“Swiss” Chicken Wings

 

I had another craving for wings, so I poached wing pieces in Chinese All Purpose Marinade (“Swiss Sauce”) for more experiments with heat.

I’ve always wondered why it’s called Swiss Sauce. Rumor has it that the name of the dish is a case of lost in translation. Apparently, many years ago a tourist went to a western style Hong Kong diner called Tai Ping Koon 太平館, famous for east west fusion dishes, and ended up ordering their house special, Sweet Chicken Wings. The tourist misheard the waiter's Chinese accented "Sweet Chicken" and thought he said "Swiss Chicken!” I don’t know how true this is, but it’s a funny story.

Sweet and Spicy Wings

What Was I Thinking?

Not pictured: jeow bong

Ground Venison Over Udon

 

Another day, another experiment.

I generally like spaghetti with meat sauce, but instead of going out for Italian (which I do very often), I decided to do something just slightly different. The inspiration came from Spaghetti Bolognese and Chinese Minced Beef Over Rice.

• 1 serving size udon (any Asian noodles will work, too) cooked per instructions, rinse in cold water, drained
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 white onion, diced
• 1/4” fresh ginger, finely chopped and mashed
• 1/4 cup white cooking wine
• 1 lb ground venison (or bison or very lean beef)
• 1 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/4 cup frozen green peas
• 1 beef bouillon cube or 1 tsp beef bouillon granules
• 1 tblsp dark soy sauce
• cornstarch slurry (1 tblsp cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water)
• 1 egg
• 1 scallion stalk, thinly sliced

1. Prepare the udon and set aside.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a large pan. Sauté the diced onion over medium heat until slightly caramelized, then add ginger, stirring constantly to avoid sticking. Add a tblsp cooking wine to deglaze if necessary.
3. Turn the heat to medium high and add the venison, breaking up the meat.
4. Add the mushrooms, green peas, beef bouillon, dark soy sauce, and the rest of the cooking wine.
5. Turn the heat to low and simmer until the meat is thoroughly cooked and most of the liquid has evaporated.
6. Turn the heat to medium high and stir in the cornstarch slurry.
7. Pour boiling water over the udon in a strainer to heat through.
8. Plate the udon, then ladle the meat sauce on top, leaving a slight well in the middle. Break the raw egg into the well. Garnish with sliced scallion.
9. Mix the egg with the sauce and noodles before eating.

My Versions of Suicide Wings

 The wings were first poached in Chinese marinade and then tossed in some fiery concoction. 

Vaguely Asian

They didn’t seem unbearably hot, but it was very tasty and the heat did linger. 

It definitely looked more lethal than it was.

regular red chili flakes, jeow bong, bird’s eye chili sauce, mala spices, sambal, Chinese chili sauce

Fire and Smoke

I wanted to make a sauce that’s spicy and smoky.

It was diluted before pouring over cooked wings to sit in the fridge.

I probably should have left it as a paste, but it worked.

Imitation Cullen Skink

 

I felt like Cullen Skink, but since I can’t find smoked haddock (I don’t think it is available in the US), and I don’t have milk (I don’t drink milk, and I don’t think soy milk or oat milk would make a good substitution), I tried to approximate as much as I could. It wasn’t so much pretending to be Cullen Skink as much as taking inspiration from it.  It turned out pretty good!

• 1 smoked chub (smoked salmon doesn’t work), skinned and deboned (that was a pain in the butt), torn into small pieces
• 2 tblsp unsalted butter
• 1/4 white onion, diced
• 1 can cream of potato soup (follow instructions on how much water to add)
• 1 tblsp chopped parsley for garnish

1. Heat butter in small pan until melted. Sauté onion over medium heat until translucent. 
2. Add the can of soup plus water. Bring to a boil while stirring. 
3. Add the chub and heat through.
4. Garnish with chopped parsley.