In case you’ve ever craved a dish that’s half comforting stew, half noodle wonderland, huge plate hen (大盘鸡, Da Pan Ji) is the reply. Born alongside the busy truck routes of northwest China, this filling one-pot meal was created to fulfill hungry drivers, and shortly turned a staple beloved everywhere in the nation.

At its core, huge plate hen options juicy, bite-sized chunks of hen simmered in a richly spiced sauce with potatoes and peppers, then served over chewy hand-pulled noodles. The broth is flavored with daring aromatics like star anise, Sichuan peppercorn, dried chili peppers, and a splash of Shaoxing wine for depth. A dollop of doubanjiang provides simply the correct amount of warmth and umami, whereas chunks of potato take in all of the savory goodness, creating velvety bites which might be as comforting as they’re flavorful.

Components

The ingredient listing for Da Pan Ji appears fairly lengthy, however most of it consists of pantry components that you simply in all probability have already got. Like every braised dish, this one makes use of quite a lot of spices and aromatics to create a balanced and complicated sauce that’s hearty and wealthy. When you collect the components, the dish is kind of simple to make.

Which lower of hen to make use of

In China, eating places at all times use an entire hen and chop it into bone-in, bite-size items. The reason being that the bones will make the broth additional flavorful and launch gelatin to thicken the sauce naturally. 

To make the recipe extra appropriate for a Western kitchen, I used boneless skinless hen thigh items. As a result of thigh meat is far richer than breast, it pairs properly with the wealthy sauce. It additionally handles the braising a lot better, absorbing all the flavour with out turning dry.

If you’re in search of a extra genuine texture and mouthfeel, you can too think about using hen wings. Or you may even use chopped up thigh and leg items (bite-size items). I don’t suggest utilizing hen breast because it dries out too quick and it’s not appropriate for braising.

Really helpful noodles

What makes a restaurant Da Pan Ji actually particular is the hand-pulled noodles. In comparison with packaged noodles, they’re much chewier and have a particular texture that dried noodles can’t evaluate to. I extremely suggest utilizing my hand-pulled noodles recipe if you wish to pursue the genuine expertise.

Alternatively, Da Pan Ji is kind of simple to make regardless of its lengthy listing of components, and you’ll completely serve it with packaged noodles for a weeknight meal. 

If in case you have entry to a big Asian or Chinese language market, attempt to discover the Shanxi Hand Pulled Noodles from Havista. It’s a tremendous large noodle with a pleasant texture. If these are usually not accessible, I additionally suggest the Knife Reduce Dried Noodles from The Mala Market. They’re fairly large and have a pleasant chewy texture.

Taste base

The dish makes use of hen inventory as a base. In a perfect world, you’ll use do-it-yourself hen inventory. Not solely is it full of taste, it additionally creates a thick sauce texture. However after all, my recipe makes use of boxed hen inventory to simplify issues. The outcome tastes simply pretty much as good, however the sauce is a bit of thinner than one you’d have in a restaurant.

Shaoxing wine, gentle soy sauce, darkish soy sauce, and a small quantity of doubanjiang create an earthy savory umami with some warmth. Darkish soy sauce offers the dish a pleasant darkish colour and a little bit of caramel style. 

An array of spices and aromatics are used – ginger, garlic, scallion, dried chili pepper, star anise, bay leaf, cinnamon, and Sichuan peppercorn. They offer the dish a heat tone with a posh taste and a few smokiness. 

Like different dishes from Xinjiang delicacies, the dish makes use of onion, potato, and pepper, that are staples within the area. They add texture and make the dish hearty, colourful and filling. 

How one can make

1. Prep the noodles: In case you’re making contemporary hand-pulled noodles, put together the dough first. For dried noodles, boil them till al dente. Rinse them underneath chilly water and drain properly. In case you use the Shanxi Hand Pulled Noodles from Havista, separate them and add to the boiling water one noodle at a time to forestall sticking (it’s the identical technique you’d use to cook dinner contemporary hand-pulled noodles.)

2. Brown the hen: Warmth the oil in a wok till smoking. Add the hen items and cook dinner till frivolously golden. The secret is to not contact the hen for a minute or two earlier than stirring, so the underside browns correctly with out sticking. 

3. Bloom the aromatics: Add the ginger and spice combination. Stir to infuse the oil. Then add doubanjiang and cook dinner till it releases purple oil. 

4. Deglaze and simmer: Pour within the soy sauce primarily based seasoning combination and scrape up any browned bits. Add hen inventory and potatoes. Convey to a simmer, cowl, and cook dinner for 5 minutes. Throughout this course of, you need to let the broth keep a boil, to let some liquid evaporate and for the fats to emulsify, to create a thicker sauce. 

5. Add pepper: Stir within the purple bell pepper and proceed simmering for an additional 5 minutes till the greens are tender. If the sauce is just too skinny, cook dinner uncovered over excessive warmth whereas stirring till barely thickened. But in addition concentrate to not cut back the broth an excessive amount of, because the sauce tends to thicken extra as soon as it cools off.

To serve, pile the hen and greens together with the sauce over the noodles and serve instantly.

How one can Serve & Customise

• Serve huge plate hen family-style as a major dish in a big bowl for everybody to dig in, simply because it’s carried out in China.
• If you wish to make a Xinjiang-themed feast, contemplate pairing it with different dishes comparable to Kao Bao Zi (Baked Buns), Lamb Skewers, or Roast Lamb Shank. Don’t overlook embrace Wooden Ear Mushroom Salad or Cucumber Salad as a refreshing appetizer. 
• To make it spicier, lower the chili peppers in half and use the seeds within the cooking. It’s also possible to use contemporary chili pepper to switch the bell pepper. When serving the dish, add a splash of chili oil or chili crisp to your particular person bowls based on your style.  
• One other steadily used ingredient is Chinkiang vinegar, which is a well-liked condiment so as to add to particular person bowls to additional improve taste. 

Continuously requested questions

Hearty, spicy, and supremely satisfying, huge plate hen is the enduring Xinjiang dish that brings collectively tender hen, velvety potatoes, and large noodles in a daring, fragrant sauce.

Cook dinner ModeForestall your display from going darkish

• Put together the noodle dough when you’re planning to make use of do-it-yourself noodles.

• Combine Shaoxing wine, gentle and darkish soy sauce, and sugar in a small bowl.

• Add the ginger, garlic, onion, dried chili pepper, star anise, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, and cinnamon to a small plate.

• Boil the noodles based on directions. As soon as carried out, drain and rinse with chilly water to cease cooking. Then drain once more.

• Warmth oil in a wok till shimmering. Add the hen. Cook dinner, stirring often, till the floor turns gentle golden.

• Add the plate of the spices to the wok. Stir and cook dinner for 30 seconds to launch perfume. Add doubanjiang and cook dinner till all of the spices are coated. Add the Shaoxing wine combination. Stir instantly to deglaze the wok.

• Pour in water and add potato. Cook dinner over medium-high warmth till bringing to a simmer. Cowl and simmer over medium warmth for five minutes (*Footnote 2).

• Add bell pepper. Preserve simmering for an additional 5 minutes till the greens flip tender. Stir within the scallion and cook dinner for an additional minute.

• If the broth remains to be too skinny, flip to excessive warmth to scale back the sauce. Stir always to forestall burning. As soon as carried out, switch every little thing to a giant bowl. Take away as a lot dried spices as you may and discard them.

• Serve the hen, greens and sauce over boiled noodles. Garnish with cilantro if desired.

Ingredient Substitution Information

1. Maintain your knife at a couple of 45 diploma angle relative to the potato. Reduce 1” from the top. Roll the potato in direction of you till the lower facet is going through up then lower once more 1” from the top on the similar angle. Repeat the rolling and reducing. All of the potato items ought to be roughly triangular in form. It is a widespread knife method in Chinese language cooking, to create extra edges on more durable greens so that they take in taste whereas braising.
2. The broth ought to retain a low boil, so the sauce slowly reduces, and thickens up because the fats emulsifies.

Serving: 1serving, Energy: 595kcal, Carbohydrates: 65g, Protein: 40g, Fats: 19.1g, Saturated Fats: 4.1g, Ldl cholesterol: 148mg, Sodium: 890mg, Potassium: 522mg, Fiber: 3.7g, Sugar: 7.3g, Calcium: 57mg, Iron: 3mg

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