Saturday, September 27, 2014

Taiwan-style Chicken Wrap (台式雞卷)

Not unlike the previously posted pork-stew with rice (滷肉飯), this is another traditional Taiwan-style dish.  (#TaiwanDish)
  1. Get ~1 pound of Pork Loin (里肌肉) or Pork Tender Loin (小里肌肉) or Chicken Breast.(boneless, skinless). Slice and dice the meat into ~1/2"-square chunks, and marinate in a larger mixing bowl for at least 20 minutes, with 0.5-1 tsp Five-Spices, 2-3 Tbsp Anka Sauce, i.e., red-rice-yeast-paste (紅糟醬, see the left-most item in the picture to the right, for product package). Note 1- In case you can't find Anka Sauce, here is a substitute- 2-3 Tbsp Soy Paste, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp white pepper, 2 tsp rice wine.
  2. Slice and dice the following 4 (+1 optional) vegetables: (1) Half an onion (into 1/4"-1/2"-square chunks), (2) 6-8 stalks of Chinese Celery (or 1-2 stalks of regular celery, into 1/4"-square chunks), (3) 1/4 cup of cilantro stems (optional), (4) 1/2 cup of carrot (use a slicer), (5)  12-15 pieces of water chestnuts (press with flat side of a chef's knife, then coarsest chop; use water chestnut in cans).  Add all 5 vegetables into the mixing bowl above.
  3. Add 4 Tbsp of fish paste, 8-10-12 Tbsp of Sweet Potato Powder (地瓜粉, see Note below, also see the middle item in the picture above, for product package), 1 tsp of white pepper, 2 Tbsp of soy paste (醬油膏). Mix the ingredients together into thick paste form.  Note- Add enough sweet potato powder to make the paste thick (not watery), esp. if the fish paste has gone through the cycle of freezing and defrosting (in more watery form as a result! drain water first!).
  4. Get a pack of Bean Curd Sheet (or bean curd skin, see the left side picture above for product package).  If the sheets are dry and brittle, wipe them with dripping-wet paper towel and wait for 1-2 minutes (till they're soft and flexible).  Cut a single sheet of bean curd sheet (or bean curd skin) diagonally into two large triangles (see the left side picture below). Note 2- Bean Curd Sheet (or bean curd skin) is paper thin, see the left-side picture below for its transparency, when compared with Soy Sheet (百頁, meaning "Hundred Pages" in direct translation, a much thicker product; see the right-side picture above for this product that is NOT suitable here; just want to document one of my many mistakes!).
  5. Place the paste along the long egde of the triangle into a roll of ~8" long, ~1" deep, and ~1" high (see the left-side picture above).  Roll the sheet up tightly (wrap both the left and right ends towards the center after the first roll).  Use flour water to seal the end of the wrap (1 Tbsp all-purpose flour dissolved in 2 Tbsp water). 
  6. [Medium-to-High-Heat for 2-3 minutes, then Medium Heat] Heat 1/4 - 1/2" deep of veggie oil in a medium-to-large fry pan (10-12" in diameter).  Carefully place the wraps into the pan. Pan-fry the wraps in the pan in for ~10 minutes (~5 minutes each side, see the right hand side picture above for result). Take out the fried wraps, set aside for 30 minutes (to make sure  the wraps are no longer sizzling hot). Cut each wrap into 3/4- 1"-thick pieces. Garnish with Chinese Cucumber Slices (marinated with sugar and vinegar for at least an hour). Note 3- Japanese Cucumber, Persian Cucumber, or fresh Pickle works as well.
  7. Sprinkle Chili Sauce, i.e., a sweet & spicy sauce (甜辣醬, see the right-most item in the picture by Step 1, for product package) and chopped cilantro (optional) on top, and serve (reheat with microwave next day, no need to re-fry). Note 4- A substitute for the Chili Sauce- 2 tsp soy sauce, 1-2 tsp of any hot and spicy chili pepper sauce, 2 Tbsp Ketchup. Here is a picture of the finished product.









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