My top-secret Coq au Vin recipe

What do you do when you have so much leftover wine that you can't finish, and tons of frozen chicken in the freezer? Why, you make some good old Coq au Vin (Chicken in Wine), of course.

I have experimented with this French classic over many years. Back in my bachelor days I probably made this every other month because 1. it's easy to make, 2. you can make a lot of it at one time, and 3. it helps me use up the red wine that I couldn't finish.

First, you'll need some chicken. I prefer to use breasts that can be cut up into cutlet, but thighs, drumsticks, or even whole chickens will do.

Next, you'll need some wine, specifically red wine. My experience is that you tend to get better results with the drier varietals, but I've had success with Merlots and Carb's too. About two glasses are needed.

This is the full list of ingredients.

• chicken (2-3 lbs)
  
• red wine (2 glasses)
  
• pearl onions (about 10)
  
• carrots (about 1 cup, peeled and cut to small pieces)
• mushrooms (1 box, around 4 oz.)
  
• can of tomato paste (the small 7 oz. can will do)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• parsley, about 1 tbs
• savory and thyme, a pinch of each
• salt (2 tsp)
• pepper (1/2 tsp)

First, you brown the chicken in a skillet. This part is optional, but I like a little crunchiness in my chicken. Remove chicken to a plate, then use the same skillet to brown the carrots with garlic.

Put the carrot and garlic mixture into a pot over high heat. Stir in the wine, until well blended. Next, stir in the tomato paste, then add the spices. Put browned chicken into the pot, then add the mushrooms. Keep stirring until everything is mixed.

After the mixture came to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.
That's it. You now have enough chicken to feed yourself for the week, or to serve four guests if you're having a dinner party. The wine sauce goes pretty well with mash potatoes, but also works with rice and pasta.

China's green zeal

Like I stated in a previous post, one of the most pleasant surprises from my recent trip to China is that the country's surprisingly green. While the most salient signs are in the area of energy conservation, there is also an increasing awareness of the need for pollution control and biodiversity. I believe I even heard a couple of mentions of climate change on CCTV (the state owned TV stations).

One of the most common sights in Northern China is the solar water heater. On the train ride from Beijing to Qingdao, I can see one of these on just about every building. They look like this



At first I thought this is only used by poorer folks who can't afford gas, but I was able to find a lot of these in the cities too.



In addition to widespread use of solar power, the locals adopted a wide variety of power saving measures that I thought are both simple and effective. For example, the windows of many Chinese high rises can be opened, saving money on heat and air condition.



Another innovation is that appliances that don't need to be on are shut off. In many malls in China, the escalators have sensors that detect movement, and when there's no one around it shuts down. Similarly, the lights on the hallways of most apartment buildings have sound detectors that switches them off when not needed. This can present a slight inconvenience for people who don't talk all the time, but is a small price to pay if you consider the kilowatts that can be saved.

I also detected a high level of awareness for the importance of biodiversity. Here's a poster of Yao Min promoting a boycott of Shark Fin Soup. Since that's mostly a Cantonese delicacy, I'm not sure if such a campaign will make a lot of difference in Beijing. I hope this campaign is also taking place in Southern China.



Thomas Friedman said in his new book that we're entering a Climate-Energy Era, and the country that can take the lead in developing new green technologies will dominate this new era. If President-Elect Obama fails to follow through on his promise to invest heavily in green technology then the US will surely lose its leadership position to China.

Bizarre Foods - China Edition

It seems like no trip to China is complete without pictures of the assortment of critters that passes for food there. So here is, without further ado, the list of items that I tried, or almost tried, on my China trip, in order of edibility.

First on my list is crispy-fried scorpion. According to Chinese medicine, scorpions are good for your immune system, and as someone who's prone to colds and flus it would be stupid of me not to take advantage of it.

These scorpions are on average about two inches long. The vendor peddles her ware live on the street. Once you placed your order, she picks up the scorpions you designated with chopsticks and dropped them into a bowl of water. After letting them stew for a minute she drops them into a pot of boiling oil, which smells like a combination of peanut and sesame oil.

They're actually not bad. Since they're so small and deep fried they felt crunchy throughout and have none of the mushiness that most people fear about insects. The texture is similar to the skin of fried chicken.

If you don't like your scorpions deep fried you can try them roasted. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to.

Since Qingdao is a coastal city, it's known for its seafood. One of the local favorites is octopus, which you can get super-fresh (think squirming) at the local supermarket.

You can also get roasted silkworm pupa at the local supermarket, shrinkwrapped like sushi.

These are, without a doubt, the foulest smelling things I have placed in my mouth. The mashed-potato-like texture didn't help.

Call me narrow minded, but I had to draw the line at echinoderms. In fact, the only places that sell these things are found in tourist areas. Maybe an enterprising local fisherman came up with this scam where he gets to dispose of his bycatch while at the same time separate gullible foreigners from their hard earned cash.

disturbing new technology

I thought we're at least ten years away from this. Frankly the idea that we can't even keep what's in our head private scares me.

Random observations from my trip to China

- For a country with such a poor image in environmental issues, China is surprisingly green.
- There really is a lot of cultural difference between northern and southern China.
- The Chinese people sure love banquets.
- They have really nice cell phones over there.
- If you think the sales rep at Radioshack are too eager, it would be best if you stayed out of any store while in China.
- The country that invented paper is apparently suffering from a paper shortage, especially napkins and toilet paper.
- Winter is not the best time to visit northern China.
- Apparently more people in China knew that Obama is not a Muslim than in the US.
- There are cities in China that are less bike-friendly than New York.