More Than Just Cooking

(Hi y’all!  Apologies for being MIA.  I was working on an exciting project this past week and got swamped!  I’ll be giving you details later.)

Made you wait long enough, huh?  Ok, I hate cliffhangers as much as you so I should have posted part 2 sooner.  Since part 1 was all text I’m going to make it up to you by making part 2 photo centric.  Fair enough?  Let’s get to it!

I unearthed my lo sui from the freezer, Kosher for Passover (KFP) Coke from the fridge and the dutch oven from the cabinet.  I store my lo sui in the freezer because it keeps better there than in the fridge.  This batch of lo sui is two years old.  Yes.  Two years old.

Ai ya, c’mon!  Pick your jaw up off the floor and stay with me now.  There is nothing wrong with old lo sui. In fact, the older the better.  Think of it like how you keep a mother starter for sourdough bread and continually nurture and feed it.  Well, it’s the same thing with lo sui.  It’s perfectly fine if when you’re done cooking with it, you strain it, and store it properly (freezer).  You replenish the lo sui the next time you cook with it by adding more spices, soy sauce, and broth/water in proportion.  The flavor gets richer, more complex and more flavorful each time.  It’s a good thing.  Geez, you thought I just kept it on my stove for days on end?

…

(True story: I had a roommate who actually did that with her soups.  She would make it, then keep it on the stove FOR A WEEK AT A TIME and boil it whenever she wanted to have some for a meal.  This happened quite often during the hot summers.  I tried to gently point out that her soup was, well, spoiled.  The conversation went something like this:

Me:  “Do you smell that?”

Roommate: <reheating week old chicken soup during August> “Smell what?”

Me: “That sour smell; I think it’s your soup.  Aren’t you worried it might have spoiled since last week?”

Roommate: “Oh no, it’s fine.  I’m boiling it again so the germs are gone.  It’s not spoiled at all.  Do you want some?”

Me: <silent EEP!>  “Thanks, but I ate already.”

Strike me down, I actually hadn’t eaten anything yet.  What?  You honestly think I was going to touch that soup with a ten foot pole?!  NYET!)

…

Back to regular lo sui programming.  I promised you pictures and pictures you shall have!

So here’s my mise en place.  (MEP!)

The container is lo sui has frost on it, not mold.  The MEP, continued – the all natural, air-chilled, 3.5 lbs chicken, rinsed and drained.  ($0.99/lb from Whole Foods Market!)

KFP Coke spot check!

Lo sui spot check.  That’s frost not mold!

Put the KFP Coke in the dutch oven and then add the frozen cylinder of lo sui. Turn the heat on low to melt the frozen lo sui. You don’t want to crank up the heat at this point because all you’re looking to do is to melt the lo sui at the lowest temperature possible.  The goal is to have the chicken at relatively the same temperature as the liquid in the pot.

(Ok, had I planned better I would have thawed the lo sui prior to this step but this is my shortcut.  It’s not the ideal situation but it will suffice!)

What I didn’t want to failed to show you is the great mess I made when the lo sui plopped into the pot.  SPLASH went the KFP Coke all over the stove, me and my kitchen wall.  Hmm, were my ancestors trying to tell me something?  Lesson learned – be gentle!

As the lo sui slowly melted into the KFP Coke, a funny thing happened.  My once flat KFP Coke started fizzing like mad!  Very interesting considering it was completely flat when I tried it prior to cooking.

So here’s the fun part – boosting your lo sui with flavors and spices.  As I previously mentioned, each time you cook with your lo sui, you add more things in proportion.  Since I have KFP Coke providing volume and flavor, I did not add any water, broth or soy sauce.   I did want to include some oomph from:

and

How much to add?  For this particular chicken, I added one 1.5″ long dried orange peel and a tablespoon each of five spice powder and ground allspice.  I did this because after tasting the combined lo sui and KFP Coke, I wanted to increase the spice & citrus notes.  Personal preference, really.

After you stir in the dried orange peel and spices, gently, gently, GENTLY add your chicken into the pot.

Gently poke your chicken to make sure it’s submerged into the liquid as much as possible.

Now cover with the lid and wait for it to come to a boil.  When the pot has reached the boiling point, immediately turn down the heat so the liquid gently simmers.  Simmer for approximately 45 minutes or until the the juices run clear when you prick the chicken thigh.  While you’re waiting for the chicken to be done, it’s traditional to snack on this:

SOOOO.Totally.Traditional.  (In my house at least!)

When the chicken is done, gently remove it from the liquid and place your chicken into a large bowl.  It will look like this:

Another look-see:

Let the chicken rest for ten minutes.  Now, the moment of truth – how does it taste?  Let’s slice and try it out!

Another look-see:

There you go.  Who knew that adding KFP Coke to lo sui would turn out to be a good combination?  For me, the zingy caramel notes in KFP Coke work well with the complex savory-sweet tones of the lo sui.  The two wings and a leg made a great snack!

And yes – I let the lo sui cool down, strained it and then stored it in the freezer for another time.  It’s like a fine wine – just gets better with age!

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