Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

One Christmas season many years ago, I was invited to a friend's home for her family's annual holiday party. Her son greeted me by saying what sounded like "We have Jowzas!"

That was my first experience with the little dumplings called 'potstickers', 'Jiaozi' or, in Japanese flavor, 'Gyoza'.

My friend, who is partially of Chinese descent and comes from a family of restaurant owners/managers, was busy at her small cast-iron wok in the kitchen, frying these wonderful little dumplings as quickly as they were consumed by the guests.

Several years later when I was planning my own Christmas party I searched the Internet for a potsticker recipe, and found one on a website called 'Outlaw Cook'.

My husband and I made these at the kitchen table (big project!), froze them, and then thawed and deep-fried them the night of our party. My brother, who had never been a very experimental eater, especially liked them; and afterward, making a batch of them for his Christmas gift became one of our holiday traditions.

I tried to find for you a link to the original recipe on the Web, and couldn't; but as I searched, I certainly learned a lot more about John Thorne, the developer of the Outlaw Cook website. I had not realized that he was such an interesting, prolific, and well-loved food writer.

Thorne created an amazing newsletter before the WWW, and when the Web came along, he offered it electronically as well. (Back issues of the newsletter can be purchased on his website.) Anyone interested in really thoughtful writing on all things 'food' should look into his books; he seems to be one of the best contemporary food writers in the U.S., but one that few today have heard about.

His website (unfortunately, no longer updated):

http://www.outlawcook.com/

Here is his Amazon page:

http://www.amazon.com/John-Thorne/e/B000AQ1J0Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1434494261&sr=8-1

And a 2009 article about him:

http://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/simple-cooking/Content?oid=2129904

This potsticker recipe is adapted from one that I'm pretty sure came from his site about 15 years ago. Back then, I had to get the more exotic ingredients at an ethnic store; but now most big supermarket chains carry them.

Spicy Pork Potstickers

(This will make about 100)

2-1/4 pounds Ground Pork

2 cups finely chopped Scallions

6 T. Soy Sauce

2 T. Sesame Oil

1 tsp. Hot Chili Oil

2 T. grated Ginger Root

3 large Garlic Cloves, smashed/chopped fine

1 lb. Napa Cabbage, grated fine

2 tsp. Salt

3 packages of round dumpling wrappers (If we can't find round ones, we make these with square wonton wrappers and fold them into triangles.)

Toss cabbage and salt together in a colander. Let stand until cabbage wilts, at least 15 minutes. Rinse the cabbage and squeeze it dry.

Note: it's important to do the mixing exactly in the following order, to get the flavor correct.

Mix all of the ingredients together EXCEPT the pork and cabbage. Then add the pork and mix well.

Add the cabbage and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to make the potstickers.

If you are planning to freeze these for cooking later, line baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper before starting to assemble.

Place a scant tablespoon of filling in the middle of each wrapper. Moisten the edges with water and fold them into a half-moon shape. Pinch to seal.

Place on the baking sheets, making sure that they do not touch, and freeze until solid.

Then, you can bag or box them in portions for future use. We usually freeze them solid on the sheets, and then quickly vacuum pack them in portions of 10 or 12.

To cook, thaw the potstickers, and deep fry until browned and crispy. (These can also be steamed, but consult instructions, as I've never done them that way.)

For the Dipping Sauce, mix together:

1/4 cup Soy Sauce

1/4 cup Rice Wine Vinegar

2 T. Sugar

1/2 minced Scallion

2 tsps. shredded fresh Ginger

1/2 tsp. Sesame Oil

1/2 tsp. Chili Oil

(I have tried using the little dumpling-crimpers that you find in Asian grocery stores, but I've had no luck with them. Someday I'll give it another go.)

[Roos_Girl]

Oh yes, we had a thermometer, that’s the only way I knew that it was taking so long to get to the correct temp. :)

[Jamestown1630]

Well,I don’t have any experience with outdoor grilling; and certainly deep-frying over propane would be a ‘bridge too far’ for me ;-)

But the potstickers turn out pretty good, with a little experience, on the kitchen stove or in an electric fryer.

-JT

[Roos_Girl]

haha, well apparently it was too far for me also. Won’t be doing that again ever I hope. Plus, I hate the clean-up from frying.

[Liz]

Mmmm....sounds deelish....would love to have that recipe.

[Liz]

The dip you posted sounds fab. I love Asian food and have a huge file of Asian recipes. I especially love their dips....makes even the simplest dish into a meal. I came across this just the other day.

Chile Jam (Homemade Habanero Sauce)
Nice glaze over chicken breasts, or, if you're brave, spread on toast as Asians do. Uses red Habanero (spiciest chile ever), red Thai chiles, small roasted red bell pepper to temper the heat. The jam will taste better if sealed jar steeps a week before opening. Fridge/consume in the next couple of weeks.

METHOD Proc/pulse roughly 10 pulses 1/2 lb washed chili peppers, roasted red pepper, cup of pint apple cider vinegar, 1/4 tea salt. Transfer to pan. Add 6 c sugar, rest of pint vinegar. BTB; Cook/stir 10 min w/ wooden spoon. Add 6 oz liquid pectin. BTB, then simmer on med-low 2 min til syrupy.

[bgill]

propane burner outside in my cast iron dutch oven

It's not wonder it took forever.

Skillet. Oil. Turn electric stove unit on at med high - about #7 on the dial. Wait 90 seconds max to heat. Add food.

[bgill]

I posted my mu shu pork here a while back and bet the pancake recipe would work as the dumpling dough. We don’t have an Asian store and our local grocery doesn’t stock much more than soy sauce to have to make stuff from scratch or substitute.

Mu Shu Mandarin Pancakes

2 C flour
3/4 C hot water
1 1/2 T sesame oil

Mix together and let rest covered for 20 minutes.

Divide into 8 pieces and roll out to tortilla size. Place onto ungreased hot skillet. When the pancake starts to get golden spots, flip it and heat on other side. This takes seconds so keep watch. Continue with remainder. If you’re fast at rolling, you can roll out the next while the previous one is cooking.

For mu shu pork, the dough is cooked before adding the filling like burritos. For dumplings, the filling is added to the uncooked dough like little fried pies. You wouldn’t want to roll the dough out as thin or as large for dumpling size.

[Roos_Girl]

That makes a mess inside that, plus the smell that takes forever to go away. This is why I don’t like frying food.

[Calvin Locke]

I just saw a couple of reference to French Onion Soup potstickers.

One traditional, the other baked & broiled for the cheese.

[Liz]

Avocado Wontons / Apricot Soy Dip / nice appy

Ridiculously easy---pedestrian ingredients rise to new
heights of Asian deliciousness. Use 20-25 round gyoza
or square wonton wrappers. To test oil....drop bit
wrapper into oil; ready when it sizzles/tans quickly.

WONTON FILLING combine 3 chp avocado, tea ea l/juice,
salt, 2 tb chp cilantro. Gently mash 1/2--leave rest chunky.

ASSEMBLY center small teaspoonful Filling on wrapper; trace
wet finger at long edge. Fold up to seal. Fry golden less than
a minute per side. Remove; drain. SERVE warm w/ Apricot Dip.

DIP: equal parts soy sauce and apricot marmalade.

[tet68]

We usually cook ours in a pan or grill, cook, lightly
brown, then sprinkle with Sake and cover. Gives them
a nice delicate flavor.

[Jamestown1630]

I love mu shu! I first had it when my high school Asian Studies teacher took us all to the Yenching Palace, in DC, at the end of the semester. (Yenching no longer exists, but it was a wonderful Chinese restaurant in Cleveland Park, very popular in its heyday with Washington’s ‘upper crust’):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301272.html

I’m terrible about rolling out very thin things. Do you think one of those tortilla presses would work with your recipe?

-JT

[bgill]

Do you think one of those tortilla presses would work with your recipe?

Sure!

[Jamestown1630]

That sounds good! Yes, the condiments are one of the great aspects of Asian food.

One Southeast Asian dish I’ve just never warmed-up to, however, is Pho. I happened to eat in a Pho place today, and ordered Pad Thai instead - which wasn’t that good, either; but all the great sauces certainly helped!

I first had Pho a couple of years ago, when I’d been very ill with the ‘flu and hadn’t eaten much for days. I woke up on a Saturday, still in the throes but starving, and said to the Husband Unit: take me somewhere and Feed Me.

It was a cold winter day, and given my condition we decided it would be salutary to try Pho for the first time. We went to a little nearby place we’d been wanting to try. It wasn’t that bad, but I wasn’t crazy about it; and I was so stuffed-up I probably didn’t really smell it or taste it.

Today, in good health, I couldn’t stand the sight of the dish, or the smell of it, as my lunch companion lustily ate.

So many people rave about Pho, that I’m wondering if I have just been going to lousy Pho places(?)

-JT

[Liz]

I saw Martha make Pho on her show-—have never made it myself.

[Liz]

Here's a good use for the Chili Jam.

THAI CHILI PASTA / PEANUT SAUCE

Peanut Sauce Mix cup smooth p/butter, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 3 tea chili paste (or jam), 2 tb br/sugar, 2 juiced limes, 1/2 cup hot water, minced gar/cl, tea ea rice vinegar, ground ginger, 1/2 tea sesame oil.

ASSEMBLY Layer on plate: cooked thin spaghetti, sliced cooked chicken, blanched carrot slivers, water chestnuts, chp cilantro. Pour sauce over; toss to coat.

SERVE garnished w/ chopped peanuts, chp cilantro.

[Liz]

Kraft Foods no-fuss crispy wontons....nice side or appy

CRISPY WONTONS / ASIAN DIPPING SAUCE

FILLING Mix 8 oz tub PHILADELPHIA Chive & Onion
Cream Cheese Spread, 1/2 lb leftover cooked grnd pork,
tsp ea minced gingerroot, sesame oil.

ASSEMBLY Center Tb Filling on 32 won ton wrappers.
Bring corners up/over Filling; twist tops to enclose.
Flatten bottoms. Place in 15x10x1" pan. Brush lightly
with water; sprinkle w/ sesame seeds.

BAKE golden 425 deg 10-12 min; drain on p/towels.

SERVE w/ ramekin of Sauce.

ASIAN DIPPING SAUCE 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds, 2 Tb soy sauce, Tb ea rice wine, water.