“This simple, lovely dish is traditionally made with tender celtuce tips, little batons of crisp green flesh tufted with leaves that are named for their resemblance to the tails of the mythical bird,” explains food writer Fuchsia Dunlop. “After peeling and trimming, they are sometimes briefly blanched in boiling water before being dressed, but may also be eaten raw.
“These days, many people prefer to use Indian lettuce or youmaicai, which is eaten raw and whose long, pointed, trailing leaves actually look more like feathered phoenix tails than celtuce. Both Indian lettuce and celtuce have a distinctive nutty note to their flavours that is perfectly complemented by the sesame sauce. Indian lettuce can be found in some Chinese supermarkets in the West (usually under its Cantonese name, yau mak choi, or youmaicai in Mandarin). If you can’t find it, use the same sauce to dress a crisp lettuce such as Cos or Romaine, or batons of cucumber. Some chefs add enough chilli oil to lend the sauce a hint of spice and a reddish gleam.
‘Phoenix Tails’ in sesame sauce
Equipment
- Wok or frying pan
- Serving dish
- Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 200 g Indian lettuce (or use Cos or Romaine)
- 1.5 tsp light soy sauce
- 0.75 tsp caster sugar
- 2-3 tbsp cold stock or water
- 40 g sesame paste
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1.5 tbsp chilli oil (optional)
- salt
Method
- Toast the sesame seeds in a wok or frying pan over a gentle heat until golden, then set aside. Wash and dry the lettuce, cut into chopstickable pieces and pile up on a serving dish.
- Place the soy sauce and sugar in a bowl with two tablespoons stock or water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Tip the sesame paste into another bowl with a little oil from the jar and smooth it with a spoon. Stir in the soy sauce mixture in a few stages, making sure each addition is emulsified into the sauce before adding more.
- When you have a smooth sauce, stir in the sesame oil and chilli oil, if using, and then, if you need it, add another tablespoon or so of stock or water until you have a sleek liquid with the consistency of single cream: it’s important that the sauce is thick enough to cling to the lettuce, but thin enough to pour. Add a little salt, to taste, but take care not to overdo it, because this dish is best enjoyed as a refreshing contrast to more strongly flavoured dishes.
- Just before serving, pour the sauce over the lettuce, and garnish with the sesame seeds.
- ‘Lettuce captured alive’ variation: Dilute 15g sesame paste with one tablespoon of water and stir until smooth. Add two teaspoons light soy sauce, two teaspoons caster sugar, one and a half teaspoons Chinkiang vinegar and a quarter of a teaspoon of ground roasted Sichuan pepper. Stir in one teaspoon sesame oil, three to four tablespoons of chilli oil with sediment, and a couple of good pinches of salt, to taste. Use this to dress the lettuce, and omit the sesame seeds. With some versions of this dish, chefs will sizzle chillies and whole Sichuan pepper in oil, pour the hot oil over some chopped garlic to bring out its fragrance, and use this spicy oil instead of regular chilli oil.
Nutrition
The Food of Sichuan by Fuchsia Dunlop is published by Bloomsbury, priced £20. Photography Yuki Sugiura.
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