Per usual, my blogs have been few and far between. I really have no excuse for December's lack of blogging, except for perhaps two week's worth of finals. Psh, I know. Such an excuse for the weak!
So hopefully everyone had a happy and safe holiday with their families and loved ones! I was tucked away in the woods of Preston, CT- enjoying all the comforts of home for a good 12 days. There, I indulged in all the foods that my mom likes to stock pile when my sister and I are home. I had aspirations to do a blog or two when I was home, but the fact that my mom was there, cooking FOR me... well, I just was enjoying being spoiled too much to be bothered to concoct my own recipes.
All in all, I had a great, great time in CT. Of course, all good things must come to an end.... that is for better things! The rest of my winter break was spent in Colorado enjoying high altitude, fresh air, and especially good company. I had my first experience snowboarding in CO and lets just say, when forced to go down runs called "The Moz", uhh, there is a lot of shrieking before many impacts that follow the shriek. But, the upside is, I didn't break anything, no tripping in parking lots, and make it back to Chicago in one piece for the most part.
Okay, so after a quick recap of my life, lets get back to why I am blogging about Wonton soup. I know, I've blogged it before... but this time, there is an actual recipe!! Having a craving for a good meal made with my own hands, I thought I would give the wonton soup a shot. Leaving CO, where 38F feels AWESOME because of the dry desert air, to come back to the city where the temp is 3F WITHOUT the windchill, that just means one thing: SOUP.
I made a chicken/shrimp stock (I will not blog because it came out part disastrous, part really good) as the soup base. But for this blog, I'll only post how to do the filling and wontons. To make a reasonable broth, just heat up some chicken stock and add a splash or two of fish sauce.
Wonton, as my mom makes it, is a combination of shrimp and pork ground together in a food processor. Since I am always cooking for myself, portion control is a HUGE problem. This time intensive soup is not meant to make just one serving. For the pork, I bought a small chunk of pork belly from Whole Foods and about .5 lbs 50-60 cnt head on shrimp, which I then proceeded to devein, peel and behead to toss the shells and shrimp head into the stock pot.
I think the most difficult part will be finding good wonton wrappers (who likes thick wonton wrappers? certainly not I!) and good, fresh wonton noodle. You'll want to hit your local asian grocery for that. Lucky for me, I keep that stuff handy in the freezer. The sauces and spices in the filling should be easily found in the international food aisle, but if you are already at the asian grocery getting your wonton wrappers and noodles, you might want to pick up the fish sauce and oyster sauce there too. Be warned though, Fish sauce only comes in 1 litre bottles.
FISH SAUCE? ewwwwww you might say. But I would take that back if I were you. I bet if you ever ate anything asian, there's most likely at least a splash of fish sauce, if not more. It's sort of the magic sauce that makes everything really tasty.
You'll also note that I did not use any salt in the filling. The fish sauce IS the salt seasoning for the filling, so you won't want to add any additional salt.
I sort of gauged my filling seasoning by smell. Kind of weird, I know. But you sort of just KNOW when it is seasoned just right via smell, plus I am a very scent oriented person so, it works for me. Also, something about taste testing raw pork and shrimp... Trichinosis anyone?
Wonton Dumplings
ingredients
~.5 lbs uncooked shrimp, you can just get already peeled, beheaded ones. or beheaded, deveined and then peel them
~.5 lbs pork belly (also known as pork side), cut into .5inch chunks
1 small shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
2 teaspoon oil oil
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 package wonton wrappers
1 egg, cracked into a bowl
instructions
1. into your food processor, grind up the pork 2-3 minutes, then toss in the shrimp. Grind for an additional 1-2 minutes. You'll want to be able to see medium chunks of shrimp
2. put in garlic, shallots, and spices/sauces. Grind for 1-2 minutes. Shrimp chunks should be small.
3. put filling into a bowl, and mix with a spoon until all spices/sauces have bee evenly distributed.
4. Taking your wonton wrapper, wet 1/2 of square, diagonally with the egg.
5. Place about 1 tsp of filling into the center of the wrapper.
6. Fold the wrapper along the diagonal so that the egg wetted half meets the dry half. taking the two further corners of the triangle, pull them together to make the little wonton pocket. pinch together with a little egg wash to stick it together.
7. dunk into a pot of boiling water for 6-8 minutes, until floating.
8. enjoy with wonton noodles in a broth or by themselves dipped in some soy sauce!
makes about 3 dozen wontons
Showing posts with label asian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asian. Show all posts
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Friday, October 23, 2009
Bison Stir Fry over Brown Jasmine Rice
Back home in Connecticut, somewhere between Buttonwoods Farm (best ice cream EVER) and my house, there is a Bison Farm. All summer long Andrea, Vaughn and I discussed doing from scratch, homemade burgers (condiments & buns included) and using Bison as the protein. But before I knew it, summer came and went and I was packed to the brim in my little Corolla and making my way to the Windy City! Our homemade burger endeavors never came to fruition. Bummer.
I'm also not going to lie when I say I've been wanting to try bison for quite sometime. It's a red protein and it has less fat, calories and cholesterol then chicken! I've had just about everything else: rabbit, venison, veal, quail, squab, ducks, turkeys, what ever, but the Bison! It's eluded me FOREVER.
So I thought I was going to get to fulfill the dream of having Bison when I was in Colorado. For some reason, I was under the impression that there was a bounty of Bison everywhere! And that when I got to either Boulder or Breckenridge, I would be stuffing my face in a nice, delightful, tasty, Bison Burger. That was a Fail alright!
Christel was like "Lisa I don't know why you thought that there would be Bison here." I don't know either Christ, I sure don't.
Anyhow, with a craving for red meat, on the hunt for some quality beef, I stumbled across this fridge full of South Dakota Bison at the local Whole Foods. The stars aligned just right and that was it. It was love. Today was the day. I was finally going to have some Bison.
I did an overnight marinate of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, garlic, chopped basil, brown sugar, agave nectar, chili flakes, shallots, splash of red wine vinegar and olive oil.
Then with a myriad of veggies: mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, red onion, & red bell peppers, I sauteed them up in olive oil, garlic, crushed fresh ginger, and a splash more of soy sauce (salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste of course).
Over all success: I'd rate pretty high. It's hard to screw up a stir fry... unless the Salt Lady came and fell right into your dish... but thankfully, that didn't happen! Bison itself, if you gave me beef stir fry or bison, I wouldn't have known the difference. Next time, I am going to have to try to just as it, grilled with some sea salt and cracked pepper.
I'm also not going to lie when I say I've been wanting to try bison for quite sometime. It's a red protein and it has less fat, calories and cholesterol then chicken! I've had just about everything else: rabbit, venison, veal, quail, squab, ducks, turkeys, what ever, but the Bison! It's eluded me FOREVER.
So I thought I was going to get to fulfill the dream of having Bison when I was in Colorado. For some reason, I was under the impression that there was a bounty of Bison everywhere! And that when I got to either Boulder or Breckenridge, I would be stuffing my face in a nice, delightful, tasty, Bison Burger. That was a Fail alright!
Christel was like "Lisa I don't know why you thought that there would be Bison here." I don't know either Christ, I sure don't.
Anyhow, with a craving for red meat, on the hunt for some quality beef, I stumbled across this fridge full of South Dakota Bison at the local Whole Foods. The stars aligned just right and that was it. It was love. Today was the day. I was finally going to have some Bison.
I did an overnight marinate of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, garlic, chopped basil, brown sugar, agave nectar, chili flakes, shallots, splash of red wine vinegar and olive oil.
Then with a myriad of veggies: mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, red onion, & red bell peppers, I sauteed them up in olive oil, garlic, crushed fresh ginger, and a splash more of soy sauce (salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste of course).
Over all success: I'd rate pretty high. It's hard to screw up a stir fry... unless the Salt Lady came and fell right into your dish... but thankfully, that didn't happen! Bison itself, if you gave me beef stir fry or bison, I wouldn't have known the difference. Next time, I am going to have to try to just as it, grilled with some sea salt and cracked pepper.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Lemongrass Ginger Grilled Chicken Wings
So much like my last post, I haven't posted a recipe in well over 1 month. With all the much needed summer fun going on, there's been a lot of time to cook but no time to blog!
One favorite summer activity has been is going out on Amos Lake and doing "Sunset BBQs" on the boat. After an hour or two of wake boarding, a much needed grill session is always in order!
Changing things up from the usual burgers and hot dogs, I brought over some wings in this concocted marinate that I've modified from a recipe my mom frequently utilizes. So here is the closest anyone will ever get to getting one of my mom's top secret recipes!
I'm also dedicating this blog post to Cat N., a friend of mine from Santa Barbara. She was always my biggest fan! Thanks lady! :] Also, props to Emily B. for snagging my camera in the nick of time to snap a perfect picture of the wings grilling on the boat!
If I actually had to give this a name utilizing all the ingredients, it would be a VERY long title, so I'll just call these "Lemongrass Ginger Grilled Chicken Wings". Beats out any Asian Teriyaki chicken anytime if you ask me!
Lemongrass Ginger Grilled Chicken Wings
NOTE: Since this is a marinate that you are concocting and I never really measure (I did this time, but accidentally tossed out that paper with the approximations) there is quite a bit of flexibility so you really can't go wrong!
ingredients
4-5 lbs chicken wingettes (or you can just leave the wings whole, your choice)
.25 cup Oyster Sauce
3.5 tbsp Mushroom Soy Sauce (or dark soy sauce)
2.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
.25 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp spoon red chili flakes
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
1.5 tbsp minced Lemongrass
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
materials
1 gallon zip lock bag
1 mixing bowl
1 spoon
1. Taking all the ingredients (except for the chicken), mix them together in the bowl.
2. Put washed wings into the zip lock bag.
3. Dump marinate into bag.
4. Zip bag up
5. Proceed to massage and mix, coating the wings well.
6. Let marinate for at least 30 min, but the longer the better. Marinate overnight for best results.
7. Grill! As you grill, baste with excess marinate. Makes it extra tasty.
Makes enough wings for 5-6 people to enjoy on a party boat while sippin' on some Coronas with limes :] !
One favorite summer activity has been is going out on Amos Lake and doing "Sunset BBQs" on the boat. After an hour or two of wake boarding, a much needed grill session is always in order!
Changing things up from the usual burgers and hot dogs, I brought over some wings in this concocted marinate that I've modified from a recipe my mom frequently utilizes. So here is the closest anyone will ever get to getting one of my mom's top secret recipes!
I'm also dedicating this blog post to Cat N., a friend of mine from Santa Barbara. She was always my biggest fan! Thanks lady! :] Also, props to Emily B. for snagging my camera in the nick of time to snap a perfect picture of the wings grilling on the boat!
If I actually had to give this a name utilizing all the ingredients, it would be a VERY long title, so I'll just call these "Lemongrass Ginger Grilled Chicken Wings". Beats out any Asian Teriyaki chicken anytime if you ask me!
Lemongrass Ginger Grilled Chicken Wings
NOTE: Since this is a marinate that you are concocting and I never really measure (I did this time, but accidentally tossed out that paper with the approximations) there is quite a bit of flexibility so you really can't go wrong!
ingredients
4-5 lbs chicken wingettes (or you can just leave the wings whole, your choice)
.25 cup Oyster Sauce
3.5 tbsp Mushroom Soy Sauce (or dark soy sauce)
2.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
.25 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp spoon red chili flakes
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
1.5 tbsp minced Lemongrass
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
materials
1 gallon zip lock bag
1 mixing bowl
1 spoon
1. Taking all the ingredients (except for the chicken), mix them together in the bowl.
2. Put washed wings into the zip lock bag.
3. Dump marinate into bag.
4. Zip bag up
5. Proceed to massage and mix, coating the wings well.
6. Let marinate for at least 30 min, but the longer the better. Marinate overnight for best results.
7. Grill! As you grill, baste with excess marinate. Makes it extra tasty.
Makes enough wings for 5-6 people to enjoy on a party boat while sippin' on some Coronas with limes :] !
Monday, May 25, 2009
Eggrolls
Most people on Memorial Day have foods that include hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, and watermelon. In my family, not so much. Our picnics usually consist of my mom making amazing steaks marinated in this sauce that I can't even explain, wings (some of you have had the pleasure of having) also marinated in amazingess, vietnamese style coleslaw, some kind of noodle soup spring rolls, and lettuce wraps.
Today, my mom's feature was Eggrolls. My mom made a filling of pork and shrimp, carrots, glass noodles, rehydrated mushrooms, onion, garlic, and of course fish sauce. I would post the recipe, but once again, she likes to be all top secret about it... or just not tell me the proportion for each ingredient.
Deep fried goodness, my mom's eggrolls are extremely satisfying. They can be eaten plain or wrapped in a roman lettuce leaf and dipped in a sweet fish sauce for a touch of tang and sweetness.
I swear, one day I will post one of my mom's amazing foods.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Homemade Wontons
My mom is an amazing woman. If any of you have ever had the luxury of eating some of her food, you know that I am not lying when I say it is BOMB. This past weekend was awesome where my mom spent some time cooking up a storm. Here are some shots of the Wontons that we made together.
Sadly though, I can't post the recipe. My mom is very secretive of her food and how she prepares it so she already vetoed the idea of telling me all the magic that she uses to prepare. Too bad! So sad! You can take a peek with pictures and drool instead. You'll just have to just come over one day for lunch instead.
I forgot to take a final picture of what the soup looks like all together but in a big bowl, you have your broth, egg noodles, wontons, scallions/cilantro mixture to top it off with and some fried red onions and happiness ensues.
Sadly though, I can't post the recipe. My mom is very secretive of her food and how she prepares it so she already vetoed the idea of telling me all the magic that she uses to prepare. Too bad! So sad! You can take a peek with pictures and drool instead. You'll just have to just come over one day for lunch instead.
I forgot to take a final picture of what the soup looks like all together but in a big bowl, you have your broth, egg noodles, wontons, scallions/cilantro mixture to top it off with and some fried red onions and happiness ensues.
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