Chen Pi chicken

Because we just learned this herb "Chen Pi", which is Aged tangerine peel.

Ingredients:

1. Chicken(about 1.5 lb)

2. 5 star anise(Ba jiao)

3. 10 dried chili pepper

4. 2 big spoons of Chen Pi

5. 0.5 tea spoon brown pepper corn(Hua Jiao)

6. 4 tea spoon sesame oil

7. 1.5 tea spoon sugar

8. 1 tea spoon fermented rice(Tian Jou Niang, )

9. 1.5 tea spoon sherry wine(or rice wine)

10. 3 tea spoon soy sauce

11. 1 tea spoon dark vinegar

12. 2 tea spoon salt

13. 8 cups of fried oil

14. 1 tea spoon MSG(this recipe was from a cook book published in 1970s, yes, people use a lot of MSG in cooking.......we've tried, it tastes so good without MSG)

Methods:

1. Clean the chicken and remove big bones. Cut the chicken in to large pieces. Marinate in soy sauce, sherry(rice wine), salt for half an hour.

2. Heat up the oil, fry the chicken for 3 minutes until turning to light golden color.

3. Heat 3 T sesame oil, add stars anise, dried chile pepper, chen pi, hua jiao, pan fry until them turn to brown. Add 3 cups of water and the fried chicken.

4. Add 1 T salt, 1.5 T sugar, 1 T soy sauce, 0.5 T sherry(rice wine), and 1 T fermented rice. Turn to mid-heat and set until the sauce almost dry out.

5. Add 1 T dark vinegar and 1 T sesame oil, mix well before serve.

Notes: This can be served as a cold dish.

Chen Pi: this spicy, bitter and aromatic herb enters the Lung, the Spleen and the Stomach. It regulates Qi and improves transportive function of Spleen, adjusts middle, relieves diaphragm. It also dries damp and transforms phlegm. And helps to prevent food stagnation.

It is very good to cook with greasy food or meat for helping the digestion. And most important of all, it's so tasty.

Gretchen found this recipe from a cook book published in 1970s. For the first time she only uses half of everything, and a bit more Chen Pi, and the result was great! So why not create your own Chen Pi chicken from this recipe?