Pork and chive dumplings

Here is my pork and chive dumpling recipe.

1 lb ground pork - usually 1 package
1 bunch of chinese garlic chives
homemade 5 spice powder
shaoxing rice wine 2 Tbsp
sesame oil 1 Tbsp
reduce salt soy sauce 2 Tbsp

gochugaru korean chili powder
dumpling wrapper

Here is a picture of some of the ingredients

https://www.amazon.com/SHAOHSING-COOKING-750ML-Golden-Brand/dp/B079NVR4JZ/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=shaoxing%2Brice%2Bwine&qid=1561849171&s=gateway&sr=8-6&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/Korean-Flakes-Gochugaru-Pepper-Tae-kyung/dp/B00WDO0B1Y/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=gochugaru&qid=1561849204&s=gateway&sr=8-6

 https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71vaVBCCFPL._SX425_.jpg

https://www.foodservicedirect.com/twin-marquis-shanghai-style-dumpling-wrapper-14-ounce-16-per-case-22979574.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIq9-t6uaP4wIVR_fjBx334wKkEAQYASABEgKZWvD_BwE

Garlic Chive 九菜

 Green sichuan peppercorn 绿花椒

red sichuan peppercorn 红花椒

For the five spice, I have my own, but you can use regular store bought five spice powder. Here is my recipe for five spice powder. Fresh five spice is much better and really kicks up the flavor

1 tsp corriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp red sichuan peppercorns
1 tsp green sichuan peppercorns
2-4 cloves
2 dried red chili

Toast the spices until it starts to become fragrant. Grind them to a powder in a spice grinder.


Chop the chives finely and mix everything together in a bowl. Adjust the black pepper and gochugaru to your taste. I like spicy food, so I use about 1 Tbsp of chili powder.

The key to wrapping dumplings is to flatten the filling before you start closing it. You want roughly 1 Tbsp of filling. Here is a video of how to wrap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uzGezdkuso

Parm Cheddar Rolls

I decided to make rolls for break this morning. Since I prefer savory to sweet, this is umami rolls hit the spot. I start with a basic no knead bread recipe and let the dough rise over night. I made one minor tweak and reduce the water to make it less wet.

3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup warm water
Aged cheddar 12-48 month
Parmesan cheese
9 x 13 baking pan
2 tbsp butter melted

Mix the flour, yeast and salt. Add the warm water and mix until the dough comes together. Let the dough rise for 10-12 hours. Knead the dough for 4-5 minutes until it's nice and smoothe. Let it rest for 5 minutes while you prepare your pan. Grease the baking pan with your favorite oil or butter.

Roll the dough until it's a 16 x 16 inches square. Brush the dough with butter. Grate both cheeses on the dough. If you want it more cheesy, add more. Adjust to your preference. Roll it up. Cut 2" slices and put them in the pan. Brush the top with butter and grate a bit more cheese on top. Let the dough rise for 35-50min.

Preheat the oven at 400F

Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Let it cool for a few minutes and then enjoy with coffee.

Spicy Chicken with peanuts

Ever since I visited Danny Bowen's Mission Chinese restaurant, I've been exploring sichuan flavors. 2 weeks back I finally bought some green sichuan peppercorns at the asian market. Tonight I was craving something spicy and asked the son if he was ok with extra spice. He said he was craving spicy food too, so I went to work.

The first thing I noticed as I roasted the spices, is that green sichuan peppercorns smell very different from red peppercorns. It's hard to explain, so just go buy some and smell it. You'll see the difference.

Sichuan Spice Mix
1 tsp green sichuan peppercorn
1 tsp red sichuan peppercorn
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp salt
1 dried red chili pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

2 tbsp peanut oil
2 tbsp dobanjan
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 lbs boneless chicken thigh cubed
1/4-1/2 cup raw shelled peanuts
12-36 dried red chili
1 garlic clove minced
1" slice ginger minced
1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp corn starch
1/2 cup water

Start by roasting the sichuan spice mix minus cinnamon powder and salt in a dry pan until it becomes fragrant. Grind the spices with salt in a grinder until it's a fine powder. Add the cinnamon and stir. Set the spice mix aside.

In a wok over medium heat roast the raw peanuts until they change color and starts to get a few brown spots. Add the dried chili and roast it for 2 minutes over medium heat. Add the peanut oil, dobanjan, minced ginger and garlic. Stir-fry for 30 seconds and add the diced chicken. Stir-fry until the chicken turns white and is mostly cooked. Add the shaoxing rice wine, hoisin sauce and sugar. Let it cook for 3-5 minutes. In the meantime mix the corn starch and water to make a slurry.

Once the chicken is good through, add the sesame oil and corn starch mixture. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens. This goes with rice or noodles.

Shrimp Soup for Ramen

I made a slight tweak to my usual ramen broth and it turned out great. Writing it down so I don't forget it.

Bones of 3 chickens
1.5-2 lbs pork neck bones
1 onion
1 garlic bulb
2" of ginger
4 star anise
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 stick cinnamon
2 dried red chili
1 tsp sichuan peppercorns
2 tsp salt
3 pieces rock sugar
2 tbsp mirin
4 tbsp rice wine
4 tbsp nuoc mom
3 oz package of dried shrimp
1 piece of Kombu
3.5 cups water

Preheat oven at 375F

Roast the onion, garlic and ginger until the onions starts to char and get a few black spots

In a large stock pot bring the bones to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Throw out the water and rinse the bones under cold water. Scrub off any scum from the bones.

Put the dried spices in a cheese cloth or tea ball.

Put everything in the pot and add 3.5 cups of water. It should cover everything, if it doesn't add a little bit more water. Bring the stock to a low boil under medium heat, then reduce to simmer. Simmer for 8-12 hours. You can simmer it longer, if you like. I tend to simmer it for 16 hours and start the broth 1 day before I plan to make ramen.

Red Lamb Noodle Soup 紅燒羊肉麵

Being Taiwanese, I love beef noodle soup and thought about making a lamb version. I love lamb and chinese lamb dishes are yum. Since I've been making hand pulled noodles and needed to practice, might as well experiment with lamb.

紅燒羊肉麵

3 Tbsp oil
64oz chick stock or broth
1/2 can tomato sauce
1" ginger minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 lb leg of lamb cubed
4 star anise
1/3 cinnamon stick
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
4 carrots chopped
6 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp mirin
1/2 cub Shaoxing rice wine
3 pieces of rock sugar or 1Tbsp brown sugar
1 bunch of chinese chives

Soup

Put the oil in a large pan. When it starts to smoke add the minced ginger and garlic and fry for 15 seconds. Add the cubed lamb and brown for a few minutes. When the lamb is brown, add the shaoxing rice wine and cook for a minute. Add the soy sauce and mirin and cook for a minute. Add the stock, tomato sauce and bring it to a boil. Make a spice packet with the coriander, cumin, star anise, and sichuan peppercorn. Add the spice, rock sugar and carrots. Reduce the flame to simmer and cook for 2-3 hours until the lamb is soft and easily falls part.

Noodles

I like to make hand pulled noodles. Just about any good fresh noodle will work, but it's best with fresh hand pulled noodles.

Assembling the dish

Blanch the chives for 1 minutes and rinse in ice water. Cook the noodles based on the instructions on the label. If you're making fresh noodles 1.5-2 minutes is enough to cook the noodles and keep it super chewy.

Put the chives and noodles in the bowl and add the soup to it. You can garnish with cilantro and scallions.

Winter Tsukemen Ramen

On my trip to Minneapolis, I watched Ramen Heads. It inspired me to make a Tsukemen ramen with winter squash. This surprisingly turned out great and way better than I expected.

Broth

I decided to kick up the pumpkin flavor. This is similar to my other pumpkin ramen, but it tastes totally different. Preheat the oven at 400F.

1 Acorn squash
1 Pie Pumpkin
1 sweet onion
1 bulb garlic
2" piece of ginger
2 cloves garlic minced
1" ginger minced
1 sweet onion diced
1/2 cup shaoxing rice wine
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp ground turmeric
6 cups chicken broth or water

Spice packet

1/2 stick of cinnamon
2 star anise
1 dried red chili
1/2 Tsp sichuan peppercorn
4 cloves

Peel and cut the pumpkin into 1" cubes. Cut the acorn in half and remove the seeds. Roast the pumpkin, acorn, whole sweet onion, garlic bulb and 2" ginger in the oven until the pumpkin starts to have some burnt tips.

In a pan sweat the diced onion with the minced garlic and ginger. When it starts to brown, add the curry and turmeric powder and fry for a minute. Add the rice wine and cook for a minute, then add the chicken broth or water. Bring it to a boil and cook for 5 minute. Turn it down to a simmer and add the spice packet. Simmer the soup for 1.5-2 hours.


Pumpkin Powder

1 Tsp sugar
1 Tsp salt
1 Tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
4 Tbsp pumpkin seeds

Toast the pumpkins in a pan for 3-4 minutes. Let them cool for 2 minutes, then grind into a powder with the other spices.


Noodles

You can use any good noodle for this, but they should be chewy. I like to use hand-pulled noodles made fresh, but that's a lot of work. Fresh alkaline noodles cooked for 60 seconds should do the trick.

Assembly

Cook the noodles and rinse them in cold water and set them aside. Put 2 Tbsp of the pumpkin powder in a bowl and add 2 cups of broth. Now you're ready to dip your noodles in the broth and slurp.

Curry Pumpkin Ramen

I've been thinking about making a curry pumpkin ramen for a few weeks and finally made it today. It turned out better than my attempt last winter.

Broth

Cut 1 pie pumpkin into 1" cubes
Cut 2 large carrots
1 Onion
2" of ginger
1 Onion diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
1" of ginger minced
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp Turmeric powder
1/4 Tsp nutmeg
1 Tbsp salt
8 cups chicken broth or water
1 can coconut milk
1/2 Tsp mirin vinegar

Spice packet

1 star anise
1 half stick cinnamon
1/4 Tsp sichuan peppercorn
2 dried red chili
3 bay leaves

Preheat the oven at 350F.

Roast the pumpkin, carrots, whole onion and piece of ginger until the pumpkin starts to char. Roughly 35-45min depending on your oven. In a pot sweat the diced onions with the minced garlic, and ginger. When the onions are translucent, add the curry powder, turmeric, nutmeg and salt. Fry for a minute and then add chicken broth or water. Bring it to a boil,m then add the roasted veggies and spice packet. Simmer the broth for 3-4 hours.

Remove the onion, ginger and spice packet. Use a hand-held immersion blender and puree the broth. Strain the broth through a cheese cloth. Add 1/2 Tsp mirin and 1 can of coconut milk and simmer for 15min.

Pumpkin powder

4 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 Tsp salt
1 Tsp sugar
1 Tsp cinnamon powder

In a pan roast the pumpkin seeds until it starts to pop. Let it cool for a few minutes. Use a spice grinder to grind everything.

Final Assembly

When you're ready to make dinner, bring the broth up to a simmer and boil a large pot of water. Heat 4 Tbsp of butter in a sauce pan. Put 2 Tbsp pumpkin seed powder in a bowl and pour 1 Tbsp of hot butter over it. I like to use fresh ramen that cooks in 60 seconds. In a noodle basket drop the ramen in to the boiling water and put 3-4 cups of broth in the bowl. When the ramen is cooked, shake it off and add it to the soup. You can add a bit of fragrant chili oil.