Kung Pao Pastrami

Josh Beckerman ate at the Mission Chinese pop-up at Frankies 457 in Brooklyn, and for a $40 set menu had the Kung Pau Pastrami (recipe follows), West Lake Rice Porridge, Chicken Wings Chongqing Style, Salt Fish Fried Rice, Mapo Tofu, Tennessee Bacon and Rice Cakes, and Baby Bok Choy Chinese. Read Beckerman’s story here.

Mission Chinese Kung Pau Pastrami. Photo: Ellen Park.

7 servings

For the salted chili paste:
10 dried Tianjin chiles or chiles de árbol
10 red jalapeños or Fresno chiles, stemmed, with seeds, chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
10 garlic cloves, smashed
1 1-inch piece peeled ginger, chopped
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

For the stir fry:
1/2 cup peanut oil
1 cup diced (about 1/4-inch pieces) peeled Yukon Gold potatoes
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
10 dried Tianjin chiles or chiles de árbol
1 pound sliced pastrami (about 1/4-inch thick), cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts, divided
2 celery stalks, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup thinly sliced serrano chiles (about 4 chiles)
1 tablespoon broad-bean paste
1 tablespoon low-salt chicken broth
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon (or more) soy sauce
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Chili oil (optional)

To make the salted chili paste:

Toast dried chiles in a small dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until slightly puffed, about 1 minute. Let cool. Pulse jalapeños, fish sauce, and salt in a food processor until finely chopped. Add garlic, ginger, and wine; crumble in toasted chiles and process until smooth.

You can make the paste up to 2 weeks ahead. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

To make the pastrami stir-fry:

Set a fine-mesh sieve over a heatproof bowl. Heat oil in a wok or a large deep heavy skillet over high heat. Add potatoes and fry, stirring and shaking wok often, until light golden brown, 7–9 minutes (5 minutes, if using a skillet). Strain oil through the sieve. Transfer potatoes to a plate lined with paper towels.

Return strained oil to wok; heat over medium heat. Add peppercorns and stir-fry until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add dried chiles and sauté for 10 seconds. Add pastrami, 3/4 cup peanuts, celery, serrano chiles, bean paste, broth, sugar, and potatoes; stir constantly until well combined and pastrami is glazed with sauce, about 3 minutes. Stir in 1 Tbsp. salted chili paste and 1 Tbsp. soy sauce. Season with more chili paste and soy sauce, if desired, and transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with remaining 1/4 cup peanuts and chives. Drizzle with chili oil, if desired.

Nutritional information:
One serving contains 540 calories, 34 grams fat, 6 grams saturated fat, 45 mg cholesterol, 39 grams carbohydrates, 13 grams dietary fiber, 3 grams sugar, 27 grams protein, 1850 mg sodium.

[These are not cookbook recipes. Some home cooks work from written recipes, but many know their favorite dishes by heart, or improvise on the spot, or define a home-cooked meal as take-out put on a plate. We offer these as a closer look at what our 12 New Yorkers had for dinner, whether it was a set of traditional recipes, or take-out, or even a sandwich consumed first thing in the morning.]

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