Guilin rice noodles

Today’s dish combines last week’s braised beef shanks with pickles in what has to be one of the most sublime pairings I’ve ever enjoyed. What’s more, the main components of this noodle soup – namely the braised beef and the pickled long beans – can be either store-bought or made at home long in advance, which means that this is a really easy recipe to pull together.

I would, of course, strongly urge you to make both of these yourself. Like I already showed you, these Muslim-style shanks are simply divine and can be cooked with very little effort. The pickled green beans are super easy, too, if you already have a crock filled with the aromatic brine from traditional Sichuan-style pickles that we explored a couple of years ago. This traditional way to ferment pickles has become one of the most popular recipes I’ve ever posted on this blog, and I really urge you to get a crock going in your kitchen ASAP.

After three weeks in a delicious brine

It’s hard to describe just how tasty these beans are, but here goes: While commercial ones may be dully green, soft, and sour, these homemade ones posses a much brighter olive color, are gently crispy, and have a lovely range of flavors hiding inside their skins - juices that squish out onto your tongue with each bite and turn this simple street snack into what might easily become an addiction. Of course, if you don't have a nice bunch of these at the ready, just about any other crunchy green Chinese pickle will do, including the cabbage in that main Sichuan recipe or even Shanghai mustard pickles.

Many classic Guangxi dishes as prepared in the bigger cities and lowlands combine local ingredients with Cantonese techniques, but the cuisine does an about-face as one moves into higher altitudes, for it ends up looking and tasting much more like the cooking of its northwestern neighbor, Guizhou. 

Fresh long beans ready for the crock

This is most likely the one dish that the beautiful city of Guilin is most famous for among the Chinese, and pork is the usual meat component here, but those braised shanks work like a dream, too.

So, if you have the ingredients mentioned here already made, you can have a steaming bowl of noodles in a flash.

Guilin rice noodles
Guìlín mĭfěn 桂林米粉 

Guangxi

Serves 2

Thin slices of braised beef shin

1 pound | 500 g fresh rice noodles

Boiling water as needed

½ cup (or so) pickled long beans, or other pickled vegetables, chopped and rinsed with boiling water

10 (or so) thin slices braised beef shank, plus some of the braising sauce

Large handful of coarsely chopped cilantro

2 scallions, finely chopped

Finely ground chile peppers, to taste

1 handful fried soybeans or peanuts

Fresh rice noodles & green onions

1. Place the rice noodles in a wide colander and separate them as much as possible. Put the colander in the sink and run boiling water over them. Shake the colander to fluff up the noodles, and then divide them between two large soup bowls.

2. Arrange the beef slices and pickles on top of the noodles and drizzle in about ¼ cup of the braising liquid. Pour enough boiling water into each bowl so that about an inch of the noodles is peeking out. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Divide the cilantro and green onions among the bowls, and sprinkle on some ground chili pepper, if you like. Toss and eat.

Really and truly amazing: traditional Sichuan pickles

I've talked a whole lot about pickles and fermented things on this blog, and as I have delved deeper into the traditional ways of making some of the best that China has to offer, I've discovered some truly delicious things along the way. One is naturally fermented pickles.

Even better, this recipe allows me to finally have the slightly tart and intensely flavored long beans that are featured in the next post. Yes, you can get them sometimes in Chinese markets, but they've invariably been around for a long time, they've been cooked to some extent so that they survive in a vacuum pack, and they have none of the appetizing green color or terrific crunch that I so love.

This is a recipe I have longed for ever since I first ate naturally fermented pickles in Taiwan. There's no vinegar here. Instead, an assortment of veggies is allowed to sit in a crock with nothing but a seasoned brine, and then nature does the rest. It's taken a while for me to work out the bugs and ensure perfection every time, but it's all been worth it.

Bundled fresh long beans

What are the best things about making your own pickled vegetables this way? Oh, let me count the ways.

First of all, if you get a really good crock with a moat around the top, the pickles will let out farts as they cure. I'm not kidding. The crock that is sitting on my kitchen counter cuts the cheese when I come downstairs to start the day, and then I inevitably begin to laugh, and that is a good way to greet the morning. It's a nice, muffled, wet sort of explosion, the kind that sounds like someone is sitting in a bath.

Second, there is no fermenting smell if you use the kind of crocks that the Chinese have for hundreds of years. These have a cup-shaped lid and a moat around the top that ingeniously lets the carbon dioxide out while acting as a barrier to outside air and insects and contamination. And that is why you have those farts.

Farting aside, these pickles are outstandingly good: crisp, crunchy, flavorful, and just bursting with the authentic taste of perfect fermentation.

My late mother-in-law used to make these back in Taiwan (she excelled at the salted and fermented stuff, while my gonggong made the daily meals), and so the sight of a crock full of food slaving away in the dark is one thing that makes my husband very happy, reminding him of his childhood days.

After 3 weeks in the pot

Vegetables that are slowly pickled this way by fermentation have incredible health benefits. They aid in digestion, and are especially recommended for people who are middle aged and older, as the stomach's hydrocloric acid diminishes over time, and that is why so many people eventually suffer from heartburn and indigestion (in addition to overeating and general dissipation at the dining table, of course...). 

Enjoy these pickles uncooked every day and see whether symptoms don't improve; they are healthier and definitely much tastier than antacid tablets. And there's something just terribly comforting about seeing a glazed pot on the counter filled with good things to eat, with its promise of excellent meals in the days ahead.

Traditional fermented Sichuan-style pickles 
Chuántóng Sìchuān pàocài 

傳統四川泡菜

Sichuan
Makes around 4 to 6 cups pickled vegetables, plus 1 bunch pickled long beans, but it all depends upon how much you put in the crock

Brine:

12 cups water

4 ounces sea salt

2 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns

12 star anise

12 bay leaves

4 tablespoons white liquor (such as gaoliang, maotai, or 60 proof rice liquor, etc.)

Rock sugar to taste (start with about 4 tablespoons)

12 slices fresh ginger

12 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half

4 fresh red jalapeno chilies or other fresh chilies to taste, cleaned and halved

Vegetables:

I whole head firm, sweet, round cabbage, plus any or all of the following:

1 Chinese or Korean radish, peeled and thinly sliced

2 or 3 carrots, peeled and cut thinly on the diagoal

1 bunch long beans, as tender and thin as possible, trimmed and kept whole

1 or 2 kohlrabi, peeled and thinly sliced

1. Boil the water and salt together to dissolve the salt. Let the salt water come to room temperature.

2. While the salt water is cooling, carefully scrub out a crock that holds at least 12 cups (see Tips) and its lid and rinse it thoroughly under running water. Rinse the crock and lid out with boiling water, turn them over on a clean towel, and let them dry. Then, pour the salt water into the crock, cover it and let the salt water sit in the crock by itself for a week; what you end up with is something the Chinese call “old salt water,” or lao yanshui 老鹽水, and it sets the stage for successful fermented pickles.

3. After a week, tie the Sichuan peppercorns in a very clean small cloth bag and add this the salt water. Then, add the star anise, bay leaves, white liquor, and sugar to the salt water along with the ginger, garlic, and chilies.

The real deal

4. Clean the vegetables you wish to use and pat them dry. Let them air dry for a couple hours, if possible, to keep any fresh water from entering the pickling crock. Cut off and reserve 2 large leaves from the outside of the cabbage. Cut the cabbage in half, core, and tear it into pieces about 2 inches square, more or less. Prepare the other vegetables as suggested in the ingredient list. If you are using long beans, use kitchen twine to tie them loosely together around the center into a bunch. Place all of the vegetables in an even layer in the crock.

5. Set the two large leaves of cabbage on top of the vegetables (these will help keep the weights from dropping down to the bottom). Then, carefully lower a very clean weight on top of the vegetables (see Tips). Cover the crock (see Tips), place it in a cool place, and let the vegetables settle for a couple of hours; check the crock, and if the salt water does not cover the vegetables by at least 1 inch, make up some more salt water using the same ratio as before, but remember that the pickles will sink considerably within a day or two. 

6. Check the crock the next day to ensure that no mold has formed; if there has, pour a couple more tablespoons of white liquor into the pickles, gently swish the crock around, and then cover it again. Do note that it is normal for there to be a thin white layer on top of the brine; this will more or less dissolve as the pickles continue to ferment. The pickles should be ready in anywhere from 2 weeks to a month (mine take exactly 3 weeks), depending upon the temperature, vegetables, etc. What to look for: the pickles should taste sour, rather than simply salty, and they should still be crisp and colorful.

7. Use very clean chopsticks or wear plastic disposable gloves to remove the pickles from the brine (see Tips), place them in a clean jar along with a few tablespoons of the brine, and refrigerate. You should then reuse the brine in the crock to pickle more vegetables, as the brine will improve in flavor over time. Add more salt water as needed, and if the flavor needs a little boost, add more spices, aromatics, sugar, white liquor, and so forth.

8. Serve as is, or you can drizzle something like toasted sesame oil or Citrus Chili Oil or whatever else suits your fancy. The flavors in the pickle are sharp, which is why a flavored oil goes so well here. These pickles are also incredibly good in a Sichuan stir-fry with little more than strips of beef as a contrast.

Tips

Set two leaves on top

The best sort of crock to use for these traditional pickles is made of thick ceramic and has a moat around the top (see photo at bottom). This is an ingenious device that allows carbon dioxide to escape as scentless farts while not letting any outside air into the jar, thus cutting down on contamination and foreign yeasts. Chinese pickle crocks are hard to find at the time of this writing, but oddly enough, Eastern Europe has crocks with very similar designs, and these are available in such online stores as Amazon.com.

I have a 10-liter crock, but use whatever fits your budget and appetite.

Store the crock in a  cool area, like a basement or far away from the kitchen stove, as the pickles need to ferment slowly in order to develop their flavor.

If you are using a crock with a moat, be sure to check the water level daily around the lid, adding more water as needed. 

A plain large glass crock can be used instead, as long as the lid does not have a plastic rim that seals the crock shut, as you want to allow the gases to escape and yet keep the bugs out. With crocks such as these, place a thin layer of cheesecloth over the top before covering with the lid. As with the ceramic crocks, clean and sterilize both the crock and the lid (as well as the cheesecloth) before using.

I use new disposable latex or plastic gloves when removing the weight and the vegetables, as this keeps everything super clean while giving me maximum flexibility while dealing with slippery heavy things.

A weight should be placed on top of the pickles to keep them submerged. Doughnut-shaped discs that are split in the middle (for easy insertion and removal) can be found online, but you can also go the more traditional route and place a very clean plate on top of the pickles and then balance a (very, very clean) rock wrapped securely in clean cheesecloth (to help with stabilization) on top of the plate; if you do that, get a rock that has a flat side so that it doesn't roll around and either break the crock or disappear into the pickles.

When you remove the finished pickles, shove the weight to one side or place it on a very clean towel. Then, when all the veggies have been removed, return the weight to the pot where it can remain submerged and ready for the next batch.

If you add more salt water to the crock, be sure that the water has been boiled first, as fresh water may cause mold.

Polish pickle crock

Use only firm vegetables that are not at all juicy in this pickle. That means things like cucumbers and tomatoes should never be added, as they will spoil.

Sichuan pickles like this recipe traditionally have fresh ginger, garlic, and chilies, as well as Sichuan peppercorns, but add whatever flavors you like.

Keep a clean pair of chopsticks tucked away for testing the pickles, and wrap them up so that they are used for nothing else; this will prevent oil and other contamination from entering the brine.

Long beans (jiangdou) that are pickled this way are used for a Sichuan dish called Pickled Long Beans with Ground Pork (see next blog entry for recipe); while you can sometimes purchase the pickled beans (pao jiangdou 泡豇豆) in some Chinese groceries, they are a pale shadow of homemade ones. When your homemade pickled beans are just the right level of tartness vs. crispness, place them in a clean resealable plastic bag, refrigerate, and use within a couple of days.

Five cup duck: a Guangxi delight

When I came across mention of this recipe, I became obsessed. Five Cup Duck. It had to be delicious.

And you know what? I was right.

The reason for my rapt attention is a) I love duck, b) I love Jiangxi's Three Cup Chicken, and c) I really wanted to know what the five cups were. Jiangxi's most famous dish has a cup each of sugar, soy sauce, and oil, and it is certainly wonderful. And here Guangxi -- which shares no borders with Jiangxi but nonetheless is not that far away -- was one-upping that province with a total of five mysterious ingredients.

When I finally found a recipe, it seemed good but not quite yet divine. 

It was on the right track, though. Instead of soy sauce, it called for salt water, and the other two ingredients were vinegar and rice wine, making this another entry in the Chinese pantheon of sweet and sour dishes. 

Fry the honey-coated bird

However, the duck was merely chopped up and quickly fried in this mixture. That is not how I like my duck. The best red meats are always slow-cooked in my book. Think of how heavenly and tender pork and lamb and beef and, yes, duck get when they are gently poached or braised or roasted. This gives the muscles time to relax, the moisture to  meld with the meat, and the flavors to penetrate every last morsel.

So I've taken Guangxi's traditional banquet dish and updated it, giving it more flavor, more depth, and a whole lot more succulence. And do you want to know what the best part is? The duck gets even better by the second day, when it's had a chance to sit in those jelly-like juices and turn into a quivering mass of perfection. 

This recipe is so good it's unreal.

But what you really have to understand is that this is a very easy dish to make. The only thing you have to do is prep a cleaned duck and then fry it to tighten and flavor and degrease the skin. Then you just plop it in the braising liquid and let it simmer very very very slowly for a couple of hours.

Cantonese white liquor

This frying step is genius. First, you smear honey all over the toweled-off bird and then fry every inch of the skin. You'll notice the skin tighten up like a drum as it shrinks in the hot fat. And, as the honey on the skin turns a deep mahogany, the fat underneath the skin will eke out into the wok, releasing all sorts of incredible aromas. If you don't do this frying step, the skin will be flabby, and all of the duck fat will drown your braising liquid. Like I said, it's a brilliant technique for braising poultry. 

Now back to the braising liquid. The traditional recipe calls for a cup each of sugar, salt water, rice wine (you can tell this is city food by all the sugar and wine!), oil, and rice vinegar. What I've done is reduced the sugar by a quarter, used a Cantonese white liquor that is rice based but packs a terrific wallop, substituted a mixture of balsamic and cider vinegar for the Chinese rice vinegar that I am still very wary of, and added a fistful of sliced ginger to both season the meat and erase some of the duck's innate gaminess. 

For the vinegar, I went for a really nice balance of sweet and tart by using half balsamic and half cider vinegar. (Bragg's is one cider vinegar that I heartily recommend.) This provided me with what is almost an almost identical ringer for a good dark Chinese vinegar, and it's one I'll be using in a lot more recipes, too.

Ginger in the braise

If you like a sweeter sauce, you'll be able to add more sugar later on when the duck's done. And if you prefer a tarter one, dribble in some vinegar just before you serve it.

One thing that makes this braised duck different from just about any other Chinese duck is the lack of herbs and aromatics. The original recipe didn't even have ginger in it, which is highly unusual. Most braised duck recipes from Shandong down through the Yangtze River valley out to Fujian and over in Sichuan all call for a grab bag of medicinal herbs that not only flavor, but also add to the restorative properties of a duck dish. You, of course, can add whatever you like, or you can even eliminate the ginger, if you want to be completely traditional.

This is perfect as is, served whole at the table so that guests can pluck off pieces. No cutting is needed, as it will fall apart with little encouragement.

What's more, it is incredible as a topping for the soft rice noodles that Guangxi revels in. So, if you do have friends over for dinner, try to squirrel away a few pieces of the duck for the next day. Or, if you are as in love with duck as I am, make two ducks and revel in your brilliant foresight over the next couple of days. A recipe for these noodles is down below.


Five cup duck Guangxi style 
Guangxi wubei ya  廣西五杯鴨
Guangxi
Serves 6 to 8 as part of a multicourse meal, 3 to 4 as a main dish

1 whole duck, as natural as possible
3 to 4 tablespoons honey
Frying oil as needed
1 cup Cantonese rice white liquor (Shiwan mijiu) or other rice wine
½ cup balsamic vinegar plus ½ cup cider vinegar, or 1 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1 cup fresh peanut or vegetable oil
1 cup filtered water, plus more as needed
2½ teaspoons sea salt
¾ cup sugar
2 inches fresh ginger, thinly sliced

Cut up whole duck

1. Clean the duck and pat dry. If the head, neck, and feet are attached, cut them off and reserve, if you like, as well as any giblets, such as the liver, gizzard, and heart. Remove any large pieces of fat around the top and bottom openings; save the fat for something else (see Tips). Cut off the tips of the wings (the last joints) and reserve. What you should end up should look like the photo on the right: 

2. Use a sharp paring knife to poke tiny holes in the skin over the heavy fat deposits, which usually are around the neck and by the thighs; this will help the fat escape as it melts. Rub the honey all over the outside of the duck body so that it is fully coated. 

3. Heat a cup or so of frying oil in a wok over medium high heat until a chopstick inserted in the oil immediately bubbles all over. Carefully add the duck and fry it on all sides until it is golden brown. Don't try to rush this process, so adjust the heat so that the duck slowly fries and doesn't burn. Be careful of the liquid that will collect in the duck as it cooks; these juices will spatter when they hit the hot oil, so have a spatter screen or lid ready to protect you whenever you turn the duck over.

4. Have either a large sandpot or crockpot ready; it should be just large enough to snugly hold the duck, about 5 cups sauce, and the trimmings, if you want. When the duck is a golden brown all over, drain off all the oil from the bird and place it in the pot breast side up. Add the rest of the ingredients to the duck, as well as any trimmings (such as the fried head, neck, and feet, plus the raw gizzard and heart), and also about a cup more water (if needed) so that the duck is almost submerged. Cover the pot, bring the liquid to a boil, and then lower it to the lowest possible heat. Braise the duck very slowly for a couple of hours until it is absolutely tender. (The time will depend upon the duck, your heat source, how hot the heat is you're using, and the type of pot you use.) You won't need to flip the duck over in the sauce. If you are planning to add the liver, cook it for about 15 minutes in the pot, or until it is just cooked through.

5. Cool the duck in the braising liquid until it is cool, then cover the pot and chill it overnight in the liquid; if you wish, you can remove everything but the bird itself before chilling it, and either eat or discard these pieces. (You may also serve the duck immediately when it is still hot; just carefully lift it out of the liquid onto a platter while using two spatulas to transfer the very delicate duck.) Just before serving, remove the duck from the cold braising liquid, place it on a heatproof rimmed platter, and steam for about 15 minutes until heated through. The braising liquid can be strained and reduced over high heat until it is syrupy, and then used as a sauce; adjust the seasoning at that point.

6. Serve the duck whole on a platter with a pitcher or bowl of the reduced sauce on the side, and allow your guests to pick the duck apart.

Heavenly leftovers

Guangxi style duck soup with thick rice noodles 
Suancai yarou fenli tang  酸菜鴨肉粉利湯 
Guangxi
Serves 1 person as a main dish

This dish is more of a throw-together than an actual recipe. What you mainly need are the following:

A handful of fresh or frozen thick rice noodles (see Tips)
A handful of pickled vegetables of some sort (see Tips)
Some leftover duck and sauce

1. Boil the noodles for a couple minutes in a pot of boiling water to cover until they float but are still chewy; drain the noodles and reserve the water.

2. While the noodles are cooking, chop up the pickles to whatever size you like. Taste one, and if it is too sour, rinse the pickles in boiling water until they're as mild as you like (see Tips).

Pickled long beans

3. Shred the duck and remove any bones. Cut the skin into bite-sized pieces. In a small pan, heat the leftover duck in the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

4. Place the noodles in a large bowl. Arrange the pickles and duck on top, and then dribble the sauce over the noodles. Add as much of the hot noodle water as you like. Enjoy an easy dinner with no guests around.


Tips

Ducks are usually available frozen and the quality varies widely, so get one from a reputable butcher.

I like mine with all the body parts attached, as they add flavor and body to the braising liquid. But, if this makes you squeamish, get one that's already been trimmed.

Most Chinese ducks will have the tongues, hearts, and livers removed, since these are delicacies and so can be sold at higher prices.

Thick fresh rice noodles

Duck fat should be rendered simply because it is utterly delicious. Period. Hoard it like gold and use it whenever you want to show your love.

The oil the duck was fried in will have a delicious flavor, too, if you used good, fresh oil to begin with. Be sure to strain and reserve this oil, using it up over the next week to scent eggs, vegetables, and other mild-flavored ingredients.

Use any kind of pickled vegetable you like, such as spicy pickled mustard stems (zhacai), pickled mustard greens (suancai), or these pickled long beans. Anything is good as long as it has a slightly sharp bite to counteract the richness of the duck.

Frozen thick rice noodles are called fenli 粉利 if they're from Guangxi or mitaimu 米台目 if they're from Taiwan. They are increasingly becoming more available here in California in the frozen sections of larger Chinese supermarkets. If none can be found, dried rice noodles of any kind will work just fine.