Asian Today
It’s been a while since I’ve made an Asian inspired meal, so today I put on my apron and fastened it tight, and got bizzy in the kitchen. Most of these recipes I’ve been making for quite a while, they’re all pretty easy, albeit a bit putzy. Most of the time I just eyeball the ingredients, it makes prep time a lot quicker–and prep time is the main portion of preparing any Asian meal. Once the prep is done, the dishes come together fairly quickly. The fried appetizers can be made in advance and frozen (raw or cooked) and thawed before deep frying or reheating in the oven. The temperature of the oil when frying should be quite hot–about 375º F (190º C). And I find the best recipient for making fried rice is a wok. Be sure that for the rice, you start with *cold* cooked rice, it’ll make all the difference in the world (hot rice causes the rice to stick together and become unmanageable, not to mention unappetizing).
So why don’t we start with Wontons?
Ingredients (for about 20 wontons)
1/2 pound ground pork
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 green onions, chopped
1 egg (size small)
salt and pepper to taste
a few drops of sesame oil
20 wonton wrappers
Preparation:
Mix all filling ingredients in a bowl and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
Fill each wrapper with a small amount of filling and pinch the top, forming little packets.
Deep fry at 375ºF/190ºC for 7-10 minutes or until golden.
Drain on paper towels.
Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
The Dumplings are similar to prepare, but instead of frying, we steam them.
Ingredients:
For Dumplings:
1/2 lb ground pork
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
salt and pepper
1 package dumpling wrappers or wonton wrappers, about 20
For Sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablepoons sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger (or more to taste)
3 tablespoons water (optional)
1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)
Preparation:
In a small bowl combine pork, onions, garlic, sesame oil, salt and pepper.
Fill each wrap with a small spoonful of the pork mixture and seal with water, pressing edges and folding a bit to”ruffle” them.
Heat water to boiling, and place bamboo steamer (or seive) lined with a large cabbage or lettuce leaf (to prevent sticking) over the pot.
Reduce heat to medium.
Place dumplings in a single layer (not touching each other) on leaf, cover and steam for 20 minutes or so–until cooked through.
Meanwhile, make sauce.
In a small sauce pan, heat soy sauce, vinegar and sugar, then add garlic and ginger.
Cook until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.
If desired, whisk cornstarch and water to make a slurry and use this to thicken the sauce.
Thickening the sauce allows for better coating of the dumplings while dipping, but is not necessary.
Garnish with chopped green onions and sesame seeds.
Serve hot dumplings with sauce.
The Spring Rolls are probably the most time consuming, but they are easy to do, and freeze well (I like to make a double batch and freeze half for later.)
Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
1 (4 ounce) package rice vermicelli, soaked in cold water for 15 minutes,drained and chopped
1 egg
1 green onion, minced
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, mashed
2 tablespoons grated ginger
1/4 cup finely grated carrots
1 cup finely grated cabbage
1/2 cup bean sprouts
3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons white wine
salt
white pepper
20 spring roll wrappers (I like the frozen ones, though the dry rice wraps are good too, just more difficult to work with)
oil (for frying)
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients except wraps and oil in a bowl.
On a damp tea towel, place a wrap, and fill with a couple of tablespoons of the pork mixture in a sausage like shape at one end of the wrap.
Fold sides in, then begin rolling spring roll at the mixture side.
Seal roll by moistening edge with water.
Heat oil over medium-high heat.
Fry rolls, turning frequently until cooked through and golden, about 5-7 minutes.
Drain on paper towels, and serve with Spring Roll Sauce (Nuoc Mam).
Keep warm in heated oven.
Note: The spring rolls may be made ahead, and frozen, and then fried when thawed.
Spring rolls may be kept in fridge until ready to fry too, up to a day or two in advance.
Ground chicken may be substituted for the pork, and chopped shrimp or crabmeat may also be added.
The Spring Roll Sauce is really quick to make, and really rounds out the flavor of the rolls.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons nuoc nam (fish sauce)
2 cloves garlic
2 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
3 dried red peppers (the tiny ones)
1/2 lime, juice of or lemon, juice of
1/4 cup water, maybe a little less
Preparation:
Using a mortar and pestle, mash garlic and cayenne peppers together with the powdered sugar.
Add fish sauce, water and lime (or lemon) and mix well.
This recipe can easily be doubled.
Add finely shredded carrot and thinly sliced cilantro and green onion for garnish.
And the Fried Rice…a recipe which I tried to recreate from a Japanese restaurant we go to, by watching the Teppanyaki Chefs do their thing….it’s pretty good (if I do say so myself).
Ingredients:
4 cups cooked and cooled rice
3 tablespoons peanut oil
2 eggs, previously beaten, fried and chopped
3-4 tablespoons butter
2-3 cloves garlic
chopped vegetables to your liking…this time, I added a piece of red pepper, green onions and bean sprouts
1/2 cup soy sauce (maybe less, I eyeballed it)
3 tablespoons white wine (or Mirin)
sesame oil to taste
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
First of all, it’s very important to start with pre-cooked and cooled rice–if your rice is still hot, it will get sticky.
Heat oil and butter in a wok over fairly high heat.
Add garlic and sautee until golden, but not burned.
Add vegetables and toss until brightly colored, then immediately add rice, soy sauce and wine, tossing constantly.
When the rice appears to be well coated, toss in a bit of sesame oil and season with salt and pepper.
Remove from heat and serve immediately.
