Danny Kaye's Batter-Fried Scallops in Sweet and Sour Sauce
1 pint scallops
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 egg white
1 tablespoon peanut, vegetable, or corn oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup or more water
Peanut, vegetable, or corn oil for deep frying
2 1/2 cups sweet and sour sauce (recipe below)
If desired, rinse and drain the scallops well.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, egg white, one tablespoon oil, vinegar and baking soda. Mix well.
Gradually add the water, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Add enough water to make a thick batter like a pancake batter.
Heat the oil for deep frying and, if desired, test one scallop by dipping it in the batter and frying to determine if the batter is took thick. If so, stir in a little more water.
Add the scallops to the batter and quickly drop them one at a time into the hot (but not smoking) oil. Deep fry, stirring and turning with a strainer, making sure that the scallops do not stick together. Remove and drain well. Arrange on a serving dish. Pour over the sweet and sour sauce (recipe below) and serve.
Sweet and Sour Sauce
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons water
3/4 cup pineapple juice
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
Combine the sugar, vinegar, one-half cup water and pineapple juice in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer stirring until sugar dissolves.
Blend the cornstarch with the remaining three tablespoons water and stir it into the simmering sauce. Stir in the food coloring.
Danny Kaye's Chicken Salad
Chicken:
4 pounds whole chicken .
1 cup yellow onion, sliced
1/2 cup carrot, sliced
1 leek, washed
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
8 cups water
Dressing:
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Garnish:
12 lettuce leaves (Boston)
1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, minced
Place the chicken, breast side down, in a tall, narrow pot so it fits snugly on the bottom. Add remaining poaching ingredients. The chicken should be submerged and the water should reach about 1" above it. Put something heavy in chicken cavity like a heavy stainless steel spoon.
Bring it to a gentle boil, cover and let boil gently for 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, cover with a heavy towel and set aside to let the chicken steep for 45 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the pot and place on a platter to cool for a few minutes. The stock can be strained and frozen for up to 6 months for use in soup.
Pick the meat from the bones, discarding skin, bones and fat. Shred the meat with your fingers, following the grain and pulling it into strips. The meat tastes better shredded than diced with a knife.
Dressing:
Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl large enough to hold the chicken. Add chicken shreds to the dressing and mix well.
Arrange lettuce leaves in a nest around the outside of a platter. Spoon the room temperature chicken salad into the center, sprinkle with the tarragon leaves, and serve.
Danny Kaye's Chinese Stir-Fry Oysters and Shrimp
1 cup raw oysters
1/4 cup flour
1/2 lb. raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 tbsps. peanut, vegetable or corn oil
1 two-inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled, cut into fine shreds
5 scallions, trimmed, cut in two-inch lengths
1 tsp. light soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
Salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 tbsps. cornstarch
1 1/2 tbsps. cold water
Place oysters in mixing bowl; add flour and enough water to cover. Stir oysters in the liquid. Drain well, run under several changes of cold water, drain well again. (Flour will cleanse and plump oysters.) Prepare shrimp; set aside. Drop oysters into barely simmering water. Turn off heat. Let stand 1 minute; drain. Set aside. Repeat with shrimp. Heat oil in wok or skillet with high heat. Add ginger, scallions. Cook, stirring, 5 seconds. Add oysters, shrimp, stir rapidly. Cook 15 seconds. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste, stirring constantly. Blend cornstarch into cold water; stir into the wok or skillet. Cook 10 seconds. Serve immediately.
Danny Kaye's Chopped Beef with Green Peas
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 pound chopped beef
2 packages (10 ounce each) frozen green peas
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon MSG
1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoon water
In a preheated Chinese wok or heavy skillet, place peanut oil. Bring to a sizzle and add chopped beef, frozen peas, soy sauce, MSG, and sugar. Toss and mix rapidly at high heat for two minutes. Add beef broth. Cover and cook at medium high heat three or four minutes. Uncover. Add gradually two tablespoons cornstarch, mixed to a paste with two tablespoons water. Cook three to four minutes longer, or until the sauce thickens. Serves four to six.
Danny Kaye's Egg Noodles with Quick Beef Stroganoff
3 tablespoons chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 cans (10 1/2 ounces each) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 can (3 ounces) sliced mushrooms, undrained
1 cup dairy sour cream
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
3 cups diced leftover beef
8 ounces medium egg noodles (about 4 cups)
1 tablespoon salt
3 quarts boiling water
Saute onion in butter until crisp-tender. Blend soup. undrained mushrooms, sour cream and celery salt. Add beef and heat to serving temperature.
Meanwhile, gradually add noodles and salt to rapidly boiling water so that water continues to boil. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender. Drain in colander. Serve topped with beef mixture. Makes 4 servings.
Danny Kaye's Fabulous Chinese Beggar's Chicken
Lotus leaves (soaked in water) or baker's clay:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups salt
1 tbsp. ground ginger
About 1 1/3 cups water
1. Mix flour, salt and ginger in mixing bowl. Add enough water to make a stiff paste. Turn out on lightly floured board. Knead a few times. With rolling pin, roll out dough in circle about one-half inch thick. Set aside.
To prepare the chicken:
One cleaned whole chicken weighing about 3 lbs.
3 large Chinese dried black mushrooms
3 links Chinese sausage (lap cheong)
One-inch piece scraped fresh ginger root, minced
3 scallions, chopped (or small onion)
1/2 tsp. Sichuan pepper, ground
3 tbsps. peanut (or vegetable) oil
1 head cleaned Chinese celery cabbage (bok choy), shredded
1/2 cup "sticky" (glutinous) rice
3 tbsps. dry sherry (saki or water sweetened with honey or sugar)
3 tbsps. soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil
1. Wipe cleaned chicken inside and out with paper towel. Tie neck with string to make it leakproof. Hang bird to dry in cool place about 1 hour (or invert in a bowl). Rub cavity inside with salt and pepper; set aside.
2. Soak mushrooms in warm water 15-20 minutes. Squeeze dry, remove stems. Chop with Chinese cleaver (or sharp knife). Cook sausages in boiling water 15 minutes to remove excess fat; drain and mince.
3. Cook sausage, ginger, scallions (or onions), Sichuan pepper (grind in pepper mill or crush with flat side of cleaver) in peanut (or vegetable) oil in wok (or skillet) a few minutes over low heat stir-frying using chopsticks (or slotted spoon). Add Chinese celery cabbage (or bok choy) and "sticky" rice tossing several times with chopsticks (or spoon) to barely heat. Remove from fire. Add sherry (saki or sweetened water), soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Toss lightly to mix well.
4. Fill cavity loosely with dressing. Close opening, secure with skewers (or by sewing). Truss bird, tie legs and wings to body with string. Rub surface of skin with salt (or soy sauce, or softened butter or peanut oil).
5. Place bird in center of large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Wrap tightly; seal. Place bird on lotus leaf (or circle of baker's clay). Cover entire body surface with leaf (or clay). Secure tightly to seal in cooking juices.
6. Place bird on rack in roasting pan. Roast uncovered about 1 1/2 hours in preheated 500 degrees oven. The clay will become hard and dry.
7. Remove bird to a basket (or platter). Use mallet (or hammer) to crack open shell, discard, peel off aluminum foil. Let bird rest a few minutes to firm up before carving. Remove skewers (or lacing) to serve dressing. Serves 3-4.
Thoughts: Danny's chicken is well named for it will cause friend or foe to beg for seconds! Luckily, too, Danny's choice is one of the few Chinese dishes that can be made in advance, since the chicken is unusually moist and succulent. It may be advisable for novice cooks (or carvers) to remove the outer shell in the kitchen before serving. Serve proudly in a bed of watercress (or Chinese parsley) and carve Western style.
Lotus leaves (act as a parchment) are almost unobtainable except in Oriental food shops on the East or West coast. All other ingredients are easy to find in Chinese food stores or through mail order houses.
For flavorful additions: Rub bird (small turkey, Rock Cornish hens or squabs) with soy sauce spiked with sherry (saki or honey) and chopped ginger root (keeps nicely for months if scraped and cut in large pieces, covered with sherry and stored in a sealed jar in the refrigerator) or rub skin with seasoned butter (garlic, onion or soy sauce) before stuffing. To change dressing use chopped Chinese ham (or cured American ham). The dressing should have the same consistency to fried rice. For other additions, use slivers of water chestnuts, bean sprouts or chopped preserved Chinese cabbage or mustard greens (sold in jars or cans in a vinegary brine. Rinse well before stir-frying and adjust recipe by reducing amounts of soy sauce and-or salt). Change seasonings using more or less Sichuan pepper (there's no substitute for the pungent spice that becomes more aromatic when fried), star anise. five-spice powder (a mixture of star anise, fennel, cinnamon bark, clove and Sichuan pepper). Just take it from there!
Danny Kaye's Lemon Pasta
1/4 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 pound fresh fettuccine pasta
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Bring a large covered pot of salted water to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan on low heat, melt the butter. Stir in the cream and heat gently. Stir in the lemon juice and zest. Turn off the heat.
When the water boils, cook the pasta until al dente (2 or 3 minutes for fresh pasta, longer for dried). Reserve 1 cup of the hot pasta cooking water and drain the pasta.
Place the hot drained pasta in a large serving bowl, add the lemon cream sauce, and toss.
If the sauce is too thick, add some or all of the reserved hot pasta water.
Toss in the grated Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Danny Kaye's Quick Corn and Ham Saute
6 ears fresh corn
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sliced onion
12 ounces (2 cups) diced cooked ham
1 cup diced green pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon basil leaves, crumbled
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Remove husks and silks from corn. Cut kernels from cobs (makes about 3 cups); set aside. In a large skillet, melt butter. Add onion and saute for 1 minute.
Stir in ham, green pepper, sugar, basil, salt, black pepper and reserved corn. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Makes 4 portions.
Danny Kaye's Quick Crab Soup
2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) split pea soup
2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) tomato soup
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 cup dry sherry
1 pound cooked crab meat, flaked
What You Will Need
In a large saucepan, mix pea soup, tomato soup, chicken broth, cream, curry powder and sherry. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in crab meat and cook until heated through.
Danny Kaye's Tempura
1 1/2 lbs. shrimp
2 lbs. fillet of sole
1 lb. thin asparagus
3/4 lb. snow peas
2 green peppers
Corn oil
Batter:
2 beaten egg yolks
2/3 cup cold water
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tbsp. grated wasabi (Japanese horseradish)
Sauce:
Combine 1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup sake
1/3 cup fish stock
Shell, devein shrimp, split lengthwise, without cutting all the way to the end. Press open, butterfly-fashion.
Cut sole into 1 x 2-inch strips. Cut vegetables into bite-sized hunks.
Pour oil in skillet or wok. Test temperature of oil by throwing a pinch of bread into oil. If bread browns immediately, fat is hot enough (365 degrees F.).
Starting with seafood, dip all items into the batter, then into the hot, deep fat. When cooked to a golden brown, remove and drain on a paper towel.
Tempura should be eaten immediately with the sauce. Serves 6.
