Comments on: Da Pan Ji (Chicken Potato Stew with Noodles, 大盘鸡)

By: Maggie Zhu

Maggie Zhu — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 22:57:52 +0000

In reply to Jade. I think if you have fermented beans (or the fermented bean sauce) that will be a great replacement :)

By: Jade

Jade — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 16:56:29 +0000

Hi Maggie :-> I love your recipes! The flavors in this one really interest me but I’m not a big fan of doubanjiang. Would this recipe still be tasty if omitted or would it not really come together? Is there a good sub for the strong flavor of the fermented beans, maybe mushrooms…? Thanks!!

By: Sara Jane

Sara Jane — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 04:10:40 +0000

I love your website. I’m a bit of an adventurous cooker and I get so bored of recipes. I don’t have much experience with Chinese cooking but I have lots of access to ingredients (similar at least) in Vietnam. I can’t wait to try them!

By: Selina

Selina — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 17:55:56 +0000

Wonderful home coking recipe. Thank you for this dish. I get many ideas/recipes from you to cook for my family. It brings me memories of my mother’s Chinese home cooking dishes.

By: Maggie

Maggie — Wed, 17 Apr 2019 17:03:35 +0000

In reply to Kay. Hi Kay, you could substitute the beer with 1 cup chicken broth plus 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry). If you don't any alcohol at home, 1 cup chicken broth works too. Alcohol adds a nice tanginess to the dish but you can do without.

By: Kay

Kay — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 23:31:49 +0000

What would be a good substitute for the beer? I never have it on hand at home.

By: dia

dia — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 20:50:08 +0000

Maggie,
I’ve been following your recipes for time and I was really excited to see Xin Jiang cuisine because thats where my home town is. Dapanji is celebrated dish, and it is great for capturing the history of Xin Jiang, the dish was created by a Sichuan man who came to work in Urumqi, Xinjiang ( home to the ethnic indeginous peoples of chinas north west the Uyghurs) and was first sold at a Hui Zhou (Chinese muslim) restaurant. I think your dish looked beautiful i made it last night and it was very tasty, however it is not dapanji.

I understand that your dish was created for the sake of being accessible to different people. But by doing so i dont think it kept the qualities that make dapanji, dapanji. Even when I eat at Uyghur and Chinese restaurants in the states and Canada it always has the same components to it, as it did back home. Wherein, The chicken should be cut into smaller pieces, as dapanji literally translates to big plate chicken, it would not be dapanji without a dish of succulent pieces of chicken on the bone. traditionally the noodles are only used with the broth after wards. Im also sad to see the use of alchohol as because a majority of us are muslim in the north west, the original recipe never had alcohol, so much so that the annual dapanji festival in xinjiang discourages the use of alcohol so all the competing dapanji dishes will have a fair shot. also we dont use bell pepper, we use sichuan peppers and long green chinese peppers, and sugar and soy sauce are also used to give a sweet and spicy after taste and makes the broth of the chicken very thick- which takes us to the name “chicken potato stew”- although water and oil are used to create the broth the chicken should be cooked until it no longer is a stew but a minimal thick liquid coat (aided by the potatos) that coat your noodles after you finish the chicken. I also wanted to add that we dont use fermented beans either.

I hope you dont take my comment with malice, but this dish is very important to our people and it really celebrates the identity and unison of xinjiang and i hope you will consider making the dish in the tradition way to see how it tastes and if you life it! best wishes maggie,

Dia

By: Wendy van Driel

Wendy van Driel — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 23:39:49 +0000

So goood! Thank you so much for your contribution to and introduction in the real chinese kitchen…I have a ton of international cook books, but a real chinese one was not among them.

By: Aoife Hanley

Aoife Hanley — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 13:37:44 +0000

OMG this is phenomenal. Tastes just like the real deal, thank you so much for the recipe! Look forward to exploring the rest of your site 🙂

By: Mili

Mili — Thu, 10 May 2018 13:47:54 +0000

Hey Maggie,

its great you’re shinning a light on Uighur cuisine! Im loving seeing more and more of it on english blogs. However, for this recipe in particular, I recommend to not ever use bell peppers, and only use long hot green Chinese peppers, and the use of beer is not needed. It is a Uighur recipe (who are Islamic) and using alcohol in cooking is just not a thing.

Caramelizing the chicken with the sugar and soy sauce is also really needed to get that rich colour, everything else is a great adaptation! Hope to see more Xingjiang recipes 🙂