Luo Buo Gao (Chinese Turnip Cake)

So for Chinese New Year's Eve I invited people over for a dumpling making party. I didn't even realize that making dumplings was a Chinese New Year's tradition, although I had thrown some in the past because I just figured it was an excuse to do something "Chinese" on the holiday. But apparently the shape of the dumplings resembles the gold that they used for money back in the day so it's an auspicious food to eat on New Year's Day.

I also decided to try my hand at making luo buo gao, or Chinese turnip cake. I usually see this at dim sum all fried up and served with soy sauce paste (or is it oyster sauce or hoisin sauce?), but according to the internets it is also something traditional to eat for Chinese New Year.

Luo Buo Gao (Chinese Turnip Cake) (based on this recipe) makes about 24 slices

2 1/2 to 3 cups daikon, peeled and julienned or shredded (about 1 1/2 to 2 lbs.) 1 Chinese sausage, finely diced 2 cups rice flour (do not use glutinous rice flour) 1 3/4 cups water, divided 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon white pepper Vegetable oil

Stir fry Chinese sausage in a large frying pan or work for 2 to 3 minutes. Add daikon, 3/4 cups water, salt, and white pepper. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.

Grease a square cake pan or loaf pan and start the steamer.

Mix rice flour with 1 cup water. Add the daikon and sausage mixture and spread into the greased pan. Steam for 50 minutes.

Cool overnight in refrigerator. After cooling, cut the cake into 1/4" slices and pan fry in a liberal amount of oil until both sides are golden brown.

Serve with soy sauce paste (or oyster sauce or hoisin sauce).

You can also add shitake mushrooms and/or small dried shrimp, but I didn't have either and, as Annie said, you can't really go wrong with Chinese sausage.

The hardest part about making this was finding a dish to steam the cake in. Since I was using my stock pot and pasta insert to steam, I needed something that would fit, and none of my square (or even circular) cake pans were small enough. So I improvised with a large serving bowl, and it did the trick.

Another hard part? Reading the recipe correctly. For some reason, I thought it said 1 1/2 to 2 cups instead of lbs. so I only had about half as much daikon as I needed in there. The result was a drier cake than you get in the restaurants, but still edible, although boys will eat anything.... So learn from my mistakes and

read the recipe correctly, okay?

Next up: Xiao long bao (steamed soup buns)

http://the-cooking-of-joy.blogspot.com/2009/01/luo-buo-gao-chinese-turnip-cake.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnip_cake http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chai_tow_kway

Taro Root Cake (Woo Tul Gow) Epicurious | May 1999

Grace Young The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen

Homemade taro root cake is unsurpassed if the home cook doesn't skimp on the ingredients. Thick slices of taro cake, richly flavored with scallops, mushrooms, shrimp, Chinese bacon, and creamy taro are pan-fried until golden brown and fragrant. My Auntie Ivy's mother, Che Chung Ng, makes such a recipe and is famous in the family for both her Turnip Cake and Taro Root Cake. Every New Year, she cooks several cakes and gives them away as gifts to close family members. Nothing is measured exactly, and it is impressive to see her produce cake after cake, especially because she is over eighty years old. Spry and agile, she cooks with full energy and total intuition, never missing a beat. She kindly taught me this recipe and the one for Turnip Cake. Wear rubber gloves when handling taro, as some people can have an allergic reaction to touching it. Also use rice flour, not glutinous flour! See the introduction to Turnip Cake for how to serve and store this New Year's cake. Yield: Makes one 8-inch cake, about 48 slices 1/4 cup Chinese dried scallops (gown yu chee), about 1 ounce 8 Chinese dried mushrooms 1/4 cup Chinese dried shrimp, about 1 ounce 6 ounces Chinese Bacon (lop-yok), store bought or homemade 1 large taro root, about 2 1/4 pounds 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 2 cups rice flour vegetable oil, for pan-frying oyster-flavored sauce In a small bowl, soak the scallops in 1/3 cup cold water for about 2 hours, or until softened. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid. Remove and discard the small hard knob from the side of the scallops. Finely shred the scallops. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, soak the mushrooms in 1/2 cup cold water 30 minutes, or until softened. Drain and squeeze dry, reserving the soaking liquid. Cut off and discard stems and mince the caps. In a small bowl, soak the dried shrimp in 1/3 cup cold water for 30 minutes, or until softened. Drain, reserving soaking liquid. Finely chop shrimp and set aside.

Cut the bacon into 3 equal pieces and place in a 9-inch shallow heatproof dish. Bring water to a boil over high heat in a covered steamer large enough to fit the dish without touching the sides of the steamer. Carefully place the dish in the steamer, cover, reduce heat to medium, and steam 15 to 20 minutes, or just until bacon is softened and there are juices in the dish. Check the water level from time to time and replenish, if necessary, with boiling water. Carefully remove the dish from the steamer and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, wearing rubber gloves, peel taro root and cut into 1/2-inch cubes to make about 7 cups. In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the taro root, 1 teaspoon salt, and about 1 1/2 quarts cold water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, or until taro has turned a pale lavender color and is just tender when pierced with a knife. Remove the bacon from its dish and reserve the juices in the dish. Cut off and discard the rind and thick layer of fat underneath. Cut the remaining meat into paper-thin slices and then finely chop. In a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or skillet, stir-fry the chopped bacon over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until meat releases fat and just begins to brown. Add the minced mushrooms and shrimp, and stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in pan juices from the bacon and remove from heat. Drain the taro in a colander, reserving the cooking liquid. Return the taro to the saucepan, add the bacon and mushroom mixture, and stir to combine. In a large bowl, combine the rice flour and the reserved mushroom, scallop, and shrimp soaking liquids, stirring until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of the reserved hot taro broth. Pour this batter over the taro mixture in the saucepan. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir until combined. Consistency will resemble that of thick rice pudding. Pour the mixture into a heatproof 8-inch round, 3- to 4-inch-deep, straight-sided bowl, such as a souffl dish. Bring water to a boil over high heat in a covered steamer large enough to fit the dish without touching the sides of the steamer. Carefully place the dish into the steamer, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and steam 1 hour, or just until cake is set and is firm to the touch. Check the water level and replenish, if necessary, with boiling water. Carefully remove the bowl from the steamer and cool on a rack about 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 to 4 hours. Run a knife along the edge of the cake to loosen sides. Place a cake rack over the bowl and invert to unmold. Flip the cake right-side up onto a cutting board. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. When ready to eat, cut the cake into quarters. Cut each quarter crosswise, not into wedges, but into two 2-inch-wide strips. Cut each strip crosswise into scant 1/2-inch-thick slices. This is the typical way of slicing a cake Chinese style. Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or skillet, over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add just enough vegetable oil to barely coat the wok. Add the taro cake slices in batches and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Serve immediately with oyster sauce. Source Information The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen by Grace Young
Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/Taro-Root-Cake-Woo-Tul-Gow-100780#ixzz1IinZXMC2

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Taro-Root-Cake-Woo-Tul-Gow-100780 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taro_cake

Taiwanese Pork Chop (Pai Ku Fan)

"This pork chop recipe has a great flavor using Chinese five-spice powder. If you can find sweet potato powder, use it instead of cornstarch. Serve this with plain white rice and a simple vegetable side."

http://pork.allrecipes.com/az/83792.asp INGREDIENTS: 4 (3/4 inch) thick bone-in pork chops 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 tablespoon white wine 1/2 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder vegetable oil vegetable oil for frying cornstarch DIRECTIONS: With a sharp knife, make several small slits near the edges of the pork chops to keep them from curling when fried. Into a large resealable plastic bag, add the soy sauce, garlic, sugar, white wine, and five-spice powder. Place chops into the bag, and close the seal tightly. Carefully massage the marinade into chops, coating well. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, turning the bag over every so often. In a large skillet, heat enough vegetable oil to fill the skillet to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Remove chops from resealable bag without wiping off marinade. Lightly sprinkle cornstarch on both sides of the chops. Carefully add chops to skillet; cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through.

Posted by Lee Ping at 5:13 PM Labels: Taiwanese Food

http://hipfood.blogspot.com/2006/09/taiwanese-pork-chop-pai-ku-fan.html

Taiwanese Pork Chops

Rated: Submitted By: SHARONLIN Photo By: JenToBeach Prep Time: 10 Cook Time: 10

Minutes Minutes

Ready In: 1 Servings: 4

Hour 20 Minutes

"Bone-in pork chops are marinated in Chinese five-spice, soy sauce, garlic, white wine, and sugar; then pan-fried to a golden brown finish."

INGREDIENTS:

4 (3/4 inch) thick bone-in pork chops 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 tablespoon white wine
DIRECTIONS:
1.

1/2 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder vegetable oil vegetable oil for frying cornstarch

With a sharp knife, make several small slits near the edges of the pork chops to keep them from curling when fried. Into a large resealable plastic bag, add the soy sauce, garlic, sugar, white wine, and five-spice powder. Place chops into the bag, and close the seal tightly. Carefully massage the marinade into chops, coating well. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, turning the bag over every so often. In a large skillet, heat enough vegetable oil to fill the skillet to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Remove chops from resealable bag without wiping off marinade. Lightly sprinkle cornstarch on both sides of the chops. Carefully add chops to skillet; cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through.

2.

3.

4.

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/taiwanese-pork-chops/Detail.aspx

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup ()

My husband mentioned this dish twice after his trip back from Taiwan. So, I decided to give it a try. I used the Pasta Machine to make the noodles.

Here are the ingredients, beef shank, garlic, star anise, ginger, cilantro, orange peel, red pepper flakes and green onion. I also used low sodium soy sauce, brown sugar and chinese cooking wine.

When the beef is tender (but not falling apart), I put in some carrots.

(Reference: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/231502) ingredients 5 cups water 1 cup soy sauce 1 cup Chinese rice wine or medium-dry Sherry 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar 1 (1-inch) cube peeled fresh ginger, smashed 1 bunch scallions, white parts smashed with flat side of a large knife and green parts chopped 3 garlic cloves, smashed 10 fresh cilantro stems plus 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro sprigs 2 (2-inch-long) pieces Asian dried tangerine peel*

4 whole star anise 1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes 2 1/2 lb meaty beef shank 10 oz dried Chinese wheat noodles* or linguine bok choy 4 tablespoons Chinese pickled mustard greens** 1 (4-inch-long) fresh red chile (optional), thinly sliced Special equipment: cheesecloth preparation Bring water, soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar, ginger, white parts of scallion, garlic, cilantro stems, tangerine peel, star anise, and red pepper flakes to a boil in a 5- to 6-quart pot, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Add short ribs and gently simmer, covered, turning occasionally, until meat is very tender but not falling apart, 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 hours. Let meat stand in cooking liquid, uncovered, 1 hour.Transfer meat to a cutting board with tongs and discard bones and membranes, then cut meat across the grain into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Pour beef broth through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a bowl and discard solids. Skim fat from cooking liquid and transfer liquid to a 3-quart saucepan. Meanwhile, cook noodles in a 6- to 8-quart pot of (unsalted) boiling water until tender, about 7 minutes (14 to 15 minutes for linguine). Drain noodles well in a colander and divide among 4 large soup bowls. Ladle broth over noodles and top with meat, scallion greens, pickled mustard greens, cilantro sprigs, and red chili (if using). Cooks note: Meat and beef broth can be cooked and strained 3 days ahead. Cool completely, uncovered, then chill meat in broth, covered. Skim fat before adding chicken broth. Lee-Pings notes: Since I used beef shank, there really isnt much fat to skim before serving. Also, dilute the soup with water before serving because the soup is salty. Readers tip add a Tsp tomato paste to beef noodle soup. For darker spicer soup can also add some spicy bean paste. (thanks Chliu528!) *Available at some Asian markets. **Available at some Asian markets and Uwajimaya

Taiwanese Pork Chop and Ground Pork with garlic and shallots
I can serve these two dishes to my husband and kids daily and they will never get tired of it. The first dish is ground pork with garlic and shallots (top with some fresh green onion). The second is deepfried Taiwanese pork chop flavored with Chinese five-spice powder, soy sauce, sugar, black pepper, garlic slices and coat with sweet potato powder to give it the special crunch. You can serve these two dishes with plain white rice or noodles and a simple vegetable side, like bok choy. You can also add hard boiled egg, sweet and sour pickle on the side.

Ground Pork with Shallots and Garlic Recipe (reference: http://www.recipezaar.com/95047) Ingredients: 1 lb ground pork 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 4 tablespoons minced garlic 1 (3 ounce) package fried shallots (can be found at any Oriental grocery store) 2 cups water 1/3-1/2 cup soy sauce 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon rice wine

1 teaspoon five-spice powder 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon msg (optional) steam rice Method: Brown pork in skillet until cooked; drain off oil and set aside. Add vegetable oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Saute garlic for 1 minute. Add pork and shallots, stir a few times. Add water and the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Uncover and cook for 15 more minutes. Deep-Fried Taiwanese Pork Chop Recipe (reference: http://pork.allrecipes.com/az/83792.asp) Ingredients: 4 (3/4 inch) thick bone-in pork chops 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 tablespoon white wine 1/2 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder vegetable oil vegetable oil for frying sweet potato starch (or cornstarch) Directions: With a sharp knife, make several small slits near the edges of the pork chops to keep them from curling when fried. Into a large resealable plastic bag, add the soy sauce, garlic, sugar, white wine, and five-spice powder. Place chops into the bag, and close the seal tightly. Carefully massage the marinade into chops, coating well. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, turning the bag over every so often. In a large skillet, heat enough vegetable oil to fill the skillet to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Remove chops from resealable bag without wiping off marinade. Lightly sprinkle sweet potato starch or cornstarch on both sides of the chops. Sweet potato starch will give the pork chop a light crunch. Carefully add chops to skillet; cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through.

Oyster Omelet
This is my husbands favorite dish. The first time I ate oyster, I could not understand, why would a person enjoy eating a soft, mushy, and sea smelling thing? Why would someone consider oyster as priced food? Certainly, eating oysters is an acquired taste.

I was reading about oyster on wikipedia and found out this interesting fact. There is no way of determining male oysters from females by examining their shells. While oysters have separate sexes, they may change sex one or more times during their life span. Fresh oysters must be alive just before consumption. A simple rule: oysters must be tightly closed; oysters that are already open are dead and must be discarded. To confirm if an open oyster is dead, tap the shell. A live oyster will close and is safe to eat. Dead oysters can also be closed, but will make a distinct noise when tapped. Enough introduction on oysters. Let me talk about Oyster Omelet, Oh-Ah-Chian . In Fujian or Hokkein language, Oh-Ah means oyster. Since this dish originated in Fujian, China, it is also popular in places with Fujians influences such as in Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan (where it is often sold in night markets). In the US, Oyster Omelet can be found in very authentic Taiwanese restaurants. This dish has 4 major ingredients, oyster, powdered sweet potato starch, eggs and greens, topped with a little sweet chili sauce.

When my husband walked through the door tonight, he was immediately filled with excitement because he smelled something familiar. Throughout the dinner, he kept telling me how delicious it was. In the end, with a sigh, he said, I shouldnt eat this last piece of oyster. I admit that this dish is full of cholesterol from the eggs as well as from the oyster, so I told him that I am not going to make this dish anymore, at least for a long time. He immediately gobbled up the last bite!

The following recipe is adapted from Passionate Eater. Ingredients: 10 oz jar of refrigerated shucked oysters, drained 1/4 cup powdered sweet potato starch 1/2 cup water 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce as shown in the photo grid (or substitute 1 tbsp ofsriracha mixed with 1 tbsp of ketchup) 3 large eggs, scrambled 1 tbsp of vegetable oil (divided) 1 cup of cooked garland chrysanthemum greens (Dang Oh), stir-fried with 2 cloves of chopped garlic (can substitute mustard greens or spinach for the chrysanthemum greens) Method: Combine the sweet potato starch, water, and oysters until thoroughly blended. Swirl the scrambled egg mixture into the heated pan. Since I use a nonstick pan, I did not add any oil to the pan. Being careful not to break the egg omelet, heat it until it begins to set.

Pour the starch batter with oyster on top of the omelet. Cover with a lid, allow it to cook until it begins to turn translucent. Add the cooked greens. Flip the sweet potato starch pancake and cook until it becomes translucent throughout. The pancake should have a gluey texture, almost like mochi. Now, take the cooked pancake off the heat. Spread the hot sauce on the surface of the scrambled omelet, and enjoy!

Box Leek () Jiu Cai He Zi

This is my husband favorite Chinese snacks. If you like the smell and taste of leek, this is the dish for you. It looks complicated but it is actually quite simple to make. As you can see from the photo, there are only 4 main ingredients, leeks, pressed bean curd, dried shrimp and bean threads.

Soak the bean thread in cold water and use a pair of scissors to cut the threads into small pieces. Wash and cut the leeks into small pieces, as shown. Cut the pressed bean curds into small cubes. If the dried shrimps are too large, you can chop them up as well.

Heat pan and add 2-3 tbsp of oil. Fry the dried shrimp first. Then add pressed bean curd, bean threads, and leek. Add seasonings 2 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 t pepper and mix well. Turn off heat and let it cool.

Next, prepare the dough. 2 cups of flour (all purpose), 1/2 cup boiling water, 1/4 cup cold water. I use chopsticks to mix the mixture. Add the cold water in slowly, as needed.

Knead the dough smooth and elastic.

Knead the dough smooth and elastic. Divide into 10-12 pieces and cover with plastic wrap to prevent the dough from drying.

Place one portion of the filling in the center of a dough circle. Fold the dough in half. Press edges together to enclose filling. Heat the pan and add 1/2 cup oil. Pan fry the turnovers on both sides over low heat until they are golden brown. Remove and serve. (reference: Chinese Snacks by Huang Su Huei)

Taiwanese Meat Soup (Ro Geng)

In Mandarin, this is called Ro Geng. In Taiwanese language, this is called Bah Geng. My roommates from Taiwan used to make this soup in a pot and I can smell the soup even when my doors were closed. I used the following recipe as my reference: http://www.chezpei.com/2006/08/ro-geng.html This recipe is interesting in that it doesnt involve any complicated techniques or particularly exotic ingredients, but the prep work can kill you if you dont plan ahead and expect to be in the kitchen for a long time. This recipe will make a large pot (six quart pot, not filled all the way to the top) of ro geng, which was perfect for dinner for three and leftovers the next day.

Ingredients: Pork butt (shoulder), about 1 lb Fish paste, about 1/2 lb two 32 fl oz. chicken stock + enough water to cover the vegetable a small napa cabbage, or half a large one ten shitake mushrooms, fresh or soaked overnight in water 2-3 tbsp dried shrimp, soaked in water three carrots one 16 oz. can of slivered bamboo (not whole, not slicedslivered!) one package fresh enoki mushrooms, or canned if you cant find fresh one package wood ear mushrooms if you can find them and if you like them 1 tsp salt 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup black vineger dash of white pepper dash of sesame oil

1/4 cup cornstarch mix with 1/4 cup cold water fresh cilantro Method: This dish is as much about texture as flavor. Cut the meat against the grain into three inch long slices. Because pork butt has so many sections, youre going to have to turn the meat a lot and constantly check that youre cutting against the grain. It helps if the meat is slightly frozen. Just be sure to trim all the biggest chunks of fat and throw them away. This is probably the toughest part of the recipe to get right. Cut napa cabbage in half horizontally (that is, separate the top leafy part from the bottom white part). Stack the two halves, and cut into finger-thick strips the other way. Cut the carrots into long thin strips similar size to the slivered bamboo strips. Slice the shitake and wood ear thinly. Cut the dirty part off the enoki and separate them lightly. Chop cilantro. Whether you include the stems is up to you. I like to leave just a little stem for crunch. Add chicken stock to a pot of water (about a gallon total). Of course if you have homemade chicken or pork stock you can use that. Bring to a rapid boil. Meanwhile, mix the pork slices and fish paste until all the pork is evenly coated. When the water comes to a boil, start dropping the coated pork in one slice at a time. Be sure not to let the pork drop in the water in clumps. Turn down the flame to a simmer and add the dried shrimp. After 10 minutes of slow simmer, add the napa, bamboo, mushrooms, and carrots. Stir well and bring to a simmer. Add soy sauce, black vinegar, and a teaspoon of salt. Taste, and add more if needed. Cover and let everything cook together at a bare simmer for half an hour or until the vegetables are soft. Mix cornstarch with cold water and mix well. It should be the consistency of whole milk. Make sure there are no lumps. Bring the soup to a light boil. While stirring, add half the cornstarch mixture in a thin stream. Stir well so you dont get big clumps. Let the soup simmer so it thickens up. Youre going

for a gooey consistency kind of like gravy, but thinner than clam chowder out of a can. Add more cornstarch mixture if needed. Add a dash of sesame oil and white pepper upon serving. This stew is good the next day or straight out of the pot.

Ham and Corn Taiwanese Homemade Bun ( )

Making our own bread is a rewarding experience. It is exciting to watch the simplest ingredients (flour, water, yeast, sugar and butter) become something more than the sum of the ingredients. Yeast-risen dough permeates an area with its delicious scent. Theres nothing better than bread made from scratch, baked to golden perfection. A delicious bun deserves a good intro. Thanks to Google, I was able to put together a great intro for my successful cottony soft homemade bun.

close up view of the soft and fluffy bread.

The following sweet dough recipe can be used to make other buns like Hot Dog Buns or Pineapple (Polo) Buns. Recipe adapted from Savory Handmade Bread Ingredients for Sweet Dough : (approx. 1000g of dough) Bread flour 500g Bread yeast 15g White sugar 100g Salt 5g Milk Powder 10g Warm Water 260g Egg 1 Butter 50g (diced into small pieces) Method: Mix the bread flour, yeast, milk powder, warm water, sugar and salt. Add egg. When the dough is formed, add butter. Continue to rub the dough until it becomes elastic, the surface is smooth and not sticky. Try stretching the dough with your fingers to form a thin layer as shown in the following photo. If the stretched dough does not break easily and light can pass through it, the baked bread will be fluffy, soft and savory. Spread a thin layer of oil on the mixing bowl. Roll the dough into a round shape and put into the mixing bowl. Cover the dough with cling wrap and leave it for 40-60 minutes until complete fermentation. You can poke with a finger dipped with some flour to see if the dough is completely fermented. The fermentation is complete if the poked hole does not rebound, as shown in the photo.

After the big lump of dough has completed its fermentation, divide the dough into 8 smaller balls. Cover the balls and let it rise for 15 minutes. Then the dough is ready for toppings.

Ingredients for the ham and corn topping: (toppings for approx. 450g of sweet dough) cheese slices 6 mix 150g corn, 4 ham slices (diced into small pieces) with some mayonnaise Method: Roll the dough into a strip and cover with cheese slices. Roll up the dough. Leave about 2cm margin above the folded part and make a cut in the middle. Unfold the dough and place it on the baking tray. Leave the dough to ferment and rise to twice of its original size. After the dough has risen, spread the corn and ham mixture on the dough. Bake at 200 degrees Celcius or 392 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.

Important Tip: Make sure your scale is pointing to zero before you measure your ingredients.

http://hipfood.wordpress.com/my-kitchen%E5%BC%A0%E7%A4%BC%E5%BD%AC%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E6%88%BF/taiwanese-good-eats/

Xiao Long Bao (Steamed Soup Dumplings)

New word of the day: aspic [as-pik] noun, a savory jelly usually made with meat or fish stock and gelatin.

Of course, when you say it, it sounds like the action of relieving an itch in your butt crack. Anyways, aspic is the secret ingredient for making xiao long bao, or steamed soup dumplings. Because aspic is solid, you can easily wrap it in a dumpling along with the meat filling, and when you steam it, the aspic melts and becomes the hot, gushing soup that squirts out of the bun and burns your tongue.

You can make your own aspic by either making fresh stock and boiling it down and chilling it so that it solidifies or dissolving unflavored gelatin (like Knox) in chicken broth and chilling it. I found out that if I chilled the leftover braising liquid from making my mom's beer duck (sorry, it's a classified recipe now, but you can probably find it on-line somewhere else) it solidifies into an aspic. And since I had made some beer duck the night before and Liv and Ruth were making fresh dumpling skins, I figured we should try to make some xiao long bao as well!

First, to make the homemade dumpling skins, all you need is flour and hot water. Ruth doesn't really use measurements and mostly goes by feel, but I found this recipe on the chowhound forums that works pretty well.

Homemade Dumpling Skins (adapted from here) makes 56 skins

3 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup boiling water 4 tablespoons cold water Flour for dusting

Pour boiling water into the flour, quickly stir with a fork or chopstick, mix well, then add the cold water. Mix and knead into a soft dough about 5 minutes.

Cover with damp cloth or paper towel. Set aside and rest for 20 minutes.

Knead the dough for 1 minute and divide into 4 quarters. Roll one quarter into a long snake and pinch into about 1 inch lengths.

Dust flour on work surface. Roll each piece into a circle of about a 3 inch diameter.

You'll want to make the edges a little thinner than the center, and for xiao long bao, you definitely want the edges very thin since you'll be doing a lot of pleating. The great thing about making your own skin for wrapping dumplings is that it's much stretchier than the kind you buy so you don't need to worry as much about overfilling. Also, you don't need to add that ring of water around the edge to make the dough stick. In fact, if you get the dough wet (from the filling or whatnot), it doesn't stick as well. If that happens, just set it aside and work on the next one. When it dries out a bit you can try pinching it again to make it stick.

Now back to making xiao long bao. Actually, this is a very un-traditional version since I was just using my mom's pork and cabbage dumpling filling and beer duck aspic. A more traditionalxiao long bao filling wouldn't have the napa cabbage or bean thread vermicelli in it and maybe would have shrimp or crab meat in it instead. But I wasn't about to make a separate filling or aspic for this experiment so tough cookies.

Joy's Untradiational Xiao Long Bao makes however many you want

Leftover braising sauce from Mama Huang's Beer Duck, chilled overnight to form an aspic Pork and cabbage dumpling filling Homemade dumpling skins (recipe above) 2 large napa cabbage leaves per steamer tray, washed Ginger, peeled and julienned Black vinegar

Take a dumpling skin, spoon some dumpling filling into it and spread it out to form a thin layer.

Add a 1/2 teaspoon of aspic. Add a little more dumpling filling on top.

Gather one edge of the dumpling skin and start pleating all the way around, twisting at the end to seal. Here's a video of Ruth showing us how to do this, with Liv reminding us how to pronounce the gelatinous soup.

Place two napa cabbage leaves on the bottom of each steamer tray, cutting off the white stem if necessary to fit.

Place the wrapped dumplings on the leaves and steam for 10 minutes.

Serve with a dipping sauce of julienned ginger and black vinegar.

I didn't really notice the addition of the cabbage and vermicelli in the filling that much because the duck aspic melts into this wonderful broth that almost overwhelms everything else. In fact, I wish the pork filling I used wasn't seasoned because the duck aspic was more than enough seasoning by itself. Just remember to be careful biting into the soup dumplings because the soup may be really, really hot!

http://the-cooking-of-joy.blogspot.com/2009/01/xiao-long-bao-steamed-soup-dumplings.html

Taiwanese Rice Balls

A while back my ex-boyfriend told me about some Taiwanese rice balls that he absolutely loves, but can only find in Taiwan. Although we broke up some time ago, trying to be a nice friend, I offered to try to make them for him if he would find me a recipe that was of course in English. He, being the overly supportive guy that he is, insisted that there was no way I could ever make them. Me being the tenacious girl that I am, decided that I wanted to make them, just because he said I could not. It has taken me months, but with the help of my very supportive boyfriend, Wenhao, not to be confused with my ex, I have rounded up all the needed ingredients, and have finally made Taiwanese rice balls! This was one of the most difficult dishes I have made to date. Even though the majority of the ingredients come already prepared, it was building the balls where the difficulty came. Ingredients: Pickled cabbage, you tiao (chinese fried dough), pickled turnips, shredded pork, and sticky rice. First I fried the you tiao.

I ended up chopping up the turnips and you tiao into smaller pieces before mixing the ingredients together.

I mixed the ingredients together.

Here is where it got tricky! The rice was extremely sticky, and as I tried to form the balls, the rice stuck to every part of my hands! Every time I tried to get the rice off of my hands, and onto the ball, more rice just stuck to my hands, which caused the rice balls to fall apart. Refusing to let sticky rice be my demise, I decided to out smart it! Here is a trick if you ever have to deal with sticky rice using your hands...simply wet them. This allows you to handle the rice without it sticking to your hands, but will instead stick to itself, and form nicely. The first ball I made took me about 20 agonizing minutes to form, but after I figured out to wet my hands, the rest were done within minutes! :-)

Btw...I really am not too fond of this dish, and I honestly don't think he has anything to do with how I made them, but rather because I don't particularly like the ingredients in the center. But now I can say, I have indeed made them :-) Over time this project developed from being something I wanted to do simply to prove my jerk ex-boyfriend wrong, into being something I did for myself, and for Wenhao. After not being able to find any recipes, or even pictures of this dish online, I had pretty much given up. That was until Wenhao told me how much he missed eating rice balls from Taiwan, so I decided I wasn't going to allow something like not knowing the ingredients or having a recipe stand in my way. Through the process of gathering all the information I needed to make this dish, I discovered that I am truly blessed to have the boyfriend I have now. He is a stark contrast from all other guys that I have dated. Both encouraging and supportive, he helped me through every step of this process, translating ingredients, asking his aunt for advice on how to make sticky rice, and finding me pictures to follow. If he ever had any doubts, he never let me know it. I am a lucky girl!
http://savannah8503.blogspot.com/2009/08/while-back-my-ex-boyfriend-told-me.html

Taiwanese "Meat ball" (Bawan)

>> MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2009

Bawan is the quintessential Taiwanese street snack. Steamed or fried, it literally means "meat ball" and is a dumpling of sorts filled with meat, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms. The semi-translucent chewy outside is made with rice flour and sweet potato flour, giving it this unique texture that's super fun to eat.

Taiwanese-style Bawan
This recipe is adapted from Homestyle Cooking of Taiwan by members of NATWA

For a printer-friendly version of the recipe (e.g., to save your HP ink), please click here.
Ingredients:

Outer Covering 8 T long grain rice flour (see picture at right) 12 T sweet potato flour 5 2/3 cups water 1 lb sweet potato flour Filling 2 T vegetable oil 2 bunches of scallions, chopped 11 dried black mushrooms 1 lb pork tenderloin, sliced (or ground pork) 1 can (8 oz) bamboo shoots (sliced) 1 lb shrimp (about 22) 3 T soy sauce 1 T sugar

1 T salt 1 tsp pepper Sauce (sweet rice paste) 1 cup long grain rice flour 3 cups waster 1/2 cup sugar Garnishes Cilantro, chopped Soy sauce optional: sweet chili sauce (see picture at right)

Precooking preparations: 1. If you purchased fresh shrimp, devein the shrimp, remove heads and tails. I bought one pound of raw frozen shrimp, so I just defrosted it and removed the tails. 2. Soak dried mushrooms in hot water until soft (about 10 minutes), and cut each one in half Making the Covering 1. In a large pot, combine the long grain rice flour, 12 T of sweet potato flour, and water. 2. Cook at high heat, stirring CONTINUALLY! 3. After it has come to a boil, remove from heat and let cool. 4. Add 1 lb of sweet potato flour and mix thoroughly. Set aside. Making the filling 1. Heat wok at high heat and add the vegetable oil. 2. Stir fry the scallions and the mushrooms briefly for about a minute. 3. Add the remaining ingredients and stir fry until the meat appears done (shrimp turns pink, pork is opaque) 4. Add flavoring agents (soy sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper). Mix thoroughly

From top left, left to right: 1. Chopped scallions & mushroom 2. Saute scallions & mushrooms first in hot wok! 3. Add meat and bamboo 4. First step in making the bawans - put on a cabbage or napa leaf!
Constructing the Bawan You have 22 pieces of shrimp, 22 mushroom halves. This is no accident. You will fill each dough piece with one piece of shrimp, one mushroom, and a little bit of bamboo and pork. Warning, this stuff is really sticky! It sort of has the consistency of gooey paste. I find it's a bit easier to work with if you hold the bawan on top of a cabbage leaf (see pictures above). It's easier to handle the gooey paste if you wet your fingers constantly. I ended up putting a plate full

of water nearby just so I could constantly wet my fingers.

From top left, left to right: 1. Second step in making bawans - add filling! 2. Third step - cover with dough 3. White, gloppy paste-like bawan covering 4. Bawans resting, not yet steamed
1. Put a circular dollop of dough onto a leaf. Using wet fingers, push in the middle a bit for the filling. 2. Add the filling (1 shrimp, 1/2 mushroom, etc) 3. Put another smaller dollop of dough on top 4. Using wet fingers, try to pinch the edges together to form a ball 5. Set aside Cooking the Bawans Steam bawans in a 2-tiered steamer. Ideally, you would have a multi-layer Chinese bamboo steamer. However, if you don't, a normal steamer works fine too. I just lined the steamer with cabbage leaves and placed the bawans on top. Steam for about 10 minutes.

Bawans about to be steamed . . . nooooo!!!! Save us!

Making the Sweet Rice Paste Sauce 1. combine long grain rice flour, water, and sugar in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil (remember to stir!) and then remove from heat. Garnishing the Bawans For each bawan, add a bit of soy sauce (about 1 tsp), cover with some sweet white paste sauce, and garnish with cilantro. If you have access to sweet chile sauce, you can use that as well. Enjoy!

http://www.tinyurbankitchen.com/2009/09/taiwanese-meat-ball-bawan.html

Bawan Recipe
Bawan Recipe

>> SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 01, 2001

This recipe is adapted from Homestyle Cooking of Taiwan by members of NATWA

Makes 22 pieces Preparation Time: 2 hours Ingredients: Outer Covering 8 T long grain rice flour (see picture at right - the red bag!) 12 T sweet potato flour 5 2/3 cups water 1 lb sweet potato flour Filling 2 T vegetable oil 2 bunches of scallions, chopped 11 dried black mushrooms 1 lb pork tenderloin, sliced (or ground pork) 1 can (8 oz) bamboo shoots (sliced)

1 lb shrimp (about 22) 3 T soy sauce 1 T sugar 1 T salt 1 tsp pepper Sauce (sweet rice paste) 1 cup long grain rice flour 3 cups waster 1/2 cup sugar Garnishes Cilantro, chopped Soy sauce optional: sweet chili sauce Precooking preparations: 1. If you purchased fresh shrimp, devein the shrimp, remove heads and tails. I bought one pound of raw frozen shrimp, so I just defrosted it and removed the tails. 2. Soak dried mushrooms in hot water until soft (about 10 minutes), and cut each one in half Making the Covering 1. In a large pot, combine the long grain rice flour, 12 T of sweet potato flour, and water. 2. Cook at high heat, stirring CONTINUALLY! 3. After it has come to a boil, remove from heat and let cool. 4. Add 1 lb of sweet potato flour and mix thoroughly. Set aside. Making the filling 1. Heat wok at high heat and add the vegetable oil. 2. Stir fry the scallions and the mushrooms briefly for about a minute. 3. Add the remaining ingredients and stir fry until the meat appears done (shrimp turns pink, pork is opaque) 4. Add flavoring agents (soy sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper). Mix thoroughly Making the Bawan You have 22 pieces of shrimp, 22 mushroom halves. This is no accident. You will fill each dough piece with one piece of shrimp, one mushroom, and a little bit of bamboo and pork. Warning, this stuff is really sticky! It sort of has the consistency of gooey paste. I find it's a bit easier to work with if you hold the bawan on top of a cabbage leaf (see pictures above). It's easier to handle the gooey paste if you wet your fingers constantly. I ended up putting a plate full of water nearby just so I could constantly wet my fingers. 1. Put a circular dollop of dough onto a leaf. Using wet fingers, push in the middle a bit for the filling. 2. Add the filling (1 shrimp, 1/2 mushroom, etc) 3. Put another smaller dollop of dough on top 4. Using wet fingers, try to pinch the edges together to form a ball

5. Set aside Cooking the Bawans Steam bawans in a 2-tiered steamer. Ideally, you would have a multi-layer Chinese bamboo steamer. However, if you don't, a normal steamer works fine too. I just lined the steamer with cabbage leaves and placed the bawans on top. Steam for about 10 minutes. Making the Sweet Rice Paste Sauce 1. combine long grain rice flour, water, and sugar in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil (remember to stir!) and then remove from heat. Garnishing the Bawans For each bawan, add a bit of soy sauce (about 1 tsp), cover with some sweet white paste sauce, and garnish with cilantro. If you have access to sweet chile sauce, you can use that as well. Enjoy!

http://www.tinyurbankitchen.com/2001/09/bawan-recipe.html

Submitted by:Teresa Photo Taken on: Aug 12 2006 Streetfood: Sticky Riceball Location: Taichung

City: Taichung City Country: Taiwan Price: NTD $25 Temperature served: warm Served with: Description: This is a typical Taiwanese sticky riceball. they are mainly eaten in the mornings as breakfast, with a cup of soy milk. This riceball is stuffed with dried shredded pork, pickled mustard plant, a quarter of a braised egg and dried radish. the rice is sticky and chewy. it is eaten warm. it's my favourite breakfast item!

Taro Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Good news everyone, yesterday was my birthday, YAY!!!! I wanted to make myself a cake that would be fun, but still pretty. So I decided to make a cake with taro powder and do a really fancy job with the icing. (The flowers look complicated, but they're actually really easy to do. In fact, this is my first post including an instructional video. It's a short clip that just shows how it's done. I'll also describe it in the recipe).

What is taro, you say? I will tell you. Taro is a root that is light purple inside and is used in sweets in asian food. (EDIT: I have also been informed that it is used in savory foods too, especially curries. Yum!) I first had it as a flavoring for a boba tea I ordered in Korea town. It tastes the way cocoa butter smells, but sweeter. I love the flavor. I ordered taro root powder online from Nuts Online. The powder doesn't look that appetizing in the picture, but when it's blended into liquids and batters it turns this great lavender color and smells amazing. Well, enough description, it's time for the cake!

Ingredients: 4 Egg Whites 1 Whole Egg 2 and 3/4 Cup Cake Flour 1 Cup Ultrafine Sugar 1 Cup Whole Milk 2/3 Cup Taro Root Powder 12 Tablespoons Butter, softened 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the butter and blend until the mixture starts to clump together if you squeeze some in your hand. Then add the egg whites, one at a times, beating well after each addition. Add the whole egg, (not the shell, just the white and yolk), and the vegetable oil and blend until smooth.

In a separate small bowl, mix the milk and the vanilla extract together. Then add them to the cake mix and blend until they form a smooth batter. Grease two 8 or 9 inch cake pans and equally distribute the cake batter between the two of them. Place them in the oven and bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the center of each cake layer comes out clean.

Once the pans are removed from the oven, shake them from side to side to loosen their grip on the bottom of the pan. Allow them to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes, then flip them over onto a plate, and over again so that they and right side up on a plate. Allow them to cool for 45 minutes.

Next, cut the dome off of the bottom layer of the cake so that the top layer will be able to lay flat on top of it. It is alright if the top layer has a dome, because that will look nice when it has the frosting roses on it. Place the bottom cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand and lightly frost the entire bottom layer. Then place the top layer on the bottom layer and lightly frost the entire top layer.

Now comes the fun part, using a pastry bag and a 1M frosting tip, or some other large star tip, place the tip in the middle of where you want the rose to be, and start frosting, continuing around the middle in a circle until the rose is the desired size. Repeat this process until all of the top surface of the cake has been covered with roses. Then simply pump the frosting in a single line around the base of the cake using the same large star tip. Serve immediately & enjoy!

http://adventurescooking.blogspot.com/2011/03/taro-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting.html

po . 5. . .. . . .5.20~22 22.7.

: . .1/4 1/4 () 3 1/2

: 1:. 2:2. 3:3.. 4:300~400g 5:. :.10 . .

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/witch0810/9178736

Po has been hesitant to do this recipe The one This is a business formula. And people shop still open Second time to do it 5 pounds. The nuclear family is a little too much But this recipe is really good. Compared to the park is worse than ribs Make a place frozen. As long as white rice. Easily resolved in a meal in a hurry I half to do it. But the taste is always right So I can do more. Absolutely welcome to your neighbor Slice thickness but also on the palate. To 5 pounds of meat is. Cut into 20 to 22 the most appropriate Did 22 years ago. Yourself 7. Other to a good neighbor

Seasoning: White pepper. A tablespoon each black pepper Cinnamon. Allspice and 1 / 4 tbsp Tender fine 1 / 4 tbsp (optional addition) 3 tablespoons sugar A bowl of light soy sauce Two bowls of water Rice wine 1 / 2 bowl

Practices: 1: ribs broken ribs. Fluff with a meat hammer 2: Add seasoning mix marinate for 2 hours. 3: Add 3 eggs. Full mix. 4: 300 ~ 400g cornstarch into the Japanese 5: a good piece of plastic bags. Frozen Note: When bagging the best smoothing ribs. To fry 10 seconds when the microwave thawing out If like the ribs with a layer of pastry. Could be replaced by coarse sweet potato flour But can not use fried. Must be more deep-fried oil

Zhang nearer to a close-up

Chi Chi Dango Mochi

Rated: Submitted By: dewny Photo By: Soifua Prep Time: 10

Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour

Ready In: 1

Hour 10 Minutes Servings: 36

"Soft and chewy Japanese dessert. A tradition of boy's or girl's day. Great for a snack for picnics or parties. This recipe is easy to make, but do not try cheating and double it. The directions should be followed exactly."

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound mochiko (glutinous rice flour) 2 1/2 cups white sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 cups water
DIRECTIONS:
1.

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk 1/4 teaspoon red food color 1 1/2 cups potato starch

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Whisk together the rice flour, sugar and baking powder; set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together the water, vanilla, coconut milk and red food coloring. Blend in the rice flour mixture. Pour into the prepared pan. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 1 hour. Allow to cool completely. Turn the pan of mochi out onto a clean surface that has been dusted with potato starch. Cut into bite size pieces using a plastic knife. The mochi does not stick as much to plastic knives.

2.

3. 4.

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/chi-chi-dango-mochi/Detail.aspx

Kushi-dango (skewered Sweet Dumplings)

By BirdyBaker on May 03, 2005

Photo by baka3rabbit 15 Reviews

Prep Time: 45 mins Total Time: 55 mins Servings: 4

About This Recipe

"This is a Japanese recipe consisting of sweet dumplings on skewers. These are widely enjoyed in Japan and by...ME..hehe. You often see anime characters munching on these yummies.I have edited thsi recipe, noting that glutinous rice flour is used."

Ingredients
o o 1 cup glutinous-rice flour 3/4 cup warm water

For Sauce
o o o o o o 3/4-1 cup water 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 1/2 tablespoons potato starch or 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 1/2 tablespoons water bamboo sticks

Directions
1. Put rice flour in a bowl and add warm water. 2. Knead the dough well. 3. Make small round dumplings. 4. Place the dumplings in a steamer and steam them on high heat for 10 minute 5. Cool the dumplings and skewer them in bamboo sticks. (3-4 dumplings each stick.) 6. Mix water, sugar, and soysauce in a pan and put it on medium heat. 7. Mix the water and potatostarch in a cup and set aside. 8. When the sauce boils, add the starch mixture and mix quickly. 9. Slightly grill the skewered dumplings and brush the sauce over them.
Page 2 of 2Kushi-dango (skewered Sweet Dumplings) (cont.)

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 (167 g) Servings Per Recipe: 4 Amount Per Serving % Daily Value

Calories 260.1

Calories from Fat 5 68%

Amount Per Serving % Daily Value Total Fat 0.5g 0% Saturated Fat 0.1g 0% Cholesterol 0.0mg 0% Sugars 25.3 g Sodium 506.6mg 21% Total Carbohydrate 60.2g 20% Dietary Fiber 1.2g 4% Sugars 25.3 g 101%

Protein 3.5g

7%

2010 Food.com. All Rights Reserved. http://www.food.com/120390

http://www.food.com/recipe/kushi-dango-skewered-sweet-dumplings-120390

Yaki Onigiri Recipe

yaki onigiri

Onigiri are handheld, portable rice balls that are Japans equivalent to the sandwich. Japanese sushi rice is compacted into all sorts of different shapes, but you probably see triangular onigiri the most. Onigiri come plain or filled but my favourite way to have them is grilled. Yaki onigiri has a crispy, almost burnt rice crust that gives way to fluffy white insides. Handheld rice is a truly a fantastic invention.

sushi rice, water, square cookie cutter, mini onigiri mold, chicken wing sauce

Yaki-onigiri is so popular you can find it in the frozen food section of Japanese grocery stores, just like pizza. Making it at home is super simple, all you need is cooked Japanese sushi rice, soy sauce, oil, and a pan. You can use your hands, a cookie cutter, or onigiri mold to shape the rice. Traditionally youre supposed to make onigiri with piping hot rice, but I let mine cool down a bit so I dont end up with blistery red hands.

using the mini onigiri mold

Make sure you wet your hands and the molds because sushi rice is super sticky. Making onigiri is a personal thing, so if you like giant rice balls, go for it! If you prefer something tiny and petite, go for that!

I started out by making some cubed onigiri because Mike prefers eating rice in cubed form. Cubes are pretty easy to shape with a square cookie cutter: stuff some rice into the cutter, compact it down and push it out. Ta da! Cubed rice!

Onigiri molds work in pretty much the same way: pack the rice in, insert the top part of the mold, squish down and release your onigiri. You can buy a variety of onigiri molds at Daiso.

onigiri

If cookie cutters and onigiri molds dont appeal to you, just go the old-fashioned route and use your hands: scoop some rice into your hands and compact into a ball shape then gently pat the sides to form a triangle. If your rice ball falls apart, just stick with a ball shape, it works too!

pan-frying the onigiri

After youve shaped your onigiri its time to grill. I dont have an indoor grill so I use my cast iron skillet, which works just as well. Heat your skillet or pan on medium heat with a tiny bit of oil. Fry each side of the onigiri until the rice forms a crisp skin. Turn the heat down if your onigiri is browning too fast.

brushing on soy sauce

When all the sides are grilled, brush on the soy sauce. Use a pastry brush to evenly coat the rice with soy sauce. When the onigiri is coated you need to grill all the sides again. The onigiri will be done when its been grilled twice.

I used some left over chicken wing sauce to brush my onigiri and the rice cubes and triangles were deliciously crisp, sweet, and spicy. Its hard not to love onigiri. You can stuff it with a million surprise fillings and its compact portability makes it perfect for snacks, picnics or just eating with your hands.

Yaki Onigiri Recipe

Ingredients cooked Japanese rice water soy sauce oil Directions 1. Shaped hot rice into desired onigiri shapes 2. Grill in a lightly oiled medium-low pan until all sides form a crispy crust 3. Brush all sides with soy sauce and re-fry all sides 4. Enjoy!

golden, toasty yaki onigiri

Mike's creation: quick-pickled topped yaki onigiri

http://momofukufor2.com/2010/01/yaki-onigiri-recipe/

Yaki Onigiri (Baked Rice Cake)

Added on February 12, 2009

Yaki Onigiri (meaning baked rice cake) is a popular snack

item in Japan. It is formed with cooked rice and then baked with soy sauce or miso flavor. Short grain rice is used because it is stickier than other varieties, thus making the cakes easier to form. About 1/3 of retail frozen processed rice in Japan is made this way. Yaki Onigiri is most frequently eaten as a light snack between meals or at night. Japanese like eating it soon after it is baked for the rich aroma of baked soy sauce, best flavor and freshness. Their image of Onigiri is as a hot item. It is also popular for breakfast because it is convenient and quick serving. They are often found as a menu item in bars and pubs. Although many Foodservice restaurants cook and form these rice cakes by themselves, they are also widely sold in frozen retail for facilities that have only microwaves for cooking and for home purchase.

One reason Yaki Onigiri is so popular in Japan is that the product has a soft texture inside and smooth on the outside, making it an easy handheld item for eating on the go. Another appealing feature is its flexibility for many occasions. One piece contains 50 grams making it palatable for a small appetite or snack or 2-3 can be eaten for bigger appetites or a meal. Restaurants serve them by themselves, with pickles or as a side item. They are sometimes grilled and served with barbeque. Rice quality and safety are another factor in determining the popularity of this product. Rice grown in Hokkaido in the northern region of Japan produces grade A variety known as Kirara. It is purchased directly from the grower's association to keep procurement stable and high quality. Yaki Onigiri would make a unique substitute for bulk rice or noodles for the American menu as well as a healthy appetizer or snack. As sushi, sashimi, Yakisoba, Udon, Ramen and yakitori has embedded the American diets, Yaki-Onigiri has the potential to reach this same level of acceptance and popularity.

Good eats. Taiwanese sandwich. I really have no idea if this is a Taiwanese thing, but I love the combination of cucumbers, mayo, and asian bread together. To make this sandwich, just combine one fried egg, slices of cucumber, mayo, and dried pork between two slices of asian bread. so good. =]

http://ffaaiitthhyy.tumblr.com/post/3603311321/taiwanese-sandwich

Taiwanese Pork Chops (Bai Gu)

Miss "Bai Gu Fan" bentox in Taiwan? Here's the healthier version of it! or you can make it unhealthy as well! haha up to you! 4 bone-in pork chops 2 tablespoons soy sauce bit minced garlic 1 tablespoon sugar little dash rice wine 1/2 tbs Chinese five-spice powder vegetable oil vegetable oil for frying cornstarch

Cut several small slits near the edges of the pork chops to keep them from curling when fried. In a large ziploc bag, add the soy sauce, garlic, sugar, wine, and five-spice powder. put in chops, and close the seal tightly. massage the marinade into chops, coating well. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or better overnight. If the pork chop is too thick, use a hammer (not kiddin...i really did) to make it thinner! it will be easier to fry later on! heat enough vegetable oil to fill pan to a depth of about 1/2 inch. If you're conscious about the oil, you can use cooking spray instead! Remove chops from resealable bag without wiping off marinade. Lightly sprinkle cornstarch on both sides of the chops (if you want to make it crispy like the real bai gu fan, use panko bread crumbs) add chops to skillet; cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. serve over white rice. this would be excellent with pickled cabbage and ground pork thats been stir fried with a bit of soysauce,garlic , salt and tiny dash of 5 spice (lo ba bong). ENJOY! =)

http://recipetin.blogspot.com/2008/07/taiwanese-pork-chops-bai-gu.html

Taiwanese Porkchops
What? really? its not dessert i swear. Ok so here's the story , the hubby never complains about food , but after being on an all japanese diet for a while he 's been reminding me on how he's taiwanese and he needs salty , oily and spicy. lol . He loves taiwanese porkchops that his mom makes for him and eventho he's 25 she treats him like a baby. However when i asked she would never give me the accurate recipe so i spied on her and voila , its actually pretty simple. The one ingredient i couldnt pinpoint was the 5spice powder because its not an ingredient i've ever used before.

Ingredients

4 bone-in pork chops 2 tablespoons soy sauce bit minced garlic 1 tablespoon sugar little dash rice wine 1/2 tbs Chinese five-spice powder vegetable oil vegetable oil for frying cornstarch stored bought pickled cabbage ground pork thats been stir fried with a bit of soysauce,garlic , salt and tiny dash of 5spice.

How to make Taiwanese Porkcho

Make several small slits near the edges of the pork chops to keep them from curling when fried. In a large ziploc bag, add the soy sauce, garlic, sugar, wine, and five-spice powder. putb in chops, and close the seal tightly. massage the marinade into chops, coating well. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or better overnight. Heat enough vegetable oil to fill pan to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Remove chops from resealable bag without wiping off marinade. Lightly sprinkle cornstarch on both sides of the chops. Add chops to skillet; cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Serve over white rice ( I still used japanese) with stirfried ground pork and pickled cabbage.

http://www.getfrank.co.nz/lifestyle/food/taiwanese-porkchops

Taiwanese Sandwich
This is my husbands all time comfort food! A beautiful tea sandwich that is great for snacks, kids lunch box, picnic or even breakfast. Traditionally, this sandwich is made out of white bread. I used whole wheat bread instead.

Start with fresh soft bread and an Asian mayonnaise. Uwajimaya sells mayonnaise in squeeze bottle. There is one even with minimal or no cholesterol. (My 22 month old helped me spread the mayonnaise on the bread.)

Before assembling this multistoried sandwich, I beat 2 omega-III eggs in a bowl, pour the beaten egg onto a heated pan, pour out extra back to the bowl. Once the egg is set, transfer to a plate. Continue to make the egg pancake until the bowl is empty. I made almost 4 egg pancake with just 2 eggs. Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise onto the bread. The first layer, I used Trader Joess persian cucumber (it is smaller than English cucumber). The next layer, I used the egg pancake. Since my egg pancake was round, I simply fold in the extras, as shown in the photo. The final layer, I used Trader Joes black forest ham, but any ham will work. Honey baked ham would taste great as well. Once the layers are done, use a sharp knife to cut into half or quarter. When I serve this to guests, I usually trim the sides.

While I was preparing the sandwiches, my husband assembled the new picnic table for the kids.

http://hipfood.wordpress.com/2007/05/16/taiwanese-sandwich/
)

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MORE FOOD

Cha ye dan Cha ye dan, literally tea leaf egg, is a common Taiwanese snack found at food stalls. The eggs are hard-boiled then their shell cracked (but not taken off) and cooked in a large pot of stock, soy sauce, tea leaves and the cooks secret spices for hours (or days). The cooking liquid penetrates into the eggs making them flavourful and giving the egg whites a brown colour. Tea leaf eggs are almost always sold with their shell still on.

Half-eaten tea leaf egg

Fan tuan Fan tuan literally rice lump. This is a typical Taiwanese breakfast item. Yu tiao (fried dough), rou song (dried fluffy pork), and pickled vegetables are covered with sticky rice on the outside.

Feng guo

Very sticky and elastic, feng guo is similar to mochi in texture. Although it looks like a bowl of tar, it is actually made from some type of sticky rice and brown sugar. Very interesting.

Chickens foot Yes, it is a real chickens foot the nails are still attached! It has been cooked in soy sauce and spices. It is very difficult to explain to foreigners why would the Taiwanese eat this. There is no meat on it, exclaim the non-believers. What they fail to understand is the satisfaction that comes with the gnawing, biting and spitting of the bones. Like zen, I suppose, either you get it or you dont.

http://www.rainbowbubble.com/?p=300

Coffin Bread Recipe

by ADMIN on APRIL 4, 2010

Coffin bread is a night market snack from Tainan, a city in south Taiwan. We can know where was the name came from by the look of this dish.

Ingredients:

1 small loaf bread, uncut 2 tablespoons peas 2 tablespoons carrot, dice it to the size as peas 80g prawn 100g mixed seafood from supermarket 1 small onion chopped finely 10 g cheese, grated

Seasonings : 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoons plain flour A pinch of white pepper powder 1 cup of mlik

Procedures: (Serves 2 people) 1. Cook carrot and peas in a small pot of water until soft and leave it on aside. 2. Heat up a sauce pan and melt butter, saut onion until it softens and add flour into it. Mix even then saut it with really low heat for 20~30 seconds, make sure it is mixed properly. 3. Added a small quantity of milk once and gently use whisk to whisk the flour and milk together until no lump inside of it. 4. Add seafood, carrot and pea to step 3 above. Mix evenly and keep stir it in case the sauce will burn on the bottom. 5. After seafood is cooked just leave it aside. Heat up 3 cups of oil into a deep sauce pan by middle gas power and the oil temperature reach 120c. 6. Cut the bread into 5cm thick and square shape then we deep fry it in the oil until it turn to nice golden brown colour. 7. Use a small knife to cut the lit out and dig out all bread inside of it but keep the bottom and dont dig it through. 8. Fill the bread with the seafood and milk sauce we made and sprinkle the cheese on the top, Grill it until the cheese melt then its ready to serve.

http://eggwansfoododyssey.com/2010/04/04/coffin-bread/ http://www.chinatownconnection.com/taiwanese-breakfast.htm http://savannah8503.blogspot.com/ http://the-cooking-of-joy.blogspot.com/2009/01/xiao-long-bao-steamedsoup-dumplings.html

Easy Thai Coconut Rice

Coconut rice makes a terrific accompaniment to many Thai and Indian dishes, but it's equally wonderful with many Westernstyle entrees. Quick and easy to make, this coconut rice recipe will come in handy for those times when you want to make dinner extra special without going to a lot of extra work. ENJOY! (Note: For coconut rice made in a rice cooker, see link below). Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 25 minutes Yield: SERVES 4 Ingredients:

2 cups Thai jasmine-scented white rice (for brown coconut rice, see link below) 2 cups good-quality coconut milk 1 3/4 cups water 2 heaping Tbsp. dry shredded unsweetened coconut (baking type) 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. coconut oil, OR vegetable oil Optional: 1-2 Tbsp. toasted coconut for garnish (see instructions below recipe) Preparation: For a step-by-step version of this recipe, see:Easy Thai Coconut Rice Recipe. To Make Brown Coconut Rice, see my: Brown Coconut Rice Recipe. 1. Rub oil over the bottom of a deep-sided pot. You will also need a tight-fitting lid. 2. Place rice, coconut milk, water, shredded coconut, and salt in the pot and set over medium-high to high heat. Stir occasionally to keep rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning. 3. Once the coconut-water has begun to gently bubble, stop stirring and reduce heat to low (just above minimum). Cover tightly with a lid and let simmer 15-20 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. To check, pull rice aside with a fork. If most of the coconut milk-water is gone, go on to the next step. 4. Replace the lid and turn off the heat, but leave the covered pot on the burner to steam another 5-10 minutes, or until you're ready to eat. Tip: Your Coconut Rice will stay warm this way for up to 1 hour or more, great for when you're expecting company! 5. When ready to serve, remove the lid and fluff rice with a fork or chopsticks. Taste-test the rice for salt, adding a little more if needed. Serve right out of the pot, or transfer to a serving bowl. This rice is excellent served with a variety of both Thai and Indian dishes, such as curries or seafood recipes. If desired, top your rice with a sprinkling of toasted coconut and ENJOY! (see below for toasted coconut instructions). To Toast Coconut: Place 1 Tbsp. dry shredded coconut in a frying pan over medium-high heat and stir ("dry fry") until light golden brown (see: Toasting Shredded Coconut.).

http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaisnacks/r/thaicoconutrice.htm

Coconut Saffron Rice Recipe

If you like coconut rice, try this delicious Thai coconut saffron rice recipe. Instead of choosing between saffron rice and coconut rice, I've combined the two into one recipe. The result is a beautifully golden rice that tastes wonderful and is great to serve company or take to a dinner party or potluck. And it's easy to make, too - you don't need a rice cooker. Just combine everything together in a pot and you'll have beautiful coconut rice in just 20 minutes! Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 25 minutes Ingredients:

SERVES 4 2 cups white Thai jasmine rice 2 cups good-quality coconut milk 1+3/4 cups good-tasting chicken or vegetable stock 2 +1/2 Tbsp. dry shredded coconut, unsweetened (baking type) 1 tsp. turmeric optional: 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. saffron threads (a nice addition if you have it) 1 clove garlic, minced 1 Tbsp. fish sauce, OR soy sauce if vegetarian 1 Tbsp. lemon juice 1 tsp. ground cumin 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. dried crushed chili (available in the spice aisle) 2 green onions OR a few chives, sliced (for garnish) Preparation: For plain coconut rice, see my: Easy Coconut Rice Recipe. 1. Place stock in a pot and set over high heat. Add the turmeric, saffron threads (if using), garlic, fish sauce, lemon juice, cumin, and chili. Stir well and bring to a boil. 2. Add the rice, shredded coconut, plus coconut milk. Stir continuously (to keep rice from sticking to the bottom) while you bring liquid back to a gentle boil. 3. When liquid is gently bubbling, reduce heat to low (just above minimum) and stop stirring. Cover pot tightly with a lid and cook about 15 minutes, or until liquid has been absorbed (use a fork to pull rice back so you can see to the bottom of the pot). 4. Turn off heat, but leave the pot on the burner (covered) to steam for another 5-10 minutes, or until you're ready to eat. Rice will stay hot in this way for an hour or more (great if you're having company!). 5. Before serving, fluff rice with a fork and taste-test for salt. If not salty enough (this will depend on the saltiness of your stock), add a little more fish sauce OR a sprinkling of salt if vegetarian. If too salty, add another squeeze of lemon juice. 6. Garnish with the green onion, and serve with a nice Thai Curry, Indian curry, or other dishes of your choice. ENJOY!

http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaisnacks/r/coconutsaffronrice.htm

Braised Beef Heart

By momthecook #2 on October 31, 2005 6 Reviews

Prep Time: 15 mins Total Time: 4 1/4 hrs Servings: 6

About This Recipe

"This is by request. Remember beef heart is NOT organ meat. It is the purest cut of muscle, just like your steaks, except there is very little fat, no gristle and it doesn't have a definite grain, which means it is tender no matter which way you cut it. The gravy is to die for, it is so flavourful."

Ingredients
o o o o o 3 lbs beef heart 3 tablespoons onion soup mix 1 cup water 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 medium onions

o o o

1 teaspoon prepared mustard 1 cube beef bouillon 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Directions
1. Trim any fat off the heart. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut off any large pieces of the connective
tissue around the top of the meat.

2. Roll into a roast form and tie with string. 3. Brown in the oil on all sides. 4. Put in a dutch oven and add the onion, cut into about 8 pieces, and all the other ingredients, except
the bread crumbs.

5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 4 hours, turning every hour. 6. After 2 hours, add the bread crumbs. 7. When done, remove heart and use an immersion blender or regular blender to smooth the gravy. If
desired, you can thicken the gravy some more with a water and flour mixture, bringing it to the boil.

8. Slice the heart lengthwise into 1/4" slices.

http://www.food.com/recipe/braised-beef-heart-143249

Deep Fried Tofu With Asian Plum Sauce or Thai Peanut Sauce
By Rita~ on October 14, 2004

Photo by Rita~ 19 Reviews

Prep Time: 15 mins Total Time: 20 mins Yield: 24 appetizers

About This Recipe

"This is a crunchy, healthy, no meat appetizer. You can serve with the sauces I have posted or your favorite store bought!"

Ingredients
o o o 1 lb firm tofu, cut into 1 inch squares and towel dried 1/3 cup sesame seeds 2 tablespoons cornstarch

o o o o

3 tablespoons flour 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1/4 cup vegetable oil salt and pepper, to season

For dipping
o o o o asian plum sauce ( recipe #99500) thai peanut sauce ( recipe #63210) spicy peanut sauce ( recipe #63211) your favorite sauce

Directions
1. Mix together sesame seeds, sugar, cornstarch & flour. 2. Roll tofu in sesame mixture till well coated. 3. Heat oil in skillet till hot. 4. Fry squares till well browned. 5. Drain on paper towels & set aside. 6. Arrange on a platter & serve warm with the sauce.

http://www.food.com/recipe/deep-fried-tofu-with-asian-plum-sauce-orthai-peanut-sauce-101937

Chicken Cacciatore
Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay
Prep Time: 30 min Inactive Prep Time: -Cook Time: 50 min Level: -Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 (3-pound) chicken cut into eighths Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 pound cremini mushrooms, quartered 1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced 1 large yellow bell pepper, thinly julienned 1 serrano or jalapeno chile, finely diced 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes 1/2 cup dry red wine 1 cup low-sodium canned chicken broth 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes and their juices 3 sprigs fresh rosemary 2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar or capers 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves 1 pound spaghetti (size 8 or 9) cooked al dente Basil sprigs Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Season the chicken pieces on both sides with salt and pepper and place in the pan, skin side down and cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the breasts over and cook until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the chicken to a large plate. Add the remaining oil to the pan and heat until almost smoking. Add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown, season with salt and pepper and remove to a plate. Add the onion and bell pepper to the pan and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the serrano, garlic and chili flakes to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the wine and cook until almost completely reduced. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, and rosemary and bring to a simmer. Return the chicken and mushrooms to the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan and cook until the chicken is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon to a large shallow bowl and tent loosely with foil.

Increase the heat to high and cook the sauce, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the vinegar and basil and pour the sauce over the chicken.Garnish with fresh basil sprigs. Serve over spaghetti and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Deep Fried Tofu

Deep-frying gives the tofu a golden color and a crispy texture in this easy to make tofu recipe. Dipping suggestions for the deep fried tofu are included at the bottom of the recipe directions. Serves 3 to 4. More Tofu Recipes Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 25 minutes Ingredients:

1 pound medium or firm tofu 3 - 4 tablespoons cornstarch or flour, as needed Oil for deep frying, as needed Preparation: Directions for Deep fried Tofu: Drain the tofu. Cut the tofu into 4 large triangles or cubes as desired. Roll the tofu in the cornstarch or flour. Heat wok and add oil for deep frying. When the oil is heated to at least 350 degrees F., carefully add 2 tofu pieces into the wok. Fry, stirring occasionally, until the tofu is golden on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Keep warm while frying the remaining tofu. Serves 4. Serve with Soy-ginger dressing, Sweet and Sour Sauce, or Chinese-Style Peanut Sauce.

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/tofurecipes/r/deepfriedtofu.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwanese_cuisine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_noodle_soup

Scallion Pancakes

This is the first recipe in Sugar and Soy Sauce, and because it's not my mom's, I'm not forbidden to share it. =) Karen Kirkup taught me the recipe, which she learned while working at Icarus. I've tried making scallion pancakes from scratch before but could never get them quite as light and flakey as I like; they were always just a little too chewy. You don't get that problem with this recipe because the secret is in letting the dough rest so that the gluten relaxes enough to allow you to stretch the dough out really, really thin. The recipe is super simple, but just make sure you give yourself sufficient time; the results are worth it. Scallion Pancakes (Cong You Bing) makes 6 pancakes

1 lb. all-purpose flour 1 cup warm water

Chopped scallions Vegetable oil Salt

Mix the flour and water together and knead for 5 minutes. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. Knead for another 5 minutes and let rest for another 30 minutes at room temperature. Knead one more time for 5 minutes.

Divide into 6 (4 oz.) portions. Roll into balls and cover liberally with oil. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Let the dough come back to room temperature. On an oiled stainless steel surface (I used my non-stick baking tray), roll out one ball of dough and stretch out as thin as possible into a rectangle, being careful not to make any holes in the dough. You should be able to cover almost the entire surface of the baking tray, if you're using one.

Brush the top with oil and sprinkle with salt and scallions.

Starting at one long end, start "flipping" inches of the dough towards the other long end so that you are kind of rolling it up into a long snake. Once it is all folded up, twist the dough like a rope and then coil it

up into a spiral. Flatten the spiral with your hands to form pancake discs. Repeat with the other balls of dough.

Heat a liberal amount of oil in a frying pan. When it is hot (but not smoking), add one pancake. After a few minutes, flip once it is golden brown on the bottom. Wait another few minutes until the second side is golden brown as well. Repeat with the other pancakes.

Slice the pankcake into wedges and serve hot with a dipping sauce of soy sauce mixed with vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil. To store the pancakes, freeze them in a freezer bag and re-heat on the pan with additional oil. You can also try toasting them in the oven, but it will get dry.

Flaky!

http://the-cooking-of-joy.blogspot.com/2009/01/scallion-pancakes.html

Taiwanese Meatball (Ba Wan)

A Taiwanese friend of mine called me up before this South Arm Community Kitchen about the street food that she misses a lot that will be demonstrated by Vicky. It was a surprise call as I had invited her to join the community kitchen a long time ago but I did not hear from her since.

It was the above street food that excited my friend from Taiwan. It is the Taiwanese Meatball or known as Ba Wan in Hokkien.

I had seen this many times in a Taiwanese food show when we had Shaw TV. I missed that show since we switched to Telus. I have never come across this street food here yet. Does anyone know if we can find this Taiwanese Meatball here? Ingredients For the skins:

1 cup rice flour 400g yam flour 6 1/5 cup cold water

For the filling:

400g ground pork 1 cup (about 8) dried shiitake mushroom, reconstituted 1 cup (170g) dried bamboo shoot 2 tablespoons dried shrimps 1 tablespoon fried onion 2 tablespoons cooking oil 4 cloves of garlic, minced

Marinates for pork:

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Seasonings:

1 tablespoon cooking wine 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon five spice powder

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons rice flour 1 1/2 cups water 1 tablespoon sauce 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon miso 2 tablespoons ketchup

Tools required:

Steam baskets Small bowls

Source: Vicky Yield 15 meatballs Instructions

Combine rice flour and cold water in a saucepan.

Whisk until all the rice flour dissolved in the water.

Cook the mixture over medium heat stirring all the time until it starts to bubble and thicken like glue. This takes about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool down to luke warm.

To prepare the fillings;

Marinate the ground pork with the soy sauce, sugar, white pepper powder and cornstarch for 2 hours. Soak dried mushrooms until soft, remove stems, dice. Soak dried bamboo shoots for 20 minutes, then blanch in boiling water, dice. Soak dried shrimps for 20 minutes, dice.

Heat a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of oil. Stir fry garlic and dried shrimps until fragrant.

Add mushrooms and stir fry another minute.

Add marinated pork and cook until pork is no longer pink.

Add bamboo shoots and stir fry for another minute to allow the bamboo shoots to release its flavour.

Season with cooking wine, soy sauce, five spice powder, fried onions and salt. Remove from stove and set aside.

Prepare the bowls by greasing with a few drops of oil.

Sift the yam flour.

Add the sifted yam flour into the sticky rice mixture which had cooled down a bit.

Initially, the texture will look coarse. Keep stirring.

Eventually, youll get a smooth paste.

Fill the greased bowl with 2 to 3 teaspoons of the rice mixture and smear the mixture to cover all the sides.

Fill with the fillings to the top.

Cover the filings with more rice mixture and ensure all the filings are covered.

Repeat until all the mixture and filings are used up.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place the bowls in stackable steaming baskets and steamed for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce by combining the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and cook on medium heat, stirring, until thick and sticky. The sauce will thicken further after it cools down.

When the steaming is done, remove from heat and let cool down for a few minutes so that the dough will be firmer.

Use a butter knife to loosen the meatball and turn it onto a plate.

Use a pair of scissors to cut an x on top of the meatball.

Drizzle with the sauce and sprinkle with chopped parsley and enjoy.

Vicky, thank you so much for demonstrating this Taiwanese street food in the South Arm Community Kitchen. http://chowtimes.com/2011/01/09/taiwanese-meatball-ba-wan/

Pork Jowl (Pork Cheek) Char Siu

Pork Jowl is the cheek cut off the face of a pig, hence it is also called Pork Cheek. It is rich with plentiful amounts of fat with a few layers of meat. It is expensive because each head only yields a small amount of pork cheek. I saw the butcher trimmed off the pork jowl on the spot. I bought the following pork cheek at a butcher at $8.80 per pound.

I marinated the pork jowl overnight with a lemon grass sauce which I bought from the butcher place too. The Lemon Grass Sauce is good with chicken or pork. I used it to marinate pork chop or boneless chicken leg which I pan fried them. Nanzaro loves the pan fry boneless chicken leg marinated in lemon grass sauce.

Since the pork jowl is very thin, its takes very little time to pan fry them in medium heat. You can use an indoor grill to grill them too.

Although the pork cheek is fatty, it has a springy texture. The lightly charred and caramelized part is the best.

I served the pork cheek with wonton noodles seasoned with loh mien sauce, some blanched bok choy and some home-made wontons. Thats why I called it char siu.

The wontons can be served with the noodles or on their own with some bok choy in soup.

http://chowtimes.com/2009/10/08/pork-jowl-pork-cheek-char-siu/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwanese_cuisine