Chinese Eats at Home (Part 3)

[Darienne]

Patrickamory, thanks so much for the revised recipe and photo. I am going to make this for our Annual Chinese Feast this year. Looks great!

[Will]

In honor of New Years Eve, I made a vegetarian adaption of "New Year Money Bags" from Cooking from China's Fujian Province by Jacqueline M. Newman. They're supposed to be shaped like golden ingots more than money bags (originally, I imagined they'd be purse shaped), so basically it's folded like a normal wonton, but squared off more, and the edges are folded down. I used minced wheat gluten and soybean based vegetarian "intestine" instead of the pork, and a bit of preserved mustard stem and some extra oil to replace the extra fat and salt from the omitted shrimp.

Came out pretty well, especially for a first try.

New Year Money Bags

Adapted from "Cooking From China's Fujian Province" by Jacqueline M. Newman [note: the wording, as well as some of the ingredients, have changed, so hopefully posting this doesn't run afoul of forum policies].

8 dried Chinese style shiitake mushrooms, soaked stems down, stems removed.

8 oz wheat gluten or other meat substitute (I used 'mian chang' -- wheat gluten intestine, and mine was made with some soy as well).

4 scallions, green and white parts

4 cloves garlic, or 2 cloves of garlic and 2 individual strands of fresh garlic stalk (suanmiao / "Taiwan leek") if available

4 slices fresh ginger, peeled

1/2 C fresh cilantro, with some stems, washed and dried

salted mustard stem or other salted Chinese vegetable

4 tsp regular soy sauce

4 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp vegetable oil

4 tsp Fujian / Fukien rice wine (probably can substitute Shaoxing if not available)

pinch or two of salt

1/8 tsp white pepper

pinch vegetarian boullion or seasoning (optional)

3 Tbsp sweet-potato flour (note: this is not the same as potato flour / potato starch, though you could probably sub potato starch or cornstarch)

1 package square wonton wrappers (eggless if you're trying to make vegan)

1 egg, beaten, ener-g egg replacer or corn / potato starch mixed with water

vegetable oil, for frying.

Wring out the wheat gluten and shitakes so that they'll soak up as much of the liquids as possible.

Finely mince the mushrooms, wheat gluten, scallions, garlic / fresh garlic stalks, ginger, and cilantro. Chop the salted vegetable a little more coarsely. Mix together.

Mix the wet ingredients along with the salt, white pepper, and vegetarian boullion or seasoning.

Add the sweet-potato flour and wet ingredients to the mushroom / wheat gluten mixture, and combine. Let set for a little for the liquid ingredients to get absorbed.

The recipe's directions for folding the pouches are pretty unhelpful. I mostly just followed my father-in-law, but this is one of those times where a picture / diagram is worth 1000 words. http://www.thegourmetforager.com/2011/04/fair-dinkum-barbequed-prawn-dumplings/. Basically like a normal wonton, but you try not to leave much space in the middle, and you push the points down and square off the ends to try and form roughly an "ingot" shape. Use the egg or water / starch slurry to seal.

Deep-fry in vegetable oil until golden and crispy, and let drain on a rack. Serve with any kind of dipping sauce (we had a simple sauce with lemon, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and sugar, but I bet a thick sweet / sour type sauce or Chinese mustard would be good too).

Edited January 1, 2012 by Will (log)

[janeer]

Lovely, Will.

[Kouign Aman]

We are host family to a teacher who came from a bit north of Beijing and who says that what she misses most about food from home is the steamed bread / buns. I admit to lousy search skills on this board, so mea culpa if this is covered somewhere already. Does anyone make this at home? Any favored recipes, or tips/tricks?

I'd like to surprise her with it for the Lunar New Year, and I'd like to make at least one test batch before then.

[dcarch]

We are host family to a teacher who came from a bit north of Beijing and who says that what she misses most about food from home is the steamed bread / buns. I admit to lousy search skills on this board, so mea culpa if this is covered somewhere already. Does anyone make this at home? Any favored recipes, or tips/tricks?

I'd like to surprise her with it for the Lunar New Year, and I'd like to make at least one test batch before then.

Don't have an answer for you.

But I think the bun should be in the shape of a peach.

dcarch

[Shalmanese]

We are host family to a teacher who came from a bit north of Beijing and who says that what she misses most about food from home is the steamed bread / buns. I admit to lousy search skills on this board, so mea culpa if this is covered somewhere already. Does anyone make this at home? Any favored recipes, or tips/tricks?

I'd like to surprise her with it for the Lunar New Year, and I'd like to make at least one test batch before then.

Search for Man Tou. Also, they're meant to be bland and taste like wonder bread so don't worry if they end up like that.

[dcarch]

Like this:

dcarch

http://peachbun.blogspot.com/2007/02/peach-buns.html

[Will]

We are host family to a teacher who came from a bit north of Beijing and who says that what she misses most about food from home is the steamed bread / buns.

Search for Man Tou. Also, they're meant to be bland and taste like wonder bread so don't worry if they end up like that.

You might want to ask what kind of bread / buns she's talking about. Could also be yin si juan, or also filled baozi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_si_juan

The yinsijuan are probably not super easy to make at home, but can be found at Chinese markets if you're near one (they're really good deep-fried!).

[Dejah]

The peachbuns posted by dcarch are more for birthday celebrations, a symbol of longevity, rather than everyday food.

Most of my students and many of our new immigrants are from Beijing area. They eat a lot of mantou - as mentioned by Shalmanese.

I was curious when I saw them buying bags and bags of flour, so I asked. They also make the filled baos but more often, it's mantou.

When I made filled baos for them, they couldn't believe how much filling I put into them! They prefer "more bun"....

[Kouign Aman]

Man tou - that's it! Not baozi, but the bread that surrounds the bao.

thanks.

I searched 'mantou' and got these two (one from Dejah - score!)

Mantou recipe in fried mantou thread

Dejah's baozi dough recipe

Edited January 17, 2012 by Kouign Aman (log)

[Carolyn Phillips]

Oh, I am so hungry after looking at that scrumptious pork belly! I think I'll have to make that tonight.

As for steamed bread, one of my favorites is yinsijuan, or "silver thread rolls." Here's my recipe for it: http://carolynjphillips.blogspot.com/2011/11/silver-thread-rolls.html

If you want to make plain mantou, just use this dough to form a fat rope, cut it into pieces, and then steam as directed. The milk powder tenderizes the dough and gives it a nice, mellow flavor, a tip I learned from my late MIL.

Edited January 31, 2012 by heidih
Fix link (log)

[dcarch]

"Big Red Ruby"(pig's blood) with Bean Sprouts.

dcarch

[Franci]

If you are looking for a more powerful flavour then you could try this recipe for Dong Po Pork in the RecipeGullet, posted by yours truly. In the Sichuan restaurants here you always get this more "glamourous" version of the dish rather than the standard red-braised pork.

Hi Prawncrackers! I was really undecided between your recipe and Sunflower's and then decided that I like to make my life more complicated and tried Sunflower's

Color was much lighter than yours and she makes a separate sauce. It was really, really good, we finished 1kg pork belly in 4 people and half (if I also include my one years old daughter). Picture doesn't do justice.

Any thought on this different method?

[Prawncrackers]

Hi Franci, yes it seems to me to be two totally different recipes! Sunflower's is much more sophisticated than mine, the flavours will be totally different too. Hers has Sichuan pepper, oyster sauce, tea but no star anise at all. Whereas mine is sweeter with a big hit of anise, I think mine will taste the bolder but her's definitely more subtlely complex.

I think there's only one thing for it, you will have to try my recipe and report back with a comparison forthwith! Btw I do recommend the overnight resting of the braise. It tastes much better the day after and you can strain the fat too.

[Carolyn Phillips]

Completely agree with Prawncrackers about the overnight rest; red-cooked whatever will turn from good to insanely delicious with a night in the fridge.

However, one Shanghainese chef told me that if you keep cooked meat in the sauce for more than a day or two, the texture starts to disintegrate. This was one of those satori moments in my life. He explained that for some reason the muscle turns powdery and loses its moistness. (Eggs, though, seem to just get better after days in the sauce, as long as they are totally immersed with a nice layer of fat on top of the sauce.)

[Will]

Threw together a quick vegetarian chao hefen (wide rice noodles) with (vegetarian) shacha sauce and fried tofu the other day. Even with a pretty anemic flame on the stove at my in-laws, it came out pretty well.

[Franci]

I think there's only one thing for it, you will have to try my recipe and report back with a comparison forthwith! Btw I do recommend the overnight resting of the braise. It tastes much better the day after and you can strain the fat too.

Here, I am. I think I took your recommendation of not diluiting the braising liquid too strickly. I should have tasted it. The pork ended up being a little salty. My mistake. I decided to cook in the oven in a pyrex loaf pan, covered with parchment and foil at 140 C for 3 1/2 hours (it was 1/2 a kg). I covered with liquid almost to the top and turned twice. The skin was still a little chewy, not as tender as I expected, although I was very careful and spent a decent time at browning it in the pan prior to braising.

The other fact is that I really found Sunflower's recipe produced really a pork belly with no greasiness and it didn't rest overnight, I only pressed it for a couple hours and defatted the cooking liquid. So far it has been my all favourite pork belly recipe (no Heston's Blumenthal or Thomas Keller...), very, very good.

[Prawncrackers]

Ah that's a shame the recipe didn't work out for you. I've never tried it in the oven, that could be the reason it didn't turn out great. What brand of soy are you using? I usually use Kikkoman light soy and Pearl River brand dark soy, I don't find them very salty. Also did you take it out of the poaching liquor to press overnight?

On your recommendation I should try Sunflower's recipe.

[Franci]

Ah that's a shame the recipe didn't work out for you. I've never tried it in the oven, that could be the reason it didn't turn out great. What brand of soy are you using? I usually use Kikkoman light soy and Pearl River brand dark soy, I don't find them very salty. Also did you take it out of the poaching liquor to press overnight?

Happens. Very likely, if I cooked it in my Staub even in the oven, it would have produced more steam and the skin would have come out softer. I used kikkoman regular ( ok, maybe that was it!) and Pearl River brand dark soy. I'll try again, we love pork belly

On your recommendation I should try Sunflower's recipe.

Please, if you do, I really care on your opinion.

[Carolyn Phillips]

I recently re-created a Sichuan style fried chicken wing recipe with a sweet-sour-spicy-garlicky sauce that is pretty close to Heaven. The recipe has two parts that needed mastering: getting the chicken wings crispy and crunchy without a whole lot of greasy batter, and managing to caramelize the sugar in the sauce so that it's lovely and sticky. This was a genuine hit even the first time around, and I recommend it highly. Do note that the sauce is slightly tart, so if you like a sweeter flavor, add as much sugar (or other seasonings for that matter) to suit your tastes.

Dry fried chicken wings -- 乾烹雞翅 Ganpeng jichi

Makes 6 wings

6 whole chicken wings or 12 middle sections only, preferably organic and free range

¼ cup cornstarch

2 cups (or so) frying oil

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 green onions, trimmed and finely chopped

10 dried Thai chilies, or to taste, broken in half and the seeds discarded

¾ cup white rice vinegar

6 tablespoons white sugar, or to taste

1 teaspoon roasted Sichuan peppercorn salt, or to taste

2 teaspoons regular soy sauce

1. Start this recipe at least 6 hours before you want to serve it. Rinse the chicken wings and lightly pat dry. If you are using whole wings, cut off the tips and use them for stock, and then cut the wings between the first and second joints so that you have 12 pieces. Place the wing pieces in a work bowl and sprinkle the cornstarch over them. Toss the bowl until each wing piece is thoroughly coated.

2. Place a cake rack on a large plate or small baking tray, and then arrange the wings on top of the tray so that they do not touch each other. Put the tray in the fridge uncovered so that the cool air slightly dries out the wings. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to one day.

3. Pour the oil in a wok and heat over high until a wooden chopstick inserted in the oil is immediately covered with bubbles. Holding a spatter screen in one hand, use the other to carefully add half of the wing pieces to the hot oil. Cover with the screen to cut down on the possibility of burns and mess. As soon as one side of the wings are golden, turn them over, adjusting the heat as necessary, and remove the wings to a large work bowl as soon as they are nicely browned and cooked through (see Tips). Repeat with the other half of the wings

4. Prepare the sauce either in the wok or a saucepan. Either drain off all but a tablespoon of oil from the wok, or pour a tablespoon of the oil into a small saucepan. Heat the oil over medium high and add the garlic, ginger, onions, and chilies. Toss them in the hot oil to release their fragrance, and then add the rest of the ingredients. Turn the heat to high and quickly boil down the sauce. Just before it turns syrupy and starts to caramelize, taste and adjust the seasoning. Once it is the consistency of maple syrup, remove from the heat. If you are using a wok, dump the wings into the sauce and quickly toss them to coat completely. If you are using a saucepan, pour the sauce onto the wings in the work bowl and toss to coat completely. Arrange the wings on a serving platter and eat while hot.

[rarerollingobject]

I recently re-created a Sichuan style fried chicken wing recipe with a sweet-sour-spicy-garlicky sauce that is pretty close to Heaven.

These sound amazing! I'm not a very experienced deep fryer..how long do you think you fried them for, in total? And just the one fry, I take it? (ie. not a double fry).

Thanks for posting!

[annachan]

Beef cheek and long bean stir fry.

It didn't start out as a Chinese dish. But I had two cheeks confit and wasn't sure what I want to do with it. At the last minute, I decided to cut them up into chunks and add long beans to it. For the sauce, I went with a basic mix of soy, sugar, Chinese wine, garlic and chili.

Edited March 24, 2012 by annachan (log)

[rarerollingobject]

Beef cheek and long bean stir fry.

It didn't start out as a Chinese dish. But I had two cheeks confit and wasn't sure what I want to do with it. At the last minute, I decided to cut them up into chunks and add long beans to it. For the sauce, I went with a basic mix of soy, sugar, Chinese wine, garlic and chili.

Whoa nelly..I looooove beef cheeks. Cheek of anything, really. Delicious-looking dish you have there.

My dinner; red braised pork belly, and gai lan steamed in chicken stock and abalone oil. And rice.

[Prawncrackers]

Made lobster noodles the other week as I had some very nice stock in the freezer. This dish is usually a celebratory treat but the recipe is so quick and easy that I should make it more often.

Soy pheasant:

And my ubiquitous Chicken Rice and a side salad of soft-shelled crab:

[Dejah]

My stomach tells me I need me some red-braised pork belly! My scales say, "No..No...NO! Not yet..."

Prawn: Did you use fresh soft-shell crabs or frozen? That's the only kind I can get here on the prairies. I can never seem to get them dry enough to deep fry to crispy deliciousness.

What did you use for coating?

I love soft-shell crab...