Learn to make Chinese Biryani From The Westside of China
“Chinese Biryani?”
It caught my attention too when I saw it.
Have you ever wondered if there was more to a country than meets the eye.
More than what’s thought about from pop culture?
On this journey of widening your cooking skills as an educated meathead, I thought to include an interesting book on the other side of China and Chinse cuisine.
Sound mysterious right?
It also happens to be the WEST-SIDE!
But more like this:
The recipe that I wanted to focus on is also a mix of cultures, taking on the nature of people who live on the borders of countries. What’s pretty interesting about Western China is that it hits with a very different type of geography and people: Turks, Persians, Mongolians, as well as Tibetans.
From, Beyond the Great Wall : recipes and travels in the other China:
In the West, when we think about food in China, what usually comes to mind are the signature dishes of Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai. But beyond the urbanized eastern third of China lie the high open spaces and sacred places of Tibet, the Silk Road oases of Xinjiang, the steppelands of Inner Mongolia, and the steeply terraced hills of Yunnan and Guizhou. The peoples who live in these regions are culturally distinct, with their own history and their own unique culinary traditions. In Beyond the Great Wall, the inimitable duo of Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid — who first met as young travelers in Tibet — bring home the enticing flavors of this other China.
For more than twenty-five years, both separately and together, Duguid and Alford have journeyed all over the outlying regions of China, sampling local home cooking and street food, making friends and taking lustrous photographs. Beyond the Great Wall shares the experience in a rich mosaic of recipes — from Central Asian cumin-scented kebabs and flatbreads to Tibetan stews and Mongolian hot pots — photos, and stories. A must-have for every food lover, and an inspiration for cooks and armchair travelers alike.
So what is our awesome, west-side recipe?
The works.
Its odd to say when we found this recipe but unofficially we like to call it, Chinese biryani.
In reality, it is Chicken Pulao with Butternut Squash, inspired by the culture of the Uighurs.
Now pilao, if this is the first time you’re hearing of it, is like a pilaf. It’s very delicious and most of all:
Pure gains.
- 2.5 cups medium grain mediterranean-style rice, such as arborio, baldo, or valencia
- 1 tablespoon salt, or to taste
- About 4 pounds whole chicken legs and or breast
- About 1.5 pound daikon radish
- 1.25 cup peanut or vegetable oil
- 2 medium onions coarsely chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 4 cups water
- 1 pound peeled pumpkin or butternut squash, cut into 1.5 inch cubes
Simple directions for gains across the Chinese frontier into Mughalistan:
- Rince that rise up good in cold water level in a medium bowl enough lukewarm water to cover at least by an inch . Add some salt while you’re at it.
- Cut the fat out of the chicken and chop about 3 tablespoons of it. Set it aside
- Cut up the chicken into 2 inch pieces
- Peel daikon and grate it in coarse grater but basically dice it up into matchstick shapes. While you’re at it, cut up the onions and tomatoes coarsely, while also cutting up the squash or pumpkin into cubes. You gotta have flow in your cooking steps just like you’re training days. Its choppaz day.
Make sure your chopping covers all areas of fitness from mobility to maximal power!
- Heat the oil in a large wide heavy pot over medium heat and add the chicken fat to it. You’re gonna see some crispy crackling and this is the point where you scoop it out for other purposes.
- Raise the heat up high and add 1 teaspoon of salt , then add the chicken pieces until brown
- Add the onion and wait until the chicken is really brown (but not burnt of course)
- Then cook on low heat for five minutes, adding in the rest of the vegetables.
- Wait till they wilt and add the water as well as another 1 teaspoon of salt. Time to raise the heat up and bring to a vigorous boil
- Lower heat to medium then boil gently, partly covered for 10 minutes
- Taste the broth and see if you need to adjust. I’ve added chicken broth cubes so …..
- Now it’s time to bring the rice on.. Drain int and sprinkle onto the broth. If needed add more hot water
- Bring to boil then cover tightly and lower the heat to medium and cook for five more minutes.
- Add the pumpkin or squash over top and gently lower the heat to very low and cook for 30 minutes
- Take off the heat and let stand, covered for ten more minutes
- Gains.