Ming says: This paste is the secret to all the spicy dishes from the Szechwan province of China, their famous heat coming from a tiny little nugget called the Szechwan peppercorn. Its rich spicy flavor is great with everything: from meat, to poultry, to seafood.
Makes 3 cups
- 1 cup Szechwan peppercorns
- 2 cups grapeseed oil
- 1/4 cup white peppercorns, toasted until lightly smoking
- 2 large yellow onions, sliced
- 2 tablespoons minced ginger
- 1/2 cup honey
- Grapeseed or canola oil to cook
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Place peppercorns in a dry pan (preferably a cast iron skillet) and toast until smoking over medium heat. Add the oil and heat over low flame for 30 minutes. Let cook and strain and discard seeds. In a spice grinder, grind the white peppercorns until fine. In a wok coated lightly with oil, sauté the onions and ginger until soft. Add shaoxing wine and reduce by 95 percent. Season with salt to taste. Transfer to a food processor, add the white peppercorns and honey, and purée until smooth, drizzling in the infused oil to form an emulsion. When cool, transfer to a container, cover, and store in the fridge for up to two weeks.
MING'S RECOMMENDED BEVERAGES
Newton Chardonnay
Where: Sonoma, California
Grape: Chardonnay
Style: Because this wine is unfiltered and unfined, it possesses more subtle, earthier nuances. It is a "big" white that is still medium-bodied enough to enhance light seafood dishes like shrimp and conch. The rich flavor nicely balances spicy heat making it a great match for dishes using this master.
Bourgueils Cabernet Franc
Where: Loire Valley, France
Grape: Cabernet Franc
Style: This grape is the parent of cabernet sauvignon and is not as full bodied but is more fragrant. The wine features richer fruit notes, blackberry and red currants are presented in a lighter and much less tannic bodied wine, allowing the wine to blend with a wider spectrum of food.
>>This recipe appears in
Episode #224.
>> For additional recipes and more, visit
www.ming.com
