Over Easter weekend, I was bumming at home when out of no where I suddenly had a huge craving for Chicken Liver Pate. HUGE! I thought, “Ah crap, it’s a holiday weekend… I don’t know if I can get chicken liver at the supermarket”. It was 3PM on Good Friday afternoon and it was beginning to drizzle outside, but I decided to go to the supermarket and try my luck anyway. Lo and behold, I managed to score two packets of chicken liver! Also grabbed a baguette at the same time. But I ended up getting caught in the rain and the second half of that long weekend saw me down with a cold, congestion headache and an awful sore throat. It was ugly, but my Chicken Liver Pate craving was fulfilled. Biting into a crusty toasted baguette sliced that’s been slathered generously with creamy Chicken Liver Pate, accompanied by sweet and tangy Homemade Shallot Jam brought a satisfied smile.
I’d never made Chicken Liver Pate before and in hindsight, when smarty-pants Joo commented afterwards, “Who the hell makes chicken liver pate?!” implying that it would have been easier for me to buy a ready-made version at the supermarket, it dawned on me that hmmm… he wasn’t entirely wrong about that. But where’d the challenge be? Where’s the satisfaction in that!? My craving was very specific. I wanted the flavor to have something with sweet-syrupy liqueur undertone and there was no way I could get that in store-bought version. Best and quickest to settle this through DIY method.
A bottle of Choya Umeshu lingering in the fridge was the perfect marinade for my chicken liver and since no one seems to want to eat the plums that are soaked in the Choya, a couple of them got up and added into the chicken liver pate for flavor. I realized afterwards that I should’ve added the chopped plums after the chicken liver has been blitzed, for texture. Oh well, next time.
All in all, this turned out to be easy and effortless to make! But even though I got the intended flavors that I was after in the pate, I felt like it was missing a bit of an oomph. I needed something aromatic and sweet to complement the pate flavors, so I made a simple shallot jam as accompaniment.
Choya-infused Chicken Liver Pate
250g fresh chicken liver
2 cups Choya Umeshu
2 Umeshu plums, pitted and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 Tbs butter
Salt
Pepper
Wash chicken liver under running water and remove tough ligaments. Marinade with Choya Umeshu and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. In a medium sautée pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and sautée chopped onion and garlic until soft. Remove chicken liver from marinade and add to onion-garlic-butter mixture. Cook until opaque. Add chopped plums, season with salt and pepper. Set aside and allow to cool. Using a food processor, blitz cooled cooked chicken liver until texture is smooth. Add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and pulse several times to incorporate. Allow to refrigerate overnight (covered with cling-wrap). Serve on toasted sliced baguettes with Homemade Shallot Jam.
Homemade Shallot Jam
1 Tbs cooking oil
4 Tbs shallots, chopped
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
Combine all ingredients over low heat until shallots are soft. Stir frequently until the sugar has melted and mixture looks jam-like.
Nomz,
-MB.
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