Name: The Yin-Yang Dish
Yield: Serves 8 with 4 Other Dishes
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 1 large clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped; 15 ml (1 tbsp) Shaoxing wine or medium dry sherry; 8 spring onions, trimmed and cut into 4 cm (1½ in) sections, white parts only; 10 ml (2 tsp) finely chopped ginger; 1 egg yolk; 175 ml (6 fl oz/¾ cup) chicken stock; 15 ml (1 tbsp) thick or dark soy sauce; 5 ml (1 tsp) Shaoxing wine or medium dry sherry; twice 5 ml (1 tsp) tapioca or potato flour dissolved in 15 ml (1 tbsp) water, put into 2 separate dishes; 10 ml (2 tsp) thick or dark soy sauce; 350 g (12 oz) chicken breast fillets, cut crossways into slices about 3 mm (⅛ in) thick; 10 ml (2 tsp) plain flour; 350 g (12 oz) pork fillet, cut crossways into slices about 3 mm (⅛ in) thick; vegetable oil for deep-frying; 60 ml (4 tbsp) peanut or vegetable oil; 6 turns black peppermill; 2 ml (⅓ tsp) salt; 6 turns white peppermill; 10 ml (2 tsp) cornflour; 1 egg white, lightly beaten; 8 g (¼ oz) cloud ears, reconstituted and broken up; 15 ml (1 tbsp) peanut or vegetable oil; salt; 50 g (2 oz) canned bamboo shoots, cut into thin slices and blanched; half of 1 long cucumber, cut into wedges

Preparation info

Serves
8
with 4 Other Dishes

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Classic Food of China

By Yan-Kit So

Published 1992

About

Even though Shanxi province cannot boast of a cuisine like its neighbouring province, Shandong, it nevertheless has produced a dish that is famous all over north China, especially in restaurants. It plays with the yin-yang concept, yin being the chicken and egg white, and yang the pork and egg yolk. The end result is an echo of the same theme, the whitish chicken next to the russet pork. It may look like a long recipe, but it is a fun one to make, particularly if you can enlist some help, f