I try to read several overseas news sources every day, because US news media have long since abandoned even the pretense of bringing us "the news" and instead give us the "party line" of what we're supposed to think, along with suppressing news that might challenge the official perspective. In order to keep informed of what's really happening, one has to cast one's net much wider, and pull together information from multiple sources in order to figure it out.
As a result, I occasionally run across non-news-related snippets that intrigue me. This report certainly does. A 74-year-old Japanese retired restauranteur has started to serve meals to small groups in her own home, and developed some innovative recipes along the way.
Under the concept of “improving health through food,” [Fumi Sai] continues to create nourishing dishes featuring unexpected combinations such as scallops pickled in Laojiu, an aged Chinese alcoholic beverage, and potato salad with grapefruit.
. . .
This week’s recipe is “chicken heart pickled in soy sauce,” which flashed into her mind while cooking at Sai. She says it is a treasured recipe born just a year or so ago.
The white fat on the hearts should not be removed since it offers umami. The dish will look pretty if you have coriander to hand as garnish. Another key is not to overcook to retain the texture. The hearts will be cooked thoroughly if they are pickled in hot marinade while still piping hot.
There's more at the link, including the complete recipe (with photographs) if you'd like to try it.
To me, the report raised more questions than it answered. I'm aware that Japanese cooking typically serves rather smaller portions than Western, and offers more of them in a wider variety than our typical meat-and-two-veg sort of meal. How would one prepare this recipe for a Western audience? For a start, we'd need a lot more chicken hearts - and would boiling them be the preferred method of preparation? How about barbecuing them, or frying them, or roasting them? Would the recipe lend itself to such adaptation? Not forgetting, of course, the existential question - do chicken hearts count as light or dark meat?
I'm curious enough I may have to try making the dish, just to see what happens. Now, where to get my hands on a dozen or two chicken hearts?
Peter
You only need one chicken heart, if it's from New York City. ;)
ReplyDeleteIf you contact your local butcher shop, or go to a Latin American or Asian 'supermarket' you'll probably find chicken hearts and other things not normally found in your average supermarket.
ReplyDeleteWorth calling around, if you actually are trying to buy weird parts.
As a kid I was sent to my fairy godparents (real godparents not available, so...) for a week while work was done on the house. They were old-world Italian. It was a sign of good luck to get the chicken heart in your chicken soup (made with basically a whole chicken, skin, feet, head, just missing the digestive tract not including the gizzard.) (She was the reason for my undying love affair with real lasagna and why most restaurant lasagna sucks... chicken hearts. Bleh.)
We normal Americans are spoiled as to what we eat.
I tried barbecued quail on a stick at a Chinese restaurant recently. It was quite good; I can see doing other uncommon meats that way also.
ReplyDeleteJonathan
I thought Cosby's "Giant Chicken Heart" was in Philly? :-)
ReplyDeleteChicken hearts should be available in your local grocery store. My HEB stocks them. If not, go down scale a bit to a market that serves a less wealthy neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteThey are definitely dark meat, and are delicious, with a unique texture and taste.
I make them for my daughter (12 yo) by putting about 20 on a wooden skewer, dust medium heavy with garlic salt, and grill until cooked. I do rinse them before skewering, giving them a squeeze in case there is blood inside. It's unappealing. The meat will be grey-ish when cooked. Doesn't take long.
My dad made them by sauteing them in butter and onions in a pan on the stove.
I had turkey hearts on a skewer at a churrascaria in LA which gave me the idea to try chicken hearts on a skewer on the grill.
They are delicious as an appetizer, figure 8-10 per person...
nick
I like hearts - turkey, chicken, squirrel, deer. Haven't tried a beef heart yet.
ReplyDeleteWhen I do the Thanksgiving turkey, I throw the heart in there. My youngest daughter and I have shared that for years when the turkey comes out.
I just had a batch of squirrels. Only one heart, and it was small, but good.
Hearts are definitely dark meat.
I would eat that recipe.
> I'm aware that Japanese cooking typically serves rather smaller portions than Western
ReplyDeleteThey also eat significantly less than Koreans. During one of their many invasions, the Koreans managed to get a good assessment of their supplies, and confidently assumed it was just a small probe - no way they could stay long w/ that little food. They were..... very wrong.
"I'm curious enough I may have to try making the dish, just to see what happens. Now, where to get my hands on a dozen or two chicken hearts?"
ReplyDeleteCongress?
Having had the pleasure of boiled chicken almost every Friday night during my formative years, I vote for chicken heart as dark meat; speaking of chewy - it's good exercise for the masseters.
ReplyDeleteI watch a lot of shows on Alaska. While much larger, most animal hearts there are often cooked in butter.
ReplyDeleteBeing larger, they are often sliced.
Not sure about chicken hearts as they are often used as bait for something larger...
I'm butchering a dozen chickens tomorrow. Guess I have a good recipe to try with the hearts. Thanks for the link, Peter.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely dark meat!
ReplyDeleteI used to buy the pack of hearts and gizzards to fry up from the local grocery. You don't see them much anymore. Like anchovies and vegamite it's something that you get used to eating as a kid.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to cook chicken hearts some other way then slicing them up and barbequeing them on skewers is another option that the Japanese would also do. Kushiyaki (aka meat onna stick) includes pretty much all the organ meat of chickens - liver, heart and so on. Ate some a month ago in Hiroshima
ReplyDeleteHere's a recipe - https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chicken-heart-yakitori-skewers-11880586 - though I personally would skip the chicken powder in the dipping sauce. In fact you could probably replace the entire dipping sauce with something else
Tried chicken hearts grilled in a few different Brazilian restaurants, in every case they were chewy.
ReplyDeleteIf all else fails, deep fry those suckers… hard to go wrong that way.
I see I am not the only one who immediately thought of Cosby's "Chicken Heart" horror parody...
ReplyDelete