Broccoli with Sichuan Flavors

This recipe is actually based on a chicken dish, but instead the broccoli gets the chicken treatment. This dish can be served hot with dinner or cold in small amounts as salad/snack/appetizer. You could also just blanch the broccoli until just crisp-tender and drop it into ice-water to stop the cooking, and then toss it in the sauce ingredients which were cooked together earlier and allowed to cool.

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch broccoli

4+3 scallions, trimmed and cleaned, greens and whites separated and reserved

1 ½-inch thick slice ginger smacked with a knife side + 1 teaspoon finely minced ginger

2 cloves garlic peeled and split + ½ teaspoon garlic minced

1-inch wide strip of dashi-kombu, if you have it*

1½ tablespoons sugar or agave syrup

1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, powdered in a grinder or mortar

1½ tablespoons Chinkiang or good quality sherry vinegar

1 teaspoon roasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon Red Oil (spicy chili oil)

1½ tablespoons shaoxing (Chinese wine, also spelled Shao-Hsing) or a moderately dry sherry such as an Amontillado

¼ cup chicken stock or a light vegetable stock (or you could use some of the blanching water)

Salt as needed

1-2 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds if desired for garnish

1 tablespoon grape seed or avocado oil or as needed

METHOD:

Fill a pot of water large enough to cover the cut up broccoli by ½-inch. Add the smacked ginger slice and the 2 peeled and split garlic cloves, the dashi-kombu if using, and the 4 scallions, plus a good sized pinch of salt, and bring the lot to a boil. Once boiling, gently simmer 15-20 minutes. Taste, and simmer longer if there is not much flavor. This broth is to blanch and flavor the broccoli, and since it will not spend long in it, it should pack a fair amount of flavor.

While the blanching broth is cooking, cut the broccoli into roughly ¾-inch florets. Peel the stems, trim the bottom, and cut into ½-inch cubes.

Cut the 3 scallion whites diagonally into 1/8-inch by 1½-inch slices. Repeat with ½ the volume of scallion greens (Too much greens may overwhelm the broccoli). Set aside.

Heat a saucepan over medium heat and just film with oil. When oil is hot, add minced garlic and ginger, and stir until aromatic and garlic starts to turn translucent. Add sweetener and Sichuan pepper powder and stir in. If using sugar, wait until the sugar colors a little bit. Add the vinegar, red oil, sesame oil, and shaoxing. Cook for 30 seconds or a little longer so flavors can marry while stirring. Add the ¼-cup broth of your choice and bring to a boil and allow to cook 1 minute or until the sauce has thickened just a little.**

If serving this dish hot, heat a 10 or 12-inch skillet over high heat until ripping hot and film lightly with oil just before cooking the broccoli.

Once the broth has simmered and gained flavor, bring to a boil again. Use a skimmer to remove the aromatics from the broth, and add the broccoli. Return to the boil and cook just until crisp-tender. Remove from the liquid, and if serving cold, drop into an ice bath (1:1 ice cubes and cold water) to arrest further cooking. If serving hot, strain well and transfer to the heated skillet, being careful as the water on the broccoli will cause the oil to spit and pop. Sauté, tossing, to crisp the broccoli here and there. Add the sauce from the pan, toss to coat, then scatter with a pinch of salt and the sliced scallion bottoms and toss another minute to heat the bottoms up. Scatter with the tops, toss once or twice. Place on a platter and garnish with the sesame seeds. Serve.

If serving cold, drain the broccoli really well, and allow the sauce to cool completely. Pour over the broccoli and toss to coat. You can serve now or place in refrigerator to get colder and allow time for flavor of sauce to integrate with the broccoli. Add the scallions, then scatter with sesame seeds before serving. Slice lettuce such as romaine or Little Gem into fine ribbons and use as  abed for the broccoli.

Chef’s Notes: *Using dashi-kombu adds umami to the broth and broccoli that would appear in the dish if chicken were used as intended. If you do not have, don’t sweat it, it is just one of those weird chef things that adds depth to the dish. If you do use it, you can slice the kombu strip into thin ribbons for adding to rice or grains for added texture/flavor. ** If you wish, you can just add all the sauce ingredients to the pot at once and bring to a boil to marry the flavors. The garlic will be less pungent and the ginger will be more floral and a little spicier.

Serves: 4

Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen