This dish blew my
brother-in-law away years and years ago. It even got me an offer to cook at his hotel. I didn’t
take him up on it, but still. It’s that good.
Most
dishes that feature stir-fried liver are going to be all about technique, and
this is no different. You will, of course, start out by getting yourself some
really quality chicken livers, preferably free-range and organic. The reason?
Chemicals linger in an animal’s liver, and so you want to dine on something
healthy.
Over
the years I’ve developed a great technique to flush out anything that might
linger in even the happiest chickens on earth because no matter what lengths
that farmer may have gone to, you are still going to have to deal with their blood
and bile.
So,
what you do is cut them into pieces not much more than ¾ inch or 1.5 cm all
around. This opens up the livers for the cleaning process, and it also ensures
that you will be able to quickly fry them without drying them out. Second, you
marinate the rinsed livers in mild rice wine, which leaches out any impurities
while suffusing them with flavor.
 |
| My secret |
These
are stunningly good as a simple main dish, but any leftovers are also excellent
on toast the next day, sort of like Chinese pâté. You might find yourself
making a double batch just because of this…
Chicken livers and scallions chez Huang
Huángjiā cōngbào jīgān 黃家蔥爆雞肝
Shandong
Serves 4 as an entrée, 2 as a main dish
Livers:
Around 12 ounces | 300 g fresh or defrosted chicken
livers (see headnotes)
¼ cup | 60 ml mild rice wine (Taiwan Mijiu)
 |
| Add the cornstarch |
Sauce:
2 tablespoons mild rice wine (Taiwan Mijiu)
2 tablespoons regular soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
¼ cup | 1 ounce cornstarch
The rest:
½ cup | 125 ml fresh peanut or vegetable oil, plus
more as needed
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and cut into 2-inch | 5
cm lengths, whites and greens in separate piles
1 tablespoon regular soy sauce
 |
| Toasted scallion whites |
1. Use cool tap water to rinse off the livers in a
colander and pat dry. Remove any tough membranes, clotted blood, or mushy bits.
Cut the livers into pieces approximately ¾ inch | 1.5 cm pieces all around. Put
these in a small work bowl and cover with the rice wine. Marinate for at least
half an hour and up to a day. Rinse the livers again with cool water and drain
in the colander.
2. Place the rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, and
garlic in a small work bowl. Gently toss in the livers and cornstarch so that
no lumps of cornstarch are visible.
 |
| Frying up the livers |
3. Have a slotted spoon ready to do your
stir-frying, as well as a serving dish. Set a wok over medium-high heat and add
½ cup | 60 ml oil. As soon as the oil begins to smoke, add the scallion whites
and stir-fry them until they are slightly toasted. Remove them to the serving
dish. Fry about a third of the livers and sauce at a time over medium-high heat.
Shake the wok to loosen them, and then flip them over. As soon as no more blood
appears on their surface and the outsides are a dark brown (but the insides are
still pink), remove them to the serving dish. Repeat with the rest of the
livers and sauce, adding small drizzles of oil as needed.
4. Pour out any extra oil from the wok and add the
scallion greens. Stir over medium-high heat until they are barely wilted. Toss
in the scallion whites and fried livers. Fry these very quickly, as you just
want to get them to know each other without overcooking them. Sprinkle the
tablespoon of soy sauce over the livers to give their surfaces a final dash of
flavor, fry them for only a couple of seconds more, and then serve.
