Kou Shui Ji (口水鸡)
Kou shui ji is a Sichuan cold dish. Chicken, either steamed or poached, is deboned and cut bite-size. It’s then topped with an oily sauce that’s spicy, numbing, sour, and fragrant.
“Kou shui ji” means saliva chicken. Fortunately, there’s no saliva in the recipe. But the dish must make you drool to be worthy of its name.
I make saliva chicken with Jacky Yu’s recipe. He uses century eggs, which are not found in the original Sichuan recipe. I think it’s a brilliant adaptation. The spicy and fragrant sauce brings out the century eggs’ creaminess, which nicely contrasts the crunchy Sichuan peppercorns and peanuts. Jacky Yu’s saliva chicken is indeed mouthwatering.
Source: “Xi Yan Cuisine”
(For 8 persons)
1 chicken
3 century eggs
1 pack mung bean sheets (粉皮)
roasted sesame seeds
roasted peanuts
diced Chinese celery
Hot and spicy sauce
8 tbsp light soy sauce
2½ tbsp Zhenjiang vinegar
4 tbsp water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns (I use much, much more)
1 tbsp finely minced ginger
1 tbsp finely minced garlic
1 tbsp finely chopped Chinese parsley
4 tbsp white sesame oil
chilli oil to taste
1. Wash chicken and brush the inside of the chicken thinly with honey. Steam for 18 minutes. Turn heat off and keep the lid on. Leave for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool down. Adjust steaming time if necessary. Do not overcook chicken so that it’s moist and tender.
2. Dice century eggs. Cut mung bean sheets into strips. Soak mung bean sheets in boiling water until transparent. Refresh in ice water. Drain.
3. When chicken is cool, debone and chop into bite size pieces. Transfer to a deep dish. Add century eggs and mung bean sheets.
4. Mix sauce ingredients thoroughly. Add sauce to chicken along the rim of the dish. Add chilli oil to taste and 4 tbsp of sesame oil. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, peanuts and diced Chinese celery. Serve.