RCP: Sichuan Saliva (Mouthwatering) Chicken

The Sichuanese name for the dish, kao shui ji, translates literally as "saliva chicken". "Mouthwatering chicken" is a more accurate translation. Sichuan cuisine has a number of cold dishes consisting of steamed, lightly seasoned meat served cold (well, room temperature) in a highly spiced sauce. The famous strange-flavor chicken is in this category. They're great dishes for oppressively hot and humid summer days.

Kao Shui Ji - Saliva (Mouthwatering) Chicken

chicken
2 lbs chicken breasts or thighs (bone-in and skin-on)
1 TBS shaoxing rice wine [a]
2 TBS fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 tsp salt

sauce
4 TBS homemade chile oil [recipe here], including a lot of the flakes
3 TBS chicken juices from the steaming (with or without fat)
1 TBS Zhenjiang rice vinegar [bb]
4 tsp Chinese sesame paste [c]
4 tsp light soy sauce [see here about soy sauce]
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp ground, roasted Sichuan pepper [recipe here]

garnish
4 TBS MORE of homemade chile oil, including a lot of the flakes
2 TBS crushed roasted, unsalted peanuts
1 TBS sesame seeds
2 scallions, finely sliced crosswise into discs and rings

[1] Wash and dry the chicken and place it in a bowl or dish that will fit in your steamer. Pour the Shaoxing wine over the chicken. Mix the grated ginger and salt into a paste. Rub the paste over the chicken and under the skin. Bring the water in your steamer to a boil, then place the chicken in the steamer and cover. Steam for about 35 minutes for breasts or 40 minutes for thighs. Prick the chicken with a sharp knife. The chicken is done if the juices run clear and not pink or bloody. Turn off the heat and let the chicken sit in the steamer for five more minutes. Remove the chicken pieces from the bowl and let cool. Reserve the chicken juices.

OR: Use a supermarket rotisserie chicken. Let it cool before proceeding. If you go this route, add 2 TBS chicken stock and 1/2 TBS each of Shaoxing wine and grated ginger to the sauce, in place of the 3 TBS steaming juices.

[2] Mix together all of the sauce ingredients.

[3] Cut the chicken off the bone into slices or large bite-size pieces. Keep the skin on. Arrange the pieces in a mound in a serving bowl that holds them snugly. Pour the sauce over the chicken and let it settle.

[4] Add the garnish: Add the additional chile oil so that it floats on top of the sauce and makes a pool of visible red oil around the sides of the chicken. Sprinkle the peanuts, sesame seeds, and scallions over the top.

[5] Serve at room temperature. Eat by picking the chicken bits out of the sauce. Smashed cucumbers (or simply sliced cucumbers) make a nice accompaniment.

NOTES

[a] At Asian markets in the USA, this is usually sold with 5% salt solution added so that it's not subject to state liquor laws. That's perfectly OK here. If you can't find Shaoxing, substitute fino Sherry or cheap American dry sherry.

[bb] Zhenjiang (Chinkiang in the older latinization) black vinegar can be found in Asian markets. Other Chinese black vinegars are, IMO, not as good.

[c] Chinese sesame paste has a darker color and stronger flavor than Middle-Eastern tahini, but you can use tahini (or even smooth peanut butter) at a pinch. Chinese sesame paste is not homogenized and the oil needs to be stirred back in before measuring.

[Jenise]

Wow does this sound like my kind of food. I adore everything in this dish. Have never experienced it in Chinese restaurants, the only cold chicken I've had is Drunken Chicken, which I love. Last time I almost had it was in Vancouver, at a restaurant where the waiter refused to let us order it "because white people don't like". I could not assure him that I knew the dish and would like it very much.

Some Chinese restaurants have a "secret menu" for Chinese patrons who wish to order things such as chicken feet or red-cooked beef tendon that don't generally appeal to non-Chinese. The cold dishes such as Saliva Chicken and Drunken Chicken often appear on those alternate menus. Some restaurants serve Strange-Flavor Chicken hot, even though it's supposed to be served at room temperature.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

No surprise at all, Paul. Btw, have you always lived in NH? I was thinking of you just now when getting some chicken out of the freezer for dinner--can't go Chinese because I have these truffles to use up, but Chinese was on my mind.

I was born in Charleston, SC while my dad was in the Navy. I grew up in Wethersfield, CT, except for four years in Omaha, NB when my dad was at Creighton Medical School. I went to college and grad school in Worcester, MA and lived there for a total of 8 years. When I got a job in 1980, that was in Nashua, NH and I've lived in NH ever since.

-Paul W.