Cooking: Making Pot Stickers

Posted on 15 September 2011 by christao408

Pot stickers, known as guotie in Chinese or gyoza in Japanese, are my favorite type of dumplings second only to xiao long bao, of course! I recently had the opportunity to learn how to make them, particularly the tricky art of correctly folding the seams, when I visited my friend Tehlin in Hong Kong.

Tehlin and I went to university together. Of Chinese heritage by way of the Philippines, she has tried to teach me how to make pot stickers on previous visits but my fingers were to clumsy or my patience too thin. This time, though, I overcame the obstacles and learned how to turn out a proper pot sticker.

To make the filling, you use fresh ground pork and, if you like, chopped shrimp meat. Finely chop Napa cabbage, mushrooms, and a small amount of garlic.

Once the vegetables are chopped, add a teaspoon of salt to the cabbage, stir it, and let it sit for a few minutes. This will draw the water out from the cabbage.

After the water has been drawn out, squeeze the cabbage and then add it to the mushroom, garlic, and meat mixture.

Mix well, seasoning with some soy sauce, sesame oil, and ground white pepper. If I understand the proportions correctly, about 1 kg (2 pounds) of meat will make about 100 pot stickers.

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The hardest thing for me to comprehend and do was to correctly seal and fold the seams. While I finally figured it out, I’m still quite clumsy about the process. First, place about a tablespoon of filling in the middle of a wrapper. We bought them premade from the local noodle vendor. Wipe the edges with water then hold like a taco. Start by pinching one end.

Then, using your index fingers, create a flap about one-quarter of the way across the edge of the dumpling. The flap will fold over towards the already sealed end of the dumpling and is then pinched closed. Make another flap about half way across the edge of the dumpling, folding it over and pinching, too.

A final flap is made about three quarters of the way across the edge of the dumpling. After is it folded and pinched, the unsealed end is pinched together. It looks so easy when Tehlin does it, just a blur of dumpling origami.

Me trying it was another matter. Ultimately, I found it easier to set the wrapper on the table after making the first pinch, instead of trying to hold it in my hand. After a few rough starts, I got the hang of it.

We soon filled two trays, a mixture of Tehlin’s beautiful pot stickers and my less consistent ones. Nonetheless, they turned out looking pretty good and I look forward to making some back at home. Oh, and they tasted great, too.

Food in BKK: Din Tai Fung

Posted on 2 August 2011 by christao408

After a year’s delay caused by the May 2010 political protests and subsequent fires, Taiwanese dumpling chain Din Tai Fung recently opened its first branch in Thailand at the Central World Plaza mall at the Ratchaprasong intersection. Last week, Tawn and I made a trip there to see how well it upholds the chain’s reputation. The results? Overall, positive, but a little bland.

I almost didn’t write this entry because, well, how many times do I need to post pictures of food from Din Tai Fung? I’ve been twice in Taipei and then again in Hong Kong and Singapore. The pictures never look that different. But I waited more than a year for this branch to open and I thought it would be a shame not to give it due consideration.

One feature of Din Tai Fung locations is that the kitchen, or at least the dumpling making portion, is very visible. The company takes pride in how they operate and their cleanliness is a sign of quality. Plus, the army of cooks making thousands of dumplings is impressive to watch. Here are some photos I took, which I think looked a little more interesting in black and white.

The dining area faces large windows overlooking the Big C Supercenter across the street, letting in lots of natural light. Another seating area is open to the rest of the mall, which leaves you feeling a bit exposed.

The logos on the spoon and napkin have the Chinese, English, Japanese, and Thai versions of the restaurant’s name. The lady working the front counter, taking names, and coordinating orders was from the Singapore branch, leaving me curious about how they manage operations in different countries. Is this a franchise location or is it owned directly by the original company in Taiwan?

We started with a special “Oriental Salad in Vinegar Dressing,” which is a combination of seaweed, sprouts, mung bean noodles, and thinly sliced vegetables. While a tasty combination, it was underseasoned and benefitted greatly from a hearty splash of soy sauce.

Sliced ginger in a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar, the ideal condiment into which you should dip your bao, or dumplings.

The original Xiao Long Bao, steamed pork dumplings. Here in Bangkok, as well as in the Hong Kong location, I felt that the filling was under-seasoned. My memory from Taipei is that the dumplings were full of flavor, but perhaps I need to go back and test that memory.

Another variation on the dumplings, this one with vegetables and pork. The filling was more flavorful than with the original Xiao Long Bao.

Perhaps my favorite dish, the wontons with black vinegar and chilli oil. Stuffed with shrimp, these lightly sweet dumplings are served in a sauce that is not as frighteningly spicy as you might imagine.

A good concluding dish was the fried rice topped with pork chop. The lack of flavor in the bao was made up for by the pork chop, which was liberally dusted in salt and pepper.

If you are thinking of ordering dessert at the Bangkok branch, be advised that nothing is yet available. I didn’t ask why but perhaps one day they will fix whatever problem they are having.

All told, the quality continues to be high and the Din Tai Fung company can be confident that their good name will be upheld here. I’m left with the lingering question of whether the blandness in their dumplings is something that I just didn’t notice at the original locations in Taipei and the Singapore location, too, or are the dumplings actually less flavorful here and in Hong Kong? Further tests will have to be conducted!

Meanwhile, I am glad our wait for Din Tai Fung is over.

Huntington Library and Gardens

Posted on 10 June 2011 by christao408

After visiting the Farmers Market on Saturday morning and being denied the opportunity to pick cherries, thanks to the unseasonably cool weather that had held their ripening at bay, we decided to visit the Huntington Library. The Huntington is an educational and research institution that includes art collections, extensive libraries, and several specialty gardens including a Japanese garden (currently closed for renovation), a rose garden, and a cactus garden.

The Huntington sits on over 120 beautifully cared for acres on the San Marino estate of former railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington. It is such a large space that I don’t think you could reasonably expect to cover even a fraction of it on a single day!

The sun shining through a skylight made this interesting pattern on the granite floor as we passed through the buildings on the Huntington’s grounds.

Stopping in the Conservatory, we saw a collection of plants from different growing climates, including tropical. When we walked into the mist-filled section, we felt right at home!

The primary part of our afternoon was spent in the recently opened Chinese Garden. It is very beautiful, although you can tell there are many areas in which room has been left to expand.

A sculpted window frame in the garden.

A beautiful red maple.

The gardens, looking roughly west.

A caterpillar that was walking along a ledge along the water.

View from the other end of the garden, looking back roughly east.

Three of our four high school friends with whom we spent time during the weekend. Samantha, Lalima, and Anita.

Gorgeous trees, a covered walkway, and the beautiful blue sky.

In the Chinese Garden there is a restaurant and tea house that serves surprisingly decent food. Tawn had a lemon chicken, which I realize doesn’t sound terribly authentic, but at least it was tasty and pretty fresh.

I had a bowl of soba noodles with a sauce of beef and pork. Also pretty tasty.

The food was so filling that the son of one of our friends just had to lay down for a nap.

Finally, we walked through the Rose Garden, where Tawn snapped lots of pictures of flowers that inspired him.

And that was our trip to the Huntington, a site I’d suggest to anyone who visits Los Angeles.

Chinese Poetry

Posted on 4 March 2011 by christao408

Checking my Gmail this morning, the daughter of a high school friend and his wife sent me a message. “Hi! Stuck with Chinese homework. Have to write a poem.” I think she was using the chat feature as an excuse not do her homework. “No worries,” I replied. “I can help.”

After a few minutes of thinking, I responded with the following poem. It is Chinese. Kind of.

Chinese Poem

There once was a siu mai

All covered in sauce.

My brother didn’t want to eat it

So I said, “That’s your loss.”

Picked up by my chopsticks

and dunked in some soy,

The tasty steamed dumpling

brought my tummy lots of joy.

That’s all the creativity I can muster today. Have a good Friday.

Food in Bangkok: Grand Shagarila Restaurant

Posted on 21 January 2011 by christao408

In December, Tawn’s university friend Ko was married. Tawn and several of their close friends helped with various aspects of the wedding. For example, Tawn served as the emcee both in Thai and English, since the groom’s family are from Sweden. As a thank-you, Ko’s mother took the friends (and me) out for a very nice dinner at the Grand Shangarila Restaurant, an old-school Chinese restaurant in the Silom area known for their seafood hot pot and lobster sashimi.

Let me share our banquet with you:

A choice of sauces and condiments: kimchee, soy sauce, wasabi, and Thai style dipping sauce. Korean, Japanese, and Thai all in one row.

Look at the beautiful kimchee!

Newlyweds Per and Ko take pictures of the appetizer plate, while Ko’s mother looks on.

Can you name all the appetizers? From the back, clockwise: fried daikon radish cake; fried small fish; fried deer tendon with ginkgo nuts, and – anyone want to guess what item four is? Please see below…

If you guessed duck tongue, you would be correct. There’s a little cartilage spine in them after you eat the meat. Who knew? Tasty, though.

A lovely roast duck was brought to the table and presented to us, then the staff carved the crispy sweet skin off and wrapped the skin in these delicate crepes with plum sauce and green onion inside.

Close-up view of the crispy goodness of roasted duck skin.

The main course: lobster sashimi. Look at the size of it! Everyone is in awe…

Creature from the black lagoon…

The sweet meat, which we could either boil briefly in a broth and eat, or simply eat raw after a brush of soy sauce. In my opinion, raw was the better option as it was tastier.

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My goofy husband pretending to be impaled on the lobster.

Also served was a boat of sashimi dragon fish, a firm white fish that was boiled in another broth.

There were two broths, one made from some of the lobster’s blood and Chinese cooking wine and another from the fish bones. Don’t mix!

Also served with the lobster was a little bowl of – any guesses? A gelatin made from the lobster’s blood, with Sprite poured over it. Odd… didn’t understand the point of this. It is meant to be a chased to the lobster and the gelatin was pleasantly salty. But no idea why the Sprite was in it.

Shrimp balls served with a crab meat topping. Rich…

Fried soft shell crab with black pepper and salt, garlic, scallions, and chilies.

The remaining roast duck meat made its way back to the table as a stir fry served on a bed of crunchy fried vermicelli noodles.

Fried wide rice noodles with lobster head. Ultimately, the entire lobster that was first served as sashimi is consumed over several courses.

Dessert number one was a taro paste bar with ginkgo nuts wrapped in pumpkin seeds and fried.

Dessert number two is fresh young coconut meat and ginkgo nuts served in a light sugar syrup.

Needless to say, this was a pretty fancy – and filling! – meal. We were really treated wonderfully by Ko’s mother and went home with several containers of leftovers per person.

Outside the front of the restaurant, which is located just off Soi Taniya, the adult nightlife street that caters to Japanese tourists and expats.

Food in Hong Kong: Modern China Restaurant

Posted on 31 October 2010 by christao408

In response to my early posts about this recent trip to Hong Kong, some commenters expressed concern that I wasn’t eating at any Chinese restaurants. Rest assured, I did eat a good amount of Chinese food while there. One of the best meals was my final dinner, enjoyed at a Shanghainese restaurant called Modern China.

Located in the Olympian City Mall in West Kowloon, right above the Olympic MTR station, Modern China blends in among all the other glass-fronted restaurant in a mall that, frankly, could be any other mall in Hong Kong.

The waiting queue is very modern, with numbers posted on an LED monitor along with a map of tables and their status. On a busy Sunday evening, Big Michael and I only waited ten minutes for a table.

The interior of the restaurant is clean and spacious, although tables are packed pretty close together. The wait staff was professional and attentive, although in typical Hong Kong style were not overly friendly. The menu is accessible, offering lots of pictures and clear English descriptions.

A small dish of sweet dried shrimp were served as a complimentary appetizer. Very flavorful, although when I lived here it took a while to get used to eating shrimp with the shell still on.

On the autumn special menu was an intriguing sounding dish: braised seafood in pumpkin.

Sure enough, a beautiful orange pumpkin arrived on our table and upon removing the lid, we discovered a medley of fresh seafood in a rich pumpkin broth. We also scraped the sides of the pumpkin to dislodge some of the cooked, but still firm flesh. Very tasty.

Can’t go to a Shanghainese restaurant without some Xiao Long Bao! Very tasty, too, with delicate wrappers. Really, though, will I ever like any XLB better than those at Din Tai Fung? On the menu, these are rather cutely described as “Mouthful Small Steamed Meat Buns”.

Braised noodles are always a favorite, especially these fried noodles with twice-cooked pork.

Our final dish were these fried pastries filled with chopped beef and preserved vegetables. They were kind of like turnovers, with a very flaky crust and a savory filling.

There was a lot of juice inside and trying to cut them open neatly proved to be a chore. But this will give you an idea, at least.

Overall, I give Modern China good marks for tasty, reasonably priced Shanghai style food served in a convenient location. Good enough to be added to my Google Map of Hong Kong. If you are looking for a break from the Cantonese food while in Hong Kong, head over to Olympian Mall.

Making Xiao Long Bao with No Roadmap

Posted on 12 September 2010 by christao408

One of the training classes around career development I’ve written for my company lays out the premise that you can’t get to where you want to go if you don’t know where you are going and how you will get there. Having a clear destination and taking the time to plan your route are important of course, not just in career development but in cooking, too. So it was all but certain that my desire to make Xiao Long Bao (Shanghainese soup dumplings, hereafter abbreviated as XLB) was bound to fail as I had no clear road map for getting there.

I definitely had my destination in mind! XLB are my favorite Chinese dumpling and my favorite place to have them is at Din Tai Fung, a chain originating in Taipei. In fact, here’s a little video about Din Tai Fung’s XLB from my November trip to Taipei with Tawn to visit Andy and Sugi.

The destination was clear, but as I started reading the recipes and learning about the technique, I realized that this was going to be a lot more effort than I was ready to expend for some weeknight dumplings. Surely, I thought, I could just find my way through the wilderness without a map. Couldn’t I just, you know, feel my way to the XLB?

(Yeah, you know where this story is going, don’t you?)

I started with what I did know about XLB: the filling was a mixture of minced pork, ginger, garlic, green onions, soy sauce, rice wine, and white pepper. Easy enough. I gathered those together.

The “secret ingredient” of these soup dumplings is that you gelatinize broth and mix the cubes of the gelatine into the filling so that the broth melts as the dumplings steam, leaving a nice pool of juicy goodness to slurp up as you eat the XLB. So I used some broth and some gelatine and made broth jell-o. Easy enough.

When I mixed the cubes of broth into the pork mixture, though, the kitchen was too warm and they started melting. Before you knew it, I had no more cubes but instead had a watery filling mixture. Oh, no!

The next step was to fill the dumpling wrappers with that perfect twisted pleat, shown above in the handiwork of the Din Tai Fung cooks. I was using gyoza (potsticker) wrappers purchased premade at the store. Even before I started filling them, I had a suspicion that my lack of a road map was going to lead me down a dead-end street. Sure enough, I couldn’t get the gyoza wrappers to hold that pleated shape.

Getting hungry, I just went with a simple half-moon fold, trying to satisfy myself with being able to keep the runny filling (thanks to the no longer gelatinous broth) from leaking out.

The end result wasn’t pretty but actually tasted just fine. Nobody in their right mind would confuse this mess of a dumpling with XLB, but for a weeknight it was good enough. Sometimes, driving without a road map takes you somewhere other than you intended, but a place that is perfectly suitable nonetheless.

Shanghai Style Minced Meat with Pinenuts in Sesame Pockets

Posted on 15 August 2010 by christao408

One of my favorite places to find recipes is Joanne Choi’s Week of Menus website. That’s where I found a nice recipe for Minced Chicken with Pinenuts served with Shao Bing, something like a Chinese sesame pita bread. The chicken is prepared in a Shanghainese style with ginger, oyster sauce, and water chestnuts. The Shao Bing, something that you can buy ready-to-bake in the US, was an unfamiliar bread I would have to make from scratch since I am here in Thailand.

The Shao Bing was a bit of a mystery. Examples of it on the internet varied both in size, shape, and even technique. I pulled three different recipes from presumably reputable sources, compared them, and decided to try the one from Ming Tsai on the Food Network. After all, he’s Ming Tsai, so how could I go wrong?

The ingredients are pretty basic: vegetable oil, flour, yeast, baking powder, water, sugar, sesame seeds, and salt and white pepper.

You basically make three components to the dough: the first is a roux, a mixture of equal parts oil and flour, heated until the mixture thickens a bit. The second is a sponge, a relatively wet mixture of flour, yeast, sugar, baking powder, and warm water, which is allowed to sit and begin to rise. The third is a dry dough, a combination of just water and flour.

After letting the sponge rise and the dough rest, you combine them and knead until completely integrated. After another rest, you roll the dough out to about 1/16-1/8th of an inch. The oil-flour roux is spread on the surface of the dough. Despite following the recipe carefully, I found the roux was too runny – I’m not sure why this happened but it proved to be problematic.

Roll the dough into one-inch thickness, then cut into four-inch lengths. You can see that the roux was running out the ends. The subsequent instructions involve sealing the ends, rolling the dough thinner, folding it into thirds, basically creating what amounts to a typical pastry dough with alternating layers of dough and fat. The instructions for doing this confused me. Take a look:

Place 1 of the rolls seam-side up and seal the end using a small rolling pin (this will prevent the oil paste from escaping). Fold the roll into thirds, so that the seam is covered. Then roll this tripled roll into a flat dough about 5-inches by 2-inches. Fold this piece into thirds. The stack should be about 2 by 3/4 inches thick. Flip the piece over so that the seam and fold are on the bottom. Cover and set aside. Repeat the process for the remaining rolls.

Huh?

I did the best I could, but wound up with roux everywhere and too much flour on the dough. I sprayed one side of the dough with water and pressed it into the sesame seeds. These were baked in a 350 F oven for about ten minutes on the bottom side, then flipped over for another five minutes.

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The interior of the resulting Shao Bing looked like this, with distinct layers. The flavor was too floury and it was difficult to really open them like pita pockets. Maybe too many layers? After this meal, I tried cooking a leftover bread in a toaster and spreading it with peanut butter. Worked out much better then!

The second half of the dish was the filling you are meant to stuff into the pockets. The original recipe calls for chicken but I used a mixture of chicken and pork for more flavor. Instead of coarsely chopping whole pieces of meat, I used ground meat. It was marinated in a mixture of garlic, ginger, sake (substituted for Shao Xing wine), and soy sauce.

The other ingredients are a mixture of chopped celery and water chestnuts, pine nuts, and a sauce composed of more Shao Xing wine (or sake), oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil.

The meat is fried, then the celery and water chestnuts are added, then the sauce is added. Add the pine nuts when the mixture is finished. That’s all it takes.

For the final result, serve the Shao Bing with the minced meat mixture, stuffing it into the bread like you would with a pita. The dish was tasty, although the Shao Bing was a bit floury. In absence of the bread, you could actually use lettuce cups, which would be very nice, indeed.

I’ll need to try a different recipe for Shao Bing and see what the results are. The other two recipes I have for Shao Bing have different ratios of oil to flour for the roux. This recipe I used was 1:1 and the result was too thin. Another recipe is 3:2, which would be thinner. The final recipe, the one I think I will try next time, is 1:4. Amazing how different they are, no?

christao408

The adventures of an expat American who moved to Bangkok for his husband.

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