Steamed Red Snapper with Ginger and Scallions

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Red snapper - prior to cooking

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Steamed red snapper - ready to serve

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Chicken curry

Background:

Had the steamed red snapper tonight - was very tasty.  When possible, buy whole fish to get that extra bit of flavor.  Fillets tend to lose a bit of its essence during the cooking process.

Prepped the curry chicken in advance so there would be ready-made meals for Flora to eat next week.

For recipes on steaming fish and making curry chicken, please refer to previous posts.

Soy and Ginger Braised Ribs or "12345"

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Pork ribs - prepping stage

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Ribs with dry ingredients in pan

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Ribs with ingredients and braising liquid in pan

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Cooked ribs - ready to serve

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Side of stir-fried Chinese cabbage and carrots

Background:

This dish is inspired by a recipe that my mom got many years ago from a friend at church.  It's based on a simple concept of proportional ingredients or "12345".

The proportions are as follows:

• 1 part sugar
  
• 2 parts vinegar
• 3 parts rice wine
• 4 parts soy sauce
• 5 parts water

However, I've slightly modified this recipe to include other spices and ingredients to put a different twist on its flavor profile.  On a personal note, this is probably one of my favorite pork dishes when executed correctly.

Prep:

• 2-3 lbs of pork ribs (approximately 1/2 rack)
• 1 TB brown sugar
• 1 TS salt
• 3-4 TB soy sauce
• 2-3 TB rice wine (may substitute with dry white wine)
• 1 TB vinegar (Chinese "black" vinegar preferred)
• 2-3 pods of dried chili
• 1-2 pods of star anise
• 2-3 large slices of ginger
• 1/2 cup water or enough so that ribs are just covered in liquid

Cooking:

• Prep ribs by cutting into serving size segments
• Season ribs with salt
• Heat pan with cooking oil (I use canola) to high but not smoking
• Sear ribs on each side until browned (I cheat sometimes by just searing the "meatier" side)
• Add dry ingredients
• Add liquid condiments
• Add water until ribs are just covered (~ 1/2 cup)
• Bring to a boil
• Once boiling, bring to simmer and cover pan
• Cook for ~ 40 min or until liquid is nearly evaporated (At this point, you'll notice that the remaining liquid has turned into a glaze.  You have to keep a close eye on the cooking process to prevent the ribs from burning as the sugar in the braising liquid will burn rather quickly.  The goal in this step is to reduce the remaining liquid to a delicious glaze that will coat the ribs and give it a nice sheen.)
• Remove from pan and serve

Home-made/Hand-made Chinese Pork and Mushroom Dumplings (Jiaozi)

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Finely chopped mixture of scallions, re-hydrated shitake mushrooms, ginger and garlic

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Ground pork mixed with finely chopped mixture from above picture along with dashes of soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, sugar and "5-spice" powder

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Dumpling dough

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Prepping the dough to make dumpling skins

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Dumplings skins and "coins"

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Freshly made dumplings ready for their "hot water bath"

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Cooked dumplings with soy/chili sauce

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Cooked dumplings with soy/chili sauce - alternate shot

Background:

Dumplings are one of my favorite dishes in Chinese cuisine.  I like them boiled, pan-fried or steamed -- pretty much all of the common ways of cooking them.  The best dumplings I've had were ones that I sampled in a small Taiwanese restaurant.  These dumplings were thin-skinned, long and relatively skinny.  As I recall, you can buy ~ 10 for the equivalent of 20 TWD (新台幣) or about 60-70 cents USD - a ridiculously cheap price for a tasty and filling meal. 

Tonight, I decided to take the the plunge and spend some time making dumplings from scratch.  That's right, everything -- from scratch.  I made the dumpling dough, rolled out the skin, chopped up the vegetable components and made my own ground pork from a piece of center cut.  All-in-all, it was surprisingly easy - not to mention therapeutic.  The results were above my expectations and quite tasty.

Prep:

Filling

• 4 stalks scallions
• 3-4 slices ginger
• 3 cloves garlic
• 4-5 caps of re-hydrated dried shitake mushrooms
• 1/2 lb. ground pork
• 3-4 TB soy sauce
• 1 TS sesame oil
• 1 TS sugar
• 1/2 TS "5-spice" powder

Dumpling Skin

• 1 and 1/2 cup flour to start - add more as needed to gain correct consistency (i.e. not sticky yet pliable)
• 1/2 cut of water
• 1 TS salt

Cooking:

Filling

• Rough chop the vegetable ingredients for the filling and add to food processor.  Pulse until finely chopped.
• Rough chop the pork (if using whole piece of pork - if not, ignore this step) and add to food processor.  Pulse until finely chopped
• Mix the remaining ingredients together with chopped components until incorporated thoroughly
• Set aside

Dumpling Skin

• Add flour, water and salt to mixer with dough hook
• Use mixer to knead dough for ~ 20-30 min on slow until "elastic" and "silky" - this long kneading processes is crucial in releasing the gluten that renders the cooked dumpling skin pliable and "chewy" (in a good way)
• Set dough aside, cover with damp towel and let rest for 30 min.
• To make the dumpling skin, roll out dough into a long rope ~ 1/2" in diameter
• Cut 1/2" pieces from this "rope"
• Mash the pieces into coin-shaped pieces with your hand
• Proceed to use a rolling pin to roll out the pieces until roughly round in shape and ~ 5 " in diameter
• Skin should be relatively thin ~ 1/16" thick - though not "paper-thin"

Wrapping the Dumpling

• Add TS sized dollops of filling onto the center of the skin
• Coat 1/2 of the edge of the skin with cold water using your finger (this allows the edges to adhere when you press to seal the dumpling)
• Repeat

Cooking the Dumpling

• Bring large pot of water to a roiling boil
• Carefully add dumpling into water and cook for ~ 5 min.
• When the dumplings float, they are done
• Drain and place on place
• Let cool 5 min until the excess water evaporates from dumpling skin
• Dip in sauce of choice (I like a chili/soy - see below) sauce
• Enjoy

Dipping sauce

• 4 TB soy sauce
• 1 TB chili sauce
• 1 TS sesame oil
• 1 TB vinegar
• 1 TS sugar
• Mix well

Note:  One of the reasons making these dumplings from scratch was relatively easy for me is that I "cheated" by using a food processor (to chop the ingredients for the filling) as well as a KitchenAid mixer (to knead the dough).

Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna (with Bechamel Sauce)

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Chopped mushrooms, onion, celery, garlic, carrots

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Sausage (casing removed sectioned into pieces) browning in pan

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Sauteing ingredients

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Finished sauce

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Cooking the roux for the bechamel

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Bechamel sauce

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Building the layers for the lasagna

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Lasagna - piping hot from the oven

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Lasagna - piping hot from the oven

Background:

I usually make lasagna the "American/Southern Italian" way with Ricotta cheese.  However, I decided to try making it the "Northern Italian" way or with Bechamel sauce (milk based cream sauce).  It seems that there's decidedly less flavor than what I'm used to (probably due to the substitution of Bechamel for Ricotta).  However, the texture is much creamier than the Ricotta version.  Perhaps next time I will try cooking a "hybrid" with 1/2 ricotta and 1/2 bechamel.

Prep:

Tomato sauce

• 2 small carrots
• 2 ribs of celery
• 5-6 large button mushrooms
• 1 large onion
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 3 sausages
• 1 TS Italian seasoning
• Salt to taste
• Add pasta water to sauce as necessary (if it gets too thick)
• 16 oz tomato sauce
• Note: I prefer Cento, Tuttorossa or Scalafani for the tomato sauce - try not to use the Hunts or other generic brands as they tend to be too acidic - if you are using the Hunts/generics, you'll probably want to add ~ 1 TS of sugar to take off the edge
  

Bechamel sauce:

• 3-4 TB butter (~ 1/3 stick)
• 3 TB flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 TS salt

Lasagna:

• 1 package dried lasagna noodles (I used Barilla this time - though don't use the non-boil version)

Cooking:

Preheat oven to 375 deg. F

Tomato Sauce

• Chop/dice the vegetables and set aside
• Remove sausage meat from casing and saute in oil until browned (while sauteing,  chop up the sausage into smaller pieces with your utensil)
• Add vegetables and saute until softened
• Season with salt and Italian seasoning
• Add 1 16 oz. can of tomato sauce 
• Bring to a boil
• Lower to a simmer and cook for ~ 15 min to 1/2 hour depending on your desired consistency for the sauce
• Note:  I usually add the mushrooms during the last 5 min of cooking to prevent them from "wilting" into unidentifiable pieces

Bechamel Sauce

• Melt butter in sauce pan
• Add flour and stir - cook until fully incorporated and mixture is "golden brown" in color (this mixture is commonly referred to as a "roux")
• Add salt
• Heat milk (I heat it in the microwave) until hot but not boiling
• Add hot milk to roux and stir while cooking
• Cook until consistency turns to that of a thick cream (should coat the back of your utensil)
• Turn off heat and set aside

Lasagna

• Boil lasagna in salted water until "al dente" (e.g. cooked but just a bit hard when you bite down)
• Cool pasta in cold water until it's cool enough to handle

Assembly

• Add thin layer of tomato sauce to bottom of pan
• layer the lasagna noodles on top with minimal overlap
• Add layer of bechamel
• Add more tomato sauce
• Add Parmesan cheese/mozzarella cheese
• Construct alternate layers of lasagna noodle, tomato sauce and bechamel and cheese
• Top with remaining sauce and cheese
• Cover pan with foil
• Bake at 375 deg. F for 15-20 min.
• Remove from oven and cool for ~ 10 min prior to serving

Hainanese Chicken with Chili Dipping Sauce

From Fusion Meals

Scallions and ginger for the broth

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Chicken, scallions, ginger and sale + ~4-6 cups of water prior to cooking

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Cooked chicken cooling on plate

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Julienned carrots and cucumbers added to broth - transformed into "vegetable soup"

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Chili dipping sauce for chicken - consists of chili sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and sugar

Background:

I had a 1/2 chicken in the freezer that would conveniently serve as Hainanese Chicken for 2 tonight.  This is a really simple, yet tasty dish.  We devoured the chicken in short order -- "Should have cooked more", Flora said.

Prep:

• 3-4 stalks of scallion (separate stem from "green" part and use stem for soup)
• 4-5 slices ginger
• 1/2 to whole chicken
• 4-6 cups of water (enough to cover chicken)
• 1 TB salt

Sauce:

• 1 TB chili sauce
• 1 TB soy sauce
• 1 TS sesame oil
• 1 TS vinegar
• 1 TS sugar

Cooking:

• Combine ingredients for Hainanese Chicken into pot
• Bring to a boil
• Turn heat down to low to maintain simmer
• Cook for ~40 min
• Remove chicken from broth and set aside to cool
• Lightly sprinkle some salt over the cooling chicken
• Once cooled to room temperature, cut into pieces and serve

Sauce:

• Combine ingredients and whisk together
• You're done!

Flounder Steamed with Scallion and Ginger

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Julienned scallions

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Flounder, scallions, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine and salt.

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Steamed flounder - ready to serve (a bit over-cooked at 5 min on high in my microwave)

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Side dish of asparagus sauteed in canola oil, butter with salt and pepper as seasoning (Flora made this)

Background:

I bought this beautiful piece of fish at the local Korean market and decided to prepare it simply by steaming it with ginger, scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine and salt.

Prep:

• 1 piece of flounder ~ 1 - 2 lb (May substitute with other neutral flavored fish such as cod, haddock, sea bass...etc.) 
• 2 stalks of scallions - julienned
• 3-4 slices of ginger - finely chopped into strips
• 2 TB soy sauce
• 1 TS sesame oil
• 2 TB rice wine
• Salt to taste (e.g. use your judgement)

Cooking:

• In microwave-safe container combine fish with all ingredients (Tip: layer some scallions/ginger on both bottom of pan and top of fish to allow steam/liquid to freely circulate)
• Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes
• Turn fish over in container
• Microwave for additional 2 min. on high
• Serve with garnish of chopped fresh scallions on top

Tuna Kimbap or "Korean Sushi"

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Julienned carrots, cucumber, pickled radish (the yellow stuff) and chopped scallions

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"Laver" or nori/seaweed sheets

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Tuna, soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar cooking in a pan

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Bamboo sheet covered with plastic wrap for making Kimbap/"Korean sushi"

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Laver on the bamboo sheet

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Cooling down freshly cooked rice in a large basin of cold water

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Step 1: spread rice evenly over laver while leaving ~ 1/2 " on top and bottom

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Step 2: place ingredients in a narrow strip in the middle of the sheet

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Step 3: Roll Kimbap and slice and serve (wipe knife with wet paper towel in between cuts to ensure a clean cut and to remove starch/rice residue)

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Kimbap - ready to serve

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Kimbap - ready to serve

Background:  

A while ago, I discovered a great blog site focused on Korean food - you can find the blog via this link: "Cooking Korean Food with Maangchi".  In particular, the Tuna Kimbap recipe caught my eye.  I've purchased Kimbap in the past in Korean stores in the area (Ft. Lee, NJ) and appreciate their simplicity and tastiness.  Here's a recipe from Maangchi for Tuna Kimbap.  You'll notice that I deviated slightly from her recipe by not adding the vinegar mixture, avocado, garlic and/or sesame seeds.  I've always tended to use what I have on hand, and I simply did not have those ingredients (avocado and sesame seeds) handy and was too lazy to make the vinegar mixture or mince the garlic.  It still came out quite tasty though.