Pumpkin and Millet Porridge

中文菜谱： 南瓜糯小米粥

Porridge, also known as congee, has a long history in China.  It was invented when the food was scarce and very limited.  People added a lot of water to the pot with very little grains like rice, barleys, or millets.  The porridge cooked this way was thin, bland and tasteless.  But it fed a lot of hungry bellies when time was hard.  

Nowadays, people continue to cook porridge for its health benefits.  By adding different ingredients, porridges can be quite nutritious and tasty too!  And the combinations are endless.  You can put pretty much anything into porridge to make it sweet or savory.  If you like dim sum, that is a great chance you have already tried some porridge or congee already. 

I recently discover that millets and pumpkin can be a really combination for porridge too!

Ingredients：

1 cup of glutinous millets (sold in most Asian grocery stores)
1 small Kabocha
water as needed

Glutinous millets are different from regular millets.  They are, well, more glutinous /sticky when cooked.  O(∩_∩)O~

Kabocha is also known as “Japanese pumkin / squash”.  They are usually small, round and dark green with beautiful stripes and dots across the whole squash.  

And kabocha usually taste sweeter, more tender and starchy than regular squash.  It is on the top of my favorite squash list.

Directions：

Rinse the kabocha thoroughly under running water.  Put in on top of a steamer in an instant pot.  Fill the pot with 2 to 3 cups of water.   set on high pressure for 8 to 12 minutes depending on the size of kabocha. 

When cooked, remove kabocha’s skin and inner seed mixture.  

Use a fork to finely smash the kabocha flesh.

Meanwhile, soak the glutinous millets for 30 minutes.  Drain well. 

In a cast iron pot, add about 1 gallon of water.  Cook on high heat until the water boils.  I am using a Le Creuset 4 quarts Dutch oven here.  It heats more evenly; can be served with pot and looks so good on the table.

Add soaked glutinous millets. 

Continue to cook on high heat until the millet mixture boils again.  Cover with lid and reduce the heat to simmer.  Do not cover the lid tight.  Leave some space on the edge so that extra moisture from the pot can evaporate. 

Stir with a wooden spoon from time to time.

The porridge would be done in about 45 minutes. 

Fold in kabocha puree with a wooden spoon.   Turn the heat back to high until the porridge boils again. 

Remove from heat and serve hot immediately.

The porridge has a silky and smooth texture.  Kabocha puree adds extra flavors to it. 

It is a bowl of sweet,  silky, and comforting porridge; just like a hug in a bowl! O(∩_∩)O~

Pan-fried Dumplings with Pork and Zucchini

中文菜谱： 鲜肉西葫芦煎饺

Zucchini became an important vegetable when we were still living in a small town in Michigan.  We were far away from Asian grocery stores.  So I shop at the local farmer market a lot to get fresh produce and sometimes grass fed steaks, which, by the way, were super tasty and amazing. 

Leafy greens thrived in early summer.  When July came, most vegetable booths begin to sell local zucchinis, peppers, potatoes and corns. 

That was when I bought so many zucchinis and learned to develop different ways to cook them.  Besides stir fried zucchini, my favorite way is to dry them first a little, chop them up and then put into dumplings.

Chinese dumplings are like Italian pasta.  The ingredient and flavor combinations are endless.  Any ordinary ingredient like zucchini could be used in dumpling fillings and shine like a flavor star. 

Ingredients：

1 lb pork shoulder
5 to 6 zucchinis
1 pack of dumpling wraps (sold in frozen food section in most Asian grocery stores)
1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
1 to 2 teaspoon oyster sauce
1/4  teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4  to 1/2 teaspoon corn starch
1/4  teaspoon ground ginger
1 stalks of green onions, chopped
Chicken broth/ water  
salt to taste
cooking oil
white sesame seeds
water/ egg wash (for dumpling wrapping)

Directions：

Thinly slice the zucchinis.  Use a food dehydrator to partially dry the zucchinis slices just until they are dry to touch and the edges begin to wrinkle. 

If you don’t have a food dehydrator available, air dry and sundry methods are both ok too.

Grind the pork shoulder with a meat grinder.  If you don’t have a meat grinder, remember to ask for help to do so in the store, or you can also buy the ground pork.

Add ground pork to a medium bowl, along with ground white pepper, oyster sauce, rice cooking wine, ground ginger, and corn starch.  Whisk with a pair of chopsticks or a wooden spoon.  Gradually add chicken stock/water while whisking.  The more and harder you whisk, the tender and more elastic the ground pork filling will be. 

Use a food processor to finely chop the zucchini slices. 

Add to the ground pork mixture.

Add salt to taste.  Mix with a pair of chopsticks until well combined.

Brush the dumpling wrapper’s edge with a little water or egg wash. 

Add a couple tablespoons’ pork filling to its center.

Wrap it up.

Repeat the process until all the dumplings are finished.

Heat a small cast iron skillet over medium high heat.  Add 1 to 2 tablespoons oil, and then about 10 dumplings.  Use more oil and a larger pan if you want to cook more than 10 dumplings at a time. 

Pan-fry the dumplings for a couple minutes. 

Add 1/3 cup of water.  Cover with lid immediately after adding water to the pan.

When all the water evaporates, reduce the heat to medium low.  Sprinkle with remaining chopped green onions and white sesame seeds on top.

The bottoms of dumplings are golden brown.

Remove from heat and serve them hot immediately.

There two of my personal dipping sauces for pan-fried dumplings.  One is a combination of chili oil sauce + soy sauce + balsamic vinegar.  The other is sriracha sauce hot chili sauce.

The crunchy golden bottoms of the dumplings are the best part! 

Zucchini’s flavor really stands out in the dumplings.  The fillings taste juicy, tender and with a significant sweetness from zucchinis.  Yum!

Pan-fried Dumplings with Pork, Bamboo shoots and Wood Ear Mushrooms

中文菜谱：

鲜肉春笋木耳煎饺

Dumplings, also known as jiaozi, are one of the very traditional Chinese soul foods.  They are made with thinly hand rolled dough and all kinds of different fillings from pork, to beef, chicken, fish, shrimp, tofu, vegetables… you name it. 

In old times when people work in kitchen without food processor or stand mixer, making dumplings was labor intensive work which required collaborative help of the most family members.  There was a lot of kneading, chopping, dicing, rolling, and wrapping work involved.  I still remember the time when I was very young and all of us sitting around a large table making dumplings together. For that very reason, dumplings used to be festival food.  People couldn’t afford regular daily consumption of dumplings. 

But now things have changed quite a lot.  Dumplings are popular and have become our daily food.  We serve dumplings as breakfast, lunch or dinner.  They prevail in daily life as well as celebrating festivals too. 

I still love making dumplings at home.  It reminds me of the good old times living within a large warm and loving family.

Dumplings can be boiled, steamed or pan fried.  The one I am making this time is pan fried pork dumplings with mushrooms and bamboo shoots.  Yum!

Ingredients：

1 lb pork shoulder
1 pack of frozen bamboo shoots（1 lb / 454g）
1 handful dry wood ear mushrooms
1 pack of dumpling wraps (sold in frozen food section in most Asian grocery stores)
2  eggs
1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
1 to 2 teaspoon oyster sauce
1/4  teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4  ground ginger
1/4  teaspoon sugar
1 to 2 stalks of green onions, finely chopped
Chicken broth/ water  
salt to taste
cooking oil
white sesame seeds

Directions：

The season for fresh bamboo shoots is really short.  It starts with the very first signs of spring, and ends within 2 to 3 weeks.  For the rest of year, only frozen and dried bamboo shoots are available on the market. 

Soak the dry wood ear mushrooms for 2 to 3 hours.  Rinse under running water.  Drain well.

Thaw the frozen bamboo shoots in fridge overnight.   Discard any extra liquid.

Grind the pork should with a meat grinder.  If you don’t have a meat grinder, remember to ask for help to do so in the store, or you also buy the ground pork.

Add ground pork to a medium bowl, along with ground white pepper, oyster sauce, rice cooking wine, ground ginger, sugar and half of the chopped green onions.  Whisk with a pair of chopsticks or a wooden spoon.  Gradually add chicken stock/water while whisking.  The more and harder you whisk, the more tender and elastic the ground pork filling will be. 

 Use a food processor to finely chop the wood ear mushroom and bamboo shoots. 

Add to the ground pork mixture.

Mix with a pair of chopsticks until well combined.

Heat a wok over high heat.  Add oil, and then two eggs and a pinch of salt.  Cook the eggs into scrambled eggs. 

Add the scrambled eggs to the ground pork mixture.  Season with salt and whisk the pork really hard until everything is well mixed again.

Brush the dumpling wrapper’s edge with a little water or egg wash. 

Add a couple tablespoons’ pork filling to its center.

Wrap it up.

Repeat the process until all the dumplings are finished.

Heat a small cast iron skillet over medium high heat.  Add 1 to 2 tablespoons oil, and then about 10 dumplings.  Use more oil and a larger pan if you want to cook more than 10 dumplings at a time. 

Pan-fry the dumplings for a couple minutes. 

Add 1/3 cup of water.  Cover with lid immediately after adding water to the pan.

When all the water evaporates, reduce the heat to medium low.  Sprinkle with remaining chopped green onions and white sesame seeds on top.

The bottoms of dumplings are golden brown.

Remove from heat and serve them hot immediately.

The crunchy golden bottoms of the dumplings are the best part. 

The traditional way is to eat them with a dipping sauce made with soy sauce, vinegar and chili oil.

Bon appetite! O(∩_∩)O~

Spicy Ground Beef with Diced Dried Tofu

中文菜谱：

香辣牛肉豆干酱

The spicy ground beef here is more like spicy meat sauce.  It is not served as an independent entrée or appetizer in our house.  Instead it is used as a condiment or topping in rice and noodles. 

In China, there is a long time tradition to make meat sauce with heavy dose of salt and oil, in some areas chili peppers too.   The original purpose in doing so is to preserve meat and other food ingredients when food was scarce.  However, as time goes by, people get attached to this type of food.  Pick any Asian grocery store you like.  Go in there.  You will see so many different varieties of chili oil sauces, meat pepper sauces and pickles on the shelves.

Sometimes I buy meaty sauce from my favorite Asian grocery stores.  Other times I like spending time in kitchen whipping up my own special spicy meat oil sauce. 

I usually add spicy ground beef to the freshly homemade noodles as a topping.  The flavor is enhanced and the noodles are so much more appetizing  O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients：

1 lb lean ground beef (95% or 100% lean)
2 gloves of garlic, peeled and finely diced
1 small piece of ginger root, fine chopped
2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/4  to 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 to 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup Pixian chili paste
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorns
1/3 to 1/2 cup crushed red chili pepper/ cayenne pepper
salt to taste
1/2 cup of cooking oil
1 package of dried seasoned tofu (weighs around 200g.  Usually sold in fridge section in Asian grocery stores)

Directions:

Dice the dried tofu.

Heat a light weight cast iron wok over high heat.  Add oil, and then ground beef, along with chopped ginger and garlic. 

Stir fry the beef until it turns slightly golden brown. 

Reduce the heat to medium low.  Add rice cooking wine, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, Pixian chili paste, oyster sauce, ground Sichuan peppercorns, crushed red chili pepper/ cayenne pepper.

Sauté the mixture over medium low heat for 8 to 10 minutes

Add diced tofu.  Season with salt.

And then continue to sauté for another 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove from heat

The spicy ground beef can be stored in Ball Mason jars in the fridge for up to a week.

It goes really great with noodle soup and steamed white rice.

I posted how to make noodles at home before: Homemade Noodles in Thick Pork Broth  

Cook the noodles in boiling water for 45 seconds to one minute.  Add to a bowl, along with soy sauce, sesame oil, Sichuan peppercorn oil, chili oil sauce, spicy ground beef with dice tofu, finely shredded cucumber, chopped cilantro, green onion, and of course, crunchy soybeans.

Crunchy soybeans was posted recently: Crunchy Soybeans

Use pair of chopsticks to toss everything together.

Bon appetite! O(∩_∩)O~

Crunchy Soybeans

中文菜谱：

酥黄豆

Crunchy soybeans are far more than a snack to us.  They can also be used as a crunchy topping for Asian style noodle soups too, or as a topping to almost anything you like.  And be careful, these beans can be additive too O(∩_∩)O~

It is super simple and easy to make crunchy soybeans at home.  All you need is a little bit of time and patience, and of course, some soybeans!

Crunchy soybeans make perfect topping for Chinese noodles.

Ingredients：

1 cup of soybeans
water for soaking
1 1/2 to 2 cups oil
salt to taste

Directions：

Add soybeans to a bowl, along with water.  Let it sit overnight.

Soaked soybeans

Drain the soybeans.  Add to a thick sauce pan.  Add oil.  I use a 2 quarts cast iron wok which is perfect for frying small batch of meat and vegetables.

Cook over medium low heat. 

With a spoon, stir the beans from time to time to prevent uneven cooking.

A few minutes later, soybeans start to change colors.

They slowly darken the color. 

Reduce the heat to low.  DO NOT use high heat here.  Otherwise, you might end up with burnt or chewy soybeans instead of crunchy ones.

The beans have been deep-fried over low heat for almost 30 minutes.

Now the color is beautifully golden brown.

Drain the beans and let them cool down in a plate lined with kitchen paper towel.

Sprinkle with fine table salt.  Store in an air-tight mason jar up to 2 weeks after the beans are completely cooled. 

I posted how to make noodles at home before: Homemade Noodles in Thick Pork Broth  

Cook the noodles in boiling water for 45 seconds to one minute.  Add to a bowl, along with soy sauce, sesame oil, Sichuan peppercorn oil, chili oil sauce, spicy ground beef with dice tofu, finely shredded cucumber, chopped cilantro, green onion, and of course, crunchy soybeans.

Use pair of chopsticks to toss everything together.

Bon appetite! O(∩_∩)O~