Nam-yu (red fermented beancurd) Chicken and Pumpkin Stir-fry
南乳雞肉炒南瓜
I introduced Nam-yu (red fermented beancurd) in my recent recipe [read Red Fermented Beancurd (Nam-yu) – pork and chili stir-fry]. Friends asked me what else can be cooked with Nam-yu. Actually it’s a friendly seasoning ingredient for marinating meat and stir-fried root vegetable. In this recipe, I would marinade chicken thigh with nam-yu then stir-fry with pumpkin.
Pumpkin in autumn is particularly sweet and starchy, just like chestnut. And nam-yu is nutty, savoury, silky and smells fragrant of Chinese wine. The combination of sweetness and saltiness makes the dish so tasty. Besides chicken thigh, meat in this recipe can be pork belly or duck meat. Pumpkin tastes better with fat meat.
I would upload more nam-yu recipes in near future and hope you could have a try. You can even replace soy sauce with nam-yu in many dishes. Don’t hesitate to explore more traditional seasoning ingredients in your local Chinese grocery store.
Ingredients –
- Boneless chicken thigh, 500g
- Pumpkin, 600g
- Nam-yu (red fermented beancurd), 40g
- Nam-yu sauce, 1tbsp
- Garlic, 4cloves
- Sugar, 1tsp
- Salt, 1/2tsp
- Cornstarch, 1tsp
- Toasted sesame seeds, 1tsp
- Green onion, 1 stalk
How to do –
- I would prefer to keep the chicken skin. Cut chicken thigh into big bite size chunk;
- In a mixing bowl, put in the chicken, nam-yu, 1tbsp of nam-yu sauce in the jar, 1tsp of sugar and 1tsp of cornstarch. Mix them well and keep in fridge for at least half an hour. Nam-yu is quite salty and alcoholic, so no need to add salt and cooking wine;
3. Pumpkin halved, removed the seeds but keep the peel; then chop to similar size of chicken;
4. Heat 2tbsp of oil in hot wok, in medium high heat, seal the chicken till set and brown. Marinated chicken is easy to be burnt so don’t use high heat and pan-fry 10 second for one side should be good enough;
5. Move the chicken aside and put in the pumpkin and sliced garlic; lid on, lower to medium heat. Pan-fry the ingredient for 10 minutes, no need to add any water; flip the wok once or twice, or flip the ingredients with frying spoon, make sure they are cooked evenly.
6. Check if the pumpkin is cooked thoroughly with a chopstick or a fork. If there’s sauce in the wok, turn up the heat to reduce the sauce. Sprinkle a nip of salt and a handful of sliced green onion, flip the wok or toss gently, then it’s good to serve; sprinkle a pinch of toasted sesame seeds on top.
用料
- 去骨鸡腿 500克
- 南瓜 600克
- 南乳 40克
- 南乳汁 1汤匙
- 蒜 4瓣
- 糖 1茶匙
- 盐 半茶匙
- 生粉 1茶匙
- 炒芝麻 1茶匙
- 葱 1根
做法
- 鸡肉切成大块；腌鸡肉 – 放入南乳、南乳汁、1茶匙糖、1茶匙生粉，搅拌均匀放冰箱腌至少半小时。南乳很咸、酒香浓郁，所以不需要放料酒和盐；
- 南瓜切开去籽，切成和鸡块一样大小的块。这种绿皮的南瓜不需要去皮，皮煮熟后会变软，也可以吃；
- 热锅放2汤匙油，油热后放鸡块，用中大火煎至两面金黄。注意鸡肉腌渍过后很容易焦，所以不要用太大的火，且一面煎大约10秒就够了；
- 把鸡肉推到一边，放入南瓜块和蒜片；盖上锅盖，转中火，煎10分钟。中途颠一下锅翻面；
- 用一根筷子检查南瓜煮熟了没有，筷子能插进去即可。撒一点盐、一把葱末，颠锅炒均匀。不要用力不断翻炒，这样南瓜会炒烂，轻轻颠锅。这个菜炒干比较好吃，所以如果锅底有汁，可以开大火颠锅；
- 关火，撒上熟芝麻即可出锅。
