{"id":3755,"date":"2016-10-14T05:07:56","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T08:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/?p=3755"},"modified":"2018-06-19T22:36:10","modified_gmt":"2018-06-20T01:36:10","slug":"sauce-foundations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/2016\/10\/14\/sauce-foundations\/","title":{"rendered":"Sauce Foundations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The need for my gong bao recipe, one of the pillars of Chinese sauce mastery *, came up in conversation so here are the details recycled from a post long ago. This sauce is what you find wrapped around your beloved Kung Pao Chicken or Broccoli Beef takeaway at the local Chinese. Make a batch and leave it in your fridge for weeks at the ready for when you get in a wok mood. It definitely gets better with a little age.<\/p>\n<p><em>* To borrow an idea from French cooking terminology, aka &#8220;mother sauces&#8221;, but not to be confused with THE Chinese master sauce which is more of a spice-infused soy broth concoction. Gong bao sits comfortably on par with hoisin, oyster, and black bean&#8230; amongst others.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As you can see at the top of the page, I suggest an insanely hot wok, a good mix of vegetables tossed around in a touch of oil for three minutes, and a couple spoonfuls of this sauce at the end. Peanuts optional. Over a heaping plate of rice or noodles with fortune cookies on the side and you can skip calling the delivery guy.<\/p>\n<p>If you want the stock standard takeaway versions of Kung Pao Chicken, simply &#8220;chao&#8221; (flash fry at high heat, typically in a wok) boneless chicken thighs cut any way you like them in canola or peanut oil with a couple of tiny Asian dried chiles and bit of chopped carrot or celery. No other seasoning is really needed because it&#8217;s all in the sauce you add with roasted peanuts in the last minute or so of frying. That speed of assembly is why I suspect it&#8217;s a favourite amongst hurried Chinese restaurateurs. Thin the sauce to your desired consistency once it&#8217;s in the pan with a bit of water (or Shaoxing rice wine if you have it) and your friends will think you a wok genius.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-3755 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-medium'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gongbaoingredients.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gongbaoingredients-300x225.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"gong bao ingredients\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-3759\" srcset=\"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gongbaoingredients-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gongbaoingredients.jpg 448w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-3759'>\n\t\t\t\tUsual Asian Flavour Suspects\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gongbaosauce.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gongbaosauce-300x225.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"gong bao sauce\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-3760\" srcset=\"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gongbaosauce-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gongbaosauce.jpg 448w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-3760'>\n\t\t\t\tDark and mysterious until you know the simple recipe\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gongbaopeanuts.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gongbaopeanuts-300x225.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"gong bao peanuts &amp; chiles\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-3758\" srcset=\"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gongbaopeanuts-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gongbaopeanuts.jpg 448w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-3758'>\n\t\t\t\tPeanuts &#038; Chiles in a dish with gong bao are classic\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><strong>Gong Bao Master Sauce<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>3 tablespoons cornstarch<br \/>\n3 tablespoons vegetable oil (e.g. canola, peanut, etc.)<br \/>\n6 large cloves garlic, minced fine<br \/>\n3 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced fine<br \/>\n3 tablespoons Asian chile &amp; garlic paste, <a href=\"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/2015\/12\/30\/chile-garlic-sauce\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recipe here<\/a> or use quality ready made<br \/>\n175 ml soy sauce*<br \/>\n125 grams white sugar<br \/>\n75 ml cup rice wine vinegar<\/p>\n<p><em>* I wouldn&#8217;t waste great tamari here, just get a decent stock brand. I&#8217;ve used both &#8216;light&#8217; and &#8216;dark&#8217; versions successfully. It&#8217;s down to where you want your sauce to fall on the spectrum.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Yield: 375ml sauce<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Make a thin slurry of the cornstarch and 150 ml cold water.<\/p>\n<p>In a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, add the oil, garlic, ginger, and chile paste. Saute about a minute, stirring constantly. Add the soy, sugar, and vinegar and continue to cook for two minutes being careful to prevent boiling over by stirring frequently with a whisk. Remove from heat and drizzle in the cornstarch slurry in a small but constant stream while whisking. Return to heat and cook just until thick, about an additional minute.<\/p>\n<p>Can be used immediately buts gets even better with a few days meditation in the fridge. Store in a sealed, airtight jar under refrigeration for weeks to use on Kung Pao demand.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\"><strong>More Spork Here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The need for my gong bao recipe, one of the pillars of Chinese sauce mastery *, came up in conversation so here are the details recycled from a post long ago. This sauce is what you find wrapped around your beloved Kung Pao Chicken or Broccoli Beef takeaway at the local Chinese. Make a batch &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/2016\/10\/14\/sauce-foundations\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3761,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[559,166,560,562,174,298,76,561],"class_list":["post-3755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cook","tag-asian","tag-chinese","tag-gung-bao","tag-kung-pao","tag-noodles","tag-rice","tag-sauce","tag-stir-fry","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3755"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5393,"href":"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3755\/revisions\/5393"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/northfarthing.ca\/spork\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}