Food lab # 1-1 Saliva Chicken - Modified Version (改版口水雞)

Modified steps:

1. Heat up the canola oil. Pour the hot oil into the blended chili flakes.
2. Stir the hot oil so that it mixes well with the chili flakes.
3. Add sugar and salt into the mixture.
4. Set aside for several hours to dissolve the spiciness into the oil.
5. Filter the chili flakes out of the red oil.
6. Saute the Szechuan peppercorns for 5 minutes (low heat).
7. Red oil in, deep fried the ginger, green onion, red onion, star anise, cinnamon sticks, cloves, bay leaves, together with the Szechuan peppercorns for extra 5 minutes (medium heat).
8. Filter all those ingredients out from the oil.
9. To season, add soy sauce, black vinegar, sesame oil, oyster sauce and chicken powder.
10. Saute the peanut and white sesame seeds.
11. Crush the peanuts.
12. Saute some slices of ginger and green onion, then pan fry the chicken thighs with the red chili hot.
13. Slice the chicken thighs then serve it on a plate.
14. Sprinkle some grounded peanut and white sesame seeds on the meat.
15. Put some chopped green onion and cilantro as garnish.

What is the difference?

1. The chicken thigh is pan-fried with the hot spicy chili oil instead of being cooked in water. That gives extra crispiness on the outside and more spiciness on the inside.
2. The Szechuan peppercorns and other spices are being toasted and deep-fried at a later stage. This ensures that more of the mouth-numbing chemicals of Szechuan peppercorns stays in the oil. The aromatic flavor from the other spices is also much more significant.
3. I am not sure what is going on in the cooking process. But it seems that the longer the ingredients are being deep-fried, the less significant their flavor is.

改良版口水雞：

1. 先用燒滾的菜籽油倒入打碎的乾辣椒。
2. 將熱油分三次倒入辣椒粉，達到一香二紅三辣的效果。
3. 加糖，加鹽，攪拌均勻。
4. 放置幾小時，讓乾辣椒的辣味慢慢滲出。
5. 過濾辣椒油，備用。
6. 以小火乾煸花椒五分鐘。
7. 倒入辣椒油，開中火，油熱後倒入薑片，青蔥將之爆香。
8. 再倒入八角、肉桂、丁香、月桂葉繼續爆香五分鐘。
9. 濾出以上香料，辣椒油備用。
10. 以少許辣椒油，香煎雞腿肉。
11. 煎熟後，將雞腿切塊。
12. 將花生、白芝麻煸香。
13. 把花生壓碎。
14. 辣椒油加上生抽、蠔油、麻油、黑醋，攪拌均勻。
15. 雞腿肉上淋上特調辣椒油、花生碎、白芝麻、一些蔥花、香菜。

差別在哪?

1. 比起用水煮，又要浸冰水；這直接用辣椒油嫩煎，省時步驟簡單，口感又較為香脆。
2. 之前是先煸香花椒，然後再加入其它香料，再把熱油淋在辣椒粉。這一次，先把熱油爆香辣椒粉，釋出辣味後，再用辣油去爆香花椒和其它香料。其中原理我還沒想通，不知道是不是因為長時間的高溫油爆過程把這些味道給破壞掉，但似乎把花椒留到後面才爆香，比較能嚐到花椒的麻，而且八角那些其它的香料味道也比較明顯。