Chinese recipes Archives - Page 3 of 4

The Trick to Making Bao – Los Angeles Times article

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I’ve been fascinated with Chinese buns (bao) for years, and when I was writing the “Stuffed Buns” chapter of Asian Dumplings, I wanted to pen a much longer piece on the hows and whys of bao. I know it sounds crazy but I’m a geek over Asian dough. Truth be told, I’ve struggled with bao dough for a long time and finally found a solution for wonderful dough that hasn’t failed me. It doesn’t collapse during cooking, is resilient yet soft, and has the sweet goodness of wheat.

I told Russ Parsons, editor of the Los Angeles Times “Food Section,” about my doughy adventure and discovery and he resoundingly said “yes!” to an article on bao. I’ve experimented lots over the years, and even tested out flour bought at Chinese markets and overseas. The photo at the top of this page is from one round of experimentation where I made five bao dough from five different kinds of flour.

Shanghai Dumpling King’s Sugar Egg Puffs Recipe (Bai Tang Sha Weng)

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These deep-fried puffed dumplings are one of the best things I’ve eaten in a long time. I tasted them on Saturday at Shanghai Dumpling King (3319 Balboa Street, between 34th and 35th) in the Outer Richmond in San Francisco. My friend Linda and I went there for the Shanghai soup dumplings, which were stellar, but we came away with this ‘new’ discovery. Sugar egg puffs are an ethereal cross between a cream puff and doughnut. They are deep fried wonders and not greasy whatsoever.

The young waitress paraded the fried sugar egg puffs (misspelled on the menu as “suger egg puff” in the dessert section) around the small restaurant on a tray and we were instantly taken in. We didn’t want them with the savories, but as soon as we finished all the dumplings, Linda asked the waitress, “Can we get those things fresh and hot?” The waitress obliged and Linda nearly burnt her tongue as she bit into the crisp, steamy hot puff.

Chilled Cucumber with Garlic Recipe

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My friend Katie Sullivan Morford of Afghan Cooking Unveiled is a writer and mom to three beautiful girls. She recently asked me , “So if you’re planning on making a meal of Asian dumplings, what can you serve on the side?” A whole host of goodies was my response. This little cucumber salad is one that I frequently whip up. It’s crunchy, tangy, and has a garlicky bite that’s perfect alongside the chewy richness of dumplings such as pot stickers, poached water dumplings (jiaozi) and fried spring rolls. The cucumber provides nice textural contrast. Plus, it’s served cold so there’s a cooling effect as well.

I first ordered this dish as an accompaniment to Shanghai soup dumplings. The restaurant’s preparation was kind of crude in that they left the seeds in the cucumber and there was so much garlic that suffice it to say, I was glad that my husband and I had been together for decades! This isn’t quite a dish for first dates. At home, I researched the recipe in my library and came across a similar dish called “Smacked Cucumbers” in Fuschia Dunlop’s inspiring Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province. Her Hunan recipe called for whacking the cucumbers with the side of a heavy cleaver so as to open up the pores in the cucumbers and help them soak up the flavors. Interesting but not attractive is what I found out when I tried the technique. And the seeds were never removed in Dunlop’s recipe just like at the restaurant.

Quick Wonton and Barbecue Pork Noodle Soup Recipe

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My Trader Joe’s Asian food product adventure continued. There were leftover frozen dumplings and Chinese-style barbecued seasoned pork and so I’ve been getting creative. Among the Trader Joe’s frozen Asian dumplings that I recently reviewed, the chicken and cilantro mini wontons were among my favorites. I wondered if I could pair the frozen wontons up with my shortcut Cantonese char siu pork. The result was this quick and fairly decent bowl of wonton noodle soup with char siu pork.

One caveat is that I had some homemade chicken stock and fresh Chinese egg noodles in the fridge, but you can use the shortcut Asian chicken stock from the Viet World Kitchen (my other site) and even top-ramen noodles. Don’t be shocked. Instant ramen noodles are a staple in many Asian kitchens, including mine. If you use ramen noodles, I suppose you could use their broth flavoring packet and water for the stock.

Parboiling the wontons first before poaching them in the stock prevents them from adding their starchiness to the stock. As the wontons cook in the stock, they absorb from of the stock’s flavor, thereby tasting better.

Serves 2

4 cups chicken stock, home made or shortcut version (on Vietworldkitchen.com)
1/3 pound fresh egg noodles or 2 Top-Ramen type of dried noodle flats
16 frozen Trader Joe’s chicken and cilantro mini wontons
1/4 pound Quick Char Siu Pork from Trader Joe’s
1/4 pound green vegetable, such as asparagus, bok choy, gailan, fresh peas, or broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
Light (regular) soy sauce
Salt
Sesame oil
White pepper or chile oil, optional

1. Bring the stock to a boil in a saucepan, lower the heat and cover to keep hot. Have your soup bowls nearby as you’ll be working fast.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Use a long-handled noodle strainer or mesh strainer to blanch the vegetables. Remove, flush with cold water, and divide among the soup bowls.

3. Return the water to a boil and use the strainer to plunge the noodles into the pot. Let them cook until chewy-firm; the cooking time depends on the noodles. Remove the noodles from water, rinse them under cold water and divide among the soup bowls.

4. Return the water to a boil and add the frozen wontons. Stir gently to separate them. At this point, remove the lid from the stock, then increase the heat on the stock to bring it back to a boil. After the wontons float to the top, scoop them from the water with a slotted spoon and slide them into the stock. Let them poach gently in the stock for about 3 minutes, until done; poke into one with a paring knife to test. (As the wontons cook, doctor up the pork, if you haven’t done so. Or, warm them up in a skillet if you did it in advance.)

5. When the wontons are cooked, scoop them from the stock and divide them among the soup bowls. Taste the stock and make any flavor adjustments with soy sauce and/or salt. Then ladle the stock into the bowls. Drizzle on some sesame oil and then top with the pork. If you like extra heat, sprinkle some white pepper and/or chile oil to finish. Serve immediately.

Quick Char Siu Pork from Trader Joe’s

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As you know from last week’s review of frozen Asian dumplings, I’m on a bit of a Trader Joe’s jag. Another one of their Asian products that’s intrigued me lots has been their Chinese-Style Barbecue Seasoned Pork. That’s one big mouthful of a product name (not very catchy!) but ever since I spotted the item in the Fearless Flyer months ago, I’ve wondered if the pork could be used in Asian dumplings such as steamed and baked buns (bāo/bau) and fried sticky rice dumplings (xián shuǐ jiǎo/haam sui gok). Char siu pork is also one my favorite add-ons in wonton noodle soup, and I love to stuff some in Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches.

How good is the pork? Can I recommend it for cooks who don’t have the time to make their own or access to a Chinese barbecue shop? What can be done with the pork? Trader Joe’s does not identify the pork as Cantonese char siu pork but the orange-red coloring and thin long slabs of meat gave the pork’s identity away. The Chinese character printed on the label, 豬 (zhū) means pig, hog, swine. There was nothing about it being chā shāo/char siu pork (叉燒), which literally means fork roasted as the pork pieces are typically suspended on hooks during the roasting process to evenly expose the meat to the heat.

Stuffed Crab Claw Recipe (Yeung Hai Kim)

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It’s hard to categorize this crisp Cantonese delight. Stuffed crab claws (釀蟹鉗) are a dim sum classic for sure, but is it an Asian dumpling? I’m not quite sure, because for the most part dumplings are doughy, starchy foods. However, in western culinary terms, there are such things as meat dumplings (such as French quenelles) which are poached.

I was at a quandary about including stuffed crab claws in the cookbook. But I’ve loved them since I was a kid and never minded cracking and shelling a bunch of stone crabs for a batch. Don’t worry, I now mostly use frozen crab claws, sold at Chinese markets. They’re pictured below and are smallish, the flesh is about 3/4-inch wide; this size is perfect for this application.

I don’t mean to burst your bubble but stuffed crab claws are not really stuffed. They’re actually a cooked crab claw, cracked to reveal the flesh, is partially encased in shrimp paste, then coated with breadcrumbs and quickly deep-fried. You could describe the result as being drumstick- or lollipop-like but the protruding pincers are reminders of the claws’ crabby nature.

Dipping the claw in some biting hot mustard and/or chile garlic sauce adds wonderful bite. There are sometimes found at dim sum but are more often than not, on many an Asian-American Chinese restaurant wedding banquet menu.

What if you’re allergic to shrimp?

Substitute mild fish filet, such as sole, and make a fish paste instead. See the master shrimp paste recipe for the recipe.

RECIPE

Stuffed Crab Claws
Niàng Xiè Qián / Yeung Hai Kim
釀蟹鉗

Makes 12 claws, serving 6 as a snack

12 cooked crab claws, thawed on paper towels (about 1/3 pound net weight)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup panko or regular dried breadcrumbs
1 cup Basic Dim Sum Shrimp Paste
Canola or peanut oil, for deep-frying
Chinese or Colman’s mustard and/or Chile Garlic Sauce (recipe is on Viet World Kitchen site)

Blot excess moisture from the crab claws to ensure that the paste will stick to them. I often leave them out on several layers of paper towel to air dry for an hour or so. Before you’re ready to move on, blot them one more time for good measure. (If they’re super moist still, very lightly dust them with flour right before encasing them in the paste.)

At your work station, have the claws on a plate. Put the flour and panko on small plates or small dishes. Put the egg in a small bowl. Then have the paste nearby and a shallow bowl of water.

To coat each crab claw, wet one hand, then use the free hand to put 4 teaspoons (1 generous tablespoon) of paste in your hand toward your finger tips, spreading it out into circle about 2 inches wide and a good 1/4 inch thick. Put a crab claw atop the paste so that the protruding flesh on the paste but the pincers are not (see photos below). Then close your hand to make the paste adhere to the claw and encase the fleshy portion. Mold the paste around the claw to resemble a large tootsie roll of sorts. Your wet hand should be able to smooth out the paste surface; moisten your hand in the bowl of water, if needed.

Now roll the paste-coated portion in the flour to lightly coat. Then dip into the egg wash, letting excess egg drip back into the bowl; angle the bowl to make dipping easier. Finally, roll in the panko to coat. Set the coated claw on a plate. Repeat with the remaining claws.

Pour 1 1/4 inches of oil into a saucepan, 5-quart Dutch oven, or wok. Heat over medium-high heat until about 350F on a deep-fry
thermometer. (If you don’t have a thermometer, stick a dry bamboo chopstick into the oil. If bubbles rise immediately to the surface and surround the chopstick with bubbles, the oil is ready.)Fry the claws in batches of 3 or 4, for 2 to 3 minutes, turning frequently, until golden brown. Use a slotted spoon or skimmer to remove from the oil and drain on paper towel. Serve hot with the mustard and/or chile garlic sauce.Related RecipeIt’s been a shrimpy week and I made Vietnamese grilled shrimp on sugar cane (chao tom). The recipe is posted on Viet World Kitchen.