Dumplings

From the time I was a child, dumpling making has been a fun activity. Because we often made these in large quantities, the whole family got involved. We took turns rolling out the wraps from dough and wrapping the meat filling. We'd start in the late afternoon and go into the late evening. When enough dumplings were made, we'd cook and eat them. We'd continue to make the dumplings in between bowls of rice and dumplings.

Wraps:
You can make your own wraps or just buy gyoza wraps from your local supermarket.

Filling:
1 lb. ground pork (or chicken)
1 small head napa cabbage
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. peeled and grated ginger
2 green onions thinly sliced
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp. corn starch
1 tsp. salt (as desired)

Dipping sauce:
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. white vinegar (or rice wine vinegar)

Use a food processor to finely chop the washed cabbage leaves. In a medium mixing bowl, mix all the filling ingredients together. Place about 1 tsp. filling in each wrap, moisten half of the outer edge of wrap and fold over to seal. Place in a baking pan and cover with damp dishcloth. Repeat until filling or wraps are used up. Heat 1 -2 Tbs. oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Place dumplings in skillet being careful that dumplings don't touch. You will need to cook the dumplings in batches as they won't all fit in the skillet. Cook until bottoms of dumplings are slightly golden brown. Pour 1 cup water into skillet and cover. Steam for 10 minutes. Serve with rice and dipping sauce.

This makes about 48 dumplings so you can cook up enough for one meal and freeze the rest! To freeze dumplings, place them in a baking sheet and put in the freezer for 2 hours. Transfer frozen dumplings into freezer bags.

(Note: You can vary the amounts of any of the ingredients as desired.)

Welcome to My New Blog on Food!

I love food! I've always enjoyed tasting a wide variety of flavors from every part of the world. I grew up on simple Chinese foods made in our home. The idea of eating out was a foreign concept in my family. Although my mom never let me cook, I would watch her as she bought fresh meats and vegetables from the local Asian food store, bring them home to wash, chop, and cook. I was, however, required to help prepare the ingredients (such as removing the beaks from squid, my least favorite chore). She never used a recipe and just seemed to know what spices and flavors to add.

The most common method of cooking in our home were stir-frying, boiling, steaming, and deep-frying. We never used the oven so it was a place for storing pots and pans. I don't remember baking anything until I went to college and learned to bake cookies and muffins from roommates. We also rarely ate processed prepackaged foods. If we purchased sliced cheese for some reason, it would sit in the refrigerator for months until we forgot when it was bought and why.

After getting married, my husband and I enjoyed making meals together in our kitchen. I started gathering a collection of cookbooks containing dishes from all over the world and found a few recipes we liked from each book. Our favorites are Thai and Indian. It was so fun to try out new dishes to see if they tasted as good as the color photographs suggested. We also enjoyed inviting friends over and sharing a meal with them. A lot of times, our friends would arrive in the middle of our preparations and they would become a part of the cooking process. Everyone seemed to enjoy getting their hands dirty and our friendships were strengthened from working together.

Now that we have two kids, we have much less time and energy to cook elaborate meals. At times we've resorted to frozen dinners or ordering pizza. Once in a while, we find time to make some of our old time favorites like steamed dumplings, chicken tandoori, or tom kha gai.

I'm always on the lookout for a good recipe and willing to share my favorites with others. In this blog, I will be sharing recipes and ideas about food that I've learned so far.