sister soul

I've had huo-guo on my mind all week! My parents are coming to visit at christmas-time, and they want to bring us a butane burner like the one you showed so we can have huo-guo at my house too. Growing up, we always used an electric skillet, and it seemed to keep things boiling pretty nicely. We add pretty much the same ingredients as already mentioned, with the exception of fish balls (could never develop a taste for that), and a couple of wacky additions: fried pork rinds (my dad's salty addiction) and occasionally sauerkraut. I also love poaching an egg in the pot. I'm interested in trying the gluten in there -- my mom makes a wonderful stew-type of dish with gluten, but we've never had it in the huo-guo before...

project- By now, you've probably already made at least your 1st batch of dumplings (how did they turn out?) but just wanted to chime in here with some tidbits gleaned from making jiao-zi with my mom: - Very similar filling recipe to the one posted by Eddie, with the exception of no mushrooms, no water chestnuts, a little bit of veg. oil added to get the right texture, and instead of cabbage, we use frozen chopped spinach (thawed). I much prefer the taste of the meat/spinach mixture to the cabbage or jiu-cai variety, but obviously that's just a matter of individual tastes. I also prefer a mixture that has a stronger meat than vegetable flavor. - My mom used to always make her own wrappers, but now uses the store-bought kind, and I don't taste much of a difference, if they are a good brand of wrapper. - The texture of the filling is very moist, and somewhat loose -- but not too loose. The amount of oil and water you need to add to the filling depends on the fattiness of the meat. - My family's favorite way to seal the jiao-zi is like so: 1. Put a small dollop of filling in the middle of the round wrapper 2. Wet the inside perimeter of the wrapper with a bit of water 3. Fold the wrapper in half and press the center together (making a half-moon, like in step 3 of the Epicurious example, above) 4. Fold in one of the open "corners" on the side of the wrapper. If I am holding the dumpling in the palm of my left hand, I would push the right-side "flap" all the way into the center, until it meets the center seal created in step 3. Press the edge facing you together, leaving a pocket on the side facing away from you. Press the center of this open pocket tightly against the back of the dumpling, so that the sides of the pocket fan out a bit. 5. Repeat with the open corner on the other side. It's hard to describe this folding technique, but it's simple to do, and creates a nice shape, that lets the jiao-zi "stand up" better on the plate.

I noticed Splash mentioned here earlier, and wanted to say that I ate there about a month ago for the 1st time and hated it! The food was unremarkable and had little flavor, and the decor was so wanna-be trendy that it just looked dated and embarassing. Just my opinion... There is also a Centro in Darien ( I think it's related to the one in Fairfield). Great, solid Italian food -- casual atmosphere and pretty good prices. Not a "special night out" kind of place though. If you like Indian food, there is an excellent Indian restaurant in Darien called Coromandel. It is tiny and a little cramped inside, but the food is great!

Wanted to add my opinion to the debate above re: Hunan Gourmet. I have only tried it once (takeout) and found that the food was good, but not outstanding. I am Chinese-American, and recently moved from NYC to Fairfield County, so maybe I was being unfair, comparing the food to all the great Chinese restaurants in NY and to my mom's cooking. My brother insists that Hunan Gourmet is the best Chinese food in the area, which may be true... So far, we haven't been able to find any other consistently good, authentic-tasting Chinese (not pan-Asian) restaurants to eat at or to order from. So while the search continues, I would probably go to Hunan Gourmet again when the Chinese food craving hits. I should also note that my brother has ordered from Hunan Gourmet numerous times and has gotten chummy with the owner or manager there, so maybe the food I tried was better than the food on an average night? I've never eaten there, so I'm unable to comment on the service otherwise.