Recipe: Chinese "Red Cooking" Master Stock

As discussed in prior posts, I use this stock primarily to poach heartier whitefish such as halibut, cod, and sea bass, but, it can be used to poach chicken, duck, pork (lean or fattier cuts), and other types of seafood. The "red" color appears at the end of poaching. For fish, poaching time is approximately 8 - 10 minutes for filets that are 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick. For chicken, duck, or pork, poaching time should be at least 30 minutes - use an instant read thermometer to make sure the meat is cooked through. I usually serve over rice or Asian noodles such as udon or soba.

"Red Cooking" Master Stock

Ingredients

3/4 cup light soy sauce

2/3 cup dark soy sauce

1/3 cup fish sauce

1 cup Shao Xing cooking wine

2 tbsp. sesame oil

4 cups seafood stock (use vegetable stock if seafood stock is not available)

3 cups water

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 large onion, diced

Peel of 1 orange, coarsely chopped

1/8 cup of sliced fresh garlic

1/8 cup of fresh ginger slices

8 small Thai chiles, coarsely chopped (2 - 3 jalapenos if Thai chiles are not available)

3 cinnamon quills

5 star anise pods

2/3 cup unsalted roasted seaweed, coarsely chopped

1 tsp. canola or other neutral oil

1 bunch of scallions, diced (for garnish of final dishes)

Directions

Heat canola oil in large (3 qt.+) pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and chiles. Cook until onions become translucent and begin to brown. Add all other ingredients to the pot. Raise heat to high and heat until boiling, stirring frequently. Once boiling, reduce to very low simmer (low heat), and cover. Cook at low simmer for at least 90 minutes up to 2 hours, stirring every 10 - 15 minutes.

To poach, place seafood or meat into stock (in batches if necessary) and cover. Do not disturb until at least 8 minutes (for fish) and at least 25 - 30 minutes (for poultry and pork) to check for doneness.

Recipe: Spiced Sea Scallops with Soy/Scallion Reduction

It's been a while since my last post, so I thought I'd come back with a recipe that was just outstanding. I made this tonight, although I have made this exact same recipe before.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. of sea scallops

2 1/2 tsp. of Chinese Five Spice powder (contains ground cinnamon, anise seed, cloves, ginger, and fennel seed)

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 cup chopped scallions

3 tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

Mix all of the dry spice ingredients together to make a spice rub. Coat the scallops with the spice rub. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Place the scallops in the pan and sear for approximately 2 minutes on each side. Remove the scallops from the pan. Drain off all but about 1 tsp. of the oil in the pan. Add the scallions. Saute the scallions for about 2 minutes then add the soy sauce. Stir vigorously for about 3 - 4 minutes as the sauce reduces. Poor the sauce over the scallops. Serve immediately with sticky jasmine rice.

Makes 4 servings.