This Chinese street-food sauce spells flavour with a bang bang Sichuan Chili Oil
A few weeks back, I was ordering lunch at a seafood joint in Alexandria, Va., when I spied a peculiarly named appetizer, “bang bang” shrimp.
As a student of Chinese cooking, I recognized the name, so I gave it a try.
What appeared several minutes later were deep-fried prawns tossed in a creamy mixture of garlic, ginger, ground chilies and mayonnaise.
Sure, the name of this increasingly popular dish evokes an exotic ode to explosive Asian heat, but no matter how delicious the snack may be, Chinese cooks would be confounded. Deep-fried? Mayonnaise?
Spicy?
Heck, in China, despite its fiery name, “bang bang” doesn’t even refer to flavour!
Sometimes a Chinese dish is named for its evocative appearance (“lion’s head” meatballs), at times for stunning folklore (“barbarian head” buns), and in a few brilliant examples, for the sound made when the food is being prepared.
Bang bang chicken’s name derives from the age-old noise of a baton smacking a whole cooked bird, breaking it into serving portions, where a kitchen cleaver just wouldn’t cut it (evenly).
Chicken busted up in such a fashion is indeed bang bang, with or without a dressing. Over the centuries, however, the legendary name has come to mean the fully dressed masterpiece with a signature sauce.
Traditionally, the five flavours in Chinese cookery are salty, sour, sweet, spicy and bitter.
Where a single meal should present a balance of these elements, it’s remarkable when a single sauce embraces all five, and in a humble street snack at that. Today, where most bang bang chicken vendors sell from name-brand stalls at morning markets, their history runs deep.
Grilled Bang Bang Chicken
Bang Bang dressing is a solid match for chicken hot off the grill, but it also pairs brilliantly with poached or roasted poultry, toasty vegetables and tofu as well as more dense seafood, such as shrimp and scallops.
Sichuan Chili Oil makes a great accompaniment for this chicken and sauce; you can also use it instead of the store-bought red chili oil.
Make ahead: If you are using bamboo/wooden rather than metal skewers, you’ll need to soak them for at least 30 minutes before you grill. You will have plenty of dressing left over, which can be refrigerated for up to one week. Makes 4 to 6 servings For the dressing
1 cup well-stirred tahini or creamy peanut butter
1 cup low-sodium soy sauce 1⁄3 cup plain rice vinegar 1⁄3 cup toasted sesame oil 1⁄3 cup sugar 1⁄3 cup red chili oil
2 teaspoons ground Sichuan peppercorns (optional)
For the chicken
6 boneless, skin-on chicken thighs (about 1 1⁄2 pounds total) 1 tsp kosher salt
4 scallions (white and green parts), thinly sliced, for garnish
For the dressing: Whisk together the tahini or peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, toasted sesame oil, sugar, red chili oil and the ground Sichuan peppercorns, if using, until the sugar has dissolved.
For the chicken: Prepare the grill for direct heat; preheat to medium-high (375 F).
Prep the chicken one of two ways: Pound the chicken thighs to 1/3-inch thick and thread each onto two parallel skewers, which helps keep them flat, or you can cut the chicken into 1-inch chunks and evenly thread on the pieces, kebab-style. For either way, leave a few inches empty at the end of each skewer, to serve as a handle. Lightly season the skewered chicken with salt.
Place the skewers on the grate; close the lid and cook for three to five minutes per side. If they brown too quickly, shift them off direct heat for 30 to 45 seconds, then back on again. You’re looking for some char and meat that is just cooked through (165 F on an instant-read thermometer).
Transfer the chicken skewers to a platter. Immediately brush the chicken with a generous amount of the dressing, then top with sliced scallions and serve. Pass the remaining dressing and the Sichuan Chili Oil, if using, at the table.
Based on 6 servings using half the sauce: 520 calories; 39 grams fat (7 g saturated fat); 155 milligrams cholesterol; 960 mg sodium; 15 g carbohydrates; 2 g fibre; 6 g sugar; 34 g protein.
Adapted from “Chinese Street Food: Small Bites, Classic Recipes and Harrowing Tales From Across the Middle Kingdom,” by Howie Southworth and Greg Matza. Skyhorse Publishing, 2018.
It would be best to cool the covered chili oil in a safe, wellventilated place, as any escaped vapours from hot chili oil may be a bit tough on the lungs.
Make ahead: The chili oil can be stored in a glass jar (with a tight-fitting lid) in a cool, dark place for up to six months.
Makes 32 servings (about 2 cups)
2 cups vegetable or canola oil One 3-inch cinnamon stick 5 whole star anise
3 tablespoons whole Sichuan peppercorns
1 cup crushed red pepper flakes
Combine the oil, cinnamon, anise and Sichuan pepper in a pot over medium-low heat. Once the mixture is just heated through, reduce the temperature to low and cook for 30 minutes.
Place the crushed red pepper flakes in a heatproof mixing bowl, then place a fine-mesh strainer over the bowl. Carefully pour the aromatic-flavoured oil through the strainer, then discard the aromatics in the strainer and remove the strainer.
Stir the mixture and allow it to cool for two hours before pouring the chili oil (with its crushed red pepper flakes) into a jar.
Per tablespoon serving: 130 calories, 2 grams carbohydrates, 14 g fat (2 g saturated fat).
Adapted from “Chinese Street Food: Small Bites, Classic Recipes and Harrowing Tales From Across the Middle Kingdom,” by Howie Southworth and Greg Matza. Skyhorse Publishing, 2018.