Thursday, May 25, 2006

Ginger chicken pate

When I was a kid my aunt, my father's youngest sister, cooked me a dish of chicken liver which was so delicious but also bloody, literally. My mother almost fainted after she knew I ate that liver... In the area where she's from, true, people ate everything of a chicken or pig (except feather and hair of course). But there's a rule of thumb when came to cooking organs - no blood. So this time when I made this pate, I was struggling whether it should be overcooked (no blood at all) or just cooked (some blood)... Ingredients (2 persons as apetitizer)

  • 3/4 pound chicken liver, cleaned, take out the membranes
  • 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
  • 1 clove of garlic, finely diced
  • a pinch of each - 5 spice powder, chicken powder, white pepper, salt, sugar
  • a dash of sesame oil
  • 1 Tbp red wine
  • cornstarch
  • optional: chicken fat and chicken broth

Steps:

  1. Cut the liver into small pieces, marinated with ginger, 5 spices, chicken powder, white pepper, sesame oil, salt, sugar and cornstarch for an hour.
  2. Heat 1 - 2 tbp(s) chicken fat in a frying pan, add garlic, add liver, stir-fry for a few minutes. Add wine. Cover with lid, keep the heat on medium/medium-low. You don't want all the liquid dry up, if it happens, add a bit of chicken broth.
  3. After the liver changes its color, still with little blood is okay, taste and season if necessary. Turn the heat off.
  4. After cooled off, you can blend the liver by food processor. But I like to use chopper to mince it, depends what consistency you like.

My version of pate won't be over pound with wine or spice, yes, I still want that liver's taste, that's why I cook it. You can simply serve it with crackers; or add chopped nut and fried wanton wrapper to give it snappy bite; Or add pineapple to get some zing.

Yes, in the end, I decided on not overcook the liver :D

2 comments:

  1. nice blog Gattina, with a awesome pictures.
    Actually, I came to your blog th' Archana's "Chinese Banana Toffee" post
    http://arcthomas.blogspot.com/ which linked me up to your post http://gattinamia.blogspot.com/2006/05/caramel-deep-fried-banana.html#links

    By the way, today i prepared this desert, came out so good. Thanks Gattina for the wonderful post.

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  2. Hi lakshmi,
    I'm glad your dessert turns out great. I just visited your blog, wow, so much great food! Although I don't know much about Indian ingredients, still very keen on trying somedays :)

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