Braised Deer Penis

I’m taking a 2 week break from posting, so I’m doing something a bit different today. Instead of posting a translation from the Suiyuan Shidan, we have another banquet-level recipe from the Chinese cookbook 燉品食譜100種 published in 1978 in Hong Kong. For those interested, the first recipe translated from this book was bear paw. Enjoy!

For those people in that stage of life that needs a special pick-me-up, few things are as lauded in Chinese gastronomic cornucopia and pharmacopoeia as deer penis. Braised in sauce, simmered in soup, soaked in wine, or ground and taken directly as a powder, deer penis have always been a sought after for its reputed restorative effects. No doubt too the connoisseur finds delight in its unique textures. Together, this means that despite the organs’ ubiquity (50% of all deer pop.), it has always fetched a rather high price in Chinese markets.

As with all matter relating to sexual/reproductive organs, most people tend not talk openly about the consumption of this cut of meat in polite conversation. But those well acquainted with Chinese culinary culture will know of the existence of deer penis dishes. Many who have visited well stocked Chinese dried good stores would have no doubt seen desiccated specimens of this organ showcased in the glass display cases or jars. Some would no doubt have already tried it.

Which makes it somewhat surprising that at this day and age, Chinese recipes for deer penis is not more widely available in the English language, especially considering recent fashions in nose-to-tail eating. Fuschia Dunlop’s curious and graphic recounting of her experience preparing this particular cut of meat is of course, a must-read. Her description of its texture while cooking and slicing it is as vivid as it is hilarious. The dish she prepared however, isn’t really the typical way of preparing deer penis. Strongly seasoned and spiced, her red-cooked stew goes well beyond what is the norm for preparing traditional restoratives. And much to my dismay too, she did not publish the recipe.

For this, I’ve translate the following 1970s Hong Kong deer penis recipe. The recipe itself is rather typical for meat containing restoratives, with flavours and light seasoning more in line with what one would expect when being served such a dish. Strangely, the recipe here skips instructions in how to reconstitute deer penis; an important step given that the ones purchased or received as gifts almost always comes boxed in dried form. Looking online, fresh specimens are like the ones handled by Dunlop are available, though it appears to be uncommon. Perhaps the flavour profiles from the fresh ones are different from the dried? After all, many sites do advertise their desiccated penises as “fine vintage” or “aged” (陳年) much in the same way butcher shops would try to sell you dry-aged beef…

So how does one soak dried penises? Basically, one prepares a large basin of warm water and completely immerse the dried items in it for half a day, changing the water every 2-3 hours. One should attempt to remove as much gunk, juices, and residue from the penises when changing the water. This is quite similar to Yuan Mei’s instructions for reconstituting of deer tendon, where the much of off-flavour containing liquids should be eliminated from the product even before the cooking begins.

As for details on how to clean the reconstituted penis, after further research: 1) you basically throw away everything such as skin, blood vessels, accessory organs, and serve only the corpus cavernosum and the glans, 2) “splitting the penis lengthwise” in the first step of the recipe refers to slicing open the urethra portion of the penis, not completely through the penis itself. Doing this preparation correctly allows one to thoroughly clean the organ’s mucous membranes,and removing the parts with distracting textures while not rupturing the fibrous outside. This is important since slicing lengthwise completely through these fibrous tissues would imbalance the tensile forces in the corpus cavernosum and make the fancy knife-work required in some recipes impossible. For the adventurous, deer penis may be too expensive to try on a whim, but those not easily deterred would be delighted to know that an analogue: bull penis, is widely sold in pet food and supply stores as dog chews at low prices.

Whether deer, bull, or whatever penises actually “taste good” is likely a matter of personal preferences, but one thing is for sure, when served at a banquet it is bound to make an impression on one’s esteemed guests regardless.

Clear-Braised Deer Penis

• Deer Penises ………………………………………… 2 units
• A fat and tender immature hen …………. around 750g
• Fresh pork ham …………………………………… around 750g
• Rice wine ……………………………………………… 95g
• Salt ………………………………………………………… 1.5 tsp
• Sichuan peppercorn ……………………………. 7 grains
• Ginger …………………………………………………… 57g
• Green Onions ……………………………………….. 76g
• MSG ………………………………………………………. 1 tsp
• White Pepper ………………………………………. 1 tbs

1. First, scrape off the tough external skin and any residue or impurities on the penises, split the penises lengthwise¹ and scrape the tough internal skin clean of any residue or impurities, then cut them into inch and a half long pieces. Butcher and clean the immature hen and cut it onto 7cm long and 4cm thick rectangular pieces. Wash and scrape clean the fresh hams. Chop the ginger into four chunks and smash them flat for use.

2. Put 12 cups of plain water into a wok, and place the pieces of penis in with a piece of the ginger, 2 stalks of green onion, and 2 tablespoons of rice wine. Cover the work, place it on the stove, and boil it for around 15 minutes over a fierce flame. Reserve the the deer penises and discard the other ingredients with the cooking liquid. Follow the above instructions twice more and reserve the deer penis for further use.²

3. Get a clean clay pot (a “sand pot” 沙鍋) and put the pork ham, the chicken pieces, and the deer penis. Add 10 cups of water and place it on the stove over a fierce flame until boiling. Skim off the scum on the surface of the liquid, add 3 tablespoons of rice wine, 3 stalks of green onion, a piece of ginger, and the Sichuan peppercorn. Turn the heat down to a gentle flame and braise it for one and a half hours. Discard the ginger and green onions. Take out the pork ham and use for another dish. Stir the salt, MSG, and white pepper into the pot. Then using a large flame, complete the dish by braising the stew until the meats are soft and tender, and the cooking liquid has reduced to a thick glaze (around 3 cups).³

4. Take out the pieces of chicken and arrange them in the bottom of a large presentation bowl used in banquets. Next ladle out the deer penis and in an orderly manner, arrange them on top of the chicken. Finally, pour in cooking liquid and present it at the banquet table.

* Deer penis is the reproductive organ of the stag. The flavours of this dish are rich and intense, and filled with nutrients. It is a famous Sichuan dish.

Notes:
¹  Slicing only through to the lumen of the urethra allows one to clean it out while allowing the penis segments to remain straight instead of curling up laterally when cooking.
² Repeating this technique 3 times removes and suppresses any residual off-flavours from the penis. One could think of this step as an artist preparing a canvas with gesso before working on it.
³ The co-opting of flavours from the ham and chicken by the deer penis makes the latter what Yuan Mei call: “vulgar individuals of society“.