June 27, 2013

A DUMPLING A DAY: SOUP DUMPLINGS AT JOE'S GINGER

June 27, 2013/ molly yeh

by rochelle of foodle

Ok so what happens when you take a naive pastry student and place her smack dab in the middle of Manhattan for 3 days? Crickets… Well I’ll tell you because that is exactly what I did, with due reason of course. I am pretty good at a little something called pastry, it’s a kind of weird talent or knack of mine that I cannot explain and prevented me from pursuing my parents' dream of my becoming a doctor. Note to all: If you have the grades and the book smarts (aka you're a nerd, like myself) try your best not to disappoint your Jewish mother’s dreams or she will throw a few tantrums and lecture about how you better marry a jewish doctor or lawyer, not a chef. Well I must say it was quite lovely delivering the news that I will be staging at Per Se, arguably one of the best restaurants in the country, definitely on the east coast! Though she had no idea what Per Se was or that a stage was a production based interview and not a Broadway performance, my mother was able to grasp that it was kind of a big deal and for a lapse of time forgot that her little angel would be roaming around the big bad city for a few days.

Equipped with a box of chocolate chip cookies from one of the freshman classes I TA’d for at Johnson & Wales, I began my trip via Megabus to NYC where I’d stay at my friend Nick’s apartment for the duration of my time in the big apple. The bus dropped me off at 28th and 7th, the middle of busy Manhattan, on a Saturday afternoon. I know I looked like a lost outsider as I bounded for my suitcase from below the bus before some stranger swiped it! I proceeded to turn in circles to find which street was next up, left, right, so confused. A lovely stranger assisted me with directions and asked for some change or monetary donation. The moment of truth! Will the naïve, clumsy chef give the needy some change and reveal to the entire city the exact location of her wallet? My friends would certainly be proud because I told the nice man that I had no cash on me but I would be happy to give him some cookies! Yes, you read correctly, the first thing I did in New York City was trade chocolate chip cookies made with couverture for directions, and guess what? I kept doing that as I proceeded to get lost on the Manhattan Subway System for two hours before finding my friend Nick’s apartment at 71 Broadway, not 71st and Broadway. Whoops! Well needless to say, Nick and his roommates were lucky to get half a box of cookies.

Back at the apartment, I attempted to explain my mission for the next three days to the boys residing there: Eat my way through the city at restaurants and cafes recommended by my chef instructors and wise friends. Crickets… similar to the crisp, crunchy, crack of a kosher dill pickle, Nick’s roommate Eamon bites into a raw potato with salt. What did I just walk into? In a city where the food is everything, at least in my view, these college kids have moved past ramen and straight to raw, starchy vegetables! I tried this culinary abomination and was surprised to find that it was in fact edible, but lacking all flavors any normal human should desire. In a food world brimming with modernist cuisine I could see brunoise raw potatoes in some strange salad, they do have a unique crunch, but these guys were in dire need of a food revolution.

Our first stop was Joe’s Ginger for dumplings. Eric, a fellow TA and good friend of mine, told me I had to try these “soupy” dumplings in Chinatown and he recommended Joe’s Ginger. It didn’t look all that special amongst the array of Chinese restaurants. But all around us were Chinese New Year festivities so generally everything besides the confetti covered streets was lackluster. The place was packed so that was my indication we hit the jackpot and were in for something good. Because we had many more restaurants to covet, we decided just to order these renowned soupy dumplings for the table. In a jiffy the steamer was brought to our table and beneath the lid were the little pockets of heaven. As we took our first bites, everyone’s face grimaced then smiled because after the squirt of hot, oily soup shoots in your mouth you get to the warm meatball in the center. I try to slurp the last bit of soup out of dumpling and then eat the tender shell that encapsulated it. Mmmm…so savory, umami, delicious! After one bite I knew I’d have to get the recipe someday. I am so glad I am going to Israel on the Birthright trip because I have now met who I presume to be the Dumpling Queen, Molly Yeh and I believe she is willing to share her tasty recipe for “Soupy” Dumplings.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my guest post. Big shout out to Molly Yeh!

-rochelle cooper

this post is part of the dumpling a day while i'm away guest blogger series. i'm in israel right now so i've gotten some awesome bloggers, photographers, and writers, to showcase delicious dumplings. if you're interested in being a dumpling guest blogger, send me a note at yeh.molly@gmail.com. yay!

June 26, 2013

A DUMPLING A DAY: SAN DIEGO'S DUMPLING MAN

June 26, 2013/ molly yeh

by louise of laid off mom

Our family has had a great love affair w/ dumplings for a couple years now.

The moistness, the authentic flavors, and the fact that they’re fresh + handmade, always keep us coming back for more!

The hubby works at Nokia here in San Diego, and every month
the dumpling man
travels in his van and delivers handmade dumplings to the employees…

In no fancy, commercial vacuum sealed bags…the dumplings simply come packaged in Ziploc bags that are then organized in grocery bags for each employee who placed an order.

We always get 2 kinds of dumplings…these soup balls and the pork/shrimp ones:

These are our faves!

The soup balls are THE BEST and are often gone far quicker than its pork/shrimp counterpart. When you bite into the soup balls, there’s a delicious broth that oozes out and there’s always a danger that you may burn your tongue.

Between my hubbs and our 2 girls, we can eat 20-30 dumplings in one sitting!

And the soy sauce…NOPE! We hardly ever eat it with soy sauce or any sauce for that matter! I dunno if its how the dumpling man makes these, but the dumplings are great without any additional flavors added. Any soy sauce just ruins it for me.

Me + Dumplings = BFF’s

-louise edu

June 25, 2013

A DUMPLING A DAY: PASTEL DE QUEIJO

June 25, 2013/ molly yeh

by catherine of fox in the pine

Pastel de queijo is an appetizer commonly eaten in Brazil. You can order it at fancy restaurants or bars as well as from street vendors for a quick snack. It is really easy to make and is quite delicious with its hot gooey cheese inside! Cheers to cheese!

Ingredients:

1 pack of wonton wrappers

Monterey Jack or Swiss cheese

Vegetable oil

Small bowl of warm water

Directions:

Cut the cheese into 1 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/2" rectangular cubes. Place one piece of cheese onto a wonton. Dab one finger into a small bowl of warm water and lightly wet the edge of two adjacent sides of the wonton. Press the wonton closed with the opposite side to make a triangular pocket that encloses the cheese. Repeat these steps with each pastel.

Fill a small frying pan with a 1/2" layer of vegetable oil. Heat up the oil and fry each pastel for just a minute or two on each side, or until golden brown.

Remove and serve hot!

-CATHERINE JOHNSON

May 31, 2013

A DUMPLING A DAY: RISOLES

May 31, 2013/ molly yeh

by catherine of fox in the pine

Risoles are a delicious Portuguese and Brazilian treat. They take a bit of time to prepare, but are well worth the effort. They can be filled with anything from cheese to vegetables to meat, but are most commonly filled with a beef and vegetable mixture. Growing up, my mom and maternal grandmother used the following recipe that uses ground beef as the main ingredient. It's a fun food to make as a family, working together to prepare a delicious treat. And, for this reason, risoles will always remind me of home.

Ingredients for meat filling:

1/2 lb ground beef

1/2 sweet onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated

Olive oil

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tomatoes, diced

1 boiled egg, diced

10 Kalamata olives, diced

1/2 cup parsley, chopped

Dash of nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions for meat filling:

Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil into a large pot. On medium heat, add the ground beef into the pot and brown while mixing. Add the chopped onions, garlic and ginger and allow to cook, adding more olive oil if necessary. Cook for about 15 minutes. Once the meat is nearly cooked through, add the chopped tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, and a dash of fresh nutmeg. Stir while cooking for the last minute or two. Once it is cooked, remove from heat and add the chopped olives, parsley and chopped boiled egg. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Note: Make sure to make the filling a bit saltier since the dough does not contain salt.

Ingredients for dough (makes 30):

1 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon butter

4 chunks of fresh lemon peel

1 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

Directions:

In a large pot, put in the milk, water, butter and lemon peel and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the flour and baking powder. Mix with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together. Once it starts sticking into kind of a ball, remove from heat and place it on a floured surface. Knead the hot dough together for about 3 minutes.

Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. With one part, roll the dough out until it is 1/8" thick. Use a circular cookie cutter with a 3" diameter to cut circles of dough. Spoon a tablespoon of the meat filling onto the center of the circle. Fold the two sides together and squeeze shut, making sure that there are no areas left open. Repeat this process until there is no more dough.

Ingredients for breading:

1 egg beaten heavily

Bread crumbs

Vegetable oil

In a small bowl, heavily beat an egg so that it is smooth. In a separate bowl, pour in a cup or two of bread crumbs. One-by-one dip the pockets into the egg mixture and then into the bread crumbs mixture. Make sure to cover both sides. Repeat this process with all of the risoles.

Note: At this point the risoles can be frozen or fried. To freeze them, put them in a tupperware container, but make sure to use wax paper so that they do not stick to the container or to each other. To fry them, read on.

Once all of the risoles have been breaded, heat up a frying pan filled with about a 1/2" of vegetable oil. To make sure the oil is hot enough, dab a corner of the dough into the oil. If it bubbles around the dough it is ready to fry. Once the pan and oil are hot enough, add a few risoles to the pan. When one side of the risole is golden, flip to fry the other. It only takes about a minute on each side. Once each side is fried and golden, remove from the oil and serve while still hot!

-CATHERINE JOHNSON

this post is part of the dumpling a day while i'm away guest blogger series. i'm in hong kong right now so i've gotten some awesome bloggers, photographers, and writers, to showcase delicious dumplings. if you're interested in being a dumpling guest blogger, send me a note at yeh.molly@gmail.com. yay!