Thursday 23 August 2012

Chinese Pork Dumplings

Finally, I have made chinese dumplings, successfully! 
These were really great, I impressed myself! Now I won't lie, I had a little help with a sous-chef (thank you) but the actual idea of these parcels is very simple.

Firstly, all you need for the dumpling dough is plain-flour and hot water... what could be easier? 
Secondly, you don't even need to cook the filling separately, just put all the ingredients in a bowl, then add 2tsp's to make each dumpling and cook together. 

The only thing to bare in mind with these dumplings is that they are time consuming, especially if its your first time making them. As rolling out each dumpling and forming them takes some time. With practice though, i'm sure it would become a lot quicker. They are also 100% worth the effort! 
I learnt from a little cafe near Fudan University in Shanghai, to serve dumplings simply, with a mixture of soy sauce and dried chilli flakes. 

The recipe I have taken from Ken Hom because he is awesome. While we are on that topic, I would like to recommend a program to watch: "Eat, Drink, Cook China", with Ken and my favourite Ching-He Huang. It allows you to experience the real China, exploring the different areas with their own specific tastes, flavours and cooking styles. It helped me to remember my journey through China and thats when you know its a good program. 

Anyway, moving on to the job at hand, here is the recipe:

Dough:
- 140g/5oz Plain flour
- 125ml/4fl oz Very hot water

Stuffing:
- 110g/4oz Minced Pork 
- 75g/3oz Spinach (or chinese leaves) finely chopped
- 1 tsp Ginger, grated
- 1/2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (not essential, I couldn't find it in the supermarket)
- 1/2 tbsp Dark Soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp Light Soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper
- 1 1/2 Spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1tbsp cold chicken stock 

Method for the Dough:
1) Mix flour and water 
2) Knead until smooth - about 8 minutes
3) Return to the bowl and cover with a clean damp towel to rest for 20 minutes

Method for Filling:
4) While the dough is resting, combine all the stuffing ingredients and mix together

Forming the dumplings:
5) After resting, knead again for a couple minutes
6) Then shape into a long sausage about 23cm long and 2.5cm diameter
7) Cut into 18 equal sized pieces 
8) Roll each into a ball and roll out to a 9cm diameter circle/pancake
9) Put the circles onto a flour surface, ready to fill.
10) Place two teaspoons of filling in the centre of each pancake and moisten one edge with water.
11) For an easy pinching method, just pinch each edge together (will resemble a small cornish pasty)
12) Another method is pleating one side (as used in the pictures) 

Cooking the dumplings:
I used two methods:
1) Ken Homs method:
Heat a large lidded frying pan with groundnut oil and add the dumplings.
Cook for two minutes
Add water and cover to simmer gently for 12 minutes.
2) Steam the dumplings using a vegetable steamer (or preferably a chinese bamboo steamer) for about 15minutes. 

Both myself and my sous chef, preferred the dumplings that were steamed (sorry Ken) as they were a bit tougher and held together well. 











Saturday 18 August 2012

Surprise Burgers


I along with a large majority of the population, love a good burger occasionally, some of you may even eat one everyday (though I don't recommend it) it is a great meal, especially for all you meat lovers out there.

However, sometimes I find... it can just be a bit boring, unless you've jazzed the burger up with all sorts of extras, like bacon, cheese, salad, buns... etc. 

That's why I decided to make the "Surprise Burger". 

This beauty looks like your average beef burger from the outside, but has a mozzarella and pesto centre, making it an exciting burger to bite into. 

This recipe is also a great excuse to get the old BBQ out (weather permitting), if not don't worry, you can do them just fine without one. 

However, I chose to go down the BBQ route as luckily we had a nice day in England... yes believe it or not!!
I also decided to try out a new method of adding flavour to the burgers and keeping them moist. 

This new method involved making a liquid with water, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper and worcester sauce. Then dropping it over the hot coals while the burgers were cooking, to add extra flavours to the smoke. Now, you could definitely smell them in the air, however whether they actually went into the burger, I can't say for certain but its fun all the same and gives your BBQ guests a smell to get them hungry!

Recipe:

- 500g Beef mince
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1/2 cayenne pepper
- 1/2 ground black pepper
- 1/2 salt
- Pesto
- Mozzarella
- (can add finely chopped onions and herbs)
To serve:
 - large flat mushrooms 
- Salad
- Guacamole
- Sour Cream

Method:

1) Mix the beef and all the seasoning together (as well as onion and herbs, is using)
2) Get a golf ball sized amount of meet and flatten into a buyer shape.
3) Add a slice of mozzarella and 1 tsp of pesto
4) Get another ball of the meat and flatten to lay on top.
5) Seal the edges together
6) Add to the BBQ and cook for around 8minutes, turning halfway through (depending on how hot it is)
7) Cook the flat mushrooms at the same time.

Once ready, if you want a healthier option, serve together with the mushroom, salad and sauces ( or if you prefer of course, serve in a bun with lettuce and tomato.







Wednesday 8 August 2012

Vietnamese Cuisine Part 2: Stuffed Squid

Squid stuffed with pork mince and vegetables...Now this is a real treat!
I personally have never had or to be honest thought about stuffing squid but I can tell you its delicious
This recipe is also a great idea for a dinner party! It looks great on the plate and its a good dish for sharing. An innovative surf and turf dish that will break the ice at the dinner table. 

Now the actual idea of it is simple... however, I have to admit, in reality it takes some skill and patience to stuff the squid, as its a slippery little b*gger! That is however, you'll be happy to know, the hardest part! 

Recipe:
- 1 Whole squid (tube/body) 
- 100grams Mince Pork
- 1/4 Carrot
- 1/2 Onion
- 6 Spring Onions,
- 1 tsp Garlic

Method:

1. Add together the chopped garlic, minced pork 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and 1 tsp sugar - mix and leave for 3 minutes.

2. Thinly dice the carrot and onion and finely chop the spring onions.
3. Use 2 tbsp veg oil in a hot pan and add 1tsp garlic, fry.

4. Add the minced pork mixture, onion and carrot and cook until soft.

5. Add the spring onions and cook for another 3minutes.
6. Then stuff the squid with the mixture (be careful as it will be hot) - push the mixture right down  then once full, pinch together the ends and secure by pushing toothpicks straight through the top of the squid from one side to the other.
7. Next add 2 tbsp veg oil into a hot pan and fry the squid - turning when browned - frying for approximately 3-4 minutes in total. 
Finally, using scissors cut the squid into thick circles, perfect for your guests to dive in and grab  a slice... with chopsticks for those feeling a little adventurous.

Sunday 5 August 2012

Vietnamese Cuisine part 1: Spring Rolls

Having recently returned from Vietnam I thought I would share with you my experiences of the cuisine starting with the all important "Spring Roll". 
Now, I know what you are thinking... "spring roll?? eurgh they are normally a soggy, stringy vegetable filled, cooked from frozen buffet filler". However, not in Vietnam. Over there you'd do well to find a menu where these little parcels do not feature in either a fresh or fried form. 


Firstly, the fresh type which is sometimes referred to as summer rolls and in vietnamese  Gỏi Cuốn. The word spring roll describes the freshness of the ingredients used. The typical ingredients in fresh spring rolls include; boiled pork, shrimp, chicken or tofu, fresh herbs, lettuce, cucumbers, chives and rice vermicelli, all wrapped in moistened rice paper.
Secondly, the fried variety Chả giò, this is mainly made from seasoned ground meat (normally, pork and shrimp), mushrooms and diced vegetables such as carrotskohlrabi and jicama, rolled up in a sheet of moist rice paper. My first experience of the fried spring rolls was in Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City, it proved to be a great starting point to my journey through the culture and cuisine of Vietnam. The variety in Ho Chi Minh were smaller and more compact then the long thin variety further north, but still packed full of flavour.

After travelling further north to Hoi-an (my favourite destination in Vietnam), again my first
taste of the place was fried spring rolls. However, these were much better than the variety in Ho Chi Minh and the locals gave us a lesson in how to eat them. The spring rolls are served with pieces of rice paper and lettuce, the idea being that you wrap lettuce and then rice paper around the roll then dip it in the lovely sweet sauce... perfect! 
Chả giò rế is an uncommmon kind of chả giò' that uses bánh hỏi (thin rice vermicelli woven into a sheet) instead of rice paper. I tried these on a cruise around Ha Long Bay and I have to say they are delicious, crunchy and something I have personally never found in England or elsewhere.
There are three common sauces used to go with spring rolls, firstly, fermented soybean sauce (tương xào), hoisin sauce or my favourite, fish sauce.


Now for the exciting bit, how to make them yourself, at home! Yes I said it, and don't think...'well I can't get the right ingredients', you can! Everything is now easily available in any chinese supermarket or china town near you and even some commercial supermarkets may have them. 


Firstly, if you are planning on visiting Vietnam and heading to Hoi-An, I would like to recommend Cafe 43, this is where we were taught some great dishes from Vietnam, with a cooking class which was just $5 and then the price of the dishes you choose to prepare from the menu. Furthermore, as a place to eat in general, it's great! A wide variety of dishes (some of which will be featured in this blog) with a friendly, family orientated atmosphere, attracting a lot of travellers, I can not recommend this place enough! 


Ok lets begin: 


Ingredients for Fried Spring Rolls with Shrimp:


1.  1 tin Chickpeas- finely chopped to make a paste
2. 150g Minced Shrimp
3. 1/2 tsp ginger 
4. Quarter Carrot
5. 4 Spring Onions 
6. 1/4 Sweet Potato
7. 1/4 Taro (similar to sweet potato, which can be used instead) 
8. Soft rice paper - Dau Xanh


Method:


1. Boil sweet potato + Taro until soft.
2. Mash together sweet potato, taro, ginger and chickpeas.
3. Grate Carrot and chop spring onions
4. Put 1 tbsp vegetable oil to a hot pan, add the spring onion, cook for 2minutes.
5. Add grated carrot to mashed mixture, then add cooked spring onions (without the oil)
6. Add mince shrimp, 1/2 tsp garlic, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar.
7. Mix/mash all ingredients together using hands, until it all sticks together (like a dough)
8. Take rice paper, place one large tsp of the mixture at the bottom end, make a long sausage, roll to halfway then fold the edges and keep rolling to the end. (see video below)
9. Fill a pan 1/2 full with vegetable oil for frying - cook on a low/med heat - fry for 7/10 minutes - until crispy and brown.

Video showing how to form the spring rolls:
Ingredients for spring roll dipping sauce:
- 1/2 Red birds eye chilli
- 1/2 tsp Garlic
- 1/2 tsp Sugar
- 1/2 lemon 
- 2 tsp Fish Sauce

Mix it all together and there you have it:
                       
                              Fried shrimp spring rolls with dipping sauce


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