Recipes

We discovered this dish recently when searching for cumin roast lamb (from the Xinjiang region in northwest of China, also delicious). It was just amazingly amazing, and had to be immortalized here. We roughly followed the recipe by the wonderful Chinese Cooking Demystified – one of the best Chinese cooking channels ever. I give a simplified version here with the ingredients we had to hand – for the full juicy details, use their recipe linked above. They give the full name as Dapanji with Hand Pulled Kudaimian Noodles – Uyghur Big Plate Chicken (大盘鸡/چوڭ تەخسە توخۇ قورۇمىسى). Make it. Tonight.

Ingredients:

1. Oil, 1/2 cup.
2. White sugar, ¼ cup 
3. One whole chicken cut into pieces, ~1.5kg
4. Ginger, ~2 inches. Cut into slices.
5. Chicken boullion powder, 1 tsp. 
6. Paprika / korean red chilli / kashmiri chilli (flake/powder), ~2 tbsp. This chili should be bright red, and not hot.
7. Sichuan peppercorns, ~1/2 tbsp, roughly ground.
8. Star anise, ~4. 
9. Cinnamon/Cassia, 1 stick. 
10. Black Cardamom, 2 pods. Slightly crushed to open. This is pretty key for this
11. Dried ancho chilli. Or other dried chilli, to the level you are comfortable with.
12. Dried bay leaf, 1. 
13. Potato, 800g. Cut into large chunks. Should be a variety that will dissolve at the edges but not disintegrate too readily.
14. Leek, ½. Cut into strips, or onion.
15. Garlic, 1 head, peeled. 
16. Mild chilis, or bell peppers. Cut into wedges.
17. Noodles to serve.

Prep all the ingredients, then begin putting it together. We used a big enamel cast iron pot, in place of a wok.

1. Make a caramel. Add in a half cup of oil and a quarter cup of sugar over medium heat. Stir constantly – caramel can turn quickly. When it is golden, it’s done.
2. Fry the chicken pieces in with the caramel, for about 30 seconds, then add in the ginger for another 30 seconds, and then add the salt/chicken boullion.
3. Add in the paprika, then the Sichuan peppercorns, black cardamom, star anise, and cinnamon. Coat the chicken in the spices and let them fry for about 45 seconds or so until it’s all just starting to smell awesome.
4. Add in 400 mL of water, and nestle in your potatoes, other chilis, and bay leaf. Cover and let simmer on low. 
5. After 30 minutes, add in the leek. Toss the leek into the braising liquid, give everything a mix, and cover.
6. 15 minutes later (45 into the braise), add in the garlic. 
7. 15 minutes later (60 minutes into the braise), add in the mild fresh chilis. 
8. Serve. With noodles. Traditionally these would be Kudaimian (recipe on the Chinese Cooking Demystified link). These seem quite similar to Biang Biang noodles, which you can find many a video recipe for. Or you could possibly get away with pappardelle or tagliatelle. I may judge you… but won’t tell anyone.

Enjoy!