The Chili Cook-Off

Our Entry was "Tsing Tao Duck Chili"

 On October 20th, Zapata's TexMex Restaurant hosted their 4th annual chili cook-off.  We'd missed out on years 1 through 3 of the cook-off.  We almost missed out on year number 4, this year.  We only learned about it about ten days before-hand, during one of our regular Thursday night visits to Zapata's for Quiz Night.  They were encouraging folks to sign-up, as the number of participants this year was running a bit under what was seen in the past.

The cook-off is a chance for local folks to prepare their favorite chili recipe and compete against one another for the bragging rights of "best chili in Suzhou".   There aren't any rules....anything goes.  You can make your chili with beans or without; with noodles or without.  The winners are chosen  based on blind tasting by a panel of local judges.  These judges come from traditional chili hot spots such as Florida, Finland, and Australia.

Brett and Nathalie, our Australian neighbors from the 2nd floor.

 This year, there were eight teams.  All of the chilies were different, but also all were very good.   In the end, the competition was very tight.  There were only about 5 points separating last place from first.  Only a point or two between second place and first.  So the science of statistics would say that there was no meaningful difference between any of the entries.  Which is another way of saying that the only way to win would be through dumb luck.

This year's winners

Well, Theresa and I were lucky enough to take first place.  Our recipe was called "Tsing Tao Duck Chili".  This is because the recipe used duck meat and couple of bottles of Tsing Tao stout beer.  I would like to claim that the recipe is a brilliant fusion of traditional chili and carefully calculated oriental elements.   I'd like to claim that the decision to use duck breast and beer was a clever tactic.  That  it was insightful to use of strong-flavored meat to balance the strong flavors of chili seasoning.   And that the use of stout beer was a flash of creativity to add a depth of flavor that cannot be achieved with tomato sauce alone.

Our winning, though, was dumb luck. Our chili was good.  But so were all the other entries.  And there was no brilliance involved in the recipe.  We used duck breast because, here in China, it is much, much cheaper than imported Australian beef.  We used beer to supplement the tomato sauce because the the tomato sauce costs about $5 per can whereas the premium stout beer costs only about $1.50 per bottle.  It is absolutely true that the stout beer and the duck meat add an extra "depth of flavor" to our recipe.  But the fact that it tastes good is a merely an accident.  We chose the beer and the duck breast because they were cheaper than the alternative ingredients.

Regardless, in the end our batch of chili turned out to be decent enough.  The strange ingredients made for good conversation, too.  Here, for the sake of posterity, is our recipe.

Tsing Tao Duck Chili

青岛鸭辣椒汤

12 boneless duck breasts, with skin

2 cans tomato sauce

2 bottles tsing tao stout beer

2 large onions, diced  (about 4 cups)

Assortment of peppers, diced (about 3 to 4 cups)

2 cans black beans, strained and rinsed.

4 to 5 cloves garlic, diced.

Chili powder

Cumin

Salt

Ground pepper

Ground Sichuan pepper

1 lime

Cilantro (leaves picked and prepped for garnish)

Strip duck skin away from breasts.  Cut skin in to strips, about 1 cm by 3 cm.  Put in pan over medium low flame and render the duck fat until skin is dark brown and crispy.  Strain the melted duck fat into a glass container.  Heavily salt and pepper the cracklings and refrigerate for a snack later.

Dice the lean duck breast into cubes of 1cm or less.  Season with salt and pepper

Into a big chili-cooking pot:  Add some duck fat and fry a handful of duck meat over high heat until browned, then remove meat to a glass bowl.  Work in small batches and add more duck fat as needed.  The goal is to find that ideal quantity so that that meat browns and does not boil in own juices.

When all meat has been browned, sweat the onions and the peppers in pot until tender.  Then add back the meat.  Add diced garlic and a teaspoon of Sichuan pepper.  Cook for a couple of minutes until the garlic starts to give up its scent.  Then add the black beans and the two cans of tomato sauce.  Then add the beer, using it to rinse the remaining tomato sauce from the cans.

Heat to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.  Add three tablespoons of chili powder, two tablespoons of cumin, and two teaspoons of ground black pepper. Simmer for an hour or more until liquids are reduced and consistency begins to change from “soupy”to the thicker chili consistency.

Add the juice of one lime and stir well. Taste and then adjust the seasonings with salt, pepper, Sichuan pepper, cumin, and chili powder. Continue to simmer for at least 15 minutes or more.  Add water if too thick.

Serve.  Garnish with fresh cilantro and/or sour cream.