America's Test Kitchen

-Today on "America's Test Kitchen"... Elle makes Bridget a foolproof kung pao chicken... Adam reveals his favorite heavy-duty cutting board... and Dan makes Julia the perfect oven-steamed fish with scallions and ginger.

It's all coming up right here on "America's Test Kitchen."

-In Szechwan cooking, the combination of tingly Szechwan peppercorns and fiery chilies is known as "mala," or "numbing heat."

Now, it's a key part of a dish that you know well -- kung pao chicken.

And Elle's here.

She's going to show us how to make a great version at home.

-That's right.

And beyond the numbing heat, kung pao chicken is essentially a stir-fry in a flavorful sauce.

One of the problems, though, with chicken stir-frys is that often the chicken dries out.

-Mm.

-We're going to solve that problem today.

-Okay.

-So, we have here 1 1/2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, and they've been trimmed, and I'm just going to finish this off.

And they've all been cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

-Gotcha.

I love that you use thighs instead of chicken breasts.

Just a lot more flavorful and not going to dry out, right?

-That's right.

So, I'm just slicing the chicken into about 1/2-inch strips, and then I'm going to cut them into 1/2-inch pieces.

-Yeah, those tiny little pieces of chicken are definitely a hallmark of kung pao chicken, but I see that you have everything prepped out ahead of time, and that really is key for any stir-fry that you're doing.

All the cooking is going to go super fast, so it's a great idea to prep everything before you get started.

-Okay.

So, I've washed my hands.

I got rid of the cutting board.

It's time to make the marinade.

-Alright.

-I have here some traditional ingredients.

2 tablespoons of soy sauce.

-Nice deep flavor.

-Oh, yeah.

-And some salt.

-Oh, yeah.

One tablespoon of cornstarch.

Cornstarch is really the magical ingredient.

The cornstarch is going to coat the chicken so when it hits the heat, it's going to create a gel around the chicken.

This is what's going to make our sauce stick, because we don't want our sauce to be starchy and goopy.

We want it to have a nice, shiny glaze.

I also have 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice wine.

And, finally, 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper.

So, I'm just going to mix it well.

Already, this cornstarch is creating a nice, glossy glaze.

-It's sticking right to the chicken, where it should.

-That's right.

Stickin' to the chicken.

-Stickin' to the chicken.

-So, I'm going to set this aside, and now we can start building our sauce.

So, we have more traditional ingredients.

This is 1 tablespoon of black Chinese vinegar.

To that, I'm going to add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce... 1 tablespoon of packed dark brown sugar... and 2 teaspoons of toasted sesame oil.

This smells so good.

So, I'm going to give that a stir just to make sure that the sugar is dissolved.

-Now, Chinese black vinegar is made from glutinous rice.

Sometimes it's made from sorghum.

It has a really deep, malty flavor, and it looks similar to balsamic, but it's not quite as sweet.

So if you can't find Chinese black vinegar, the best bet is to substitute with sherry vinegar.

-Alright, so, we're going to build the second part of our sauce.

We're starting with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, 2 teaspoons of grated ginger, and 1 tablespoon of minced garlic.

The oil is going to make this spreadable, and this combination is the basis of Szechwan cooking.

-Yeah.

It really is.

I love this method 'cause you coat everything in oil, and then when you add it to a skillet, it's not going to clump together, right?

-That's right.

So, that's all set.

I'm going to put this to the side.

Okay.

Before we start getting into making the kung pao chicken, I'm just going to toast 1/2 cup of dry-roasted peanuts.

I have, in this nonstick skillet, 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil.

-Okay.

-I'm just going to toast these for about 3 to 5 minutes over medium-low heat.

Toasting these peanuts is going to add an extra nice texture and flavor to our dish.

They will not get soggy in the sauce.

You know when they're ready when they're nice and toasty brown, so these peanuts are all set.

So we're just going to put them on a plate to cool and set them aside.

-Okay.

-Alright.

-Yeah, set those aside over here, please.

-[ Laughs ] Alright.

So, it's time for us to start building the foundation for our kung pao sauce, so I'm just going to take 1 teaspoon of Szechwan peppercorns and put it into a spice grinder.

I want to grind it coarsely so that they're easier to eat and it's going to give us a more robust flavor.

Alright.

Just a few pulses.

This is perfect.

So you can smell it already.

-Whew!

-We're going to move over to our pan.

This is the same pan that we had our peanuts in.

Over medium-low heat.

And I'm just going to add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.

We're going to start these peppers to peppin'.

So, I'm going to add our crushed peppercorn, and I'm going to add 15 dried rbol chilies.

-Ooh.

-And we found, just like crushing the peppercorn, splitting the rbol chilies and taking the seeds out really helped them to bloom and give us better flavor.

-Mmm!

-So, we're just going to let these bloom for about 1 to 2 minutes.

-Alright.

-Okay.

So, these bloomed.

They smell pretty good.

I'm just going to add our garlic-ginger mixture.

-Nice little sizzle there.

-Yeah.

And because we added oil, it's spreading quite easily.

And we only need to let this go for about 30 seconds.

-Okay.

-Stirring pretty frequently until the clumps are gone.

That looks about right.

So now we can add our chicken that's been marinating.

So we're going to add the chicken and spread it to an even layer in the pan.

Browning is not a staple of Szechwan cooking.

-Okay.

-So we don't need a lot of browning, but we do need the chicken to be done completely.

So I'm going to increase the heat to medium-high, put a lid on this chicken, and let it cook for 1 minute.

-Okay.

-Okay, so, it's been a minute.

I'm just going to take the lid off, give it a stir.

So, this stir allows the chicken to cook on the other side.

And I'm going to put it back in an even layer as it was before... -Okay.

-...put the lid back on, and let it cook for another minute.

Alright.

-Every time you lift the lid, it smells better and better.

-I know.

It's so exciting.

Alright.

So, it's been a minute.

It's looking good.

I'm going to add 2 celery stalks cut into 1/2-inch pieces, and it adds some beautiful color, a nice crunch and texture... -Mm-hmm.

-...and I think a nice cooling sensation when you're eating a little bit of chili, you know?

-Yes.

Absolutely.

And I like that you added it after the chicken.

A lot of recipes will add celery towards the start, and you end up with overcooked celery.

-Yeah.

That's not good.

-Not good.

-So, I'm just going to keep cooking this another 2 to 3 minutes, uncovered.

Okay, so, we're going to add the sauce, which is the staple of the dish.

And because we put cornstarch on the chicken earlier, the sauce is going to stick and be so glossy and so beautiful.

I'm going to stir this constantly.

It just needs about 3 to 5 minutes to reduce.

-Gotcha.

-Look what we made here.

-Beautiful.

-This kung pao chicken is saucy but not goopy.

It's shiny and glossy and smells delicious.

-It's great that it's not swimming in sauce.

-That's right.

So, to finish it off, I'm going to add 5 scallions that I've cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

It's just the white and the light-green pieces.

And our toasted peanuts from earlier.

-Mmm!

-And I'm just going to stir it to combine it.

Alright.

So, I'm just going to take it off the heat.

And we're ready to eat.

-We're done.

-So, be sure not to eat the chilies, okay?

-Yeah.

And don't write to us if you happen to.

-[ Laughs ] And I'm serving this with white rice.

A little more?

-That looks gorgeous.

-There you go.

-Alright.

I'm going for the star of the show -- the chicken.

Mm.

Mmm.

-The meat is so juicy and tender.

The thighs were the best selection for this dish.

-The flavor of the sauce is so complex.

The black vinegar, the rice wine.

-The Szechwan peppercorns.

-Szechwan peppercorns.

And the fact that everything was prepped to a similar size means you can do this -- get everything on your forkful in one bite.

You brought the fire.

-I try.

-Oh.

That is good stuff.

You're going to want to make this kung pao at home, and it starts with classic stir-fry prep.

Toss chicken thighs with soy sauce and cornstarch.

Then make a sauce with Chinese black vinegar, brown sugar, and sesame oil.

Grind then cook Szechwan peppercorns with rbol chilies, then add garlic and ginger.

Cook the chicken.

Add celery and the sauce.

Stir in scallions and toasted peanuts and serve with white rice.

So, from "America's Test Kitchen" to your kitchen, the fiery, tingly, so-good... kung pao chicken.

Mmm.

I think we could go into business with this.

-Mm-hmm.

-When it comes to cutting boards, I like 'em big and beefy because it provides you a solid surface to work on, but they can be expensive.

So Adam's here to tell us which one is worth the money.

-Big and beefy, huh?

-Mm.

-I hadn't used that as a descriptor for these, but they are big and beefy.

-I hate small cutting boards.

They offend me personally.

-They can be lightweight.

They can jump around.

Compared to a plastic cutting board or a composite cutting board, you get a luxurious cutting experience 'cause they all tend to be a little softer, a lot of space to work with, which you like -- I like, too.

And if you take care of it, you get a board that should last you a lifetime.

We have seven boards in our lineup.

The price range was about $85 at a low to $240 at a high.

-Ooh.

-And the materials ranged from bamboo to four different kinds of wood.

We have teak right here.

We have maple.

-Mm-hmm.

-We have birch.

And, then, there's a Japanese cypress called hinoki.

-Wow.

Cool.

-Testers minced parsley.

They diced onions.

They sliced loaves of bread.

They pounded chicken cutlets, and they hacked through bone and chicken parts.

To test stain and odor resistance, they minced chipotle chilies in adobo sauce... -Oh, good one.

-...and washed off the boards to see how stained and smelly they might have been.

All of these boards were washed by hand at least 100 times.

They were maintained with mineral oil as needed.

And they also went home with test cooks for some real-world, real-kitchen testing, and the test cooks reported back, over time, what they thought.

So, in terms of size, our recommendation is to get the biggest board that your counter and your sink will allow -- also the biggest board that you can lift comfortably.

Do not discount the weight factor with these things.

They can be really heavy.

The heaviest board in our lineup was about 32 pounds.

-Ooh.

-And it was this one.

Alright, Julia.

Let's see some muscle.

-Alright.

I'm pretty strong.

-Lift it up.

See what you think.

-Oh, my goodness!

This is surprisingly heavy.

I'd actually be worried for my safety if I had to carry this across the kitchen to the sink.

-The sweet spot for weight was about 15 pounds.

That was about this one here.

-Okay.

-15 pounds was handleable and still secure.

The height of the board, or the thickness of the board, was also a consideration.

-Yes.

-There were taller cooks and some shorter cooks in... [ Chuckles ] ...the testing squad here.

Some of these boards were as thick as 2 inches, and if they had feet like this one... -Uh-huh.

-...it lifted them up even higher, more like 3 inches.

-Mm-hmm.

-That was fine for taller cooks.

That put the knife at a nice, you know, comfortable position.

For some of the cooks who were not quite as tall, that could be a challenge.

And I want you to chop a little parsley on this one and just tell me whether it feels natural to you.

-I've had boards like this before.

And, yeah, the knife is actually way too high for me to be comfortable.

This is going to hurt my shoulder after a couple of minutes.

-Yeah.

So you definitely want to pay attention to the height.

Again, the sweet spot in terms of height was about an inch and a half to 2 inches.

-Yep.

-That was good for most cooks.

In terms of the feet, some testers liked them because it was easier to lift the boards.

It was easier to get them to dry because they were elevated off the work surface.

But they're not reversible, which boards without feet are.

-Ah.

-So there's an advantage to either/or.

You know, we wanted to figure out how durable these woods were.

We also wanted to see the effect of the wood on the cutting edge of a blade, so we got a little robotic help for that.

We got a robot in here from the Autodesk Technology Center in Boston, and the robot was fitted with a brand-new factory-sharpened knife for each board.

The robot used the knife to make 5,000 strikes on each board.

-Wow.

-We stopped every 200 cuts so that we could assess the sharpness of the knife by slicing through paper, which is our sort of standard sharpness test... -Mm-hmm.

-...and also inspect the board, see how that was doing under the stress of all that chopping.

All the knives could still cut through paper.

It was not quite the same story for the boards.

I want you to flip over this one at the end if you would, please.

-Alright.

The -- [ Chuckles ] Ohh!

-[ Laughs ] Look at that.

-Oh!

-Look at how gouged that is.

-Oh, no!

I'd be mad if this was my board at home.

Now, the robot was adding more pressure than a human would normally -- -Using a really hard strike.

-Right.

Yeah.

So this is pretty extreme, but, over time, this could happen.

-There is a scale to measure hardness and softness called the Janka scale.

The range in the Janka scale in our lineup was a low of 349... -Okay.

-...to a high of 1,480.

-Oh, wow.

-The board made of teak was 989 on the Janka scale, and we considered that a nice, happy medium.

This was soft enough so that it was a nice, luxurious cutting experience... -Mm-hmm.

-...but hard enough that it would be durable.

-Alright.

-We have two different types of construction for these boards.

This one that your hand is on... -Mm-hmm.

-...that's called end grain.

-Yep.

-And what's going on there is you have a bunch of pieces of wood that are fused together vertically so that the ends are exposed.

-Mm-hmm.

-The teak one, that's called edge grain, and you have a bunch of pieces of wood that are fused together horizontally.

Testers actually preferred the edge grain because the end-grain boards were more susceptible to moisture absorption.

Also, when they were oiling the boards with mineral oil, the end-grain boards absorbed more oil than the edge-grain boards did.

-Hmm.

-The teak board actually absorbed the least mineral oil of all.

Teak contains a natural resin called tectoquinone... -Hmm.

-...that keeps it conditioned and naturally repels moisture, so this one required a little less maintenance than the others.

-Alright.

-You know, testers really think that choosing a big cutting board like this is very personal.

It depends on how strong you are, how much space you have, how big your sink is, what your aesthetic is.

But this one -- TeakHaus by Proteak edge-grain board for about $105, which has been our winner in the past -- retains the title as the winner.

It's a great choice for a lot of people.

It is spacious because it's 24 inches long by 18 inches wide.

It's an inch and a half high.

It's 15 pounds, so it's stable enough, but you can still move it around.

It was the second-least expensive one in the whole lineup... -Ooh, I like that.

-...at $105, and we really can stand by this because we've used it in the test kitchen for 10 years and had no issues to report.

-Alright.

So it's standing the test of time here.

-It is.

-So there you have it.

If you're ready to invest in a nice, big, beefy cutting board, look for the TeakHaus by Proteak edge-grain cutting board at about $105.

If I said today that we're making steamed fish, you'd probably just go, "Eh," and change the channel.

Because what is there to know?

But Dan says he has a new recipe that delivers more flavor than either grilled or roasted.

-That's right.

So, I love steamed fish, but you have to do it right.

Oven steaming is my favorite way to do it.

It's really hands-off.

You get super moist, really, really tender fish.

But you got to do it the right way, so we're going to start with some intensely flavorful ingredients.

Working with scallions, ginger, and garlic, and we're going to use them in a couple different ways.

So, first things first -- I have 6 scallions here that I'm going to coarsely chop.

They're going to go in my baking pan, and that's actually going to be our steaming vessel.

So, out of these two here, this is where we're going to get a little fancier.

We're going to do some nice, thin bias cuts on them.

So just kind of stack these up here.

I'm going to transfer these to a bowl, and we'll reserve them for our garnish at the end.

So, the next really flavorful ingredient is ginger.

We're going to use this in two ways, as well.

So, I've got about a 3-inch piece here, and 2 inches of it, I'm going to coarsely chop.

We're not looking for perfect knife skills here, just trying to access that flavor.

And that's going to go in here, as well.

-Alright.

-And then, for this piece here, I'm going to do a nice julienne.

So I want to trim off a little of the bottom there... -Mm-hmm.

-...and make really nice thin slices.

And then what I like to do is stack a few pieces.

-Mm-hmm.

-Have a little deck of cards.

Little ginger cards.

-[ Laughs ] -And then I'm just going to slice.

That same rough thickness that I was doing on this side -- same thing here.

-Nicely done.

-Great.

So that's a garnish.

We're going to set that aside.

Now, to this, we're also going to add three cloves of garlic that are sliced thin.

That's going to be super flavorful.

So, let's head over here, and we're going to make our sauce.

This sauce is going to be really, really important.

It seasons the fish in the end, but it also provides all the steam in the oven.

And it's going to start with 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of rice wine.

And I've got 1 1/2 teaspoons of toasted sesame oil.

-Mmm!

-A little goes a long way, but it's really, really rich, a nice flavor.

I've also got 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar.

Just a little bit of sweetness to help balance things out.

I also have 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Soy sauce is pretty salty, so we just need a little bit to balance it.

-Mm-hmm.

-And then finally, one of my favorite ingredients is 1/4 teaspoon of ground white pepper.

It's going to add a ton of complexity to this dish.

-Alright.

So, the difference between white peppercorns and black peppercorns comes down to how they're processed.

Black peppercorns are the unripe berries from the pepper plant, and they're dried, which is why they look a little shrunken, and their outer skin has a bittery, spicy flavor.

White peppercorns, on the other hand, are the ripe berries, and they're soaked and fermented in water, and then that skin is removed, so their flavor is floral and light and a little bit more complex.

So if you want bold and spicy, go for the black peppercorns.

If you want light and fragrant, go for the white.

-Okay.

So, we've got all our components, and it is now time to build the ultimate oven-steamed fish setup.

-In a brownie pan.

-Yes.

It's crazy, right?

-It is a little crazy.

-So, if you think it's weird that we're in a brownie pan, we're also going to make a sling in the same way that we do for brownies.

-Ahh!

-The fish is going to go on that.

It's going to be perfect.

So, we have a piece of foil here that I folded over so it's about 6 inches wide and about 18 inches long.

And I'm going to press it in.

Now, we don't want the fish to stick to it, so I'm going to use a little bit of cooking spray on there.

-Clever.

-Now it's time to look at our beautiful fish.

So, we have cod here.

It's one of my favorite fish.

But anything in the cod family -- So, pollock, haddock, hake would be great, as well -- will work perfectly in this recipe.

You want something that, you know, flakes apart when it's cooked, is a little mild, but really, really nice and meaty, too.

So, I have four 6-ounce fillets here.

-Beautiful.

-Now, there's not a lot of trick to doing this, but you do want to look for any of the thinner pieces you have, and those should go in the center.

They'll cook a little bit slower that way.

-Ah.

Yeah.

Protect thinner pieces in the middle.

-So, now I'm going to take the sauce here and pour it around the fish.

As I mentioned, it's going to create that really nice steamy environment in the oven.

Later on, after that fish has given its liquid into it, it's also going to make an incredible sauce.

-Ooh!

Just a little will do it, huh?

-A little will do it.

We want it to be nice and concentrated when it comes out of the oven.

Okay.

And now we're just going to cover it with foil.

And I'm going to go into a 450-degree oven on the middle rack.

A nice hot oven will create lots of steam.

We're going to go until it reaches 125 degrees in the center, which can take anywhere from 12 to 14 minutes.

Okay, so, that's been about 12 minutes.

We're going to take a little peek inside.

-Ooh!

-So, we're going to look for about 125 degrees in here.

And that is beautiful.

Okay.

So, now our trusty foil sling is going to come in handy.

Let a little of that moisture drain.

-Mm!

-Alright.

And then we just come over to our platter here, and we just slide everything down.

-Boy, that nonstick spray really did the trick, huh?

-Beautiful, right?

-Yeah.

-Okay.

So, I like to just space them nice and evenly in there.

So, we've got amazing flavor in here.

We've got our fish juices.

We've got all those awesome ingredients we added for the sauce and those aromatics, so we want to access all of that.

So, I'm going to strain it off and just press on those aromatics, make sure we get every last drop out.

It's beautiful.

-I like that it's not a fussy sauce.

It's just the juices left in the bottom of the pan.

-Exactly.

It's packed with flavor.

If you wouldn't mind grabbing that, I'll bring the fish over here.

-Alright.

-Okay.

I'm going to pour this sauce all over our fish here.

-Mmm!

-You want a nice deep platter for this 'cause there's plenty of sauce, and it looks beautiful, too.

Now my beautiful bias-cut scallions go over the top.

-Ah!

Now it's coming alive.

A little garnish goes a long way.

-I've got 2 tablespoons of oil heating up in this 8-inch skillet over medium-high heat.

We're going to get this to just smoking.

Alright.

So, that is just starting to smoke.

That is very, very hot oil, so I'm going to turn off the heat.

I'm going to remove it from the heat and add my julienned ginger.

[ Sizzling ] -Ooh!

-So, we're looking for them to get a little bit brown and golden, a little bit crisp.

-So, the frying will mitigate that sharp ginger flavor and make a flavorful oil.

-And this will take about 20 to 30 seconds.

Alright.

That looks beautiful.

You can see how it gets nice and crispy and a little bit browned.

-Mm-hmm.

-So, now it is time to put it over the fish.

-Alright.

-[ Chuckles ] Ohh!

-Oh.

-Oh, when that hot oil hits the scallions, you can smell that, too.

-So, the final step is 1/3 cup of cilantro leaves and the thin stems.

-Mmm.

So, unlike parsley, the stems of cilantro are quite sweet.

-Beautiful.

-Gorgeous.

That's a looker.

-Okay.

It is time to dig in.

-Mmm.

I'm really impressed with how this platter came around.

-Right?

-Yeah.

This is definitely company-worthy.

-So, then just a little bit of steamed rice, as well.

-The sauce catcher.

-Get some sauce here.

-Mmm.

Don't hold back.

-Oh, I won't.

-Oh, yeah.

-Bon apptit.

Mmm.

-Mmm!

-It is so good.

-Perfectly cooked.

And the flavor of the sauce, although flavorful, doesn't overpower the delicate cod.

It really marries it nicely.

-That frizzled ginger on top, it just adds so much flavor.

The oil adds a ton of richness.

-Mmm!

I just got a hit of that ginger.

And its flavor is really mellowed, and it has a nice crisp texture.

-I love the balance of really deep flavor from that soy sauce and then all of the fresh stuff on top.

-Well, this certainly takes my old steamed fish up a few notches.

-Right?

-Dan, this is wonderful.

-Thanks.

-So if you want to make this killer recipe for steamed fish, layer scallions, ginger, and garlic into a baking dish.

Cover with a foil sling and arrange the fish on top.

Pour soy sauce and rice wine over the fish.

Cover with foil and bake for just 12 minutes.

Remove the fish from the dish, strain the liquid, and pour it over top.

Finally, finish with a quick warm ginger oil.

From "America's Test Kitchen" to your kitchen, a terrific new recipe for oven-steamed fish with scallions and ginger.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with our tastings, testings, and select episodes at our website, americastestkitchen.com.

Whoa!

-Let us help you with dinner tonight.

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