces across the bone.Now, if you’re not feeling this sort ofChinese boney poultry dish – or you justcan’t source something like this – youcan alternatively use a similar amount ofchicken wings… the net result’ll be moreor less the same.So then, either way, just marinate your chickenpieces with a half teaspoon salt, a half teaspoonwhite pepper powder, and one tablespoon eachcornstach, soy sauce, and liaojiu a.k.a.Shaoxing wine.Give that a real good mix, coat it all withabout a tablespoon of oil… and let thatmarinate for about a half an hour, or maybean hour if you’re using wings.Then.After that time, we can give our chicken aquick pre-fry.Now, the aforementioned moustache restaurantabsolutely passes their chicken through oilto pre-cook, so definitely do feel free justdeep fry… but today we are gunna be doinga bit more of a homestyle approach and pan-fryingthings instead.So, high flame in a wide non-stick pan goin with your chicken pieces and start to fry.To help everything cook evenly, what you wantto do is dip each side of your pan into theflame, about 20 seconds each side for twominutes in all… then flip those pieces anddo the same move on the other side, same twominutes… and set those aside.Next.The sauce.Now, befitting some Cantonese – Sichuanfusion this sauce is definitely kind of agrab bag, so to a bowl just toss in a tablespoonand a half of soy sauce, a tablespoon of liaojiua.k.a.Shaoxing wine, a half tablespoon of naturalpeanut butter, another half tablespoon ofSichuan chili bean paste, one cube furu – fermentedtofu, a half teaspoon white pepper powder,a quarter teaspoon each five spice powder,chicken bouillon powder, and Sichuan peppercornpowder, an eighth teaspoon MSG, an eighthteaspoon salt, one tablespoon of Hoisin sauce,a half tablespoon of Chu Hou paste… andfeel free to swap that Chu Hou paste for additionalHoisin if the sourcing’s a bit annoying.Patiently mix that all together, thin it downwith six tablespoons of water…and then this is gunna be the base for ourchicken pot.So, to a pot – claypot or cast iron’sideal…add in about four tablespoons of oil – preferablypeanut – and go in with two shallots, quartered,and a quarter of an onion cut into slices.Fry those over a medium low flame til theonion’s softened and sweet, about ten minutes,then toss in four cloves of smashed garlic,an inch of smashed ginger, and fry those foranother two minutes.Then toss in six hot dried chilis – theseguy were heaven facing… and after a quickmix add in your sauce.Just fry that all together for about fiveminutes, or until the oil separated, thentoss in your chicken and give it all a goodmix.Sprinkle over another quarter of an onion,about three sprigs worth of cilantro… andat this point, we’ll move this all overto the table – because this is gunna bea hotpot, after all.So.Just place your pot over some sort of portableburner, give all your friends a chance toadmire how good looking your chicken pot is,then give it all a good mix and cover.Let that fry and sort of roast in there overa medium flame for about eight minutes, orten for big wings, stirring every two minutesor so while everyone gets all hungry.Then just… uncover and… start to devouryour delicious chicken.But.Once you’re basically done with the bird,definitely don’t forget about the very bestpart – the hotpot transformation.Just hit that with enough hot, boiled waterto make something hotpot-y, and boil up whateveryou want to boil up.Two of my favorites are thinly sliced beefand deep fried tofu skin but… really, thisis a toss in whatever you want sort of affair.That said, one thing I would recommend tryingis a bit of noodles.These are just some dried Hong Kong styleegg noodles…I just think that they do end up aggressivelydelicious together with this sauce, and maybeworth a quick shot at least.So Shenzhen chicken pot, being a Cantoneseand Sichuan mix…there are so many different versions throughoutthe city actually.Sometimes it can be more Cantonese heavy anddoes not use any chilis… sometimes it canbe a lot more Sichuan influenced and beingvery spicy.So you can totally just play around with thechili quantities and varieties and find yourown heat level.So right!Check out the recipe in the description box,a big thank you for everyone that’s supportingus on Patreon… and of course, subscribefor more Chinese cooking videos.\n"
