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00:27This is a production of WGBH.
00:37Today on America's Test Kitchen,
00:40Lon makes Bridget dry chili chicken,
00:43Jack talks all about miso,
00:45and Dan makes Julia sour and hot Napa cabbage.
00:49It's all coming up right here on America's Test Kitchen.
01:02All I know is that I'm supposed to be here
01:05because I've been promised fried chicken,
01:07some really good spiciness.
01:10Let's bring in Lon.
01:11She's going to fill me in
01:12and also show us a great recipe from Sichuan.
01:15Bridget, we're going to make la zuchi,
01:17which is dry chili chicken.
01:19Yum.
01:19It's aromatic, spicy, and delicious,
01:22and it starts with making a batter for the chicken.
01:25Okay.
01:25I've got a third of a cup of all-purpose flour here,
01:28and I'm going to add two-thirds of a cup of cornstarch to this.
01:32Now, we want to use this ratio
01:34because that's going to ensure that the batter is super crispy.
01:38Okay.
01:39The proteins in flour,
01:40they're really good at holding on to water and oil.
01:43Second-to-last ingredient is half a teaspoon of baking powder.
01:47That's just to leaven and lighten a little bit.
01:49We'll whisk that together.
01:52And last up, three-quarters of a cup of water.
01:54Okay.
01:55So we'll give this a quick whisk to bring it all together.
01:58So this is ready.
02:00Let's get on to the chicken.
02:01Perfect.
02:02Traditionally, this is made with the whole chicken.
02:05It's just cut up bones, skin, and all.
02:07And part of the fun is actually kind of picking the meat off of the bones.
02:11It's a lot of work that way because you've got to hack through those bones.
02:14And so we're actually going to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead.
02:17All right.
02:18And it's really easy to prep.
02:20Most of the work is done for you.
02:21You just want to get rid of any extra fat that's on there because we don't really need that.
02:26And then we'll just cut this up into one-inch pieces.
02:29So this is one and a half pounds of boneless, skinless thighs.
02:32And there's just a quick marinade for them.
02:34I've got a tablespoon of soy sauce.
02:37A tablespoon of Shaoxing wine.
02:40And I'll give this a quick toss just to make sure everything is coated.
02:46And that's it.
02:47I'm going to pop this in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
02:49And in that time, the chicken's going to absorb some of that marinade and that batter is going to thicken.
02:54Great.
02:55It's been 30 minutes, so I've pulled these out of the fridge.
02:57I'm going to give this a quick whisk to bring any cornstarch that's settled to the bottom.
03:02And you can see it looks a lot less watery, right?
03:05Yes, it definitely has more body.
03:08So the chicken's going to go right in, and I'm just going to drop these pieces in here.
03:13Okay.
03:13I like to pick the chicken up out of the bowl rather than dumping extra water in here.
03:17That'll thin that batter out.
03:19So quick toss.
03:22A little bath in the batter.
03:23Right, and this is ready to fry.
03:26Fantastic.
03:26Now we're going to pull half of this chicken out and drop it onto this rack.
03:30I've got a sheet pan underneath to catch all the drips.
03:32Okay.
03:32This helps put a really thin, even coating of the batter on the chicken.
03:35The excess just flows away?
03:37Exactly.
03:38Got it.
03:38I've got some oil heating up for us here.
03:40It's one and a half inches of oil.
03:42That's about two quarts for a Dutch oven.
03:44Okay.
03:45I'm heating it over medium-high heat.
03:47I want to bring it to 400 degrees, which is a little high for deep frying.
03:51But this chicken's really cold, and it's going to drop the oil temp.
03:55I want to be frying between 375 and 400.
03:58Now, the thing that makes this chicken super crunchy is we're going to actually fry it twice.
04:05This first fry just sets the coating, and we want to fry in small batches because it's a lot of
04:10pieces to manage.
04:11Okay.
04:12Bridget, this chicken's rested for a minute.
04:14You can see some of that excess batter is drained off.
04:16It looks like our oil's at 400.
04:17Let's get the first batch in.
04:19Okay, great.
04:20I just want to load up about a quarter to a third of the chicken pieces onto here, and we'll
04:24just ease it in.
04:25The only thing I'm thinking about here is keeping the spider low to the oil so it doesn't splash,
04:30but not dipping it in the oil because I don't want the chicken to cook to the spider.
04:35Now that it's in there, I want to use chopsticks or tongs to break the chicken pieces up so that
04:41they're not a big clump.
04:43If you don't mind helping me out with separating the chicken, I'm going to keep adding pieces.
04:47We're only looking for this to be pale golden brown, and we want to keep this oil between 375 and
04:54400 degrees.
04:55So this is looking pretty good.
04:57Let's fish these out and get them onto a towel-lined rack.
05:00All right.
05:02Oil's back up to almost 400.
05:05Let's get the rest of this chicken in.
05:07Load it up.
05:08Oh, yeah.
05:11Our oil's back up close to 400, and we're going to fry this one more time until they're deep golden
05:18brown.
05:18This time, because we don't have to worry about clumping and separating, we can actually fry in just two batches.
05:24Just load these up.
05:28Oh, yeah.
05:29It sounds crispy, right?
05:31It does sound crispy.
05:33We're going to cook the chicken through this time and get that texture and color we're looking for.
05:38This usually takes two to four minutes.
05:40All right.
05:41Oh, that just looks delicious, right?
05:43It's so good.
05:45Bronzed.
05:46Like the little miniature chicken gods that they are.
05:52Oh, my goodness.
05:53Amazing.
05:54All right.
05:54Let's get these out of here.
05:56Here we go.
05:59All right.
06:04Second batch looking as good as the first.
06:06Hubba hubba.
06:08Fantastic.
06:09Chicken's done.
06:11Bridget, we just need to put together some aromatics for this stir fry, and then we're good to go.
06:16Great.
06:16I've got an inch of ginger here, and I just want to cut it into matchsticks.
06:20I'm not looking for super fine matchsticks here, and they don't actually have to be perfect.
06:26So the goal here is to have little bites of ginger that add a little heat and sweetness.
06:33Not all the time, just occasionally if you feel like hunting up a piece.
06:37So that's why I'm not stressing uniformity or making sure that it's super finely chopped.
06:44I like the way you cut this, too.
06:46You cut slices, and then you kind of accordion pleated them out.
06:50Learned it from my grandmother.
06:52Very nice.
06:53I'm going to pop this ginger in this bowl of scallions, and then six garlic cloves that have been minced,
06:58and I'll just pop them right in.
07:00Oh, yeah.
07:01Yeah, no need to stir.
07:02So those are our aromatics.
07:05Now we come to the spice mix.
07:07I've got a quarter cup of Sichuan chili flakes here, and when you purchase these, you'll find that they can
07:13vary and grind, and they're actually made from any number of chilies rather than there isn't one Sichuan chili.
07:21But they're all going to bring this nice heat and aroma, and I like to look for one that's not
07:26too fine.
07:26Otherwise, the dish gets a little overwhelmingly spicy.
07:29Okay, good to know.
07:30Next up, I have one and a half teaspoons of sugar, just for a little sweetness to round out that
07:37heat.
07:38Half teaspoon of table salt, and a quarter teaspoon of MSG.
07:43Now, you don't have to use MSG if it's not something you have or want to consume, but it makes
07:49this so much better.
07:51Yes, just makes everything taste more amped up.
07:54Yeah, you have to be all in for this dish.
07:57So that's our spice mix and our aromatics.
08:00We can start cooking.
08:01Okay, great.
08:01I'm going to preheat my wok here.
08:04This is a flat-bottomed 14-inch wok.
08:06I've got this heat set to medium-high, and what I'm looking for is the wok to start smoking.
08:11Now that this is smoking hot, we'll add our oil.
08:15This is a quarter cup of oil I reserved from frying.
08:18I want to add it to the sides of the wok.
08:20It's going to ensure that everything is well coated, but it's also going to cool it slightly.
08:24And then I'll reduce the heat to medium-low before I add our aromatics.
08:29Just going to go right in.
08:33And I just want to cook this for two minutes.
08:36I'm not looking to get color on here.
08:38I just want to kind of flavor the oil and soften everything, especially that ginger.
08:45Oh, right.
08:47So nice and simple.
08:49I'm not worried about anything charring, and it's going to add some really nice freshness.
08:54While we're waiting on this, let's talk about chilies.
08:57It's chili chicken.
08:58Right.
08:59You did advertise it as such.
09:01Yes.
09:01So these are dried Sichuan chilies.
09:03They can use any number of different types.
09:06And the reason we're adding these as well as our dry mix is they serve different functions.
09:11These we're not going to eat.
09:13They are there for appearance and fun, but also for aroma.
09:17You're going to smell this as I stir fry it.
09:20I'm going to add them right now, along with some Sichuan peppercorns.
09:24This is two tablespoons.
09:26I know this seems excessive, right?
09:28Uh-huh.
09:29But a lot of the pieces are just there for aroma, and it's going to blow you away.
09:35I can't even describe this.
09:36I can imagine.
09:37Now, this is that flavor of mala, right?
09:40That's it.
09:41The Sichuan peppercorns have a compound that makes your tongue kind of tingle.
09:45Can you smell the pininess of the peppercorns?
09:48So much.
09:49You can see that they're starting to toast just slightly.
09:52That's really all I'm looking for.
09:54We can go ahead and add our chicken at this point.
09:58And it's just going to all go right in.
10:01This is how you do fried chicken, folks.
10:04I want to make sure this chicken is in a nice even layer because I'm going to sprinkle
10:08this spice mix right on top.
10:10And this helps ensure that everything is nicely coated.
10:14It's like snack food, but fried chicken.
10:17So quick toss just to warm everything through.
10:21You're blooming those spices, hot oil, the hot pan.
10:25All right.
10:26That's it.
10:27A couple little garnishes, and then we're good to eat.
10:29Just to bring back some freshness, I've got half a cup of chopped cilantro.
10:34Another quick toss.
10:37And then lastly, just for some texture, one teaspoon of toasted sesame seeds.
10:46Oh, yeah.
10:47All that spice mix.
10:48Yeah.
10:50All right, Bridget, I've got some rice for us.
10:52The fun of this dish comes in digging through the chilies for the perfect nugget of chicken.
10:58I'm going to do what you do.
10:59Okay.
10:59I think I want this little piece right here.
11:01That's the one I wanted, but I'll take this one.
11:03I'm intrigued.
11:09Crispy four days.
11:11That's got some heat.
11:14You know what?
11:15The Sichuan peppercorn tingle is going to kick in.
11:17Yes.
11:18It'll distract you a little bit and keep you coming back for more.
11:20Oh, that's so much fun.
11:21This is the best hunt ever.
11:24The chicken itself, very moist.
11:26Mm-hmm.
11:27That combination of chili flakes and whole chilies is bringing a lot to the table.
11:32This was so much fun to watch you make and, of course, to eat.
11:35I got the fried chicken.
11:37Love it.
11:37Got the spice show.
11:39Amazing.
11:40And a fun hunt.
11:41So, thank you.
11:42Thanks for coming on this hunt.
11:44I appreciate it.
11:46So, if you want to go hunting for some great chicken, it starts by twice frying battered chicken
11:51thighs until super crisp.
11:53Cook aromatics with whole Sichuan chilies and peppercorns.
11:57And then toss in the chicken and a Sichuan chili-based spice mix.
12:01So, from America's Test Kitchen, the incredible and so much fun dry chili chicken.
12:08All right.
12:09Where are you going for next?
12:11I kind of want a piece with some ginger.
12:20If you think miso is just for soup, you are totally missing out.
12:23It is one of the most flavorful, amazing, versatile ingredients in the kitchen.
12:28I use it in marinades for fish or for meat.
12:31It's wonderful in a dip.
12:33Add a spoonful to caramel sauce to add umami notes and balance all that sweetness.
12:38It's even great in a chocolate dessert.
12:40In the Test Kitchen, we tasted 10 brands of miso.
12:43And they were so wildly different from each other that we wanted to pull back
12:47and really understand how is miso made and why is it so different?
12:51So, they begin with a mixture of rice, soybeans, and or barley
12:55that are inoculated with a cultivated fungus called koji.
12:59During those first couple of days, the starches in those ingredients are converted to sugars,
13:03which is why miso is so sweet and delicious.
13:06And the proteins are being broken down into amino acids, including glutamic acid.
13:11Now, that is a glutamate, and it makes things delicious.
13:14Remember, glutamates create umami.
13:17After those first couple of days, more ingredients are introduced.
13:21Typically, soybeans are introduced, and then it's aged for a couple of weeks, months,
13:26or even years.
13:27But sometimes, barley or rice are introduced.
13:29And that's really what creates this tremendous diversity.
13:32So, rather than focusing on brands, I want to take you through the different types.
13:36And I've got here sort of the youngest, oldest, and I'm going to start with the youngest miso,
13:41which is the shiro miso or white miso.
13:44So, this is made with soybeans after that initial cultivation of the inoculated grains.
13:51The soybeans are boiled before they are added, so they wash away the color,
13:56and that's why you get this white or beige color.
13:59Next up is the red miso or the aka miso.
14:02So, it's the exact same as the shiro miso, except the soybeans here are steamed rather
14:08than boiled.
14:09So, they still have their proteins and sugars, which lend both flavor and color.
14:13And it's got a sort of richer flavor.
14:16Think of this as kind of a little bit more floral, and the red miso is a little bit more
14:21whiny.
14:22Next up, we have mui miso or barley miso.
14:25And in this case, the barley replaces the soybeans.
14:28And you get, as you might imagine, sort of earthier notes and toasted notes.
14:33It's got a lovely kind of round, grainy flavor.
14:37Here, I've got awasi miso.
14:39Awasi means mixed.
14:40So, this means it's got soybean, barley, and or rice, and probably is the most varied of all the different
14:47types of miso because it can be almost anything the manufacturer wants it to be.
14:52And last up, I've got mame miso.
14:55Now, all of these are sort of creamy but thick.
14:58This one's almost fully set.
15:00It's almost a little putty-like.
15:02The mame miso is a soybean miso, but it's aged.
15:06This went for over two years, and it's got the most complex, almost chocolatey flavors.
15:12So, there you have it.
15:13These are the five most common types of miso.
15:16But in Japan, there are actually 1,300 different types of miso available.
15:21I'd suggest that you start with the shiro miso, the white miso, or the aka miso, the red miso.
15:27Those are really great introductions to miso if you're not that familiar with it.
15:30But really, experiment and try some of the more complex, interesting misos here on the table.
15:35They will make anything you cook more delicious.
15:45The combination of sour and spicy flavors is popular in Chinese cuisine, especially in the Szechuan province.
15:52Now, here in the U.S., we call it hot and sour.
15:54And today, Dan is going to show us how to make a hot and sour cabbage.
15:58Rumor has it you're the cabbage guy.
15:59I love cabbage.
16:00I've heard.
16:01And Napa especially, I feel like it's so versatile.
16:03You can make kimchi with it.
16:04You have the white part, which is crunchy.
16:06You have the frilly greens.
16:07So, the name of the dish is swan la batzai, and swan means sour, and la is spicy.
16:13So, this actually is sour and hot cabbage.
16:15It puts the spicy as kind of a background note, and that sour is really front and present.
16:19Szechuan cuisine is so interesting, and there's so much going on.
16:22When this dish hits the table, it's unassuming, but it ends up being eaten so fast.
16:26So, it's one of my favorites, kind of a sleeper hit.
16:28So, we're going to start with our Napa cabbage here.
16:30It's about two pounds.
16:31If you have one that has some kind of not great looking leaves on the outside, discard them.
16:35This one is beautiful, so we're going to just start right in.
16:37And what I'm going to do is pull off the leaves, and I'm going to stack them in stacks of
16:41three here.
16:42We're going to take these guys, and we're going to save this over here for another use.
16:46Wonderful for another stir fry, but these nice big leaves are perfect for what we want here.
16:49It's about two pounds total.
16:51Cool knife.
16:52It's nice, right?
16:53This is a Chinese cleaver.
16:54It's carbon steel.
16:55It's very light.
16:57Oh, yeah.
16:58It's incredibly easy to sharpen because it's this really nice straight edge.
17:02All right, so we're going to make one cut on this side and one over here to basically separate
17:06the green and the white parts.
17:08And we're going to do this all the way down.
17:10This is why we stack them, right?
17:11So, you don't have to make as many cuts.
17:14Gotcha.
17:15Okay, I will set my whites aside over here for a second.
17:18And for the greens, we're going to cut them into nice big kind of two-inch pieces.
17:22Okay.
17:24I'm going to cut the white part on a pretty severe bias, about 45 degrees.
17:27And the reason is not just cosmetic.
17:29It's actually for flavor.
17:30So, we're going to cook this in a super flavorful sauce, and we want it to absorb in.
17:34And you can see over here, this piece here that I cut on a severe bias has a lot of
17:38this
17:38red food dye.
17:39We just soaked them in red food dye, so you can see it absorbed in there.
17:42Versus this one has just this little bit where it's cut.
17:45So, this portion of the white is, you know, protected against rain and water, so it doesn't
17:49naturally absorb it.
17:50Whereas the capillaries inside, they're used to moving nutrients and moisture up and down the
17:55plant, and so they want to absorb it.
17:57So, that's why we're cutting it this way.
17:58Lots of sauce.
17:59Ah, interesting.
18:00Super simple to do, and the same way we would when we're cutting meat.
18:05Just hold your knife like that and cut down.
18:07And we're looking for about one-inch pieces.
18:10And we'll just put these into a separate bowl.
18:12So, the hot part of the dish comes from these beautiful little red chilies here.
18:16So, I just stemmed them, seeded them, and cut them lengthwise down.
18:19Okay.
18:19Three to five, depending on your heat tolerance.
18:23How many are in there?
18:23This is five.
18:24Come on.
18:25I'm not going to.
18:26I know you.
18:26You know me.
18:27Next up is ginger.
18:29So, I've got a nice little knob here.
18:30We're looking for about a tablespoon.
18:31Mm-hmm.
18:32So, I'm going to use my rasp grater here and just grate right into the bowl.
18:36So, we're looking for a tablespoon.
18:39Great.
18:39Okay.
18:39So, we've got our ginger.
18:41Next up, we want a tablespoon of garlic as well.
18:44I'm just going to use my grater as well here.
18:47If you've got a garlic press, that obviously works great.
18:49Mm-hmm.
18:50So, that is our garlic.
18:52And we also have a scallion.
18:53And we're going to use this in two ways as well.
18:55So, we're going to cut here.
18:56This is our white section.
18:57Even if it looks green here, you're looking for that firm, crunchy bit.
19:00Mm-hmm.
19:00I'm going to slice this thin.
19:01This is going to get cooked into the dish, and we use the greens as our garnish.
19:06Nicely done.
19:09Okay.
19:09Our aromatics are prepped.
19:11Now, it's time for our sauce.
19:12So, we're going to start with two tablespoons of soy sauce, and then we have our sour ingredient.
19:16So, this is really beautiful.
19:17It's one of my favorite vinegars.
19:19It's Chinese black vinegar.
19:20Mm-hmm.
19:21It's super savory.
19:22That's what I really love about it.
19:23Yeah.
19:23A little goes a long way.
19:24Yeah.
19:24Well, we're not using a little.
19:25No.
19:25We're using two tablespoons.
19:27And we're going to match, basically, the soy sauce and the vinegar, same quantity.
19:30And I also have a tablespoon of oyster sauce.
19:33So, this is going to add, you know, umami and some savoriness.
19:35Also, a little bit of body, because it's a nice, thick sauce.
19:39To that end, I also have a tablespoon of cornstarch.
19:42And finally, two and a half teaspoons of sugar.
19:45Got to have that sweet to balance out the sour.
19:48Okay.
19:48So, that is all set.
19:49I'm going to get cleaned up, and we're going to get our wok out, and we're going to cook.
19:52Cool.
19:52So, it's a good thing we prepped all of our ingredients, because this cooks incredibly
19:55fast.
19:56Ooh.
19:56So, I have my 14-inch flat-bottom wok, and I have it over medium heat.
20:00And you can see that it's already starting to smoke.
20:01Yeah.
20:02I have no oil in the wok at this point.
20:04So, there's enough seasoning and enough stuff on there that that will start to smoke.
20:07It's a good indicator that the wok is nice and hot and ready to go.
20:10So, we're going to cook.
20:12I've got two tablespoons of vegetable oil.
20:14So, I'm going to pour it around the perimeter here.
20:16It'll settle in the middle, and you'll have a really nice nonstick coating.
20:19And I'm going to go in with our hot component.
20:21So, this is five small dried chilies that I've stem seeded and cut down the middle there.
20:26So, we're going to toss these around.
20:27Only 30 seconds.
20:29They're going to start to brown.
20:30Okay.
20:30Oh, yeah.
20:31And then we're going to go in with our aromatics.
20:32So, I've got my garlic, my ginger, and the scallion whites.
20:39And then, again, we're cooking and stirring.
20:44Oh, man, that smells good.
20:46Doesn't that smell nice?
20:47Yeah.
20:48So, this is, you know, 45 seconds up to a minute, and we're good to go.
20:54Beautiful.
20:55All right.
20:55We're going to go in with our whites.
20:58Once they're in there, I'm going to turn it up to high.
21:01I'm going to toss and stir, and we're looking for the edges to turn translucent, which takes
21:04about two minutes.
21:05Okay.
21:08Beautiful.
21:09So, you can see how it's getting right there, that translucence?
21:13Yes.
21:14Okay.
21:14That means we're ready for the greens.
21:17So, that's just a two-minute head start.
21:19That's right.
21:20Yep.
21:20So, I'm going to cook the greens until they start to collapse a little bit.
21:23Only takes about a minute and a half.
21:25The aromas are really starting to fill the room.
21:28Yeah.
21:29I want to point out that you're constantly moving the food in the wok.
21:32Yeah, pretty much.
21:34You know, sometimes when we're cooking things where we want them to really heavily brown,
21:37we'll let them sit for a second.
21:38But for the most part, the tossing and stirring is really important.
21:43Everything gets the time on the bottom, and everything gets the time sort of in the top there.
21:46This is looking good, though.
21:47Sure is.
21:48So, our greens have wilted down.
21:50We're back to a manageable amount in here.
21:52That means it's time for our sauce.
21:54So, because it has cornstarch in it, you want to make sure you give it a re-whisk
21:57before you add it.
21:58That cornstarch can settle out.
21:59Mm-hmm.
21:59We're just going to add it right on top.
22:03And we'll stir and cook for just about 30 seconds here.
22:06Want that cornstarch to heat up fully so it thickens and it traps.
22:10You can already see it collecting in all of those nice, leafy bits.
22:14And that is it.
22:15Wow.
22:16That really was fast.
22:17Okay, great.
22:18So, I'm going to get this out onto our platter over here.
22:27So, our final component is our scallion greens.
22:30Oh, right.
22:30So, we'll put those right over the top.
22:33Beautiful.
22:37I can't wait to dig in.
22:39You said this is one of your favorite dishes.
22:41Absolutely.
22:47It's sour.
22:48And then the kick of heat.
22:49I love it.
22:50There's layers of flavor standing behind those too.
22:52You get sour, you get the heat, but then you get the aromatics.
22:56Black vinegar just has so much going on.
22:58It's nutty.
22:59It's rich.
23:00It's got sort of balsamic vibes as well.
23:02Yeah, it does.
23:03And so, as that is the leading flavor, it brings so much depth to it.
23:06You get the leaf and then it's really, really intense.
23:09You go for a white portion and it's crispy and you get that crunch to it, which is so lovely.
23:14And it was so quick to make.
23:16I mean, that took, even with the prep, I'd say 15 minutes tops.
23:21Tops, yeah.
23:21Damn, this is awesome.
23:23You're welcome.
23:23If you want to make this killer cabbage dish, use large Napa cabbage leaves and separate the stems from the
23:30greens.
23:31Slice the stems on a severe bias and stagger the ingredients into a hot wok, starting with the chilies and
23:38ending with the sauce.
23:40From America's Test Kitchen, a terrific recipe for sour and hot Napa cabbage.
23:45You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with our product reviews and select episodes
23:51at our website, americastestkitchen.com slash tv.
23:55Going in for more.
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