'Hunger Pangs' stars Kevin and Jeffrey Pang share family recipes in their cookbook - KCRW

While some fathers and their adult sons watch football, work on cars, or play golf, Kevin and Jeffrey Pang prefer a more gustatory form of bonding. They co-host Hunger Pangs, a cooking show from America's Test Kitchen. 

Inspired by his mother as well as by his love of food, the elder Pang began posting videos on YouTube to share his recipes. Kevin first learned about the videos from an email his father sent, which he recalls promptly deleting. When his mother revisited the subject, the video of his dad making the family's scallion pancake recipe had already garnered tens of thousands of likes. The duo were invited to cook side-by-side, at the counter of ATK, where their convivial bickering has become part of their recipes. 

Kevin recalls a baked and broiled dish known as Portuguese chicken that he ate every Wednesday as a child. Chicken thighs are cooked in a creamy, coconut curry sauce and served over rice. "To Hong Kong kids, it's like mac and cheese," says Kevin. "It's so evocative of childhood. I have a son of my own and I try to make it for him from time to time."  

Portuguese chicken is the Hong Kong version of mac and cheese, says Kevin Pang, who recalls eating it every Wednesday as a child. Photo courtesy of America's Test Kitchen.

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Hong Kong-Style Portuguese Chicken

Serves 4

Total Time: 1 hour, plus 30 minutes refrigeration

For Cantonese kids, this is their mac and cheese, foundational to their Hong Kong childhood. It is the dish they beg their parents to cook on a weeknight, and it is the dish they order at a diner as teenagers, so comforting and with so much bang For the buck. And once they become parents themselves, it is the first dish they learn to cook For their kids, so easy to whip up and certain to please.

What we call Portuguese chicken (with apologies to the nation of Portugal) is actually a dish of Macau, through and through. The Portuguese role in this dish was having once colonized Macau, a valuable sliver of land a 45-minute boat ride to the west of Hong Kong. The Portuguese introduced ingredients such as potatoes, coconut milk, and curry powder to the region, culinary trophies of their expanding empire.

The Hong Kong version of Macau's Portuguese chicken is a true Fusion dish. Marinated dark meat chicken is cooked in a creamy coconut-curry gravy, topped with Parmesan, and broiled until the top gets charred and crusty. Neither child nor adult can resist sauce and chicken spooned over rice. After our Family immigrated to Canada, so passionate was I about this dish that my mother scheduled Portuguese chicken on our meal planner every Wednesday. Now that I'm a father to a growing boy, I plan on doing the same.

- Kevin

Ingredients 

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger juice
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon table salt, divided, plus table salt for boiling potatoes
• ½ teaspoon chicken bouillon powder (optional)
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 pound small red potatoes, unpeeled, halved
• 1 small onion, halved and sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon Madras curry powder
• 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
• 2h cup canned condensed cream of chicken soup
• 3 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (½ cup)

Instructions

1. Combine l tablespoon oil, cornstarch, ginger juice, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, pepper, sugar,½ teaspoon salt, and bouillon powder, if using, in large bowl; add chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate For at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

2. Cover potatoes with l inch water in large saucepan. Add½ teaspoon salt and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until paring knife slips in and out of center of potato with no resistance, 5 to 70 minutes. Drain potatoes; set aside.

3. Heat empty 14-inch flat-bottomed wok over high heat until just beginning to smoke. Reduce heat to medium, drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons oil around perim­ eter of wok, and heat until just smoking. Add onion and remaining½ teaspoon salt and cook, tossing slowly but constantly, until onion begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Add curry powder and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about l minute.

4. Add chicken with marinade and cook, tossing slowly but constantly, until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes, coconut milk, and condensed soup and bring to simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and sauce is thickened and begins to coat chicken, 5 to 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in evaporated milk.

5. Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Transfer chicken and sauce to 13 by 9-inch broiler-safe baking dish and sprinkle with Parmesan. Broil until Parmesan is spotty brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve.

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The first time he tasted orange chicken was as a college student at USC, and the Panda Express dish wasn't anything like the moo shu pork or egg foo young he ate growing up. He reconciled the regionality and breadth of Chinese cuisine and came to recognize American Chinese food as its own genre.

A Very Chinese Cookbook features recipes that traveled with the Pangs in a dog-eared notepad when the family emigrated from Hong Kong. It also showcases recipes for popular American Chinese dishes.

Kevin explains that his childhood followed a typical immigrant experience, where he received side glances at his lunch at school and was dismissed for his off-brand clothing and shoes. Photo courtesy of America's Test Kitchen.

"We might be at the crest of XO sauce mania," says Kevin Pang. Photo courtesy of America's Test Kitchen.

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Jeffrey's XOSauce

Makes 2½ cups

Total Time: 1 hour, plus 30 minutes refrigeration

XO sauce is the greatest publicity Hennessy cognac could ask for. This ultra savory seafood relish contains no cognac; the XO name comes from the fact that Hong Kongers associate Hennessy with opulence, and this condiment can be pricey to put together.(It just as easily could have been called Rolex sauce.) XO sauce is terrific over noodles, rice, or any dish that can use a knuckle sandwich of umami; think of it as a seafood version of bacon jam. Because the dried scallops are shredded in this recipe, we find the smaller, less-expensive scallops to be the best choice-unless, of course, you're the kind of person who can afford Hennessy X.O cognac.

Ingredients 

• 2½ ounces (½ cup) dried scallops, rinsed
• l tablespoon Shaoxing wine
• ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• ½ teaspoon white pepper
• 2½ ounces dried shrimp, rinsed and chopped
• 2½ ounces dried shredded radish, rinsed and chopped
• l cup vegetable oil
• l shallot, minced
• l Thai chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced
• l tablespoon black bean-garlic sauce
• l tablespoon chili-garlic sauce
• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
• l tablespoon packed brown sugar

Instructions

1. Combine scallops, 2 cups water, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, and white pepper in bowl. Cover and microwave until steaming, about 7 minutes. Let sit until scallops are softened, about 10 minutes. Lift scallops from bowl with fork and discard liquid. Shred scallops into fine strands.

2. Add scallops, shrimp, and radish to empty 14-inch flat­ bottomed wok and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until aromatic and lightly toasted, 5 to 8 minutes; transfer to bowl.

3. Cook vegetable oil, shallot, and Thai chile in now-empty wok over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until shallot is softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in black bean-garlic sauce, chili-garlic sauce, and oyster sauce and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in scallop mixture and sugar, bring to gentle simmer, and cook until flavors meld, about 5 minutes. Let mixture cool completely before serving, about 30 minutes. (Sauce can be refrigerated For up to 3 months.)

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"A Very Chinese Cookbook" features family dishes and popular American Chinese recipes. Photo courtesy of America's Test Kitchen.

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