I was really craving the bao that you get at dim sum, the kind that has the bright red bbq pork on the inside. I bought a package of frozen, premade bao at the Asian market in order to quell my craving. At 3 dollars+ for 4 mediocre bao, i got to thinking. Why can't i make these myself? Bits of pork in char siu sauce wrapped in a basic flour dough that is steamed? I'm smart, i'm able, i'm free this weekend...why not?
Here's the recipe which makes about 12-14 bao.
For the dough:
1 cup milk, warmed (I don't keep milk around the apt, so i used soy milk it worked out fine)
1/2 pkt of yeast
1/4 cup of sugar + 2tbsp
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
For the filling
I bought 1/2 lb of premade char siu from a chinese bbq joint (I hate preparing raw meat) and chopped it into little pieces
1/2 packet of char siu sauce mix reconstituted with 1/4 of water or premade char siu bbq sauce
You will also need wax paper and some sort of steaming device. I used the steam basket that came with my rice cooker.
Start with the dough:
Warm the milk in the microwave pour into the bowl. Add the yeast and 2 tbsp of sugar. Stir to dissolve. Let sit for about 5 minutes, or until it looks frothy. Add oil, salt and one cup of flour. Let stand for 30 minutes to an hour. (I don't actually know what this does, but this is what i did and the result was desirable, i'm sticking to it). After resting the "sponge" (I think that's what its called), add the rest of the flour and start to knead. Knead dough, adding more flour, until dough is no longer sticky and very smooth.
Put dough in oiled bowl and place in a warm place. Allow to rise till double in volume. About 1 hour.
While the dough rises, prepare the filling and cut the wax paper into 4x4 squares.
Chop your char siu (homemade or whatnot) into tiny pieces. Mix pieces with reconstituted char siu marinade or jarred sauce to bind filling together. Set aside in fridge.
When your dough has sufficiently risen. Punch it down and knead it a few times. Pull apart a ball the size of a small golf ball. Flatten the ball and pinch the edges of the circle to get a disk about the size of your palm that is thicker in the middle. Put about 1 tbsp of filling in the middle of the disk. Stretch the sides of the dough over the filling while rotating the bao until the filling is completely enclosed. Place onto a square of wax paper.
Let the bao proof for a bit before placing them into the steamer. Steam for 12-15 minutes. Remove carefully. Serve while warm.
I cooled these and put them in a freezer bag for rainy days. 2 minutes in the microwave is all you need to revive these babies!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Asian Noodle Salad
I adapted a recipe that I saw on PBS. Remember back when PBS was the only place to watch good cooking shows. Martin Yan, Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, the greats. I remember they all had their own public television cooking show. Nowadays, everyone and their bubbly stay at home mom has a cooking show.
The recipe originally called for soba noodles. Fresh out of those. So I just substituted some whole wheat spaghetti that i usually keep the cupboard stocked with. I may like it better since it has a better texture than soba, which i don't care for too much.
Ingredients
1/2 lb of noodles (Spaghetti, Angel Hair, Ramen, Soba, whatever)
Broccoli, cut into florets (Green beans would also be really good)
Firm tofu, cut into small cubes
2 1/2 Tbsp Soy sauce
Juice of 2 limes
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp Roasted Sesame Oil
2 cloves of garlic chopped
Sesame seeds
1. Drain tofu very well with paper towels. Cut into cubes and place into a bowl lined with paper towels. Set Aside.
2. Boil a quart of water, salt and add broccoli florets, cook until crispy tender. Remove with a strainer, leaving water in pot. Rinse broccoli in cold water and let drain.
3. Add noodles and cook according to directions.
4. Dressing- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, and chopped garlic. Set aside.
5. Remove tofu cubes from paper towel and put into bowl. Spoon half of dressing over tofu. Set Aside.
6. When noodles are done, using pasta fork or strainer, remove noodles while still hot to dressing. The add the broccoli. Toss together until dressing is well distributed.
7. Add flavored tofu cubes on top of noodles and toss gingerly, taking care to not break up the tofu too much.
8. Cover bowl and put into fridge for an hour or so for flavors to meld.
9. Garnish with sesame seeds when ready to serve. mmmmm
The recipe originally called for soba noodles. Fresh out of those. So I just substituted some whole wheat spaghetti that i usually keep the cupboard stocked with. I may like it better since it has a better texture than soba, which i don't care for too much.
Ingredients
1/2 lb of noodles (Spaghetti, Angel Hair, Ramen, Soba, whatever)
Broccoli, cut into florets (Green beans would also be really good)
Firm tofu, cut into small cubes
2 1/2 Tbsp Soy sauce
Juice of 2 limes
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp Roasted Sesame Oil
2 cloves of garlic chopped
Sesame seeds
1. Drain tofu very well with paper towels. Cut into cubes and place into a bowl lined with paper towels. Set Aside.
2. Boil a quart of water, salt and add broccoli florets, cook until crispy tender. Remove with a strainer, leaving water in pot. Rinse broccoli in cold water and let drain.
3. Add noodles and cook according to directions.
4. Dressing- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, and chopped garlic. Set aside.
5. Remove tofu cubes from paper towel and put into bowl. Spoon half of dressing over tofu. Set Aside.
6. When noodles are done, using pasta fork or strainer, remove noodles while still hot to dressing. The add the broccoli. Toss together until dressing is well distributed.
7. Add flavored tofu cubes on top of noodles and toss gingerly, taking care to not break up the tofu too much.
8. Cover bowl and put into fridge for an hour or so for flavors to meld.
9. Garnish with sesame seeds when ready to serve. mmmmm
Monday, August 17, 2009
Pancakes For One
According to Of Montreal, "Pancakes for one is always depressing, because having pancakes with you is such fun." When you live alone, i guess its just a reality especially when you love pancakes as much as I do! But only the unleavened, European kinds...none of those American buttermilk belly bombs that we all grew up eating at IHOP.
The problem with pancakes is that one batch is usually enough to feed 4 people or 2 people per half batch and by feed i mean stuff them to a comatose state. Well, I think i found a good recipe that is easy to measure, makes 4 thin 8-inch crepe-like pancakes here we go:
PANCAKES FOR ONE
1/2 cup AP flour
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
Fixin's
I like Lemon Juice and sugar
1. Melt the butter in a mixing bowl (in the microwave, not the stove)
2. Add half of the flour, sugar, milk, salt and 1 egg and whisk together until relatively lump-less
3. Add rest of flour and whisk together. Batter will be thin.
4. Heat skillet on Medium heat with some non stick spray or a bit of butter to prevent sticking
5. Pour batter in, spread around. When edges look done and middle looks dry, flip once.
6. Flip onto a plate. Repeat steps 5-6 until you have about 4 pancakes.
7. Fill with fixin's and enjoy!
The problem with pancakes is that one batch is usually enough to feed 4 people or 2 people per half batch and by feed i mean stuff them to a comatose state. Well, I think i found a good recipe that is easy to measure, makes 4 thin 8-inch crepe-like pancakes here we go:
PANCAKES FOR ONE
1/2 cup AP flour
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
Fixin's
I like Lemon Juice and sugar
1. Melt the butter in a mixing bowl (in the microwave, not the stove)
2. Add half of the flour, sugar, milk, salt and 1 egg and whisk together until relatively lump-less
3. Add rest of flour and whisk together. Batter will be thin.
4. Heat skillet on Medium heat with some non stick spray or a bit of butter to prevent sticking
5. Pour batter in, spread around. When edges look done and middle looks dry, flip once.
6. Flip onto a plate. Repeat steps 5-6 until you have about 4 pancakes.
7. Fill with fixin's and enjoy!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Roasted Salsa
I just made a Salsa. It is so delicious, I could cry. It's going to be so yummy over the Tacos Al Pastor that I am making tomorrow for dinner. Can you tell that I'm in a Mexican food kick? I think its probably because there is no decent Mexican food to be had in Chino "Cultural Abyss" Hills.
I adapted from this recipe from food gawker.
This made about 48 oz. of salsa. If I were to judge its spiciness on a Likert scale of 5, I'd give it a 3.
5 large tomatoes, quartered
1 onion, quartered
3 Jalapeno peppers, seeded
Put these things on a baking sheet and roast @ 375 degrees for about half an hour until the tomatoes are soft and the other things get kind of a nice char to them.
Take all the roasted ingredients out of the oven and let them cool.
After they are cooled, you put them into a food processor. Along with:
5 cloves of fresh garlic
3-5 chipotle chiles from the can + some of the adobo sauce they come packed in (adjust to your taste)
a handful of fresh cilantro
1 sprig of scallion, roughly chopped
1 1/2 tsp Salt, (adjusted to your own taste, of course)
Juice of 2 limes
Pulse the food processor until smooth but still chunky. Chill in the fridge and then eat on something, anything.
I adapted from this recipe from food gawker.
This made about 48 oz. of salsa. If I were to judge its spiciness on a Likert scale of 5, I'd give it a 3.
5 large tomatoes, quartered
1 onion, quartered
3 Jalapeno peppers, seeded
Put these things on a baking sheet and roast @ 375 degrees for about half an hour until the tomatoes are soft and the other things get kind of a nice char to them.
Take all the roasted ingredients out of the oven and let them cool.
After they are cooled, you put them into a food processor. Along with:
5 cloves of fresh garlic
3-5 chipotle chiles from the can + some of the adobo sauce they come packed in (adjust to your taste)
a handful of fresh cilantro
1 sprig of scallion, roughly chopped
1 1/2 tsp Salt, (adjusted to your own taste, of course)
Juice of 2 limes
Pulse the food processor until smooth but still chunky. Chill in the fridge and then eat on something, anything.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Quick 'n' Tasty Shredded Chicken Tacos
I know, I know, I am the meatless one. What the hell am I doing making chicken tacos? Well, I have a sin to confess. While I am living at home, I tend to let my vegetarianism fall to the wayside and eat whatever my mom makes for me. She works very hard and I think I am just being a dutiful daughter by doing this. The other day, my mom brought home a rotisserie chicken from the market. My family is what you would call a dark meat family. We love dark meat chicken. My dad is a wing man, I like the thighs and my mom likes drumsticks. Unfortunately for poor chickens that means that after we are done, they are nothing more than breasts stuck on the bones. We don’t like chicken breasts. My father is convinced that they should charge you less than the other pieces at fast food restaurants for the breasts. Usually, my mom will cut up the breast pieces and pack them for lunch or shred them up to make ga chay, which is eaten over rice. I am not a fan of ga chay. So when I found the Tupperware in the refrigerator of shredded skinned roasted chicken breasts, my mind went looking for alternatives. The first thing that came into mind was my favorite Mexican food of all time…. TACOS! Not the disgusting cheese and lettuce dressed messes you get at “Mexican” fast food places, but the simple and pure taqueria style tacos that fed me for the last 3 weeks of my undergraduate education.
To me a taco is all about simplicity. Soft shells, not hard. Corn tortillas not flour. A generous heap of finely seasoned meat nice and charred, some simple pico de gallo or other salsa, maybe some cabbage that’s it. No sour cream, no lettuce, no melted cheese, no volcano chipotle zesty nacho cheese sauce, no tapatio (unless you really want it).
Presentation is simple; place a warmed tortilla on a plate. Top it with cabbage, then meat, then salsa. Voila, you have the most perfect and delightful food ever conceived. Fresh but hearty, spicy but cool, a paradox of flavor. Yum!
And yes, I like shredded cabbage on my tacos. Not lettuce, cabbage. This is a remnant of my times spent in Latin America. Lettuce in hot weather turned into a bitter wilted mess, where as cabbage maintained its crispness and added that fresh contrast I need in a taco. I make a sort of simple slaw to go on mis tacos.
Here is my very simple recipe for very simple tacos.
Here’s the rundown:
This will make like 10 tacos or so, you decide.
Ingredients:
The Shredded Chicken:
The breasts from a rotisserie chicken, skin removed, shredded
Half an Onion, chopped
1 Bell Pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 Jalapeno pepper(s) seeded (unless you really like spicy things) and chopped (Use the 2 peppers if you like really spicy stuff.)
2 Tbsp Ground Cumin
Juice of a Lime
Oil for Sautéing
Corn Tortillas
The Slaw:
Half head of Cabbage, shredded fine (you know, like coleslaw)
Juice of 1 Lime
Salt and Pepper
Optional (but strongly suggested): Salsa of your choice (I just used a prepared Pico de Gallo we had laying around)
1. Assemble the slaw, toss the shredded cabbage with lime juice, salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
2. Put oil in a pan (I used a wok) and sauté onions, bell pepper, and jalapenos until soft. Then add garlic and sauté together until everything is cooked through.
3. Add shredded chicken and ground cumin. Sauté together just to warm chicken through, not too long though since that chicken is already dead AND cooked once.
4. Finish with fresh lime juice.
5. This is typically where you will taste it. I didn’t season with any salt or pepper because I find rotisserie chicken already really salty, but that’s just me.
6. I warmed my tortillas in the microwave right before serving, but you can wrap them in foil and put them into the oven, warm them on the stove, whatever.
7. Assemble: I like slaw -> Chicken -> 2 tsp of pico de gallo, but whatever you want is fine.
To me a taco is all about simplicity. Soft shells, not hard. Corn tortillas not flour. A generous heap of finely seasoned meat nice and charred, some simple pico de gallo or other salsa, maybe some cabbage that’s it. No sour cream, no lettuce, no melted cheese, no volcano chipotle zesty nacho cheese sauce, no tapatio (unless you really want it).
Presentation is simple; place a warmed tortilla on a plate. Top it with cabbage, then meat, then salsa. Voila, you have the most perfect and delightful food ever conceived. Fresh but hearty, spicy but cool, a paradox of flavor. Yum!
And yes, I like shredded cabbage on my tacos. Not lettuce, cabbage. This is a remnant of my times spent in Latin America. Lettuce in hot weather turned into a bitter wilted mess, where as cabbage maintained its crispness and added that fresh contrast I need in a taco. I make a sort of simple slaw to go on mis tacos.
Here is my very simple recipe for very simple tacos.
Here’s the rundown:
This will make like 10 tacos or so, you decide.
Ingredients:
The Shredded Chicken:
The breasts from a rotisserie chicken, skin removed, shredded
Half an Onion, chopped
1 Bell Pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 Jalapeno pepper(s) seeded (unless you really like spicy things) and chopped (Use the 2 peppers if you like really spicy stuff.)
2 Tbsp Ground Cumin
Juice of a Lime
Oil for Sautéing
Corn Tortillas
The Slaw:
Half head of Cabbage, shredded fine (you know, like coleslaw)
Juice of 1 Lime
Salt and Pepper
Optional (but strongly suggested): Salsa of your choice (I just used a prepared Pico de Gallo we had laying around)
1. Assemble the slaw, toss the shredded cabbage with lime juice, salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
2. Put oil in a pan (I used a wok) and sauté onions, bell pepper, and jalapenos until soft. Then add garlic and sauté together until everything is cooked through.
3. Add shredded chicken and ground cumin. Sauté together just to warm chicken through, not too long though since that chicken is already dead AND cooked once.
4. Finish with fresh lime juice.
5. This is typically where you will taste it. I didn’t season with any salt or pepper because I find rotisserie chicken already really salty, but that’s just me.
6. I warmed my tortillas in the microwave right before serving, but you can wrap them in foil and put them into the oven, warm them on the stove, whatever.
7. Assemble: I like slaw -> Chicken -> 2 tsp of pico de gallo, but whatever you want is fine.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Gin and Tonic Cupcakes
Gin and Tonics are my favorite drink. To me, they are the perfect balance of flavors (which is hard to come by in the world of well drinks). They get me happy drunk (as opposed to embarrassing drunk) and are so light and refreshing. I was so excited when I came across this recipe for Gin and Tonic Cupcakes. At first it seemed like kind of a weird idea. Gin and Tonic...in a cake? Hmm...something about juniper berry, quinine and lime does not really scream "dessert" to me. But hey, I wouldn't be a pragmatist if I didn't try!The recipe consists of two parts: the cake and the frosting (duh). The cake is an angel food cake flavored with tonic water. I have nothing against Angel food cake except that I don't have an electric mixer and I must admit that I suck at whipping stuff up by hand and suck even harder at making cake from scratch. The frosting is a mixture of powdered sugar, mascarpone cheese, corn syrup and gin, also requiring an electric mixer. I had to put my innovative cheap college student mind to this. My roommate usually keeps our cupboards stocked with at least 6 boxes of cake mix and cans of frosting. Whenever there is a sale...ho boy, watch out!
So instead of fretting over getting things right from scratch, I took the cake doctor approach. I used a box of white cake mix and a can of cream cheese frosting, doctored them up and came up with a very good approximation to the recipe.
The original recipe did not call for very much lime flavoring to be incorporated into the cakes themselves besides the garnish. To me, the quintessential part of a gin and tonic is the lime. It makes the caustic combination of gin and tonic into a refreshing beverage. Plus, I am always a proponent of citrus fruit in baked goods. Here is my process:
FROSTING
Fresh out of mascarpone so had to doctor up a can of cream cheese frosting I had laying around the apartment. I added 2 tbsp of gin and about 1/3 of the zest I got from a lime. The lime adds a very nice touch since it goes really well with gin. I figured that some people really like to eat the frosting first or a bit of it alone before biting into the cake and the flavor of gin would be a bit overwhelming. The gin loosened up the frosting quite a bit so I added about 3 tbsp of confectioner's sugar to tighten it back to the right consistency. Per the original recipe, I dyed the frosting a pale green with two drops of food coloring. It looks very pleasant, wouldn't you say?CAKE
Mmm...white cake mix, my dear friend. I followed the normal directions on the back of the box except I replaced the some of the water for 3 tbsp of Tonic water and the juice of one lime, subtracting that amount (about 4 tbsp) from the 1 1/3 cups of water called for. I also added the remaining zest from the lime I had zested for the frosting. I used the remnants of a bottle of tonic that had gone flat in the fridge since I only wanted the tonic flavor. I baked the cake according to the directions on the box and let them cool completely before frosting.RESULTS
These cupcakes are as light as refreshing as the drink! The slight hint of tonic and lime in the cake goes so well with the hint of herbal-ly gin and lime in the frosting. What seemed like a pretty disgusting idea turned out to be quite delicious! I made these for my roommate's birthday. And once she and her friends return from Six Flags this evening, I bet they will be pleasantly surprised by these scrumptious little delights!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
I had some friends visit me recently and i decided that i wanted to make them dinner and dessert. My friends are vegans. Though i am no longer a vegan, i still have a couple of vegan friendly dishes in my recipe file. The menu consisted of Moosewood Collective's Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie and Chocolate chip cookies. I have to admit, i make the BEST chocolate chip cookies, unfortunately they are not vegan. My past adventures in vegan baking have consistently ended up with tears and disappointment so i was hesitant. My friend suggested that i just substitute the egg in the recipe with half a banana and vegan margarine for the butter and ta-da! Veganized!
The recipe is adapted from Fanny Farmer's recipe for chocolate chip cookies which i got from my friend Caroline. It contains what i call the golden ratio of cookies. 1 stick butter to 1+ cup flour to 1 cup sugar to 1 egg (about). The finished product is just the right amount of gooey, crispy and chewy. To substitute the egg, I think it is best to use a mashed really ripe banana. If your banana is still a little green at the edges, mash in some vegetable oil with the banana. The margarine i used was Earth Balance which is a really high quality vegan margarine. It's kind of expensive. Many of the cheap margarines usually contain some sort of milk product in order to provide creaminess. I'm sure there is some sort of cheap run of the mill margarine that is vegan, i haven't really checked the labels. Though, the Earth Balance resulted in a very delicious tasting cookie Here is the recipe:
VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 banana, mashed (with a touch of oil if your banana isn't really ripe)
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (i always put a little more)
1 1/8 cup flour (that 1/8 cup is INTEGRAL to the texture)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
(optional: 1 cup chopped nuts)
Oven: Preheated to 375 degrees F
1. Melt the margarine in the microwave and add the sugars and mashed banana. Mix well
2. Add the vanilla, baking soda and salt and stir until incorporated into the margarine, sugar, banana mixture
3. Add all the flour and fold in until incorporated.
4. Lastly, add the chips and whatever else you want. Fold until uniform.
5. I like my cookies to spread and become crispy and chewy so i really like using a warm dough. If you like doughier, cakier cookies refridgerate the dough for 30 minutes or so.
6. Using a 1/2 tbsp measuring spoon, spoon balls of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes until cookies are golden brown and set.
8. Eat your heart out!
The recipe is adapted from Fanny Farmer's recipe for chocolate chip cookies which i got from my friend Caroline. It contains what i call the golden ratio of cookies. 1 stick butter to 1+ cup flour to 1 cup sugar to 1 egg (about). The finished product is just the right amount of gooey, crispy and chewy. To substitute the egg, I think it is best to use a mashed really ripe banana. If your banana is still a little green at the edges, mash in some vegetable oil with the banana. The margarine i used was Earth Balance which is a really high quality vegan margarine. It's kind of expensive. Many of the cheap margarines usually contain some sort of milk product in order to provide creaminess. I'm sure there is some sort of cheap run of the mill margarine that is vegan, i haven't really checked the labels. Though, the Earth Balance resulted in a very delicious tasting cookie Here is the recipe:
VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 banana, mashed (with a touch of oil if your banana isn't really ripe)
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (i always put a little more)
1 1/8 cup flour (that 1/8 cup is INTEGRAL to the texture)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
(optional: 1 cup chopped nuts)
Oven: Preheated to 375 degrees F
1. Melt the margarine in the microwave and add the sugars and mashed banana. Mix well
2. Add the vanilla, baking soda and salt and stir until incorporated into the margarine, sugar, banana mixture
3. Add all the flour and fold in until incorporated.
4. Lastly, add the chips and whatever else you want. Fold until uniform.
5. I like my cookies to spread and become crispy and chewy so i really like using a warm dough. If you like doughier, cakier cookies refridgerate the dough for 30 minutes or so.
6. Using a 1/2 tbsp measuring spoon, spoon balls of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes until cookies are golden brown and set.
8. Eat your heart out!
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