This month's recipe is for Dezhou Braised Chicken (德州扒鸡), a beloved dish from China’s Shandong region. Though it requires some patience, the ingredients are few and familiar, and the result is a deeply flavorful and satisfying meal.

Due to early immigration, the most popular Chinese restaurant fare in the United States evolved from the cuisines of southern China, particularly Cantonese cuisine. More recently, spicier dishes from the regions of Sichuan and Hunan have made inroads into the American embrace of Chinese food. However, in China itself, Shandong cuisine is often considered one of the most prestigious and influential regional styles of Chinese cooking. One well-known Shandong dish is Dezhou Braised Chicken (德州扒鸡), which is chicken cooked in a savory and slightly sweet broth seasoned with soy sauce, ginger, scallions, cinnamon, anise, and Shaoxing wine. The skin of a tangerine and some Sichuan peppercorns add a bit of zest to the broth. After it is cooked down, the broth can be used as a dipping sauce. If you are skilled enough, it can be served as a whole chicken.

Shandong Province (山东), located on China’s northeastern coast along the Yellow Sea, is one of the oldest and most influential cultural regions in Chinese history. Often referred to as the cradle of Confucianism—Confucius himself was born in Qufu, Shandong—it has a deep historical significance and a rich culinary tradition that helped shape what is now known as Lu Cuisine (鲁菜), one of the Eight Great Culinary Traditions of China. It is believed that all other Chinese cooking traditions evolved from Shandong cuisine.

Shandong is also home to China's most well-known beer, Tsingtao, which is brewed in the city of Qingdao. The brewery was originally established by German settlers living in the German colonial concession that held hegemony over Qingdao. “Tsingtao” was the original romanization of “Qingdao,” and the brand name has remained unchanged ever since.

Shandong cuisine is renowned for its bold flavors, skilled use of knife work, and emphasis on preserving the original taste of high-quality ingredients, especially seafood, grains, and poultry. Common cooking techniques include braising, roasting, stir-frying, and deep-frying, with particular attention paid to texture and color. The cuisine is also known for its masterful use of vinegar, garlic, scallions, and rich, savory sauces. Unlike elsewhere in China, grains other than rice, such as barley and wheat, are popular. This dish is excellent served over seasoned wheat noodles. A typical accompaniment is cucumbers either sliced or julienned.

Cook's Notes: This recipe calls for both light and dark soy sauce. The reason is that light soy sauce has more taste than the dark, but the dark soy sauce adds more color. However, a Japanese soy sauce like Kikkoman has the umami of Chinese light soy sauce and is more similar in color to Chinese dark soy sauce. Substitute if you want.

The most traditional way of preparing Dezhou is by searing the entire chicken in hot oil. For a home cook, this can be cumbersome if not downright dangerous. A similar effect can be achieved by briefly (1 to 2 minutes) blanching the whole chicken in water seasoned with ginger and a bit of Shaoxing wine. Then the chicken is simmered for 1 1/2 to 2 hours in the seasoned broth. I think the correct way is to use less broth than we used (our chicken was fully submerged in the broth), but it was delicious. and the overall color seemed to be better. The second time we cooked the dish, we used reduced broth, and we basted the chicken, but the skin never turned the desired golden brown.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (3–4 lbs), preferably free-range
• 1/4 cup Shaoxing wine
• 6 slices fresh ginger
• 3 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces

Braising Sauce:

• 1/2 cup light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sugar (we used brown sugar)
• 1/4 cup Shaoxing wine
• 3 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns (optional for aroma, but strain later)
• 4 slices dried tangerine peel or 1 strip fresh orange zest (optional but authentic)
• Water to cover (see note above)

Preparation:

1. Add enough water to cover the whole chicken in a large pot.
2. Bring the water to a boil and then carefully lower the chicken into the boiling water.
3. Blanch for 1 to 2 minutes only.
4. Remove chicken from the pot and place it on a plate while you prepare the broth. Discard the water.
5. Once again add enough water to the pot to cover the entire chicken (but don't add the chicken yet).
6. Add all the remaining ingredients to the pot and bring everything to a boil.
7. Lower the chicken into the pot and reduce the heat to a very slow simmer.
8. Simmer the chicken for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. Note if you use the reduced-broth method, you need to regularly baste the chicken.
9. Remove the chicken, let it cool. This dish should be eaten at room temperature or even cold.
10. Boil the remaining liquid until it thickens a bit.
11. Strain the broth to remove the spices and small particles.
12. Let the resultant sauce cool to room temperature.

Cold Noodles with Scallion Dressing.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of neutral cooking oil
• Several slices of raw ginger
• 3 to 4 scallions (white parts), sliced
• 1 pound of thin Chinese wheat noodles

Preparation:

• Heat the oil in a small sauce pan to 150–190°F.
• Add the sliced ginger and scallions.
• Stirring constantly, fry until the scallions turn golden brown (10 to 12 minutes).
• Strain the scallions and ginger (but reserve).
• Cook the noodles according to package directions.
• Immediately rinse the noodles in cold water.
• Toss the noodles with 2 tablespoons of scallion oil and a large splash of soy sauce.

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and serve over a bed of seasoned noodles. Garnish with extra sauce (or place sauce in a dipping bowl) and sliced cucumbers. Enjoy with a cold Tsingtao beer!

慢慢吃 (màn màn chī) – A common Chinese phrase meaning ‘Eat slowly’ or ‘Enjoy your meal.’

Recipe by T. Johnston-O'Neill
Photos by Shari K. Johnston-O'Neill