Ginger Milk Pudding (薑汁撞奶)

薑汁撞奶 is a Cantonese pudding made with ginger juice and buffalo milk, plus sugar to taste. Without steaming, baking, gelatine or agar-agar, the milk is able to solidify into a custard just by mixing with some ginger juice. Sounds really easy, right? Hey, the devil is in the details!

Recipes for 薑汁撞奶 usually specify the use of old ginger but I've succeeded and failed before with both old and young ginger. It's not the age that matters, but the white stuff you see in the photo above. That's the starch in the ginger juice that solidifies the fats and proteins in milk, turning it into a custard. I've come across old ginger which doesn't have much of it, and also young ginger which has lots. How do you tell if the ginger has lots or not? I don't know. But I do know that if you don't see a thick layer of starch after letting the ginger juice rest a few minutes, you should forget about 薑汁撞奶 and make teh halia instead.

How much ginger juice should there be? The ratio of juice to milk should be 8-10. If there's too little ginger juice, there'd be naturally too little starch and the milk wouldn't set. Too much is bad too unless some of the liquid part of the ginger juice is removed.

The way you add the milk to the ginger juice is critical to the success of the pudding. First, stir the starch sitting in the bottom of the bowl. Stop stirring, then pour the right amount of milk into the bowl in one go. It has to "crash" into the ginger juice, as the Cantonese name for the dessert says. Because the milk fats and proteins start solidifying once the milk hits the ginger starch, the turbulence in the bowl should be just sufficient to mix the starch and milk, then stop asap or the curds being formed would be broken up.

The temperature of the milk has a huge impact on how firm the pudding is. If it's too hot or too cold, the starch may not set at all. The good news is, ginger flavoured milk is quite nice! On no account use this ginger flavoured milk to make ginger tea. If you do, you'll regret it.

The ideal temperature is 75-80°C, i.e. hand-hot. That's for cow milk, btw. For buffalo milk – which is what's used in the pudding's hometown in China –  I suspect the ideal temperature may be different (lower?) because it has more fats and proteins than cow milk and, hence, sets more firmly.

If you want the pudding to be as firm as possible, don't add any sugar to the milk. Instead, make some sugar solution and drizzle it on the pudding like how you'd eat tau huay (豆花).

Finally, because you sooooo need a video to show you how to chop ginger and warm up milk, here it is:

GINGER MILK PUDDING (薑汁撞奶) (Recipe for 2 persons) 360 ml full-fat fresh milk 4 tsp sugar 40 ml freshly squeezed ginger juice, divided equally between 2 serving bowls let ginger juice rest 5 minutes; check amount of starch in bottom of bowls; if there isn't much, do not proceed Heat milk and sugar till hand-hot. Stir ginger juice. Stop stirring, then pour 180 ml milk in one go, quickly, into each bowl. Leave for 10 minutes without moving bowls. Serve.

Hong Kong Egg Tarts (港式蛋挞)

The best tool for flattening pastry dough isn't a rolling pin but a plate. Just place a round blob of dough between two plastic sheets, then press it evenly with a flat-bottomed plate. Peel off the top sheet of plastic, then flip the dough into a tart mould.

Ease the dough into the mould, from the centre to the edges so that there're no air pockets. Trim the excess around the rim, and you're done. That's all there is to it. With this method, even a novice can quickly make pastry shells that are nicely thin and even. It is, for me, much faster and easier than how professional bakers do it. They just press a lump of dough into the mould without flattening it first.

Sieving the custard is necessary only when you plan to use it within a couple of hours. If you have time to let it rest half a day or longer, you can skip this step. Refrigerated, the egg and milk mixture may be stored for maybe one week.

A vanilla pod is good for flavouring the filling. Failing that, a high quality vanilla extract makes a reasonable stand-in. If vanilla is too vanilla for you, how about dark rum, brandy, kahlua or Bailey's? Hey, nutmeg is nice if you like nutmeg. Ginger juice would be appropriate if you're feeling windy.

On no account prick the tart shells to stop them from puffing up in the oven. If you do, they'll leak. Instead, prebake the pastry at a low temperature of 150°C and, if there isn't any air trapped underneath the dough, it should stay nicely flat even without pie weights. If you like, the tart shells may be chilled or frozen either before or after prebaking.

I like my egg tarts shiny, not matte. The shine comes from the slightly undercooked custard on top, which is done by giving the tarts less heat from the top than the bottom. And the heat has to be quite gentle, overall, so that the eggs and milk cook into a soft and silky smooth custard.

If photos and words are too abstract for you and you don't get the picture, here's my video to help you connect the dots:

HONG KONG EGG TARTS (港式蛋挞) Source: adapted from Aunty Yochana (Recipe for 20 tarts) Custard Filling 240 g eggs 160 g sugar   480 ml milk 1¼ tsp vanilla extract Tart Shells 125 g salted butter, softened 60 g icing sugar, sifted 15 g egg white 15 g egg yolk 1 tsp vanilla extract 210 g plain flour To make tart filling, whisk sugar with eggs till melted. Add milk and vanilla extract. Whisk till evenly mixed. Sieve to remove big bubbles, into something that can pour without dripping. Set aside till small bubbles subside, about 1¼ hours. To make tart dough, mix butter and icing sugar till smooth. Add egg white, yolk and vanilla extract. Mix till well combined. If dough is sticky, sprinkle with flour 1 tsp at a time and mix through. If dough is dry and crumbly, sprinkle with water instead 1 tsp at a time. Place dough in freezer till just firm, spread out to cool down faster. This should take 10 minutes or so. When lining tart moulds, remove dough from freezer ¼ portion at a time. To line tart moulds, smooth 2 plastic sheets so that there are no folds. Roll 30 g dough into a ball. Place ball between plastic sheets. Press evenly with flat-bottomed plate to form a circle 2 mm thick and 10 cm wide, checking thickness and evenness by touching dough with palm. Remove top plastic sheet. Place 8 x 2.5 cm tart mould on dough, rim side down. Flip mould, along with dough and remaining plastic sheet, to face upward. Press dough into mould, from centre to rim. Remove plastic sheet. Trim excess dough around edges. Run fingers round tart mould, gently pressing to even out thickness and remove air pockets if necessary. Trim again if there's excess dough. To bake tart shells, preheat oven to 150°C. Place shells on baking tray. Bake 15 minutes in middle of oven. Increase temperature to 180°C. Continue baking till slightly brown, another 5 minutes or so. Remove from oven. Leave on wire rack to cool down completely. To bake tarts, preheat oven to 165°C. If you want to line your baking tray with foil, it should be shiny side down. Pour custard into shells, to 2 mm from rim. Bake 15 minutes in bottom of oven. Reduce temperature to 150°C. Move tray to middle of oven. Top up filling to make up for evaporation. Bake till custard is just slightly wobbly in the middle when shaken, another 15 minutes or so. If custard puffs up during last few minutes but is still too watery in the middle, remove tarts from oven to cool down till custard subsides, then continue baking. Watch custard closely towards the end to make sure it doesn't overcook. Serve hot, or at least warm. Leftovers should be refrigerated. Tarts may be reheated at 120°C using bottom heat only for 10 minutes or so. Pastry isn't soggy at all if reheated without moulds.

Sui Gaw (水餃)

Dried sole is a crucial ingredient in sui gaw. It's grilled or roasted till dry and crisp, then pounded so that it's not too small (you wouldn't be able to taste it) nor too big (would be gritty). Added to the filling, dried sole gives sui gaw a unique toasty flavour. And if the stock is simmered with a few chunks of the dried fish, that's even better.

To make good "water dumplings", the prawns in the filling must be fresh. Ok, I know you know that. Here's a more useful tip: blot the prawns with plenty of paper towels after rinsing. If there's time, leave 'em in the fridge for a few hours, uncovered, so that they dry out a bit more. The drier the prawns are, the firmer they'll be after they're cooked.

Sui gaw filling must have lard or it'd be dry. Again, everyone knows that. What most people don't know is, we're NOT gonna keel over with a heart attack or stroke just because we eat lard every day. Don't believe me? Fine, go google for scientific studies that show there's a correlation between eating saturated fats and heart diseases, strokes, whatever. There should be heaps, right? Well, if you can find one, just one, I'll . . . bake you a LARDY CAKE!

When you cook a lump of minced meat, the proteins join together to form a tight, hard ball which is not very nice. The Italians overcome this problem by adding bread soaked in milk to their meatballs. The Chinese add other stuff like water, cornflour, tapioca starch, eggs, dried mushrooms and Chinese chives. Did you think water chestnuts are added only for their crunch? Well, now you know the coarsely chopped bits also help soften the meat filling.

Making good dumplings is only half the story. The stock can make or break sui gaw soup, so you need a good one. Before cooking the dumplings in the stock, blanch them in boiling water to wash away excess flour on the wrappers and also some of the lye. Lastly, add some veggies to the sui gaw soup. A bit of green on food is like a slick of lipstick on women.

Okey dokes, enough with the theory; here's the step-by-step how-to practical to help you make good sui gaw:

SUI GAW (水餃; WATER DUMPLINGS) (Recipe for 28 pieces, or 34 smaller ones pleated) 250 g minced pork 100 g minced lard 200 g prawns shell, keeping the shells and heads for making stock; devein, rinse and dry thoroughly with paper towels; cut pea-sized ½ tsp salt 30 g dried mushrooms break off stalks; soak caps in 3 tbsp water till soft, about 30 minutes; squeeze dry, reserving the liquid; chop roughly; stalks and liquid may be used for making stock 20 g dried sole, boneless tear into small pieces; roast at 180°C till brown, crisp and fragrant, about 20 minutes depending on the thickness; pound into 3-4 mm bits 120 g water chestnuts (6 pieces) peel, rinse and chop roughly into 3-4 mm bits 1 tbsp egg 1 tbsp light soya sauce 1 tbsp oyster sauce ½ tbsp Shaoxing wine ½ tbsp white sesame oil 28 or 34 sui gaw wrappers 1 beaten egg (add 1 tbsp to filling) if making crescent-shaped dumplings 1 litre chicken or pork stock, seasoned to taste 250 g green leafy veg, such as nai bai (奶白) or choy sum (菜心) rinse thoroughly; cut bite-sized 3 tbsp fried shallots ground white pepper Thoroughly mix minced pork, lard, prawns and salt. Gather mixture into a ball. Throw mixture back into the bowl, hard. Repeat 3-4 minutes. Add water chestnuts, mushrooms, sole, egg, light soya sauce, oyster sauce, wine and oil. Mix evenly. For unpleated dumplings, place 25 g filling on a wrapper. Smear some egg on edges of wrapper and fold to form crescent shape. Press edges to seal. For pleated dumplings, use 20 g filling per wrapper. Pleat as show in the video (2:21-2:37), then use water instead of egg to seal edges. To cook dumplings, bring pot of water and chicken stock to a boil. Keep stock simmering gently. Over high heat, blanch dumplings in the water till half cooked. Increase heat for stock to high. Transfer dumplings to the stock with a slotted spoon. Boil gently till cooked through. To test, place a dumpling in a spoon or ladle and press with chopsticks. Dumplings are done if hard. Transfer to serving bowls with a slotted spoon. Add vegetables to stock. Bring to a gentle simmer. Turn off the heat. Divide vegetables and stock between serving bowls. Top with fried shallots. Serve immediately, adding ground white pepper to taste before eating.

Har Cheong Gai (Prawn Paste Chicken)

How many ways are there to fry chicken?

More ways than there are to skin a . . . c-a-t. (Shhhh! Don't let the kitties hear us.)

Every culture has its own version of fried chicken. That is the chicken's destiny. That is why it crosses the road.


The recipe I use for har cheong gai is from All About Ci Char Cuisine. There're only four ingredients in the marinade: prawns fermented to a grey goo, oysters fermented to a brown goo, sugar and water. It's simple but that's how it should be. Are you tempted to add some ginger juice and good ol' Shaoxing wine to the simple marinade? Well, don't.

You might think wine and ginger would reduce 虾酱's fishy, pungent smell but they don't. I know 'cause I've tried. Without wine and ginger juice, 虾酱 undergoes a transformation when it's fried. Instead of the smell of dead rats – there's no better way to describe it – there's a distinct aroma and umaminess that's very similar to grilled dried squid. With wine and ginger juice added, the fried chicken would taste of raw 虾酱. The pungency is muted compared to uncooked 虾酱 but it's still pretty nasty. The chicken would taste nothing like dried squid that's been grilled. Sometimes, less is more.

The recipe is here. Give it a try if you like har cheong gai. Bye-bye.

Orh Kueh/Steamed Yam Cake (II)

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is my video worth? Let's see . . . .

length of video = 5 minutes 10 seconds = 310 seconds
frames per second = 25
total no. of frames/pictures = 310 x 25 = 7,750
1 frame = 1,000 words
7,750 frames = 7,750,000 words

There are, depending on which translation you're counting, about 560,000 words in War and Peace. Hence, the video is equivalent to almost 14 times War and Peace.

QED.

The recipe for Steamed Yam Cake is in my earlier post here, and here are some tips for making the traditional kueh:

The yam must be fried, and it must be salted and seasoned with a bit of five-spice powder whilst it's piping hot. These two steps are crucial to bringing out the flavour of the yam.

To maximise the flavour and aroma of the dried prawns and mushrooms, season whilst you're stir-frying. If you season when you're making the batter, your kueh wouldn't taste anywhere near as nice even if you use the same amount of seasoning.

If you prefer a softer kueh, leave the batter thinner when you're cooking it on the stove. If you prefer a harder kueh, make it a bit thicker. Unless you like your orh kueh quite hard, the batter shouldn't be thick enough to hold its shape.

If you line the cake tin with parchment paper, you can lift the kueh out of the tin whilst it's still hot to let it cool down faster. If you're not in a hurry, the parchment paper isn't necessary.

When buying yam, make sure the peel is firm. Soft spots would mean the yam is starting to rot.

Yam may be sold with the stem withered or still fresh. The state of the stem doesn't affect the eating quality of the yam but fresher ones would keep longer.

Don't keep yam in the fridge or the starch would convert to sugar in the cold. Put it in a wooden bowl or on a pile of newspapers, uncovered. Yam needs plenty of ventilation or it would rot very quickly. Avoid plastic containers because yam may rot where it sits on the plastic, which doesn't breathe.

Click here for the recipe.

Orh Kueh/Steamed Yam Cake (I)

Making good orh kueh starts with choosing yam that's light for its size. Lighter ones have less water, and less watery ones are nicer because they're more fluffy, powdery and fragrant.

Next, be generous when trimming the yam. The outer parts are usually waxy and tasteless, especially when the yam is a dud. I usually cut 2-3 cm off the top and bottom, and 1-2 cm off the sides.

To enhance its fragrance, the yam should be fried and then seasoned lightly with salt and five-spice powder. Don't let the yam brown or it'd be leathery.

Orh kueh would be too monotonous if it tastes of only yam. Dried prawns, dried mushrooms and deep-fried shallots add a variety of flavours, textures and aromas. They are the indispensable supporting cast, without which yam would be a rather dull one-man show.

To make outstanding orh kueh, forget about water. That's what orh kueh that sells for $1 uses. The homemade type wouldn't taste homemade without pork or chicken stock. A good quality stock is the foundation of great orh kueh (. . . as well as, I kid you not, family ties and nationhood).

Readymade deep-fried shallots can't possibly compare to the one made at home. Likewise, a good stock doesn't come out of a can or bottle, or fall out of the sky. And there's a whole lot of mushrooms and dried prawns that have to be soaked, sliced and chopped. If making good orh kueh sounds like a lot of work and a lot of ingredients, that's because it is.

On the other hand, if you want some rice flour mixed with water and then steamed, that's real quick, easy and cheap. That's the type of orh kueh that sells for $1, which is actually quite expensive considering it's just rice flour and water. If you want to find yam in the $1 orh kueh, you'd have to send it for lab tests or at least use a microscope. Of course, the tasteless kueh comes with the obligatory chilli sauce because it wouldn't be edible otherwise.

Once, the chilli sauce on the orhless orh kueh I bought tasted of mould because it was made with mouldy dried prawns. I ate one mouthful and stopped. Since I wasn't the first and last person to buy the kueh, I guess there were lots of people who didn't mind the mouldy dried prawns. Amazing, isn't it?

Truth be told, I'm quite happy eating steamed yam seasoned with a bit of sea salt. But homemade orh kueh is nice once in a while when I feel up to it. "It" being the making, of course; the eating part is never a problem.

29 May 2012 Update
Here's how I make orh kueh:

STEAMED YAM CAKE (ORH KUEH; 芋粿/芋头糕) Source: Majorly adapted from Cooking for the President (Recipe for 24 pieces) 40 g dried prawns rinse and soak in 60 ml water till soft, about 15 minutes; squeeze dry, reserving the water; chop roughly 30 g Chinese dried mushrooms rinse and soak in 180 ml water till soft, about 30 minutes; squeeze dry, reserving the water; slice thinly, then cut 1 cm long 500-600 g yam (aka taro)* peel and trim to yield about 300 g; rinse; cut corn kernel-sized 100 g shallots peel, rinse and slice thinly 80 ml vegetable oil ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp five-spice powder 1½ tbsp light soya sauce ½ tsp ground white pepper 200 g rice flour 240 ml water top up water drained from dried prawns and mushrooms to make 240 ml 600 ml pork or chicken stock, boiling Garnish 2 tbsp spring onions, roughly chopped 2 tbsp coriander, roughly chopped ½ red chilli, julienned; or 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds * How much you trim from the yam depends on how good it is. You should discard the white part, under the peel, that doesn't have much red veins. Click here for more tips on making orh kueh. Prepare dried prawns, dried mushrooms, yam and shallots as detailed above. In a wok, stir-fry shallots in hot vegetable oil over medium heat till lightly golden. Turn off heat. Continue stirring till nicely golden brown. Remove shallots with a skimmer and set aside. You should have about ⅓ cup. Reheat wok and oil till warm. Over medium heat, fry yam till just soft (but not brown), 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat. Remove yam to a big bowl. Immediately sprinkle with ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp five-spice powder. Toss till evenly mixed. Set aside. Remove all but 2 tbsp oil from the wok. Reheat till very hot. Over medium-high heat, stir-fry dried prawns till lightly golden. Add mushrooms and stir-fry till fragrant and lightly golden. Add light soya sauce and ground white pepper. Stir till evenly mixed. Turn off heat. Add mixture to yam along with all of fried shallots except 2 tbsp. Stir till evenly mixed. Line bottom of 20 x 20 x 5 cm cake pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang. Top up water from soaking dried prawns and mushrooms to make 240 ml (1 cup). Pour liquid into wok and stir to deglaze. Add rice flour. Stir till smooth. Add boiling chicken or pork stock. Stir till evenly mixed. Turn on heat to low. Stir continuously, scraping sides and bottom of wok. Reduce heat to very low as batter gets hot. If lumps appear, turn off heat immediately, stir vigorously till smooth, then turn on heat again. When batter starts to thicken, add fried ingredients (except the 2 tbsp shallots set aside). Stir till batter is thick enough to coat a spoon/spatula thinly. Go for a thinner consistency if you like your orh kueh softer, and vice versa. Turn off heat. Transfer batter into pan. Smooth and level batter. Steam over rapidly boiling water till inserted skewer comes out clean or almost clean, depending on consistency of batter before steaming. This should take about 40 minutes. Remove kueh to a wire rack to cool down, an hour or so. Unmould by running skewer around edge of pan, then lifting kueh onto a plate. Discard parchment paper. Cut into 24 pieces. Serve garnished with spring onions, coriander, red chilli or sesame seeds, and remaining shallots.

Braised Chicken with Chestnuts

My mother always used dried chestnuts, so I'm clueless about prepping fresh ones. Using my common sense, I figure boiling should be the right method for tackling fresh chestnuts' shell and peel. It seems like the obvious thing to do, right?

Boiling 5 minutes or so works for the outer shell, which softens and becomes easy to cut through and tear off. The fuzzy membrane underneath, however, is a different story. It's stubborn as hell! It sticks resolutely to the nutmeat, so I continue boiling . . . and then boil some more . . . . I try peeling off the reddish skin whilst the nuts are hot; I try again when they're cold. Nothing works. As I fiddle in vain, the pot of chestnuts is bubbling away merrily on the stove. Eventually, after 30 minutes, I have to turn off the heat. Why? Because the chestnuts are cooked!

If boiling doesn't work, what about roasting? Roasted chestnuts are quite easy to peel, right? I buy more chestnuts, cut a slit in each one, and chuck the lot in a hot oven. I then wait for the outer shell and inner pellicle to curl and pull back, revealing delicious naked meat underneath. Or rather, that's how it is with chestnuts that are sold roasted. The ones I roast in the oven are hellbent on defying my efforts. The fuzzy skin sticks to the nutmeat as steadfastly as ever.

*google . . . google . . . .*

How do other people peel chestnuts? By boiling or roasting, they say. Some websites leave it at that; the more honest ones add that the peeling is a pain in the butt. A professional chef, in a video called How to Cook The Perfect Chestnuts, takes five minutes to peel ONE chestnut. If his livelihood depends on how many chestnuts he peels in a day, he'll surely starve to death!

People who cook are clueless but surely chestnut FARMERS should be more helpful? Steve and Patty over at Chestnuts USA, a chestnut farm in Washington, say I should make a cross in the nuts, and then roast or boil them. Well, I've already tried cutting a slit in the shell. Can chestnuts tell the difference between '—' and 'X'? Probably not, but I've tried only the roasting method with the shell cut. Oh well, might as well try the boiling method also, just to be sure. I cut an 'X' in some chestnuts, then pop them in a pot of boiling water. After 30 minutes, I realize farmers are just as bad as cooks.

How about shocking boiled chestnuts in ice water? That works for tomatoes, so it may work for chestnuts too? Nope, it doesn't.
Ok, how about leaving the chestnuts in the fridge for a few days, before boiling them, so that the fuzzy skin dries out? Makes no difference; boiling doesn't work, period.

How many packs of chestnuts have I thrown away? Grrrrr . . . . Maybe the chestnuts other people have are American or Italian but the ones I have are, I presume, from China? Maybe Chinese chestnuts, for whatever reason, just can't be peeled?

*wave white flag*

One day, one of the blogs I follow has a new post. 輕鬆的幫栗子脫衣服, the title says. Hmm, 'undressing' chestnuts easily, eh? I'm skeptical because that's what the others say too (minus the erotic connotation), but I take a look anyway. 小米桶 uses a very quick method: just soak shelled chestnuts in boiling water for 60 seconds. Yup, not 10, 15 or 20 minutes but just 1 minute. And it's soaking, not boiling. After the brief soak, remove 3-4 nuts at a time from the hot water, and rub off the peel with a piece of cloth. That is ALL there is to it?!

Is it really as easy and as quick as 小米桶 says it is? I've tried her method and, yes, it is. The technique works like a charm because the peel expands after it's soaked in boiling water but the nutmeat underneath doesn't. This allows the peel to be rubbed off easily. It's so obvious once she explains it!

Why doesn't boiling work? Because the strong heat causes both the peel and meat to expand at the same time. When that happens, the only way to separate the two parts is by surgery with a kitchen knife.

Living where I live – which is south of West Malaysia, west of East Malaysia and east of West Sumatra – I can buy fresh chestnuts already shelled. And now, with just a towel and some boiling water, I can remove the pesky pellicle in a couple of minutes. With the right technique, it's drop-dead easy. Never stop learning, my mother always said.

As a reward for my Herculean research efforts, I'm giving myself an extra helping of full monty nuts (!) braised with chicken, mushrooms and oyster sauce.

28 March 2012 Update

If chestnuts are still in their shell, cut them in half, then parboil 90 seconds before peeling as show in this video:



Badgersett Farms' method seems to work, and it's quick, easy and safe. I'll try it next time I cook chestnuts.

BRAISED CHESTNUT CHICKEN (栗子焖鸡) (Recipe for 4 persons) 4 medium size Chinese dried mushrooms 300 g kampong (organic) chicken Marinade 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine 50 g good quality oyster sauce* (2 tbsp rounded) (I use LKK premium grade) 1 tsp fermented soya beans, mashed 1 tsp sugar 16 chestnuts, shelled 2 tsp white sesame oil, or vegetable oil 4 cloves garlic, peeled and halved 10 g ginger (half thumb size), sliced thinly 40 g mild leek (from Malaysia), or 20 g if very garlicky (from China) halved lengthwise and cut crosswise 7-8 cm (3 inches) long 10 g spring onions, cut 7-8 cm (3 inches) long 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine 10 g coriander, cut 7-8 cm (3 inches) long 1 bird's eye chilli, halved lengthwise * Standard oyster sauce is a bit fishy. If that's what you have, then I suggest you use only 1 rounded tbsp in the marinade; increase mashed fermented soya beans to 2 tsp, and sugar to 1 tbsp; add 1 tsp light soya sauce, and ¼ tsp salt. Rinse mushrooms and snip off stems with scissors. Soak, including stems, in 1¼ cup warm water. Cook stems with chestnuts, as detailed below. When ready to stir-fry, squeeze dry mushroom caps, reserving liquid. Cut each piece into 2. Rinse chicken and chop bite size. Mix with marinade and set aside. Add boiling water to chestnuts, enough to cover by 2-3 cm (1 inch). Steep 1 minute. Remove 3-4 chestnuts at a time; place between clean towel or 2 paper towels; rub to remove peel; soak in water to prevent discolouring. Cut each chestnut into 2 pieces, trimming parts that are bad. Rinse thoroughly. Place in a small pot. Add mushroom stems (which are still hard), and enough water to cover by 2-3 cm (1 inch). Bring to a boil. Simmer gently for 30 minutes. Chestnuts should now be cooked but not yet soft. In a very hot wok, heat oil till just smoking. Add sliced ginger and stir-fry over high heat till lightly golden. Add garlic, mushrooms, leek and white part of spring onions. Stir-fry till garlic and mushrooms are lightly golden. Add chicken, minus marinade. Stir-fry till heated through and wok is screaming hot. Drizzle with 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine. Continue stirring. When wok is very hot again, drizzle with marinade. Stir-fry till absorbed. Add mushroom water. Stir to deglaze wok. Add chestnuts plus liquid. Top up with water to almost cover everything in the wok. Tuck green part of green onions, coriander and chilli around wok. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer gently till chicken and chestnuts are tender. This should take about 30 minutes, stirring once midway. Sauce should now be just thick enough to stick to chicken. If too watery, increase heat to high and reduce sauce. If too thick, drizzle with 1-2 tbsp water, then stir and heat through. Discard mushroom stems if you can find them! Taste and adjust seasoning. Chestnuts should be slightly sweet. Add a bit more sugar if necessary. Turn off heat. Cover and wait 5-10 minutes. This allows flavours to develop and the meat to absorb some liquid. Plate and serve with steamed rice.