Chun pei is one of the few flavourings that gets more expensive as it ages.

 

This “old skin” is made by leaving tangerine peel out to dry in a breezy, sunny place until it is completely desiccated, then putting it in an airtight jar.

Rather than losing flavour as it ages, as with many spices, chun pei becomes more complex and potent. When used in restaurants, the description of the dish will often state how old the chun pei is, especially if it is aged peel.

 

Shops that carry a range of chun pei usually have some peel that is aged for 10 years or more, and a small box can sell for hundreds of dollars.

 

Chun pei is a key ingredient in many Chinese sweet soups. Photo: Shutterstock

 

Chun pei is sold at shops specialising in dried ingredients, as well as by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herbalists. In TCM, it is prescribed for a wide variety of complaints, including coughs, stomach ailments and inflammations.

 

Its use in Chinese cuisine is just as varied.

 

It is often one of the ingredients used to smoke meats (along with star anise and cinnamon), and is added to braising liquids for beef and mutton.

 

The popular dish usually called “orange chicken” is traditionally made with chun pei, although (in inexpensive overseas restaurants, anyway) it is turned into a sickeningly sweet and sticky concoction that incorporates orange marmalade.

 

Noodle shops sell beef balls flavoured with fine slivers of chun pei, and the peel is also delicious when mixed with minced pork and water chestnuts to make steamed pork patty. It is an essential ingredient in the tong sui (sweet soup) made with red beans and rock sugar.

 

 

Steamed eel with chun pei, ginger, garlic and chillies

I love eel, and often order it when I see it on the menu. I have eaten it everywhere from Michelin-star restaurants in the most idyllic of settings to humble roadside stalls, and have rarely met a preparation I dislike.

t is not the easiest or most pleasant food to prepare, though. For one thing, an eel will move around long after it has been killed. Have the seafood vendor cut the backbone in several places before bagging it up for you.

Also, the eel is a slimy creature and can easily slip out of your hands. The vendor will offer to skin it for you, which would make it easier to handle because the mucus-y slime is on the skin. But for this recipe, leave the skin on. If possible, buy the eel the day before you want to cook it and keep it in the coldest section of your refrigerator.

Steamed eel with black beans. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Ingredients

600 grams fresh eel, killed and cleaned

Sea salt, as needed

1 piece of chun pei, soaked in warm water until soft and pliable

10-15 grams salted black beans, soaked in warm water for about 20 minutes

2-3 garlic cloves

3-4 large, thin slices of ginger, peeled

2 red bird’s-eye chillies

15ml light soy sauce

10ml Chinese rice wine

15ml cooking oil

2-3 spring onions

A small handful of fresh coriander

 

1. Sprinkle salt liberally over the eel and rub it into the skin. Leave it for about 30 minutes, then use the back of a knife to scrape the skin to remove the mucus (this is an unpleasant task). If the eel still feels slimy, repeat the salting and scraping process.

2. Rinse the eel, then dry it with paper towels. Trim off and discard the fins. Cut the eel into 2cm-thick cross sections and lay them, cut-side up, in a wide, shallow bowl.

3. Cut the chun pei and ginger into very thin matchsticks. Drain the black beans and chop them roughly. Thinly slice the garlic and cut the chillies into rounds about 2mm thick. Scatter these ingredients over the eel. Mix the soy sauce with the rice wine and pour this over and around the eel.

4. Place the bowl on a tiered steamer set over boiling water, cover with the lid and steam for 10 minutes, or until the eel is cooked through. While the eel is steaming, slice the spring onions into fine julienne. Heat the oil until very hot.

5. Remove the eel from the steamer and top with the spring onion and coriander. Pour the oil over the aromatics to wilt them, then serve with steamed white rice. Take care when eating the eel because it has fine, soft bones.