Assorted Animals 4: Mutton shank (羊蹄)

"Mutton shanks can be braised similarly to pork knuckles in either the red-cooked or white-cooked forms. In general, that which is cooked in light soy sauce is red-cooked and that cooked with salt is white-cooked. Shanks are good served with mountain yam." 雜牲單::羊蹄 煨羊蹄，照煨豬蹄法，分紅、白二色。大抵用清醬者紅，用鹽者白。山藥配之宜。 Does this post look familiar? Well it may since this is …

Assorted Livestock/Animals Complete!

And another Chapter of the Suiyuan Shidan done! Granted this chapter was pretty small compare to the one before and the one that is coming up but it still quite satisfying to finish it. That said, I was a bit disappointed to not see bear paw in this section. On another note, real-life has been …

Assorted Livestock 16: Deer Tail (鹿尾)

"Master Yin Wen Duan ranks deer tail number one among all foods. However, deer tail is not readily available to Southerners and those brought in from Beijing are bitter and stale. I once got an especially large specimen and steamed it wrapped in vegetable leaves. It tasted great. The best part of the tail is …

Assorted Livestock 15: Imitation Milk (假牛乳)

"Take egg whites and mix it with honey and wine lees, beat the mixture until even then steam. Cook until the mixture has set but is still tender. Do not overcook or else it will become tough. Likewise, using too much egg whites in this dish will make the dish tough." 雜牲單::假牛乳 用雞蛋清拌蜜、酒釀，打掇入化，上鍋蒸之。以嫩膩為主。火候遲便老，蛋清太多亦老 Considering how …

Assorted Livestock 14: Masked Palm Civet (果子狸)

"It is hard to find palm civet in fresh form. To prepare dry-cured civet, steam it with sweet wine lees until done, and served it cut into slices with a sharp knife. Be sure to soak dry-cured civet in rice water for a full day to remove excess salt from the meat. Civet is more …

Assorted Livestock 13: Water Deer (獐肉)

"Prepare meat from the water deer as one would with beef or venison. It can also be dried into jerky. Water deer meat is not as tender and succulent as venison, but its much finer and smoother in texture." 雜牲單::樟肉 製樟肉，與製牛、鹿同。可以作脯。不如鹿肉之活，而細膩過之。 Just a quick note, I've decided to translate all instances of the character for …

Assorted Livestock 12: Two Ways of Preparing Deer Tendon (鹿筋二法)

"Deer tendon does not soften easily. For the first three days of preparations, one must pound and boil the tendons several times, while continually wringing out any foul-smelling juices from within it. Next, braise the deer tendon in pork broth and then after that braise it in chicken broth. Add autumn sauce, wine, and starch …

Assorted Livestock 11: Venison (鹿肉)

"Venison is hard to procure. Once acquired and prepared, it is more tender, delicate, and sweeter than the meat of the Water deer. It can be prepared grilled or braised." 雜牲單::鹿肉 鹿肉不可輕得。得而製之，其嫩鮮在獐肉之上。燒食可，煨食亦可。 I was listening to a past episode of Helen Zalzman's excellent podcast The Allusionist where she was talking about how venison came from …

Assorted Livestock 10: Whole Sheep (全羊)

"There are innumerable recipes for preparing the whole sheep, but out of all these different preparations there are only about eighteen or nineteen that can be considered edible. The skill of cooking sheep whole is quite esoteric, much like that of slaying dragons, as such it is difficult for a home cook to master. When …

Assorted Livestock 9: Flame-broiled Mutton (燒羊肉)

"Cut a large five to seven jin chunk of mutton into large pieces, and skewer them on iron skewers to broil over flames. The mutton's flavours are delectably sweet and its texture crisp. It is no wonder the thought of it caused Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty such cravings in middle of the night." 雜牲單::燒羊肉 …