STUFFED CHICKEN WINGS WITH BLACK BEAN SAUCE

Chicken wings？Good！Prawn dumpling filling？Good！Both together？Amazing！I like this dish for two reasons:first，it really shows how Chinese cooking techniques are so much more than the stereotypical wok，grease and thick slop model，and second，because having it on my menu is my little wave of respect to Pierre Koffman’s stuffed pig’s trotter masterpiece.I don’t imagine that I will ever be as talented as Pierre，but in stuffing my chicken wings each day，I am doing as Ben Affleck in the film Boiler Room instructed:‘Act as if！’.

Serves 3

INGREDIENTS

6 double-jointed chicken wings

180g Har Gao Prawn Filling

vegetable oil，for deep-frying

For the skin marinade

115g maltose

20g sugar

600ml water

190ml rice vinegar

75ml Chinese red vinegar

40ml Shaoxing rice wine

For the black bean sauce

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 red pepper，cored，deseeded and chopped

2 spring onions，cut into short lengths

2-3tablespoons good-quality ready-made black bean sauce

180ml chicken stock

splash of Shaoxing rice wine

To garnish

ready-made prawn crackers，broken into pieces

oyster leaves（optional）

1.Ask a butcher to bone out the wings for you.If，however，you are feeling confident，you could try this yourself by first separating the 2 wing bones and then scraping down them with a sharp knife and pulling them out.

2.For the skin marinade，bring the ingredients to the boil in a non-reactive pan and，using a large ladle，keep pouring the mixture over the wings until they are thoroughly covered，as you do for Peking Duck.

3.Insert a needle into the tip of each wing and then skewer through a length of string，clothes’line style.Hang this up in front of an electric fan and leave to air-dry for 2 hours or until the surface of the skin has dried out and feels like parchment.

4.For the black bean sauce，add the oil to a hot wok and stir-fry the red pepper and spring onions until softened.Add the ready-made black bean sauce and fry for about 1 minute.Add the stock and wine and simmer until reduced by half.

5.Place the Har Gao Prawn Filling in a piping bag and pipe 30g of the filling into each wing.

6.Heat the oil for deep-frying in a deep-fat fryer to 180℃.

7.Deep-fry the stuffed wings，in 2 batches，until the internal temperature reaches 55C.Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper.

8. Serve the stuffed wings with the sauce, garnished with broken pieces of prawn cracker and oyster leaves, if you like.

CHEF’S TIP

Check the ingredients of ready-made black bean sauces to find one that contains whole chunks of ginger, garlic and chilli and lots of black beans. Ifit comes in a smooth paste, my advice is to pass on it.

hancheng

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