If I had my choice, my meals everyday would just consist of little bites and dessert. The lovely people in Spain and Hong Kong have it right, with their tapas bars and dim sum carts!
Friends who come over for dinner always know to come hungry, as I always have a little somethin’ for them to nibble on while I finish preparing our meal. These recipes are soooo delicious that I always have to remind everyone not to eat too much, otherwise they’ll ruin their appetite for the rest of the evening!
These fish cakes are extra special when wrapped in rice paper wrappers and tied with a long piece of chive, inspired by chef Ken Hom. Pan-frying the little bundle makes the wrapper crispy. The rice paper wrappers are the same wrappers used to make Vietnamese Summer Rolls (page 44). The chive tie is optional, but it just looks so cute tied like a package! If you have trouble finding long, thin Chinese chives (which are thicker, stronger and flatter than western chives), use a long piece of green onion (just the green part of the green onion). As always, choose a fish that you enjoy eating. The type of fish is pretty flexible here, since the fish will be pureed along with the herbs and seasonings. Tilapia fillets are inexpensive and work great in this fish cake!
The type and amount of fresh chilli pepper that you use is up to you. If you enjoy spicy heat, choose a small, skinny fresh chilli. If heat is not your thing, but you still enjoy the flavor of fresh pepper, go for the bigger, fatter chilli peppers or even minced red bell pepper.
MAKES 8 FISH CAKES
1 tablespoon cornstarch or flour
1/4 cup (65 ml) water
Eight 9-in (23-cm) round dried rice paper wrappers
8 Chinese chives, softened in hot water (optional)
2 to 3 tablespoons high-heat cooking oil
1 recipe Thai Dipping Sauce (page 28), for serving
FOR THE FISH CAKES
3/4 lb (350 g) fish, cut into 1-in (2.5-cm) chunks
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh cilantro (coriander)
1/4 cup (25 g) panko bread crumbs (substitute with regular bread crumbs)
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons fish sauce (substitute with 1 tablespoon soy sauce)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (see Jaden’s Ginger Tips, page 33)
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh chilli pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 In the bowl of a food processor, add the Fish Cakes ingredients. Pulse until the mixture becomes a coarse paste. Divide the paste into 8 equal portions.
2 Combine the cornstarch (or flour) and water in a small bowl and mix well to make a slurry.
3 Fill a large, shallow dish with warm water. Dip one rice paper into the water for 6 seconds and let the water drip off. Transfer onto a clean, dry surface. The wrapper will still be a little stiff; don’t worry, as it will soften up.
4 Using your hands, form one fish paste portion into a flat, square patty, about 3 x 3 inches (7.5 x 7.5 cm), and place in the middle of the dampened rice paper. Fold the top of the rice paper down over the patty, and fold the bottom of the rice paper up and over the patty. Dip a pastry brush (or use your finger) into the slurry and paint the remaining left and right sides of the rice paper. This will help secure the wrapper on the fish cake. Fold over the right and then the left side, making sure there are no air bubbles. Tie the fish cake with a chive, if using, and place on a clean, dry plate lined with plastic wrap. Cover with another sheet of plastic wrap to prevent drying. Use a towel to wipe your work surface before laying down another rice paper wrapper. Repeat with the remaining fish cakes.
5 In a large, nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add 4 of the fish cakes, making sure that they do not touch each other, otherwise they’ll stick together. Fry for 3 minutes on each side. Fry the remaining batch. Serve with the Thai Dipping Sauce.
I make my own pizza dough from time to time, but when I want to make an impressive appetizer last minute, I buy a ball of premade pizza dough or, even easier, a package of naan or flatbread from the supermarket. This chicken flatbread is inspired by one of my husband’s favorite restaurants, California Pizza Kitchen. When we were still dating in San Francisco, we’d just hop on the subway and walk to the CPK near Union Square. Those were fun times as many sweet nothings were whispered in my ear over a shared pizza. These days, with two loud, yappin’ giggly boys at the dinner table, there’s no more whispering! (Okay, replaced by footsies!)
SERVES 4 AS APPETIZER OR SNACK
1/2 lb (250 g) boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium flatbreads or naan
1/2 cup (125 ml) Peanut Dipping Sauce (page 30)
8 oz (250 g) fresh shredded mozzarella
1 1/4 cups (125 g) fresh bean sprouts
Few sprigs fresh cilantro (coriander)
1/2 cup (80 g) roasted peanuts
1 Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
2 Combine the chicken with the soy sauce, honey and cornstarch and let marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes.
3 Heat a nonstick frying pan over high heat. When hot, add the chicken pieces and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, until cooked through.
5 Brush the olive oil all over the edges of the flatbreads or naan. Spread the Peanut Dipping Sauce on each flatbread. Top with the mozzarella and cooked chicken. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven, top with the bean sprouts, fresh cilantro and roasted peanuts.
More Options
Instead of the Peanut Dipping Sauce, you can use the Cashew Nut Dipping Sauce (page 30).
I’m what you call a “food adventurist”. If it’s stinky, weird or wiggling, I’ll want to eat it. If you’ve watched Anthony Bourdain or Andrew Zimmern on location in Asia, I’m sure you know what that means. For many others, raw oysters and clams are considered pretty adventurous eats for the home kitchen. Normally, I only eat raw oysters and clams at raw bars, leaving the difficult work of prying open the rock-hard shells to trained professionals who are more patient and deft than I. But recently, at the freshest seafood counter in town, my inner dare-devil kicked in and my need to conquer the shell. Plus, it didn’t help that my four-year-old son Nathan was in the shopping cart and asked, “Mommy, how come we can’t buy oysters?” Yeah, and what was I going to say, “cuz Mommy can’t open them?” I’m Nathan’s superhero! How could Super-Mom be defeated by a 3-inch (7.5-cm) tight-lipped marine mollusk?
Nathan picked out each oyster and chose not the cute, itty, bitty Littleneck clams, but the mammoth 4-inch (10-cm) Cherrystone clams. Words cannot describe the debacle that I went through to open a dozen of each. That pointy, thick knife with the big wooden handle called an oyster knife? Useless on the clams. I headed to the garage to find my husband’s tools. A hammer, chisel and the vice grip in the garage didn’t even crack the things. Power drill, level and the wire cutter, nada. Even the Jedi force was no match for these guys. I finally admitted defeat and recruited my husband (after I tiptoed back from the garage and laid his tools back EXACTLY where they were). Of course, sensible Husband knew that the smartest thing to do was search “how to shuck oysters and clams” online . . . 10 minutes later, he had all twenty-three open. Did you notice that there is one lone clam that is unopened in the photo? The stubborn sucker wouldn’t budge. Once they were all opened, I just stared at ’em and they stared right back, thirsty for some kind of light, Asian-flavored sauce. I’m not a fan of the traditional jarred horseradish and cocktail sauce, mainly because those strong flavors mask the delicate taste of the seafood. So I called Jim, the owner of the Lucky Pelican in Sarasota, Florida, and begged him for the recipe for his killer Asian Mignonette. Many thanks to him. If you don’t have seasoned, or sweetened, rice vinegar, use the unseasoned rice vinegar and add a pinch of sugar.
SERVES 4 AS APPETIZER
1 dozen fresh oysters in shell
1 dozen fresh clams in shell
ASIAN MIGNONETTE
1 teaspoon water
2 tablespoons sweetened (seasoned) rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon red or green peppercorns
1 teaspoon finely minced ginger
1 teaspoon finely minced shallots
1/4 teaspoon whole coriander seeds (optional)
In a small bowl, whisk together the Asian Mignonette ingredients. Shuck the oysters and clams. Serve the Asian Mignonette, oysters and clams on a bed of crushed ice.
HOW TO SHUCK OYSTERS AND CLAMS
Do you really think that I’m going to attempt to teach you how to open those things? Well, instead of pretending like I’m a mollusk-shucking expert, I asked Executive Chef Rich Vallante from Legal Seafoods (www.legalseafoods.com) for some tips. If you happen to make an “oopsy” and mangle the meat a bit, no worries, just flip the oyster or clam over for presentation. Chef Vallante has an online video showing both methods on Legal Seafoods’ website at www.legalseafoods.com. Here we go. First off, there’s a difference between an oyster knife and a clam knife, and of course, different techniques!
SHUCKING OYSTERS
The oyster knife should have a solid blade, pointed end and a good, solid handle. You’ll also need a kitchen towel, as that oyster blade tip is pretty sharp!
1 Place the oyster on a stable surface, flat side up/curved “cup” side down. This is how the oysters grow, and the cup will hold the juices in the shell. The top of the oyster is also shaped like an elongated “D”. The curve of the “D” is the front of the oyster.
2 Look for the natural hinge on the back of the oyster. This is a muscle and this is the spot where you’ll start working. With a towel to protect your hand, hold the oyster steady with one hand. With your other hand, shimmy the oyster knife into the hinge as if you were opening a paint can. Pop the top off like a paint can. But don’t push the knife too far in, or you’ll damage the meat.
3 There’s a muscle in the top front of the oyster, so run your knife at a 45-degree angle along the top of the shell, avoiding the meat. Once you sever that muscle, the top of the oyster shell should come off.
5 Run your knife along the bottom of the oyster to cut the muscle that is on the bottom. Be careful and try to keep all the juice in the shell!
SHUCKING CLAMS
The clam knife is flexible, thinner than an oyster knife and has a rounded tip.
1 If you look at the clam’s mouth, you’ll find on one side that there’s a small section where it’s just slightly more open. It may be hard to spot, but usually it’s on the side.
2 Cradle the clam in one palm, and use your other hand to position the SIDE of the clam knife right on that spot. Slide the side of the knife into the clam, just until you can feel that you’re in, but no further. You don’t want to damage the clam or cut it in half!
3 Keep pushing your blade in, angling towards the top. You’ll be scraping the top of the shell, severing the 2 muscles on top. This is why a flexible knife is needed!
4 Pry open the shell and run your knife along the bottom of the clam—there are two more muscles below.
Great Grandmother’s Crispy Potatoes with Sweet Soy Pork
I recently found out that my great-grandmother was Indonesian. I’ve never met her, and my Mom only has a handful of memories of her, one of them being a dish similar to this recipe. Of course, I’ve tweaked the recipe . . . how could I not? It’s just in my nature to mess with things and make it my own, even when it is already perfection. Traditionally, this dish is saucier and the crispy potato chips are stirred right into the meat sauce, but I’ve lightened it up and cut back the sauce to keep the potatoes crispy. You can use store-bought potato chips (thick kettle chips work great) or make your own potato chips like my Great Grandmother did, I’m sure. But, I guess the downside of perpetual tweaking is that traditional family recipes will evolve so much that it’s hardly recognizable at all. Who knows what kind of tinkering’ my own kids will do to this recipe when they grow up? Oh Buddha help me if my kids will interpret this recipe as a lump of cold canned chilli dumped on greasy potato chips. If you don’t like the crunch and bite of fresh green onions, just fry them along with the garlic and shallots. Sometimes I also like to add some fresh chillies to spice it up.
NOTE: Kecap manis is the seasoning used in this dish, which is an Indonesian thick, sweet soy sauce. The sweet-salty sauce is sweetened with palm sugar and flavored with star anise and garlic. You can find it at most Asian markets next to the regular soy sauce under the popular ABC brand. If you don’t have access to kecap manis, substitute with dark soy sauce and sugar. Another great substitute is the Sweet Soy Sauce (page 30).
SERVES 4 AS APPETIZER OR SNACK
1 lb (500 g) ground pork
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon high heat cooking oil
3 shallots, minced
2 tablespoons kecap manis (substitute with 1 tablespoon Chinese dark soy sauce plus 2 teaspoons brown sugar)
2 teaspoons white vinegar or rice vinegar
1/4 cup (65 ml) water
6 oz (175 g) crispy, plain flavored potato chips (I prefer thick kettle cooked)
1/4 cup (15 g) chopped green onion (scallion)
1 In a bowl, mix together the ground pork with the soy sauce, wine, cornstarch and black pepper. Marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature.
2 Heat a wok or frying pan over high heat. When the wok is hot, add the oil and swirl to coat. Add the shallots and fry until fragrant about 30 seconds. Add the ground pork and cook until no longer pink, about 3 to 5 minutes.
3 Add the kecap manis, vinegar and water and cook for 1 to 2 minutes to let the entire thing bubble away and thicken. Taste and season with additional kecap manis or soy sauce if you are using unsalted potato chips.
4 Place the potato chips on a large plate and dish the ground pork mixture all over the chips. Top with chopped green onions.
Shrimp Chips with Spiced Beef and Crispy Shallots
When I was little, Mom used to fry up a big batch of these shrimp chips to snack on, usually when company came over or for special holidays. They are as light as air and the crunch that you can get is so loud! My brother and I would hide under the massive oak dining table and hoard a stash of shrimp chips and eat them. But of course we chomped so loud that it wasn’t long before mom found us and scolded us for eating too much fried stuff.
Recently, we were having friends Shawn and Wendy over for dinner, and since Shawn is a big meat-lovin’ guy, I topped the shrimp chips up with savory beef spiced with warming cinnamon and coriander. Shawn will tell you they were fantastic. As I recall, he ate almost the entire batch by himself. The crispy fried shallots add a nice flavor and crunch but the chips are still great without them if you don’t have any. You can either buy them in a plastic tub or glass jar at an Asian market or make your own.
If you don’t want to top the shrimp chips, they’re also great served alone and dipped into Peanut Dipping Sauce or Cashew Nut Dipping Sauce (page 30) just like my Mom serves them!
SERVES 6 TO 8 AS AN APPETIZER OR SNACK
4 oz (125 g) uncooked Shrimp Chips or “Prawn Crackers”
High-heat cooking oil for frying
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 green onions (scallions), minced
1 lb (500 g) ground beef
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon Asian chilli powder or ground red pepper (cayenne) (optional)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup (85 g) diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup (25 g) store-bought or homemade crispy fried shallots (optional) (see Note)
Sriracha chilli sauce, for the table (optional)
1 In a wok or pot, add 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) of oil and turn the heat to high. When the oil reaches 375°F (190°C), add 4 to 5 shrimp chips at a time. They should puff up and fry up in just a few seconds. If the chips do not puff up immediately, your oil is not hot enough. If they begin to burn after a few seconds, your oil may be too hot. Remove once the chip has puffed up and drain on a baking rack. Be careful as you add the chips in— the oil is hot! Try sliding them in at the side of the wok or lowering them in with a big spoon or spider.
2 Set a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. When a bead of water sizzles and evaporates upon contact, add 1 tablespoon of the oil and swirl to coat. Add the garlic and green onions and fry until fragrant, about 15 to 30 seconds.
3 Add the ground beef, cinnamon, coriander and chilli powder, and fry until cooked through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce, lime juice and sugar, stir well and continue to cook for an additional minute.
4 Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the cinnamon beef onto each shrimp chip “cup”, top with the red bell pepper and, if desired, the crispy-fried shallots and Sriracha chilli sauce.
NOTE: To make crispy fried shallots, slice 5-8 whole shallots very thinly. Deep-fry the shallots in hot oil (375°F/190°C) until golden brown. Remove immediately to avoid burning (they burn easily!) Store leftovers in an airtight container.
Lettuce Cup Appetizers
This dish is an experience in textures and sensations…the cool, crisp lettuce cups cradles the warm filling. As you take a bite, you’ll first taste the bright, sweet, juicy mandarin orange, then the savory chicken and then the crunch of water chestnuts and the mild bite of red onion.
The best part of this recipe is that the ingredients are so flexible. You can keep it light and use ground chicken or turkey, or try it with ground pork or ground beef—it’s totally up to you. My kids love this when I substitute diced green apples for the red onion. Try to dice the vegetables into roughly the same size so that they cook evenly and are easier to eat.
To make this dish a full meal, include 1 cup (160 g) of cooked jasmine rice per person. My kids like to spoon the cooked rice along with the filling into their lettuce cups.
SERVES 4 TO 6 AS APPETIZER OR SNACK
3/4 lb (350 g) ground chicken, turkey, beef or pork
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons high-heat cooking oil
1 to 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger, (see Jaden’s Ginger Tips, page 33)
1/3 cup (150 g) chopped red onion
4 to 6 fresh shitake mushrooms, diced
4 peeled water chestnuts (fresh or canned), diced
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
16 cup-shaped lettuce leaves (Boston Bibb, Butter head, Iceberg or any lettuce with cup shaped leaves)
One 11-oz (312-g) can mandarin orange sections, drained
1 In a bowl, marinate the ground poultry or meat with the soy sauce, wine and cornstarch for 10 minutes at room temperature.
2 Heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat and when hot, add the oil. Swirl to coat and add the garlic, ginger and red onion. Fry for 15 to 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the ground meat. Cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in the fresh shitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, rice vinegar and oyster sauce. Simmer for an additional 1 to 2 minutes until the meat is cooked through.
3 You can assemble the lettuce cups by spooning a heaping tablespoonful of filling into each lettuce cup and topping with the mandarin orange slices or you can serve the ingredients separately for your dinner guests to assemble themselves.
More options
Remember how I said this recipe is flexible? Raid your fridge. Finely diced green bell pepper, celery, frozen peas/carrots work great in the stir-fry. Even top the lettuce cups with chilled, shredded carrots!
For a fun crunch, take a skein of mung bean noodles (also called cellophane noodles or vermicelli—see page 22) and break it apart with your hands. Heat about 1 1/2 inches (3.75 cm) of high-heat cooking oil in a small pot or wok. When the oil reaches 350°F (175°C), slide a few noodles in and watch them puff up. It should take less than 5 seconds. Drain on a rack. The light, airy, crunchy bits of noodles make a wonderful topping for these lettuce cups.
For a bit of salty sweetness, you can also dip the back of a teaspoon into a jar of hoisin sauce. Smear the hoisin sauce onto the lettuce cup before adding the filling.
You could not find more opposite personalities than mine and my husband’s, especially when it comes to food. He’ll long for a deep-fried hotdog with crisp french fries and I’ll crave something silly like braised tofu. The difficult part about being polar opposites is the choice of restaurant—casual sports bar or the Vietnamese hole-in-the-wall restaurant?
But when the situation involves chicken wings, we’re smooth sailing. He’s a drumette guy, I’m flat and flapper gal and we never have to fight at the table.
These wings are baked after a quick marinate. To intensify the flavor, I like to stir-fry a combination of garlic, lemongrass and chillies then toss the baked wings in to coat. If you don’t have time to marinate the chicken, bake the wings naked. In your wok or frying pan, stir-fry the garlic, minced chilli and lemongrass until fragrant and add the marinade ingredients (minus the garlic). Let cook for 30 seconds to thicken and toss in the baked chicken wings.
SERVES 4 TO 6 AS AN APPETIZER OR SNACK
2 lbs (1 kg) chicken wings
1 tablespoon high-heat cooking oil
1 fresh chilli pepper of your choice, minced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 stalk lemongrass, bottom 6-in (15-cm) thinly sliced, or 2 shallots, thinly sliced
FOR THE MARINADE
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 In a large sealable plastic bag, mix together the Marinade ingredients. Add the chicken wings to the bag and seal, squeezing out all of the air. Massage the wings so that the Marinade coats them evenly. Let the wings sit in the Marinade for 15 minutes to overnight.
2 Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
3 Arrange the wings in one layer on a sheet pan. Bake the wings for 20 minutes or until cooked through. Set a wok or large sauté pan over high heat. When a drop of water sizzles and evaporates upon contact, add the oil and swirl to coat. Add the chilli pepper, garlic and lemongrass. Fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Take care not to burn the aromatics! Add the baked chicken wings and toss until well coated with the seasonings.
More Options
My favorite shortcut for this recipe is to combine a package of Chinese roast duck seasoning powder (it comes in a small envelope) with 1 tablespoon of water and use that to marinate the wings. I like the NOH brand of seasoning.
Keep your kitchen clean and grill outdoors instead of bake. Grill the wings over direct, high heat, 5 minutes on each side. Then move to indirect heat, cover and grill for 10 minutes to finish cooking. Bring your large sauté pan outside too, and when the wings are done, clean a section of the grates and place your pan directly on the grates, turn your flame to high and sauté the aromatics. Toss with the cooked wings.
You can make the flavors Chinese by replacing the chilli and
lemongrass with 1/4 cup (15 g) chopped green onions and 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger.
I used to be really uptight about making super perfect summer rolls. If it didn’t look just so, I’d tear the wrapper, carefully save the filling and start all over again. Then, I had children and priorities changed. If I don’t get food out to the table fast enough, the tots strut over to the pantry, shimmy their way up to the fourth shelf and help themselves to a smorgasbord of junk food. So, I learned to roll faster and didn’t give a toad’s tongue about neat rolls. The big eureka moment smacked me in the head when visiting friends Diane and Todd in California. Diane taught me after dipping the rice paper in water to fold it in half like a semi-circle before piling on the filling. This makes the wrapper more sturdy and easier to roll. The vegetables and meat spill out over the edge, making the summer rolls even more appealing and beautiful. Vietnamese Summer Rolls are wonderful as a complete meal on its own and is especially fun if you lay all the ingredients out on your dinner table so that each person can roll their own. Have a pan of warm water on the table too, for dipping. Make sure each person has a large, clean plate for rolling. I like to serve these rolls with two dipping sauces—a Cashew Nut Dipping Sauce from my friend Jeni and a traditional Vietnamese Dip (Nuoc Cham) made with fish sauce.
SERVES 6 AS AN APPETIZER, SNACK OR PART OF MULTICOURSE MEAL
One 12-oz (340-g) package rice paper wrappers
1 head soft, leafy green lettuce, leaves separated
1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
1 big handful fresh mint
1 big handful fresh Thai basil or sweet Italian basil leaves
1 portion Cashew Nut Dipping Sauce (page 30), Peanut Dipping Sauce (page 30) or Vietnamese Dip (page 28)
LEMONGRASS PORK
1 lb (500 g) pork
1 lemongrass stalk, outer leaves peeled until you reach pale yellow leaves, bottom 3-in (7.5-cm) of stalk grated with rasp grater, or 1 teaspoon lime zest
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 To prepare the Lemongrass Pork, slice the pork as thin as you possibly can. To make it easier to slice, place the pork in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up. Or you can bribe your meat peeps at the butcher counter to slice it for you on their big, fancy machines.
2 In a bowl, combine the slice pork with the rest of the ingredients and marinate for 15 minutes at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.
3 In the meantime, prepare the vegetables and herbs for the rolls.
4 Heat a wok or frying pan until very hot. Add the marinated pork slices in a single layer. You may have to do this in a couple of batches. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, depending on how thin you’ve sliced your meat.
5 Have the cooked Lemongrass Pork, rice paper wrappers, vegetables and herbs ready on your work surface to roll, or arrange the ingredients on your dinner table and have everyone roll their own summer rolls. To assemble the summer rolls, follow the illustrated instructions on facing page. Serve with one or more of the dipping sauces.
HOW TO ASSEMBLE SUMMER ROLLS
1 Fill a pie tin, a large shallow bowl or a deep plate with warm (not hot!) water. Dip the edge of a rice paper in the water and quickly use both hands to turn the rice paper so that each side can dip in the water for 2 seconds.
2 Lay the still-stiff rice paper on a clean, dry surface. Fold the rice paper in half. The paper should be pliable and may still be a bit stiff. If the rice paper is floppy, soggy and too slippery, try using cooler water or dipping the paper in the water for a shorter amount of time.
3 On the bottom half, lay your lettuce first to create a bed for the vegetables and juicy meat. Layer on your vegetables, meat and herbs. Do not overstuff! Each roll should only have 1 to 2 pieces of meat. If you are too greedy and put too much filling in the roll, they will be difficult to roll up!
4 Starting from the bottom, roll up. Tuck the ingredients in as you get that first turn to create a tighter roll. Don’t suffocate the poor ingredients, but do make it nice and snug.
5 Continue rolling and you can make a slight tug back on the roll to make tighter. If your work surface is dry, tugging will be easy. Wipe your work surface dry before rolling your next roll.
NOTE: One of the biggest mistakes is soaking the rice paper in water that’s too hot or soaking for too long. The rice paper should be dipped in the water for a few seconds, not soaked. The water should be warm, not hot. In fact, the rice paper should still be a bit stiff after dipping. By the time you’ve piled on your ingredients, the paper is just right for rolling.
Pork and Mango Potstickers
TIPS FOR FREEZING: If you are freezing potstickers, do so BEFORE you cook them. Just lay the uncooked dumplings out and freeze them in a single layer (like on a baking sheet or plate). Once frozen, gather them up and bag them for storing in the freezer. If you don’t freeze them in a single layer first, they’ll all stick together and you’ll have a massive lump of potsticker. To cook, add them to the pan while the potsticker is still frozen (do not defrost). Just add an extra minute and half of steaming time. They’ll turn out perfect.
In college, my girlfriends and I would get together and have potsticker, or dumpling, parties. We’d set the filling ingredients in the middle of the table and we’d sit and fold dumplings. Hundreds of ’em! We would devour a big batch that evening and then divvy up and freeze the rest for a rainy or lazy day.
You’ll want to buy the round dumpling wrappers, also called “potsticker” or “gyoza” wrappers. Square wonton wrappers are too thin to use for fried potstickers (though the same filling ingredients in this recipe make fabulous wontons (see page 61 on how to fold wontons).
Once you have the right type of wrapper, and all the ingredients at hand, making homemade dumplings take just four steps—chop, combine, wrap and cook!
SERVES 6 AS AN APPETIZER, SNACK OR PART OF A MULTICOURSE MEAL
1/4 head of medium cabbage
2 teaspoons salt
2 green onions (scallions)
1/2 lb (250 g) ground pork (or ground turkey)
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice wine (or dry sherry)
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 mango, chopped
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Cornstarch paste: 2 tablespoons cornstarch plus 1/2 cup (125 ml) water
1 package of round dumpling wrappers, defrosted and covered with a damp towel
High-heat cooking oil
1/2 cup (125 ml) Chinese Dipping Sauce (page 29)
1 To prepare the vegetables, finely shred the cabbage in your food processor. Place in a bowl and add the salt. Mix and let sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, squeeze the water out of the cabbage. (You can just use your hands—take a fistful of cabbage and squeeze over the sink or put cabbage in cheesecloth and squeeze). Use a food processor to shred the green onions. You do not have to salt and squeeze the green onions, as they don’t have much water content.
2 To make the filling, combine the ground pork, cabbage and green onions in a big bowl. Add the soy sauce, wine, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and stir to combine. Add the chopped man-goes. Stir in the 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to help the mixture hold together.
3 To wrap the potstickers, combine the ingredients for the cornstarch paste in a small bowl, stirring until the cornstarch is dissolved. You will use the paste to seal the dumplings. Take 1 dumpling wrapper, and spoon 1 heaping teaspoon of the filling mixture in the middle. Dip your finger in the cornstarch paste and go around the edges of the dumpling wrapper. Fold the bottom part of wrapper up to meet the top. Crimp the edge and pinch tightly to seal. Shape dumplings further by placing them on a table or counter so they lay flat on the bottom. Crimped edges should be sticking up and on top. Keep wrapped dumplings covered with a slightly damp towel or plastic wrap.
HOW TO SHAPE THE DUMPLINGS
To get a traditional crescent shaped pot-sticker, you’ll fold, pleat and pinch only on one side of the wrapper. The reason the potstickers are folded this way is because the shape makes a flat bottom. The bottoms crisp up in the frying pan.
1 Spoon 1 heaping teaspoon of the fill-ing onto a dumpling wrapper. Don’t be tempted to overfill! Dip your finger into the cornstarch paste and “paint” all around the edges of the dumpling skin.
2 In the middle, pinch the top and bottom together, tightly.
3 Starting just left of the middle, use your left hand to bring the TOP portion of wrap-per to pleat TOWARDS the middle. Pinch to secure that pleat. Move down just a bit, and do the pleating again. Repeat once more. You will have 3 pleats on each side, all pleats pointing towards the middle.
4 Now, it’s time to do the right side. Do the same using only the top portion of wrapper. Pleat TOWARDS the middle, or to the left. Repeat 2 more times.
5 Finish by pinching the pleat all around one more time with your thumb and lower portion of your finger. Remember, any un-sealed section will cause the potsticker to leak filling!
6 Ta-da!
THE SHORT-CUT METHOD
If the pleating sounds too difficult, you can just pinch the dumpling tight all around. This method won’t produce a natural flat bottom, and won’t be as stable as the crescent-shaped pleating method, but it is easier. You can also fry the dumplings on their sides for even greater crispy-crunch! After following step 1, you’ll want to just pinch the rest of the dumpling closed. Use your thumb and the lower part of your index finger to squeeze tightly. Set the dumpling on the cutting board so that it stands on the surface and try to shape into a flat bottom. Make sure the dumpling is sealed.
4 To cook the potstickers, pour about 2 tablespoons of oil into a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. When hot but not smoking, carefully place the dumplings in frying pan, flat side down, not touching each other. Do not crowd too much or they will not brown. Fry the dumplings in batches for 2 to 3 minutes, until the bottoms are nicely browned. Add 1/4 cup (65 ml) of water and immediately cover to start the steaming process. Steam for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the lid and let the rest of the water boil off and re-crisp the bottoms, about 1 minute. Cut open one of the dumplings and make sure the inside meat is cooked. Before starting your next batch, wipe the frying pan clean before adding more cooking oil. Adjust amount of water and steam time for the next batch as needed.
5 Serve with the Chinese Dipping Sauce on the side.
One of the very first food blogs I ever visited was Rice and Noodles, written by a very gorgeous Mae Gabriel who lives on Jersey Island just off the coast of France. (How exotic does that sound!?) It was Mae’s breathtaking images that really inspired me to take food photography seriously. I always made sure that I visited Mae’s blog AFTER I ate lunch, because whatever she cooked looked so scrumptious that I probably would have jumped on the next flight and showed up for lunch at her house. This is a recipe from Mae and it’s become a regular at my dinner parties. But they rarely make it to the table, because guests stand in the kitchen, snagging the Firecracker Shrimp as they cool on the rack. The sweet chilli sauce used in this recipe is all sweet and no spicy. It’s thick, glossy and makes the perfect marinade and dip for Firecracker Shrimp.
SERVES 4 TO 6 AS APPETIZER
1 tablespoon cornstarch or flour
1/4 cup (65 ml) water
24 medium tail-on shrimp, shelled (leave tail on) and deveined
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (250 ml) sweet chilli sauce, divided
12 eggroll or fresh spring roll wrappers, cut in half diagonally and covered with plastic wrap or a damp cloth
High-heat cooking oil for frying
1 In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with the water to make a slurry.
2 Lay the shrimp flat on a cutting board and using a sharp par-ing knife, cut a few nicks on the inside curve of the shrimp. Be careful not to cut through the shrimp. Pat the shrimp very dry.
3 Season the shrimp with the salt and pepper. Pour 1 /4 cup (65 ml) of the sweet chilli sauce on a small plate. Hold the shrimp by its tail and dip both sides of the shrimp in the sweet chilli sauce. Avoid getting the tails wet (if the tail of the shrimp is wet with marinade, it will splatter in the hot oil). Let the shrimp marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature.
4 Use paper towels to pat the shrimp slightly, to soak up the extra marinade. Some of the sticky sweet chilli sauce should still be on the shrimp.
5 Roll the shrimp in the halved wrappers, following the instructions below.
6 In a wok, deep fryer or large sauté pan, add 11/2 inches (3.75 cm) of oil and heat it to 375°F (190°C). Add the firecracker shrimp a few at a time to the oil and fry until golden brown on each side, about 3 minutes. Drain on a baking rack and serve with a side of sweet chilli sauce for dipping.
More Options
Dip in Sriracha chilli sauce, Sweet Chilli Sambal (page 26), Apricot Sweet Chilli Sauce (page 27) or Ginger Scallion (page 28).
Add a thin slice of mango with the shrimp with wrapping to make Firecracker Mango Shrimp.
ROLLING THE SHRIMP WRAPPER
1 Lay an eggroll or spring roll wrapper on a dry, clean surface as shown. Lay a shrimp with the tail sticking out.
2 Bring the left corner of the wrapper over the shrimp and begin rolling left to right. Make sure that you are rolling tightly. As you roll, bring the top corner of the wrapper down and over the shrimp. Again, make sure you leave no open pockets of air. Big air pockets and holes will allow oil to seep in.
3 Continue rolling towards the right. Dip your finger or a pasty brush into the corn-starch slurry and paint the final corner. Roll to seal. Lay the roll seam side down on a dry plate or tray. Repeat with the rest of the shrimp and wrappers. Keep all un-cooked Firecracker Shrimp covered with plastic wrap or barely damp towel.
This is one of those recipes that is a little more time consuming to make, but I’m including this in the book because: 1) it’s my Mom’s recipe, 2) everyone who has tried them instantly declare they are the best they’ve ever had, and 3) you can make a big batch of them and freeze them. 4) You can fry a batch up in just 15 minutes, even when frozen! I usually call a couple of my girlfriends over and we have an eggrollin’ party where we’ll make a massive batch of them, enjoy them fresh that night and have enough for all to take home and freeze. If you are making these with friends, I’d suggest doubling the recipe so each person has some to take home to freeze. I promise you they will taste just as good fried after frozen and you will never taste better eggrolls than these. BUT. . . you must follow my Mama’s rules (see facing page).
MAKES 50 EGGROLLS
50 Spring/Eggroll Wrappers (about 2 packages), defrosted unopened at room temperature for 45 minutes or in the refrigerator overnight
1 tablespoon cornstarch (or flour) mixed with 1/4 cup (65 ml) of cool water
High-heat cooking oil, for frying
GROUND PORK
1 lb (500 g) ground pork 1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Freshly ground black pepper
VEGETABLES
1/2 head of cabbage (abt 9 ounces/275 g)
3 small carrots
6 fresh shitake mushrooms (or 25 g dried black mushrooms soaked overnight), stems discarded
1 tablespoon high-heat cooking oil
2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (see Jaden’s Ginger Tips, page 33)
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Combine the ingredients for the Ground Pork in a bowl. Marinate at least 10 minutes.
2 In the meantime, prepare the Vegetables. Shred the cabbage and the carrots using your food processor or by hand. Slice the mushrooms into very thin strips (or you could use your food processer and pulse a few times to get a fine chop).
3 Set a wok or large frying pan over high heat. When hot, add 1 tablespoon of oil and swirl to coat. Add the garlic and ginger and stir fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the pork and stir-fry until no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Add the cabbage, carrots and the mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute, until the vegetables are softened. Add the rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, salt, sesame oil and black pepper. Continue to stir-fry for another minute. Scoop the pork and vegetable mixture onto a sheet pan and spread out to cool. Prop up one end of the baking sheet so that it tilts and will allow all the moisture to drain to one end. Let cool for 15 minutes.
4 Discard all of the accumulated juices. Use paper towels to blot the filling to rid of extra oil or juice. Now, we’re ready to wrap!
5 Follow the illustrated instructions on facing page. As you complete the rolls, place them in a neat, single layer and covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. If you want to stack the eggrolls, make sure you have layer of parchment paper in between the layers to prevent sticking. They can be fried immediately, frozen or refrigerated up to 4 hours until ready to fry.
6 To fry the eggrolls, fill a wok or pot with 2 inches (5 cm) of high-heat cooking oil. Heat the oil to 350°F (175°C) or until a cube of bread will fry to golden brown within 10 seconds. Gently slide in or lower the eggrolls, frying 4 to 6 at a time, turning occasionally until golden brown about 1 1/2 minutes. Place on wire rack to drain and cool.
NOTE: To fry frozen eggrolls, do not defrost the eggrolls—just add them to the oil frozen, frying 4 to 6 at a time in a wok, large sauté pan or deep fryer. Add an additional 1/2 minutes to the frying time when cooking from frozen state.
MAKING EGGROLLS
1 Lay the wrapper on a clean, dry surface as shown. Spoon just 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling near the bottom corner. Resist the urge to over stuff with too much filling!
2 Lift the bottom corner up and begin roll-ing until you reach halfway up.
3 Fold over the left side, and then the right side towards the center.
4 Continue folding up with a tuck-roll-tuck-roll motion.
5 Dip your fingers into the cornstarch
6 slurry and brush over the final top corner. Finish up the roll and seal. Lay the eggroll seam side down on a dry plate or baking sheet. See how the roll is tight and there are no holes? Keep the eggrolls . . . covered with plastic wrap or a barely damp towel.
NOTES: MAMA’S RULES
#1: Your filling ingredients must be drained of excess moisture and cooled before rolling. Soggy, hot filling makes soggy eggrolls.
#2: Use the right kind of wrapper. The size I get is 8 x 8 inches (20 x 20 cm) around and come 25 wrappers to a package. These wrappers are light, thin and fry up to a shatteringly crisp crunch. Oh yes, before I forget—“spring roll” and “eggroll” are interchangeable and there’s no agreed-upon standard on which term means what dish. I call “spring rolls” the Vietnamese fresh, un-fried rolls (page 44) and “eggrolls” the deep-fried Chinese version. Sometimes my regular American grocery store will have “spring roll pasta sheets” that are in the refrigerated produce section. Do not use those— they are way too thick! Let’s just say that if it has Italian writing on the package, it’s probably not the good stuff for Chinese eggrolls.
#3: Treat the wrapper right. You want to keep the wrappers covered with a damp towel at all times to prevent the edges from drying and cracking.
#4: Roll small and tight! Sloppy and loosely rolled eggrolls will break apart and allow oil to seep into the inside of the roll. Mama says baaaad. One time I was watching a celebrity chef on television making monster eggrolls the size of a cola can. Who in the heck can wrap their mouths around that thing? It looked hideous. Mama’s eggrolls are elegant and skinny. Don’t be too greedy and overstuff them! And roll them tight so that the filling doesn’t fall out while frying!
#5: Lay the rolled eggrolls neatly with a piece of parchment, foil or wax paper in between each layer if you are stacking them on top of each other. Keep them covered with plastic wrap or a towel to prevent drying. If you are freezing, freeze them like this first. Once frozen, you can gather them up and transfer them to a plastic freezer bag. If you roll them out and jumble them all together in a big pile, they’ll eventually stick to each other and you’ll tear the delicate skin trying to pry them apart.
VEGE-TALES:
Lately there have been a rash of recipes for sneaking healthy vegetables into dishes for kids—recipes like Carrot and Spinach Brownies, Cauliflower Banana Bread, Broccoli Gingerbread.
Like, totally. Gag me with an asparagus spear.
Do you even know how many flax-seed chicken nuggets my kids can slingshot across the room in 12.3 seconds with one hand tied behind their backs? The long-term effect of sneaking foods into your kids meals is the under appreciation of the taste of real vegetables. Plus, do you want kids to grow up with confusion over what mashed potatoes really taste like? When their school friends come over for supper, they’ll wonder why the hot dogs have a green tinge and smell like the wrong end of a hippo. That, my friends, leads to worse things than not eating greens, like social anxiety, adult bedwetting and a plethora of disorders that require expensive medication.
If we’re going to dupe our kids into eating vegetables, let’s do it right. There are a variety of tactics that I employ in the Steamy Kitchen household:
Bribery: “If you eat your broccoli, I’ll give you an extra 50 cents for college.”
Blatant Honesty: “See this picture of Uncle Jimmy? He’s a wimp. He didn’t eat his veggies.”
Hostile Negotiations: “If you don’t clean your plate, I’ll whip Buzz Light-year with a fishing pole and shock him with cattle prod.”
Neuro-Linguistic Programming: “It’s funny how much the more you try to resist the natural urge to eat Brussels sprouts, the more you keep wanting it, getting more and more excited about what you are tasting in your mouth at this very moment in time.”
Exploiting Sibling Competitiveness: “If you eat your carrots, I’ll love you way more than your brother.”
Good Cop/Bad Cop: “Dude. If I were you, I’d just stuff those carrots in your mouth. Mom’s coming and she’s on her sixth straight day of PMS. Don’t want to be on the receiving end of that monster.”
Dr. Phil: “Are you eating what you’re eating today because you want to eat it, or is it because it’s what you think you were eating yesterday when you were trying to finish eating?”
Spontaneous Egomania: “SPINACH?! You can’t handle the spinach! Son, I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Cheetos and curse the alfalfa sprouts. I would rather you just said “thank you”, and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest that you pick up that spinach and eat it like a man. Either way, I don’t care what you think you are entitled to.” (You have to say that in Jack Nicholson’s voice in A Few Good Men!)
The Wrath of God, Buddha and Santa: “THEY ARE ALL WATCHING YOU RIGHT NOW.”
And my favorite technique of all, Funny Food Names. Like Furikake French Fries (I incorrectly pronounce it Fur-ee-kokky for giggles)—making you laugh so hard you don’t notice you’re eating seaweed.
Furikake French Fries
Furikake is a Japanese condiment that includes dried bonito flakes, seaweed, sesame seeds and other seasonings. You can find it at most Asian markets. While normally used to sprinkle on steamed rice, I sprinkled it on a fresh batch of french fries for a really cool sweet/salty hit that will have your kids eating vegetables from the sea—and liking it! Furikake comes in a small can with a pull-tab so you can shake out the furikake. (Heehee! I love saying that word!) There are many different flavors. And yes, it’s a real word.
*DISCLAIMER: Yeah, I know this isn’t a healthy recipe. Get your kids to like seaweed FIRST with French fries, THEN switch it up on them—sprinkle Furikake on steamed broccoli, spinach, tofu … whatever! But that is another technique called Bait and Switch. This double-technique is for the experienced only. Amateurs do not try.
SERVES 4 AS APPETIZER OR SNACK
One 1-lb (500-g) bag frozen French fries
2 tablespoons furikake seasoning
Salt to taste
Follow the directions on the bag of your frozen French fries. Be a good parent and bake ’em instead of frying. Bake until golden and crispy. While the french fries are still hot, season with the furikake seasoning and salt.
Other Options
If you want to make your own furikake, take a sheet of roasted seaweed (nori). To re-crisp the seaweed, toast it a few inches above an open flame or under a broiler until super-crisp but not burnt. It should only take a minute for each side. Crush the seaweed with your hands and add some salt and sesame seeds.
Furikake Popcorn—this stuff is awesome sprinkled on popcorn!
For more seasoning ideas for fries or popcorn, see Asian Flavored Salts (page 27).
FAR LEFT TOP TO BOTTOM: At Diane Cu's gorgeous backyard; Andrew stalling—doesn't want to eat breakfast; at Jessica's, my local organic produce stand.