Pan-fried buns with Pork and Zucchini Filling

中文：猪肉西葫芦烙饼

It is zucchini season!  There are zucchinis everywhere in the farmer’s market.  They are fresh, they are cheap, and the most important thing is that they go well with almost everything. 

Next time you don’t know what to do with your zucchinis, try this pan-fried version.  They are pretty awesome! O(∩_∩)O~

For pork and zucchini filling：

5 large zucchinis
350 to 400g ground pork
3 to 4 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger / ginger powder
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 stalk of green onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup of chicken stock
1 to 2 tablespoon oil
salt to taste

For the buns：

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 to 3/4 cup of water
oil (for pan frying)

Directions：

 I posted zucchini dumplings before

Zucchini is a high water content vegetable.  Adding zucchini directly to the filling might turn the filling into a mushy mess.  So I use half-dried zucchinis in both dumplings and buns.   The flavor is more intense and texture is better too.

Slice the zucchinis and dry them under the sun or in a food dehydrator until the volume reduce to half or one third. 

Add to a food processor

Finely chopped

 In a large bowl, add ground pork, soy sauce, rice cooking wine, oyster sauce, ground ginger, ground white pepper, green onion, sesame oil, chicken stock, oil and salt.  With a pair of chopsticks, whisk the pork and seasonings until everything is well combined. 

Add chopped zucchini

Mix well again. 

Whiling preparing the filling, I use a bread machine to make the dough.

Add flour, water, salt and oil to the bread machine.  Start dough process.

After the dough is done, leave it to rest in the bread machine for 10 minutes. 

Transfer the dough to a well dusted wooden board

Equally divide into 8 pieces 

With a small rolling pin, roll each piece thin and flat.

Add pork filling

Wrap them up

Cover with oiled plastic wrap and allow them to rest for another 10 minutes.

Use a small rolling pin to gently roll the bun into 1/3 or 1/2 inch thic

Heat a small cast iron pan over medium low heat.

Add oil and then buns.  Cover with lid.  Pan fry the bun until both sides are golden brown.  It takes about 4 to 6 minutes each side. 

Serve immediately. 

You don’t need fork and knife.  Our traditional way is hold it in hand like this. 

Bon Appétit!  O(∩_∩)O~

Apple Fruit Rolls

中文：苹果果丹皮卷

Fruit rolls were so popular in China when I was still a kid. They were like the potato chips today.  No matter where you go or where you shop, they are just everywhere.  The fruit rolls I used to enjoy were made from hawthorn (thornapple) fruits.  They are almost as tart as cranberry.  Once you add a lot of sugar, they become addictively sweet and sour flavor.

Actually, a lot of fruits high in pectin can be used to make fruit rolls.  I made them before using prunes.

And I find out you can make fruit rolls with apples too!  I made one batch a couple days ago.  They were gone in minutes!  O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients：

8 to 10 apples
6 to 8 tablespoon packed brown sugar (use more if you have a sweet tooth)
1 to 2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 to 1/2 cup water

Directions：

Clean and core the apples.  No need to peel them because most natural pectin is in apple skins.

Cut the apples into chucks.  Add them to a medium pot, along with brown sugar, lemon juice, ground cinnamon and water.  Heat over high heat until it boils.  Reduce the heat to medium high.  Stir the apples occasionally to prevent them getting burnt at the bottom.

 Cook until the sauce is thick enough to coat a wooden spoon.

Remove from heat and let it cool down to room temperature.

Sometimes I make larger batch and seal them tightly in mason jars.  Steam them for about 30 minutes; remove from heat; and place them upside down until they cool down.  Yea, it is just like how you can tomato at home.  The apples can be stored at room temperature for a long time.  And they go really great with pancakes and crepes.

Add apple chunks and it sauce to a food processor.  Puree the apples.

Divide the apple puree into halves or three equal pieces.  Spread each of them evenly on a dehydrator tray.

Run the food dehydrator at vegetable/fruits 135F/ 57° C for about 10 to 12 hours, or until the puree is totally dried out.

Peel it off the tray and roll it up. 

Now you have beautiful homemade apple fruit rolls!

The apple fruit rolls go really well with a cup of freshly brewed green tea!

Stir-fried Sichuan Style Pickled String Beans and Ground Pork

中文：泡豇豆炒肉末

Sichuan style pickled vegetable is super popular in Sichuan area and some other south provinces of China.   It is the foundation and soul of Sichuan style cooking.  Almost every single family in Sichuan has one or more pickled jars.  In this jar they can pickle freshly vegetables along with peppers, gingers, garlic and some other spices which differ from family to family.  Every family has their own special unique way to pickle vegetable.  It is the taste of home to them and also the secret weapon in their home cooked meals.

I brought back two pickle jars my previous trips back to China.  And I learned how to do Sichuan style pickles from my mother-in-law who has been doing it for decades.  So I am proud to say I learned from the best. O(∩_∩)O~

Sichuan style pickling is a complicate and delicate process.  I am not going to talk too much about it here.  The basic way is boil a large pot of water; let it cool down; add salt, along with high alcohol content rice wine (40% or higher), chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger, garlic and a bun of other spices.  Add 1/4 head cabbage or daikon as a starter.  In a week, the pickle juice should start to become sour but with a pleasant fragrance from vegetable fermentation. 

The best way to make Sichuan style pickles from scratch is to get some old pickle juice from a good old pickle jar.  It is the best way to achieve deep rich and delicate pickle flavor in a short time. 

Every family treats their pickle jar well with respect because the jar provides not only pickled vegetables but also a taste of home.  It is alive with soul if you treat it well.

The most common pickled vegetables are cabbage, daikon, string beans, young gingers and peppers.  Freshly string beans are very rare in Michigan where I live.  It seems like they are only available in Asian grocery store from time to time.  But most of time they are not so fresh.  So can you imagine how excited I was when I spotted some lovely freshly string beans last time I went grocery shopping in Detroit area? 

I stir fried half of the string beans and made pickles with the other half.

Rinse the string bean well.  Air-dry them on a clean rack.

Wrap every four string beans with another one.  So there are five string beans in each bunch.  It is just for the convenience to get them in and out of the pickle jar.  You don’t have to twist them the same way as I do.  It has nothing to do with flavors.

Add to the pickle jar.  Wait for about 10 days until they all turn slightly deep yellow color.

You can eat them right out of the pickle jar. It is already very tasty.

I just love to stir fry them with ground pork.  The fat from pork adds tons of flavors to the beans.

Ingredients：

5 to 6 bunches of Sichuan style pickled string beans (they are also available in Chinese grocery store if you don’t have any homemade ones)
1 pound ground pork
10 pickled chili peppers
6 to 8 dried chili pepper (I use them for flavors.  Skip if you are not into spicy food)
2 gloves of garlic
1 small piece of pickled ginger
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 to 1 teaspoon sugar
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon rice cooking wine
salt to taste
2 to 4 tablespoons cooking oil

Directions：

Finely chop the pickled string beans.  If you really want to try this recipe but don’t want to make any pickled vegetable at home, you can always buy the ready to eat version pickles from an Asian grocery store. 

Chop the pickled chili peppers too.

Peel and thinly slice the garlic and pickled ginger.  With a pair of scissors, finely cut the dried chili peppers.

Heat a wok over high heat.  Add oil, garlic slices, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger, dried chili peppers and pickled chili peppers.  Stir fry for a couple minutes.  Add ground pork. Stir fry over high heat until the ground pork turns slightly golden brown.  Add freshly ground black pepper and rice cooking wine.  Stir fry for another couple minutes.

Add chopped string beans, along with sugar, salt and soy sauce to taste.

Stir fry over high heat for another 2 to 3 minutes.

 Remove from heat and serve immediately.  

My husband is very excited and happy with this dish because I bring back the familiar taste of his hometown for him, which makes me happy too! O(∩_∩)O~

The dish goes well with cooked rice, porridge or rice wine!

Dried Sweet Potatoes

中文： 红薯干

Dried sweet potato was one of my childhood favorites.  It can be served as a snack or a side dish.  It is sweet, soft, and a little bit chewy because of the drying process, which makes it so much joyful to eat dried sweet potatoes.

In sweet potato harvest season, most people in my hometown used to make dried sweet potatoes at home.  The homemade version is so much better than the ones you can buy from grocery store.  They were dried under the warm autumn sunshine, with the dry warm wind blowing over.  For the ten-year-old me, fall is the best season of the year. 

That is also why I still make a large batch of dried sweet potatoes every year.

Ingredients：

10 pounds sweet potatoes
water for steaming/boiling

It is super easy and fast to make dried sweet potatoes at home.  Steam/ boil them over medium high heat for 25 to 45 minutes, depending their sizes, or until a fork can easily pierce through the center.  Remove from heat and let them cool down to room temperature.

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut each into 6 to 8 halves.  Transfer to dehydrator racks and dehydrate at 135F/ 57 C for 7 to 8 hours.  The time needed is also depending on the sweet potato sizes and how chewy you want them to be.  I like mine on the soft side.  Dehydrate for a couple more hours if you prefer chewy texture.

There is a natural way to DIY dried sweet potatoes if you don’t have a dehydrator handy.  Place them on a cooling rack or any kind of racks you have, and dry them under the sun for 2 to 3 days.  It might take an extra couple days to dry if it is cloudy or cold.  Again, it is all depending on the sweet potatoes and your personal preferences.

The natural sweetness from sweet potatoes is good enough for me.  So I didn’t add any sugar.  If you have a sweet tooth, add sugar as needed when steaming or boiling them.

Here it is, one of my childhood favorites!

STIR-FRIED SPICY PORK AND DAIKON

中文：五花肉炒萝卜干2

I posted this recipe before.  It is so good that I just keep cooking this dish.  I just bought a large box of daikon so that I don’t have to worry about running out daikon again.  O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients：

1 piece of pork belly (about 1 1/2pound)
1 1/2 cup dried daikon (also available in Asian grocery store)
2/3 cup dried red chili peppers
2 teaspoons Sichuan pepper corns
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
1 to 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
3 to 4 tablespoon chicken stock/ water
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper
chopped onion
2 to 3 tablespoons oil for cooking
salt to taste

Directions：

Dried daikon is available in Asian grocery store.  You can also make it at home.  It is very easy.  All you need to do is to peel the daikon, cut it into string cheese size pieces and then air dry in a food dehydrator and under the sun.  I prefer to air dry daikon pieces under the hot summer sun.  It takes two to three days to get dried inside and out.

Keep any extra dried daikon in Ziplock bag and store in the refrigerator.  It should be able to last a really long time. 

Two hours before cooking, soak dried dakai in water.  After it is totally rehydrate, rinse a couple times under running water.

Thinly slice the pork belly.

Dried red chili peppers are sometimes covered in dust.  I like to rinse and drain them and then cut into pieces.

Heat a wok over high heat.  Add oil, and then add sliced pork belly.  Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.  Stir fry over high heat until the pork turns slightly golden brown.  Add garlic, Sichuan peppercorns.  Stir fry until the spices are toasted with pork fat.  Add daikon; stir fry for another couple minutes; add chicken stock/ water, oyster sauce, rice cooking wine and salt.  Continue to stir fry until all the liquid is absorbed by pork and daikon.  Sprinkle with chopped green onion and transfer to a big bowl or plate.  Serve immediately.