Today I’ve got Part 2 of two recent columns, dealing with follow-up questions from readers. First, the issue of cutting a kabocha.
Last week’s recipe was for making Japanese-style simmered kabocha in a Crock-Pot. There followed immediate questions regarding the best way to wrestle this very hard pumpkin into wedges. "I’ve resorted to placing a sturdy cutting board on the floor and cutting the pumpkin with a hatchet," one reader wrote.
I don’t have a magic bullet for this chopping job, short of finding a big man with a big knife to do it for you. I have these suggestions:
» Use your biggest knife, not a weenie steak knife. Work on a surface that gives you leverage. If you’re short, move from the kitchen counter to the table.
» Rock the point of the knife into the kabocha near the bottom stem. Push the knife in as far as you can. Pull it out (very carefully); turn pumpkin and make a similar cut on the opposite side. Eventually it will split open. This is my method. It takes some heave-ho, but I am not at all muscular and I can do it, so you can, too.
» Or, use a paring knife to cut around the stem (this requires good wrist strength). Once you get a chunk out, switch to a bigger knife and cut wedges starting from the hole you just made.
» Or, position a cleaver just to the side of the stem and hit the cleaver with a mallet.
» Or, put the whole beast in the microwave on high about 3 minutes. The skin will be soft enough to pierce. The pumpkin will cook slightly, but you’re going to simmer it for a long time afterward, enough to cook in lots of flavor.
Good luck.
Question No. 2 is from Stephanie Pang, who prepared a recipe from a few weeks back for Chinese-style oxtails, also made in a Crock-Pot. One of the ingredients was shaoxing, a Chinese cooking wine made from fermented rice.
The oxtails were great, Pang said, but what else can she do with this bottle of wine?
One classic use is a cold Shanghai appetizer called Drunken Chicken, which calls for poaching a whole chicken, then cutting it in pieces and giving them a good soak in a marinade of broth and wine.
This is a simplified version, made with boneless chicken breast. It’s a nice pupu, served over some wilted watercress and with a dip of soy sauce and lemon. Note that it is quite "drunken" as the wine is not cooked and the alcohol remains full-strength. If you have no leftover shaoxing, use sake, dry sherry or vermouth.
DRUNKEN CHICKEN
4 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2-inch piece ginger, sliced and crushed
4 stalks green onion, cut in 2-inch lengths
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 1 pound total
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup Chinese rice cooking wine (shaoxing, available in Asian markets or Chinatown)
Bring water to boil in medium pot with salt, pepper, ginger and green onion. Add chicken, return to boil, then reduce heat to low simmer. Partially cover pot and let simmer very gently to keep chicken moist, 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let chicken poach 15 to 20 minutes, until cooked through.
Remove chicken to cutting board and thinly slice. Place in glass dish.
Ladle 1 cup cooking broth into measuring cup and add sugar. Stir to dissolve. Add wine. Pour over chicken. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (the longer you marinate, the stronger the liquor flavor). Serve cold, topped with sliced green onion. Serves 6 as an appetizer.
Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 90 calories, 0.5 g fat, no saturated fat, 35 mg cholesterol, 900 mg sodium, 4 g carbohydrate, no fiber, 1 g sugar, 13 g protein
Note: Leftover cooking broth is very tasty and can be saved to make soup.
———
Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S. Write “By Request,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813. Email requests to bshimabukuro@staradvertiser.com.
