Steamed Pork Buns

Remember that Char Siu we made? Okay, now it's time to take it out of the refrigerator or freezer and put it to good use!

Steamed Pork Bun Dough 

from The Dim Sum Dumpling Book

Allow 1 1/2 hour prep time

1 1/8 c of bleached all purpose flour (the best flour to use in the US would be Gold Medal)

1 3/4 t baking powder

1/4 c sugar

3 T milk

2T water

1 1/2 T peanut or vegetable oil (or any other flavorless oil)

1. Mix flour, baking powder, and sugar together in a food processor or Kitchen Aid. Add milk and blend well. After milk has been absorbed, add water and again, mix well. Add oil and continue to work the dough.

2. Pulse on the food processor or with the dough hook on the Kitchen Aid, knead until dough is elastic, approximately 5-6 minutes. If doing by hand, allow 10 minutes. If dough is wet, sprinkle with extra flour. It should not be overly sticky.

3. When elastic, cover with a damp cloth and let rest for at least 1 hour, but no more than 3. Do not freeze this dough raw.

Chinese New Year, Year of the Snake

Chinese New Years is right around the corner, February 10th to be exact. My son and I have been busy getting ready at home. In preparation for our feast, we have prepared some things ahead of time being he is a student and beginning a new job. With limited hours available, I'm taking advantage of his help whenever I can get it. Also, with do-ahead preparation, you can make more items and insure you will have goodies to stock up your freezer with!

You will find many Char Siu recipes floating around, but this is my absolute favorite. I've been making this particular recipe since 2011. They all have the same basic components, with some minor additions here and there. I find this one to be very aromatic and fresh tasting. I have also tried it with chicken breasts and thighs with great results.

Chinese Barbecued Pork (Char Siu) with  adaptations from the Asian Grandmothers Cookbook

2 1/2 to 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, or country ribs (harder to do with bone, however)
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
2-3 scallions, smashed
2-3 full cilantro stems, smashed (with roots preferable)
1-2 star anise pods
1 T dry sherry or Shaoxing rice wine
1/2 t sesame oil
1/2 t 5-spice powder
red food coloring, optional, see note

One of my favorite holiday's is coming...

Yes, I know, Christmas already passed.  But my one of my favorite holiday's is Chinese New Year's. And that's just around the corner! On February 10th, Asians all around the world will be celebrating the Year of the Snake. Even this "fake Asian", as I am called, will be preparing some of our favorite dishes.

My parents raised us with a great love of this culture, and it was instilled in us at a very young age. They had friends that owned a local grocery store, and their children and we grew up at the same time. Our family took many trips down to Chinatown in NYC, and as I grew older, we would seek out different ones. This passion has been instilled in my children, and even as a woman in the Navy, my daughter now does the same thing. My youngest is no different. He eagerly awaits CNY, wondering what we are making, what china we will be using, what tea we will serve it with...I am blessed to have (most) of my family to share this passion with. We have one hold out. But he's a picky pain in the butt when it comes to food anyway, so we won't hold it against him. Right now. On February 10th we will. After all, who will eat all this food we will prepare? 

Since every food has a separate and special meaning, it seems almost silly to not make as many different things as you can so you have a healthy and prosperous new year, doesn't it?  Of course you need noodles for a long life, dumplings for money, spring rolls to bring good fortune, but the symbolism could go on and on! It would be fine if we had a huge family but there's 2 1/2 of us! Will have to consider this menu carefully...Thankfully I have many many cookbooks and lots of blogs to search! 

Some of my favorite books are The Asian Grandmother's Cookbook by Patricia Tanumihardja and The Dimsum Dumpling Book by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, amongst others. In the weeks to come we will be getting ready for the festivities. I will post the shopping list soon, as well as the menu and recipes. Until then!

Back again!

It's been a long time since I posted last, but my 2013 resolution was to continue with my blog. After an exhausting 2012, this year can only get better! So, onward! New design, recipes, photos, ideas, and hopefully guest posts, are this years plan.

In a conversation I had recently with a long time friend, she mentioned that she cannot cook. I chuckled at that. Anyone can cook. After all, this woman makes art out of lunch. Puts on the most fabulously designed birthday parties for children. Designs the most scrumptious cakes. Yet she thinks she cannot cook? Pfft, Again I say, anyone can cook. They just have to want to learn. I suggested she read the book Martha Stewart's Cooking School. I was able to read my aunt's copy this summer, and I really suggest it for all home cooks, even those who think they "know it all" already. I must search used book stores to find myself a copy! In the book Martha covers such basics as braising, roasting, and even how to boil an egg. Don't laugh, it really is harder than you think to get an egg poached correctly, ask a culinary student.

Speaking of which, this blog will most likely touch on the fact that my son is applying to culinary schools this year, The Culinary Institute of America and Johnson and Wales, along with a semi-local tech school. It will be a long road, but at least I will get lots of new things to try and pass on to everyone! Consider it my gift to my followers. I cook, he bakes. I bake, but not like him. To him it's an art. To me, it's out of sight out of mind. Okay, that's not entirely true. It used to be true. But a few years ago I catered a wedding for the first time in a long time, and I made a few dozen loaves of Italian bread and a wedding cake, and I found my passion for baking, along with a few extra pounds packed on to the hips and everywhere else! After all, to be a true cook, you have to try all your recipes first before you find the best one, right? At least, that's what I told myself as I tried around 5 chocolate cake recipes. All of that will be coming up this year as well.

To a renewed blog, and to 2013...may it be filled with recipes, pictures, and fun.

Product review: Shree Samarth Foods & Spices/Kadhaai

On our recent vacation, I picked up a few things at an Indian grocery store, one of them being a packet of Chicken Kadhai, from Kadhaai. Normally I'm not an advocate of box mixes and such, but I try to keep some on hand for those times you absolutely MUST have your favorite foods, even if you don't have the time to do the prep work. Today was one of those days. I'm glad it was.

I knew today was going to be a hectic one, in and out due to doctor appointments and such, so last night when I went to my Indian section in my pantry, I spied this mix. I knew I'd have to try it! The ingredients sounded tasty and since I didn't have time to mix mine all together, this would do.

The packet is simple. Open, mix in a cup of water. It advises you to brown your chicken, and then simmer for 10 minutes. I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of raw chicken. When 10 minutes was over, it was still pink. Blech.

With pink chicken out of the question, I decided to let it simmer while the basmati rice was steaming.
To say this dish was superb is an understatement. Not only was it quick and easy, very little clean up, and YUMMY, I wish I would have purchased more when we were in Pennsylvania. It was labeled "medium" but I would put it more in the "mild" category. The spices were surprisingly fresh tasting, and nothing was over powered.

I would definitely recommend this to someone who either can't cook, has no time to cook, etc. You can have great tasting home made food in a fraction of the time it would take to put together all of the spices (12 of them!). Reasonably priced and tasty. A great combonation.

www.shreesamarthfoods.com

Dim sum...yum!

On our food tour vacation this summer, my son and I were aiming to try dim sum in every location we were visiting, that had a Chinatown. There are so many of them, that there was no possible way to do so. I never realized NYC had so many Chinatown's!

We were lucky, however, to have Yelp installed on my Droid. It found us the most delectable restaurant, Nom Wah Tea Parlor. After meeting up with some friends that I had gone to high school with, we wandered into this historic restaurant. They claim to be Chinatown's "first dim sum parlor, since 1920".

 I had read that everything was made fresh, so this was the place I wanted to be at. While we normally like the push carts, I wanted to try something outside of our "comfort zone".  My son was hesitant...he had his favorite places in Manhattan already, and he was dismayed that I couldn't find it again. But this place looked so inviting...so different. And definitely off the beaten path.

Hidden down an alleyway, I was surprised Mr.T didn't run for the hills. He's not much for dim sum. His palate isn't as refined as ours are, evidently! He's definitely a work in progress! My friends and their kids seemed to be quite into it, so we decided to see what treasures it held. I'm glad we did. There were signed pictures adorning the wall from famous clientele who also frequent the place.

The waitstaff was quick, ready to get us drinks and take our orders before we even got comfy. My son and I decided to try several dishes, since they all sounded so delicious.

Things came out as they were being made, and we had no idea what order they would be in. All we knew is they were going to be hot and fresh...did I say hot? Definitely hot.

Mr. T's eggrolls came out before any of our orders came out. They were tremendous! He could barely eat the 2nd one, but seemed to be enjoying it. (2 for $3.95) I'm not an eggroll fan, I prefer spring rolls, since they are more authentic. But he's not picky (oh, the humor in that statement!) nor does he care for authenticity.

My son and I ordered steamed pork buns, steamed spare ribs (yum!) beef rice roll, turnip cake, stuffed bean curd skin, sticky rice in bamboo leaf, pork sui mai and shrimp & snow pea leaf dumplings. The latter being my favorite of all of the dishes. They were delicate, tasty and very addictive. I could have ordered and eaten 3 orders on my own! Thankfully my son and Mr. T aren't shrimp fans. More for me! The turnip cake was a bit oily, something that I'm not accustomed to in other tea houses, but they were still extremely tasty.

The steamed pork buns came last. By this time we were full, but obviously, as one of my son's favorite, we both had to try it. They were so big and fluffy, with lots of filling inside, that we were able to share them whoever wanted to try some at the table. ($1.25 an order).

I was very impressed with this place. The service was great, the prices very reasonable, and the food was hot and delicious. The dinner for 3 of us was under $40, as their dim sum dishes range from $1.25 to $4.95. Their chef specials are slightly more, but don't go over $9.95.

Thankfully we no longer live in NY or I have a feeling we would be visiting this place often.

Finally got my crabcake!

After wandering for far too long today, we finally settled for lunch at Shuckers in Baltimore. The food was good, but wouldn't say excellent. My son ordered an angus burger which was cooked exactly like he wanted.

You can't go to Maryland and not order a crabcake. Mine was done perfectly, the roll was very fresh, but the tartar sauce was bland, so I stole my sons creole sauce. Much better!