Chenpi - Tumblr Posts

The beginning of chenpi (陳皮). Ever since I started cooking I've worked at a number of farmers markets. And usually during the winter, citrus is plentiful & one day while working with @chefjdelcorro at @eatsofasia, I saw mandarins at the fruit stand. I scooped up about six, ate the fruit, but kept the skins as a bit of a lark. Three weekends later the skins were fully dried, and every summer I have been aging those skins (and more that I've added over the past few years) in the sun, just like they do in my ancestral home of Xinhui County 新會縣, which is known across the Sinosphere for its chenpi, some of which could be aged for as much a century & is literally worth its weight in gold (a kg of 10 year old Xinhui chenpi could set you back CAD$150. No joke.) Doing this brings me a little closer to my heritage and connects me to my late grandfather, who was a cook when he first arrived in Hong Kong. In a way, making chenpi is almost like a bridge across time that connects us. Think you haven't tasted chenpi? Probably not. But if you've had red bean soup for dessert at a Chinese restaurant, chenpi is sine qua non. Or perhaps you've had a Chinese lamb hot pot? Chances are chenpi is one of the herbs singing in harmony. Heck, I've even tasted chenpi beer. It's amazing the culinary magic one can work with a little piece of dried and aged mandarin rind! 家中做陳皮。 身為一個廣東新會縣祖籍嘅我，多時會見到有人用陳皮嚟煮餸。煲湯，煲糖水，炆羊腩煲，等。 三年前我剛開始做廚時嘅某個冬天星期日，我係農民街市見到有新鮮盧柑。 買咗幾個去，食咗啲柑之後，留咗啲皮囉去乾。轉眼過咗三年，今日終於有啲算係陳皮用。 不過點用呢？我連陳皮啤酒都喝過，我心入面知道一定有好多用途、咪係煲湯炆羊咁間單⋯ #ChefApprenticeLife #HomeMade #yycfood #yyc #mandarin #citrus #chenpi #陳皮