Wonton

New and Old. Those words have been the theme of the past few weeks.

Thankfully last quarter ended a few weeks ago. This means no more 20 hours of work a week of biostats! This also means that we had spring break.

Instead of relaxing on the beach which most people do on spring break, I decided to go to Indiana. That's new. Why Indiana? One of my best friends, Bethany, goes to school out there in Indiana Wesleyan University. Chelsea (chocolate girl) flew from Nebraska and we had a great time catching up and hearing about what God was doing in each other's lives. It was such a needed time with old friends.

Spring quarter has officially started; I'm especially excited about two of my new classes that I'm taking this term. BIEB 176: Conservation and the Human predicament is a biology class that focuses on wildlife conservation. VIS 121B: Cities, Castles, and Cathedrals is an art history class that has a lecture on the city Canterbury, England (where I studied in the Fall).


Also, I started to volunteer in the Nieh Lab where they are studying honeybee and bumble bee behavior. The topic of bees is becoming increasingly popular in the media due to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). CCD is a new phenomenon where bee workers across the globes are disappearing. Bees play a crucial role as pollinators for our fruits. So unless we want to eat rice, wheat, and corn for the rest of humanity's time on earth, we should help our six legged friends.


To balance out this new quarter, I decided to pull out an old recipe.

This recipe for wonton (Chinese dumplings) was created by my dad and me. When I was 3 years old, I was at a babysitter's house who made amazing Chinese food - my love of food comes partly from them. My dad would make huge batches of wonton and give them to my babysitter to cook for me for lunch. Apparently, my babysitter would ask me if they were too salty, needed more mushrooms, etc and my dad changed the recipe accordingly. What a great dad! So this recipe was created before I could even write. Every time I eat them, it brings me back to my childhood and reminds me of my dad. I've updated the recipe since and its still my favorite wonton recipe.


The Ingredients
Filling:
1lb ground pork
1/2 pound shrimp
10-12 dried shiitake mushrooms
1/4 cup water chesnuts
5 stalks green onions
3 tablespoons soy sauce
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon sesame oil
The Makings of:
wonton wrappers
1 egg
chicken broth
green onions for garnish


The Method
Soak the mushrooms in warm water until soft and then dice. Peel and devein the shrimp. That black intestinal track is about as tasty as it sounds. Then chop the shrimp up. Mince the water chestnuts which can be found in cans in an Asian grocery store. Thinly slice the green onions.

In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, the shrimp, the mushrooms, the water chestnuts, and the green onions.

Then add the soy, salt, cornstarch, and sesame oil.

Mix to combine. Don't tell anyone but its easiest to use your hands. Let the mixture chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes. This lets all the flavors combine and makes it easier to work with. Ground meat doesn't make a great picture I know.

When the mixture is chilled, it's folding time! There are many ways to fold them, this is the way I learned. Crack the egg into a bowl and add some water to make an egg wash for folding. First, take a wrapper out and lay it with one of the corners pointing towards you.

Then put a teaspoon of filling in the middle and moisten the top two edges with the egg wash.

Then fold the bottom triangle up. Press out the air going from the center outwards and press the edges to seal tightly.

Then moisten one corn with the egg wash and tuck the other corner on top. Press firmly.

All Done! One down, many more to go.

Folding the wonton is easier than you think. It may take some practice but after a dozen or so, you'll be a wonton making machine. Another great idea is to invite friends over and have them help out or have your kids help out. I helped my dad when I was little. Lay the wonton on cookie trays and freeze them. Once frozen, place them in plastic bags for storage.

Now what did I do with all of these wonton? My favorite way to cook them is to boil them. Place them in boiling water and reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 5-6 min for fresh and 7-8min for frozen. Ladle some hot chicken broth over them and sprinkle some more green onions on top.

One of my favorite things about food is when it can bring back old memories. I hope you can make these wonton with your friends and family to create even more fun times. What are some of your favorite childhood eats?

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Lettuce wraps maybe one of the best food ideas ever. You get to eat with you hands, the filling is bursting with flavor and there is always that satisfying crunch of the fresh lettuce. These wraps are so simple to make. We always have lettuce wraps at every Chinese banquet I go to; those are filled with dried oysters, meat, and other vegetable. Honestly, I am not a huge oyster fan but I always am one of the first to scarf them down. Here is a more home-friendly recipe that captures the essences and flavors of this refreshing dish.

The Ingredients
1 head of iceberg lettuce
1.5 lb ground turkey
1.5 lb ground pork
1 onion, minced
1 can water chestnuts, finely diced
10 dried mushrooms, soaked and minced
1 tablespoon grated ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
half a bunch of cilantro
4 stalks of green onion
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1.5 tablespoons sugar
dash of chili flakes
salt
pepper
oil
hoisin sauce

The Method
Separate the leaves of the lettuce and lay them on a platter. Cover them with a wet cloth to keep them crisp.
Heat up a large pan on medium high heat. Pour a tablespoon of oil and saute the ground meat until cooked. Place in a large bowl.
Heat the pan again with some oil and sweat the onions for a few minutes. Throw in the garlic, ginger and mushrooms and continue cook for another few minutes. Add the water chestnuts, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili flakes and sugar. Crack some fresh black pepper.Pour the meat back in and add the green onions, and cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Take it off the heat and put it into a large bowl.
Take a leaf of lettuce, put a teaspoon of hoisin sauce on the bottom, lay on a couple spoonfuls of the filling and enjoy. This recipe will serve about 5-6 as a full meal or 8-10 as an appetizer.

Cantonese Chicken Claypot (without the claypot)

So I decided to ditch the claypot, mainly because I didn't have one, and chose to make it in a rice cooker instead. The results are about the same; although with the claypot, you can get a crunchy layer of rice at the bottom. But what college student has a chinese claypot on hand? Not this one. This Chinese dish takes many flavors and combines them to create a very homely dish.
The Ingredients
3 cups of rice (I used medium grain, but adjust water for long grain)
1.5 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
3 stalks green onion, chopped
2 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
10-12 dried shitake mushrooms
3 chinese sausages (lop cheung), sliced
.25 cup cilantro, chopped
cooking oil
for the chicken:
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1.5 teaspoons cornstarch
.5 teaspoon sesame oil
.5 teaspoon sugar
.25 teaspoon pepper
for the rice:
4 cups of water
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
pinch of salt

The Method
Chop the chicken into large chunks and mix it with the chicken seasoning. Let this marinade for at least 3 hours or overnight. Soak the dried mushrooms in water for at least half an hour until soft. Cut them in half. Slice the sausages, and chop the green onions, cilantro and the ginger.Mix the water and rice seasonings in the rice cooker. Press the cook button.
Put a large pan on medium high heat and pour some vegetable oil to prevent sticking. When the pan is hot, place the chicken and mushrooms in a single layer. Brown the chicken and make several batches if you need too. Throw in the ginger and chinese sausages. Take the chicken out when it is about half cooked and place in a large bowl. When the rice has about 7-8 minutes left and is dry, add the chicken, mushrooms and sausages. Close the rice cooker and let it cook. When the button pops up or beeps sprinkle the green onions and cilantro on top, and set a timer for 12-15 more minutes. This will continue to cook the chicken and let the flavors mix. Serve with additional cilantro and green onion. This recipe feeds 4-6.

Coconut Sticky Rice with Fresh Berries

Rice...for dessert? For those of you who have not tried this Thai dessert, I can understand that this may seem a little weird. It's good, I promise. The match of the sweet, creamy yet slightly salty rice pairs perfectly with the sweetness of seasonal fruit. I usually prefer mangoes with the sticky rice, and it is indeed more traditional. Sadly, the mangoes were not-so-great so I opted with fresh strawberries and blackberries instead.

The Ingredients
2 cups of Thai sweet rice
3 cups water
1 can of coconut milk (not lite)
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Strawberries
Blackberries
sesame seeds

The Method
The traditional way of preparing Thai sweet rice is to soak it for hours and then steam it in a special basket. I have found that if you put the rice with the water in a rice cooker, it turns out pretty well. However, it's important to let it soak for at least 20 minutes and then press the cook button.
Meanwhile, put a small saucepan on medium heat. Pour in the coconut milk, sugar and salt. Take the cooked rice and pour it into a large mixing bowl. With a rubber spatula, fold the rice to fluff it. Pour in the coconut milk mixture. It will look pretty soupy at first but let it set covered for about 10 minutes and the rice should adsorb it all. Fluff once more and plate a small mound and sprinkle it with the fresh berries and sesame seeds.
This serves around 6-8 hungry college students craving this Thai dessert.

Lumpia Basah

Lumpia basah is definitely one of my new favorite foods. Lumpia basah is not your typical lumpia. Instead of the unhealthly, but oh so delicious, deep fried lumpia, this Indonesian version is wrapped by a savory crepe skin. In my book, these out rank their fried friends. My Indonesian friend, Janice, came over one night and we made about 40 of these with this recipe and ate most of them ourselves. This recipe is from what Janice remembers and what I thought would sound good. I would strongly encourage you to make these wrapped pieces of heaven. I promise you, you won't be sorry.

The Ingredients for the Filling
.5 lb ground pork
.5 lb ground chicken
.5 lb ground turkey
1 large yellow onion
2 carrots
1 small jicama
1 cup cloud ear mushrooms
4 green onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic
.25 cup chopped cilantro
4 bundles of clear, bean thread noodles
1 tablespoon soy sauce
.5 teaspoon sesame oil
salt
pepper

The Ingredients for the Crepes
3 cups flour
3 cups milk
3 eggs
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt

The Method
This recipe works best with two people, one to make the crepes and the other to work on the filling.
The crepes are fairly simply but are perfect for this dish. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, milk, eggs, salt, and melted butter. Remember the whole discussion on over mixing, which leads to chewy, rubbery crepes...not good. Take a medium pan and put it on medium heat. Take about a 1/3 cup of batter and do the scoop, pour, and swish technique to cover the pan. Once lightly browned flip and cook for another 30 seconds on the other side. Repeat this process until you are left with a large stack of tasty crepes. Try and resist eating too many.
The filling starts with getting all the ingredients prepped. Soak the clear noodles in cool water for about 10 minutes until soft. Cut then with clean scissors into 2-3 inch lengths. Mince the garlic and slice the green onions, cilantro and the cloud ears. Cloud ears are a type of mushroom which have a crunchy texture.
Next, pull out a box grater. Grate the carrots, onion and jicama into separate piles. Take the jicama and squeeze out the juice to keep the filling from being too moist.
Take a large pan with a little vegetable oil and heat on medium high. Saute the grated onions, then add the carrots and garlic after a couple of minutes. Then add the jicama and cloud ear mushrooms. Salt this mixture to taste or add some soy sauce. Put this vegetable mixture in a bowl and set aside.Heat the pan again, fry the turkey, pork, and chicken with some soy sauce until cooked. The pork provides flavor, and the turkey and chicken add body. You could use one kind of meat if you would like. Add the vegetables, clear noodles, cilantro, green onions, sesame oil, freshly ground pepper and more soy sauce/salt if needed. Stir to combine all the ingredients and check for seasoning.Now comes the fun part. Get your stack of crepes, filling and a couple of spoons. Hopefully, you or your friends haven't eaten them all. Lay a crepes on a cutting board or large plate. Put a couple tablespoons of filing in the center of the crepes. Fold in the sides and roll the lumpia up like a burrito. Keep rolling until there are no more crepes and filling left.
These lumpia basah can be eaten warm or room temperature. They are really great with sweet chili sauce, available at many asian grocery store. I hope you enjoy this recipe because these lumpia basah are one of my favorite foods to eat, ever.

Thai Basil Chicken

The cuisine of Thailand is definitely one of my favorites. The flavors are so fresh, flavorful and leave that certain taste in your mouth, that once you have tasted it only makes you want bowls the size of kiddie pools full of the stuff. Thai food has a few key ingredients that make it distinctly unique in my book: limes, chilies, Thai basil and fish sauce. I know, I know...fish sauce. It doesn't have the appeal or allure of let's say Thai basil. However, it is one of those ingredients that by itself, wouldn't taste so great, but a dash of it makes the dish come alive and brings everything together. So don't skip on that.
This may seem like a complicated dish, but it's worth it. Try it and let me know what you think.

The Ingredients
1.5 pounds of chicken breast
1/3 pound green beans
1 red bell pepper
1 red onion
3 cloves garlic
1 lime
2 Thai chiles
1.5 cups of Thai Basil leaves
.5 cup chicken broth
1-2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons soy sauce
vegetable oil
pepper
salt

The Method
The first step is to put the chicken breasts (wrapped in plastic wrap) in the freezer for 30-45 minutes. Take the chicken out of the freezer and take a sharp chef's knife out. The freezing will make the meat more firm and easier to cut. Take the breast and turn it so that you can cut it against the grain. Cut into thin pieces. Put into a bowl and mix with half the fish sauce and half the soy sauce to marinade for a while.
Then wash and prep all the vegetables. Cut off the stem side of the green beans and cut them into thirds. Cut open the bell pepper, remove the seed core, seeds, and ribs. Then cut the pepper lengthwise into 1.5 inch strips, and then cut those strips into small julienne. Next, the red onion lengthwise, cut off the ends and remove the skin. Make radial cuts following the natural curve of the onion to get long thin strips. This is called frenching an onion. Peel and mince the garlic.
Heat up a large pan on medium high heat with some oil. Toss in the garlic, and chicken and cook until it turns opaque. Remove and put it into another dish. Heat the pan up again and put some more oil into it.
Next, throw in all of the vegetables: bell peppers, green beans and onions. Sprinkle some salt and crack some pepper into the pan. Saute until the vegetables are slightly crunchy still but have loss the initial crispness about 4-5 minutes.
Zest half the lime with a micro plane and then juice the whole lime. Wearing latex gloves, unless you want burning hands and/or eyes, cut the chilies lengthwise and scrape out most of the seeds and rib. Cut the chiles into very thin strips.
Return the chicken into the pan. Put the sugar, remaining fish sauce, remaining soy sauce, chilies, lime zest, and juice into the pan. Cook for another minute, check for taste. More fish sauce or salt? Finally, add the heap of Thai bail leaves and toss to wilt. (Thai Bail is sweeter than normal basil) Another 30 seconds of heating and this dish is game, set, and a match for fluffy steamed jasmine rice.