On our visit to Beijing, we encountered a dish that we loved. It was called "ugly fish"……. a day later we went to a restaurant that served something very similar, the specialty was called "Wushan Fish"….. it is the stuff of later posts, but I'll give you a preview of the "Ugly Fish":
It is kinda ugly, eh??? But this was among the five best dishes we had during our visit to China, which we'll cover in a future post. My thing was to make this on a weeknight…. and I chose boneless chicken legs as my subject. So this is my first attempt at "Ugly Chicken".
I'll admit that I didn't reach the pinnacle of ugliness….. but even grilling with charcoal, I finished everything within an hour which is what I think weeknight grilling is all about.
So in sequence, this is the blow by blow……I marinated some boneless (but still with skin) chicken legs with a tablespoon of sweet bean paste, some shaosing wine, and two tablespoons of premium soy sauce. I went and got some hardwood charcoal started in my chimney starter…..
And when things got hot enough, I mixed a blend of sea salt, a tablespoon of white sugar, cumin powder, I ground some Sichuan Peppercorn from Sichuan (roasted from from my "stash"), and ground chili, and set out to make the ugliest chicken I could find…….
What came out was some major "Ma – La" (numbing hot) stuff……
Those toasted Sichuan Peppercorns from Chengdu numbed me from my nasion to my chin! Man those peppercorns are really top-notch!
It tasted fantastic with rice……
It was pretty darn good……. which reinforces my belief that you can grill up some pretty good stuff on weeknights…….
Sure sounds delicious! And it looks pretty for a ugly chicken too :). Although I probably would not be able to handle that sichuan peppercorn you got from Chengdu.
Looks pretty ugly to me…Now I have some idea of what to do with my peppercorn.
Thanks!
yum. and grilled stuff always has a sort of ugly look, but its so tasty.
Sounds like your experiment turned out great! That is something that I will have to try.
Hi ETE – LOL! I guess I only managed “pretty ugly chicken”! ;o)
Thanks Bill…. I guess… he-he-he
Hi Lynnea – You’re right…. it’s all kinda ugly… but tasty.
Hey Jack – I’ve been experimenting trying to capture some of the flavors we experienced on our trip.
People always say that propane is more convenient than charcoal (which as best as I can tell, is the only advantage of propane). That said, I’m not even sure it’s that much more convenient. It’s pretty easy to fire up a charcoal grill on a weeknight, and have dinner on the table in less than an hour. Me, I light the chimney, then go back into the kitchen to finish prepping the meal.
Oh, and…
That’s one ugly chicken.
even if it looks ugly it sounds really delicious!
Hi BBQ Dude – Exactly….. I think folks believe it’s too much of a hassle. BTW, I also grilled up tamarind shrimp, and made Bun for the Missus.
Hi Kat – I thought it was pretty good.
Now that’s fugly chicken! 😉 Sounds tasty…though I don’t think Husband could handle the spicy… Suddenly, I feel like Jack Nicholson to his Tom Cruise. “You can’t handle the spice!”
What more can I say? As always, your entry is full of impressive foods and leave us, your readers amazed. Another great piece here!
– Tera
Hi Rosa – It still wasn’t as ugl as the fish, though… and not nearly as good. I’m thinking that maybe hubby can handle Sichuan Peppercorns since it’s a different kind of “spice”???
Hi Tera – Thanks so much.
Ha! I just started irrigating my nasion per Dr.’s orders.
Hey Jan – I think you need Sichuan Peppercorn therapy! ;o)
Hi!
Where do you get your charcoal from?
Hi Oi-Kay – You can get decent hardwood charcoal from many sources. I will usually get it at various places – even Trader Joe’s. I usually get my Mesquite Charcoal from either Seisel’s or Henry’s because they are nearby, but if I’m at a Tienda or other Mexican Market, I’ll get my mesquite charcoal there.