Spicy Wonton with Peanut Sauce

The scent from the steaming of diakon cake, the oil sizzling sound of deep fried snacks, the preparation of the togetherness tray (a box of candies and snacks for greeting of guests), on the night of Chinese New Year eve, to prepare for the visiting of friends and relatives in the next few days, all works were done in the kitchen. Those were the time I loved to spend with my mom, watching her using all of her strength to shred the diakons, maneuvering in the tiny little kitchen tending several dishes at the same time. My mom does not like cooking that much, she treats it as a chore most of the time, but in time of needs, she can perform magic.

I miss all the hussel and bussel of Chinese New Year.  In fact, this year, I almost forgot about what date Chinese New Year was on until I watched the evening news.  Being away from my hometown for too long and preoccupy with work make me stop caring about any festive days from far away. But on New Year Day, my parents called from my hometown. Loud noises of people filled up the other end of the line. My parents and all my uncles, anuts, cousins and their kids, were all together having a new year dinner banquet.  I got a chance to talk to relatives that I had not seen for ages.  At that moment, I truly felt that I was right there with them, celebrating the new year together.  This is what Chinese New Year is about: family, friends and food.

To celebrate Chinese New Year, I made the spicy wontons.  Wontons are easy to make and everyone has their own way, using different ingredients to make it. Here I used both ground pork and shrimps because I like the texture of the pork and the sweetness of the shrimp together.   As for the aromatic ingredients, green onion is a must, sometimes I also use shitake mushroom and cilantro. This time, I added some dried scallops to increase the seafood flavor.  Peanut sauce is optional, but it does add another dimension to the wontons. N specially requested peanut sauce to come with his wontons. The recipe makes a lot of wontons. After I fold them into individual wontons, I put them on a tray and freeze them. Then I put them in the ziplog bag. So, I can have wontons to enjoy for a few weeks.

Recipe:  Spicy Wonton with Peanut Sauce

Ingredients for the fillings (make approximately 70 pieces):

3/4       lb. lean ground pork

5          water chestnuts, chopped

1/4       cup bamboo shoot, diced

2          small green onion, chopped

1          tsp minced ginger

1          Tbsp shredded dried scallop (whole dried scallop soaked in hot water for 10 mins until softened, then shredded by hand)

8          oz. shrimp, peeled, chopped into bite size pieces (around 1/2")

 1          package of wonton wraps

Seasoning for the pork

1         tsp rice wine

1-1/4   tsp salt

1/2      tsp sesame oil

1         tsp cornstarch

a pinch of black pepper

Seasoning for the shrimp

1/2      tsp rice wine

1/4      tsp salt

1/2      tsp cornstarch

Spicy sauce for one bowl of wonton (about 10 pieces) 

1        Tbsp soy sauce

1/4     tsp garlic

1/4     vinegar

a few drop of chili oil

1        tsp oil

Garnish

1          green onion, chopped

2          Tbsp roasted peanuts, chopped

Directions

1. Mix ground pork, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, green onion, ginger and dried scallop together. Add the seasoning. Set it asides.
2. Mix shrimp and seasoning in another bowl.
3. Folding the wontons: Take out a wonton wrapper, place a teaspoon of filling and a piece of chopped shrimp in the middle. Using your finger, put a thin film of water on the edge of  the wrapper.  Using your thumbs and index finger on both hands, bring the four corners of the wrapper together. Squeeze the wrapper to close the dumpling.
4. Cooking one bowl of wonton (10 pcs):
• Boil 2 cup of water and one cup of chicken broth in a saucepan.  Add 1 tsp of salt to the boiling water.
• Mix the spicy sauce ingredients in a serving bowl
• Add wontons to boiling water.  Keep them boiling for 3 to 4 minutes until wontons rise up to the surface.
• Remove and drain the wonton with a slotted laddle. Put wontons into the bowl with spicy sauce.  Mix well with sauce.  Garnish with green onion and serve. If using peanut sauce, drizzle sauce and sprinkle peanuts on top and serve.

Recipe:  Chinese Peanut Sauce

1         Tbsp peanut butter

1/2      Tbsp chicken broth

1/2      Tbsp soy sauce

1/2       tsp sugar

1-2      Tbsp water

Direction:

Mix the all the ingredient together.  Whisk until smooth.  Add more water if you like a thinner consistency.

West Lake Beef Soup

Usually when I have no idea what to cook for dinner or if I need to whip up something really quickly, I go for Chinese food.  You can almost stir fry any type of vegetables, put some meat in, and you have a dish in no time.  But Chinese soup is different.  The ones that my mom likes to make, with meat, vegetables and Chinese herbs,  usually take 2 to 3 hours to simmer. And it is said that those type of soup have medical value.  I have yet to learn the right ingredient combination to make those type of slow-cook soup.  The one that is easy and quick to make is the thickening soup, such as hot and sour soup, egg drop soup and West Lake beef soup. In an unusually windy and cool spring day like yesterday, I suddenly longed for the beefy taste and strong cilantro fragrant. So, I made the West Lake beef soup

*Kitchen notes:  

• This is my version of the recipe. As with other recipes, you can find thousands of ways to cook it on the internet, especially if you can google in Chinese. Like, whether you should parboil the beef first or not, whether you should marinate the beef or not. After trying different ways, I came up with my own way to suit my own taste. 
• I like cilantro a lot. To get the taste of the cilantro into the soup,  I boil the cilantro stems with the soup for a while.  If you do not like strong cilantro taste, please skip the step.
• You can use just the egg white rather than the whole egg to make the egg strands.

Recipe:  West Lake Beef Soup (西湖牛肉羹)

Serve 2 to 4

Ingredients:

  

For marinade:

1/2    lb extra lean ground beef

2       Tbsp light soy sauce

1       tsp Chinese cooking wine

1       tsp cornstarch

1/2    tsp sesame oil

dash of white pepper

For the stock:

1       cup low sodium chicken stock

3       cup water

3       thin slices of ginger

1       box of soft tofu, diced

1       bunch (about 10 stalks) of cilantro, rinsed, pick the leaves off the stem*
1/3    cup frozen peas

         salt

         soy sauce

3       Tbsp of cornstarch

1       egg, lightly beaten*

Directions:

1. Whisk all the marinade seasonings together and toss with the beef. Let the beef marinate for at least 15 mins.
2. Combine 3 Tbsp of cornstarch with 3 Tbsp of water.  Stir until all the lumps are gone.  Put it aside.
3. Boil the chicken stock, water and ginger together in a saucepan over medium heat.. When the stock is boiling, put the tofu and the cilantro stems in. Let the stock simmer for about 1 to 2 mins. When the stock is boiling again, put the marinated beef in. Break the clumps of the beef with a wooden spoon. Let the stock simmer for a while, about 4 to 5 mins, or until the beef is no longer pink. Stir in the frozen peas. Let it simmer for another min.
4. Take out the cilantro stems. Skim off the foams or the impurities on the surface of the stock. Adjust the taste or the soup with salt and soy sauce. I put around 1/2 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of soy sauce in.
5. Stir the cornstarch mixture again before adding to the soup.  To thicken the soup, pour in half of the cornstarch mixture while the soup is simmering. Stir and let the soup simmer for a while, check the consistency of the soup before pouring in more cornstarch mixture. The soup should turn a little bit translucent when it is thicken to the right consistency.
6. Remove the pan from the heat.  Drizzle the egg into the soup in a steady, continuous stream while stirring the soup at the same time. The egg will turn into thin strands that floats in the soup.  Stir in the cilantro leaves.  Serve hot.

Stir Fried Celery and Carrots with Dried Tofu

Spring is on its way.  Pretty soon, the grass will be greener, the cherry blossom will be blooming; the dog will be happier since we will take him out more with nicer weather. This is just an anticipation.  The gloomy sky out there says nothing about spring.  To keep my hope alive, I need some spring colors.  Here is a simple stir-fry dish with lovely colors.

Kitchen notes:  

• The dried tofu is an extra firm tofu without much moisture. They usually come with different flavors and five spice is one of the most popular flavors. There are usually 4 pieces in a package. You can get it from most of the Chinese grocers. 
• To remove the strings of the celery, place the inside (the hollow side) of the celery stalk upward.  Cut the bottom white part close to the root slightly, not all the way through. Then bend the cut portion outward and pull towards the top of the stalk with the strings.  

Recipe:  Stir Fried Celery and Carrots with Dried Tofu

Serves 2 (double the recipe to serve more)

Ingredients:
1     Tbsp canola oil 
2     ribs of celery, cut into matchstick, around 1 1/2" long
1     small carrot, cut into match stick, around 1 1/2" long 
1     piece of five spice dried tofu, cut into match stick, around 1 1/2" long
1     Tbsp chicken or vegetable stock or water
1/4  Tsp salt
1     Tsp Chinese cooking wine (optional)
1     Tsp sesame oil

Directions: 

Heat the oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat.  Add the celery, stir fry for 2 mins.  Add the carrots, chicken stock and salt.  The moisture from the stock help the veggies to cook faster.  But too much moisture may steam the veggies instead. So avoid putting too much in. Stir fry until the veges start to soften, about 2 more mins.  Add the dried tofu and the cooking wine (optional). Toss everything together and stir-fry for another 2 to 3 mins or until the vegetables are tender.  You can add a little bit more chicken stock, one Tbsp at a time, if the pan is too dry and the veges start to brown. To finish off, add the sesame oil and stir fry for a few second.  Serve immediately.      

Novice

singapore vermicelli

It's a new beginning, a new endeavor.  No matters how much ideas I have in my mind all the time, I usually do not put them into actions.  That applies to a lot of aspects in my life.  But I really can't help myself this time.  I got to try out taking food pictures.  Quickly I went to the "blackhole" where I store all my junks in the house and found some recycling gift wrap tissue paper, cardboard, unused placemats;  pulled out some dinning ware that I don't use that often; found a spot in the house with a bit of natural light; and took a million of pictures of last night's leftover.  Here are the two that do not show any obvious mistakes, except some dust on the placemats which I was too lazy to remove with photoshop.

       

Kitchen notes:

This recipe of Singapore Stir Fried Vermicelli is adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine and can also be found on Rasa Malaysia, one of my favorite Asian cooking blog.  I had some failures cooking this dish before. It was either too soggy or the taste was not right. One of the key is the type of noodle used.  It has to be made with rice and water only and it is the fine and round rice noodle, not the big flat ones. After some research, I also found out that some Chinese chefs put in a litter bit of ketchup to round out the flavor. The dish turned out to be great this time! 

Singapore Stir Fried Vermicelli (星州炒米)

adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine 

Ingredients

For the noodle:

8 oz rice vermicelli* 

2 Tbsp vegetable oil   
10 pcs medium size shrimp, peeled and devined

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 lb. char siu (Chinese barbecued pork)l, cut into matchsticks

2 cloves garlic, minced

2/3 Tbsp ginger, minced

1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 chili pepper (I used the potent red Thai chili pepper), thinly sliced cross-wise

2/3 cup bean sprouts, rinsed and drained

4 green onions, root end trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces

5 fresh shiitake mushrooms 
1 Tbsp ketchup

For the sauce:

2 Tbsp Madras (hot) curry powder1 1/2 cloves of garlic, minced

2/3 Tbsp ginger, minced

2/3 cup chicken broth

3 Tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp sambal (or your choice of chili paste)

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp oyster sauce

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:

1.  Soak the noodle - Soak vermicelli in hot tap water for 8 to 10 minutes (or according to package instruction) until soften. Drain noodle and set aside. 
2. Make the sauce - Put 1 Tbsp oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add the curry powder, minced garlic and sauté for 20 sec.or until fragrant. Add the broth, soy sauce, sugar, sambal, and salt. Cover and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside. 
3. Stir fry shrimp and bbq pork - Heat a large wok or saute pan over high heat, add 1 Tbsp oil. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp, sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt on the shrimp, and stir-fry until just cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the barbecued pork; toss well. Put the shrimp and bbq pork aside. 
4. Stir fry vegetable - Add the remaining Tbsp of the oil the the wok. When hot, add the garlic and the ginger. Stir-fry until the garlic is golden, 10 to 20 seconds. Add the onion, chili pepper, bean sprouts, scallions, and mushrooms. Stir-fry until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. 
5. Add in bbq pork and shrimp, toss to combine. Add in noodles, sauces and ketchup. Mix and toss everything together thoroughly and to coat noodles with the sauce. Serve immediately