Chicken guts

[DylanK]

Like, say, chicken guts guts, intestines. Pig intestines strike me as sort of aggressive, something to take serious, something to boil in a clay pot with fermented tofu and cabbage. But chicken guts are just sort of silly and improbable. They're a bit soft and a bit chewy and a bit chicken-y.

The chicken guts are hanging out under the quail egg, everything covered in eye-brightening, esophagus numbing soup, set on a plastic bag-wrapped plate.

Anyways, what do y'all like to cook and eat from inside chickens?

[Dejah]

I love the gizzard, stir-fried with ginger and green onion. Chicken livers with ginger steamed with my rice. My Mom made "new mother" soup with chicken guts, peanuts, wine, etc each time I had a baby. I miss that but ain't about to have another just for that soup!

[hzrt8w]

Chicken hearts and gizzards for snack (braised with master sauce); chicken liver for cooking (stir-fries); chicken intestines for congee (jook); they are common in hong Kong.

[DylanK]

Dejah, how do you steam livers with ginger?

[DylanK]

Right at the intersection I used to work at, there's a branch of Minzhu Lu Ba Zi Rou (民主路把子肉). They serve ba zi rou for lunch (a local thing: a giant cauldron of pork belly, bean curd, greens and pork ribs), but they serve porridge and la tang (辣汤) in the morning. La tang is another Xuzhou-only thing. It's old la, old-school spicy, pre-chili spicy, ginger and black pepper spicy. It's thick, thick black pepper, egg, and chicken soup.

I'd eat a bowl every morning that I worked up the street from that intersection. By the time I arrived, the pot would be almost done and some mornings I'd only have baozi and sweet black porridge. The last bit of the soup was almost as thick as the porridge and full of the meat that had settled at the bottom of the pot. There were always a couple chicken hearts hiding in there. Chicken hearts boiled all morning, since 5 a.m. in chicken and black pepper soup, still firm and deep red, a chicken in half a mouthful, the whole taste and texture of the chicken condensed into the 鸡心.

I love chicken hearts.

Kind of expensive in China but we can get them for like two bucks for a bunch at Superstore, right where they keep the livers and gizzards and backs.

We usually just fry them with black pepper and cumin.

But this is a recipe that's good. It's very good when you do it right, with a rich brown sauce full of chewy hearts.

爆烧鸡心. Flash-fried chicken hearts.

Get a bunch of chicken hearts, Chinese cooking wine, garlic, ginger, star anise, hua jiao, some cumin seeds, black pepper, sugar, dark soy sauce and brined tofu (豆腐乳). Smash up all the spices and such in a mortar and pestle.

Slice the hearts in half and let them marinate in the alcohol until you're ready.

Get a pan with just a bit of oil in it, just enough. Drop your spices and such in.

Dump the booze out of the bowl and drop the hearts into the oil, followed by soy sauce, a pinch and a half of sugar, and a few cubes of brined tofu. Pour a bowl of water over top and let it cook real hot until it's dry and the blood and tofu thicken it up (when you put the tofu in, it's sorta like monte au beurre). The sauce is great to soak up with shaobing.

[Ce'nedra]

I feel like I'm the only Asian who doesn't eat guts (or blood jelly)! Am I weird?

Edit: With the exception of the casing for Chinese and/or other sausages. What are those made of anyway?

Edited February 5, 2008 by Ce'nedra (log)

[hzrt8w]

I feel like I'm the only Asian who doesn't eat guts (or blood jelly)! Am I weird?

Edit: With the exception of the casing for Chinese and/or other sausages. What are those made of anyway?

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Maybe you don't want to know.

[Ce'nedra]

I feel like I'm the only Asian who doesn't eat guts (or blood jelly)! Am I weird?

Edit: With the exception of the casing for Chinese and/or other sausages. What are those made of anyway?

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Maybe you don't want to know.

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I do (with a bucket beside me)!

I love my lap cheong!

[v. gautam]

C,

Of course you are not weird! People have all sorts of likes and dislikes in food that are subject to no one's approval!! A great deal has to do with stuff we have been fed since early childhood; talk about acquired tastes! Many cultures, especially the Semitic religions, abhor the consumption of blood and go through elaborate slaughter and post slaughter rituals to make sure that meat is completely purged of all blood residues. Some groups within such cultures go so far as to reject eating the entire hindquarters of animals, in the belief that these cannot be sufficiently "cleansed" of residual blood after dressing out. So you are in very distinguished company, to say the least!!

It is quite possible that with your Australian background, bread and butter may be familiar and pleasant flavors to you. If so, you could try an experiment, but only if you feel adventurous, not because this is something you need to do. Find a German/Hungarian or Yugoslav deli that makes old-style blood-and-tongue roll: shaved into thin slices, eaten on crusty bread with butter, old world mustard [maybe bread-and-butter pickles as well]. Relatively painless way to have a taste of this mysterious element, blood!

BTW, sausage casings often are made from the thin lining of the small intestines of sheep; also pigs. Nowadays, for economy and convenience, artificial, edible casings have become popular. In the US, you have to pay quite a bit extra for natural casing sausages, which now are clearly marked and sold for a premium.

[Domestic Goddess]

Chicken intestines are resurrected in a very tasty street snack called "IUD) (because it grossly resembles the feminine contraceptive device). See the picture of it here and here. The latter is right beside the hotdogs.

[Ce'nedra]

C,

Of course you are not weird!  People have all sorts of likes and dislikes in food that are subject to no one's approval!! A great deal has to do with stuff we have been fed since early childhood; talk about acquired tastes! Many cultures, especially the Semitic religions, abhor the consumption of blood and go through elaborate slaughter and post slaughter rituals to make sure that meat is completely purged of all blood residues. Some groups within such cultures go so far as to reject eating the entire hindquarters of animals, in the belief that these cannot be sufficiently "cleansed" of residual blood after dressing out. So you are in very distinguished company, to say the least!!

It is quite possible that with your Australian background, bread and butter may be familiar and pleasant flavors to you. If so, you could try an experiment, but only if you feel adventurous, not because this is something you need to do. Find a German/Hungarian or Yugoslav deli that makes old-style blood-and-tongue roll: shaved into thin slices, eaten on crusty bread with butter, old world mustard [maybe bread-and-butter pickles as well]. Relatively painless way to have a taste of this mysterious element, blood!

BTW, sausage casings often are made from the thin lining of the small intestines of sheep; also pigs. Nowadays, for economy and convenience, artificial, edible casings have become popular. In the US, you have to pay quite a bit extra for natural casing sausages, which now are clearly marked and sold for a premium.

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LOL thanks for the confirmation that I am indeed normal

You're right, it must be the fact that growing up Australian, I am not used to this 'new' addition to my diet. Although, I would have thought that being brought up eating alot of Asian food, my tastebuds would have familiarised itself with chicken/beef/blah blah guts. Oh well. I'm sure I could eat it fine if the texture and taste is masked by some much needed seasonings/sauce hehe. Like sausages!

Btw, what are those 'artificial' casings you talk of made of?

The term 'artificial' doesn't sit well for me...

P.S. I shall consider the 'blood tongue roll' you mentioned -only because I love mustard! However, I must confess that I am currently making scrunched up faces.

[Peter the eater]

Btw, what are those 'artificial' casings you talk of made of?

If I may butt in . . . I use artificial sausage casings made from collagen. They're really easy to store and use, plus you can choose to eat them or not. There are several other synthetic casings out there, I'd guess cellulose is the next most common (and it's a vegetarian option). There are also some non-edible plastic casings that are really just disposable cylindrical storage units.

[Kent Wang]

What are chicken intestines like? Pretty similar to goose?

[hzrt8w]

What are chicken intestines like? Pretty similar to goose?

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Yes similar. About half the size and don't take water too well.

Edited February 9, 2008 by hzrt8w (log)