Around the World in Dumplings

I have long contended that human beings are more alike than they are different. And food is a perfect way to examine our connections. Since starting this blog, I have been trying to decide what I could do each month that would be fun and interesting. And since I teach, maybe a little educational.

I like the idea of exploring the culture of others. Culture should not only be preserved, but shared. We can all grow and learn from each other. The world is becoming more interconnected and all of us need to become global citizens and gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for how the rest of the world lives. Food is one way to explore culture.

I am going to begin this journey with dumplings. Why? Because I like dumplings; they’re cute, homey and comfortable. There are many kinds of dumplings. There are Asian dumplings. The Italians have gnocchi, a potato or ricotta cheese dumpling. The Germans have spaetzle. And finally don’t forget good ole fashioned chicken and dumplings. I will be using this blog to talk about dumplings. On the third Monday of each month, I will present a new dumpling.

All dumplings are some variation of cooked dough. They can be made from flour, potato, or matzoh meal. They can be dropped or rolled (gnocchi) or filled (Asian dumplings). They can be sweet (apple) or savory (chicken and dumplings). They can be a part of a stew or soup, a side dish. They can even be served for dessert.

I am going to start with Chinese dumplings. I have long wanted to learn to make Chinese dumplings. My graduate student, Liz, taught me to make them. Thanks Liz for sharing your culture.

Chinese Dumplings

1 pound lean ground meat (pork, beef, turkey or chicken)
¼ cup finely chopped green onions, with tops
¼ cup shiitake mushrooms
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
1Tablespoon white wine
1 teaspoon cornstarch
4 Tablespoons sesame oil
Dash white pepper
Skin: 40 won ton wrappers

1. Soak shiitake mushrooms in very hot water for 5 minutes. Then squeeze out the excess moisture and minced mushrooms.
2. In a large bowl, mix mushrooms, meat, green onions, ginger, garlic, wine, cornstarch, pepper, sugar, salt, sesame oil, and the white pepper.

Folding the dumplings:
1. With your finger spread water to wash around the edge of the wrapper. Place a small spoonful of filling in the middle. (Be careful not to put too much; it'll leek out during the folding process.)
2. Pinch the edge of the wrapper and make a fold like you see in Step 2. (If you're a beginner at folding, place the wrapper on a flat surface while you work. Otherwise, keep it in your hand.)
3. Make 2 more identical folds in the same direction, until you end up with 3 folds, as shown in Step 3. 4. Bring the folded side together with the no-folds side, and press to seal. Repeat the process with the remaining won ton wrappers.

Note: Either won ton wrappers or gyoza wrappers can be used to make dumplings.  

Cooking procedures:
1. Heat a wok or nonstick skillet until very hot.
2. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, tilting the wok to coat the sides.
3. Place 12 dumplings in a single layer in the wok and fry 2 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. 4. Add ½ cup water. Cover and cook 6 to 7 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. 5. Repeat with the remaining dumplings.

Chinese Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:
1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
3 Tablespoons red wine or rice vinegar
1 teaspoon hot chili oil
2 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon sugar or brown sugar, or to taste
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger

Directions:
Combine all ingredients. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 1 hour to give flavors a chance to blend.

Improvisational Cooking

I have been hearing several new terms lately, no-recipe recipe, cooking without a book and lastly, improvisational cooking. The January issue of Southern Living magazine even has recipes that everyone should know ‘by heart’. There is a cookbook titled, The Improvisational Cook and one titled How to Cook without a Book. If it helps any, I purchased How to Cook Without a Book and I actually like it.

I got to thinking about what these terms really mean. All these terms are really nothing new. Our grandmothers did it all the time. As a matter of fact, most of them did not own a cookbook. All they knew was to cook ‘by heart’. It now seems that some people believe that if there is no recipe, they can’t cook. Why not, your grandmother did it and she had less sophisticated ingredients and equipment than you have. Here is my rule of thumb. You only need a recipe if you are making pastries or cakes or baked products. These are formulations and the ingredients are there for a reason. That is, they have a function that affects the overall quality of the final product. For dishes like soups, pot roasts, mashed potatoes, you don't need a recipe. A recipe is really someone’s idea of what a dish should taste like. What you want to put in your dish is entirely up to you.

I am really into this improvisational cooking. Preparing dinner at 6:00pm when I am tired and hungry is no time to hunt for a recipe. So, here is how I do it.

1. Stock the pantry for cooking, not for a recipe. When you run out of an ingredient, purchase it soon. A well stocked pantry allows you to cook a meal without last minute trips to the grocery store.
2. Stop measuring ingredients. Learn to cook by taste and feel of the dish. You are not trying to make the most superb dish; you are trying to get dinner on the table quickly.
3. Trust your instincts.
4. Practice. We get better at things that we practice. Cooking is no different.
5. Read recipes. That may sound dumb. I read a lot of recipes. However, I mostly read for ideas, not for exact recipes. Reading recipes helps you to understand what ingredients go together and in what proportions.

I am taking the liberty of including one of my favorite no recipe dishes. Please feel free to make changes.

No Recipe Sweet Potatoes

1. Bake enough sweet potatoes to make about 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes. If you like, bake extra, they freeze extremely well. I like to bake my sweet potatoes because I think they taste better.

2. Take about 2 cups of mashed potatoes and add the following ingredients, about 2 tablespoons butter, 1 to 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger or ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, 2 tablespoons brown sugar and ¼ cup light coconut milk. Mix ingredients and serve. Sweet potatoes can also be made ahead and refrigerated. Reheat when ready to serve.

 3. This recipe makes about 4 – ½ cup servings.

As you can tell, this is not an exact recipe. If you don’t have an ingredient or you don’t like an ingredient, leave it out and keep on cooking. Other options for sweet potatoes are canned crushed pineapple, chopped pecans, cinnamon, and maple syrup in place of the brown sugar. I even have a friend who will sometimes use an overripe banana.

Warm Delights

Warm Delights is a cake product from Betty Crocker. It is the type of product my students rave about. Being that I am the consummate student, I decided to try this product and see what all the fuss was about.

So I headed off to my local grocery store and purchased one package of molten caramel flavor Warm Delights mini. I was amazed that the bagger was so enthused about my purchasing this product. With a great deal of enthusiasm, she told me this was a totally great product. When asked what was so good about this product, her response was “It is quick and easy”. I thought, gee, she said nothing about the quality of the product, nothing about the flavor, texture, just quick and easy.

I brought my package of Warm Delights back for a taste test. Luckily, I work with a group of people that are always willing to subject themselves to taste tests. My sous chef, 10-year old Carson actually made the cake. It was simple. Remove the mountain of packaging material. Dump the cake mix into the bowl and add 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of water and stir. Next squeeze the caramel packaging 10 times, now that’s precision for you. Squeeze it over the cake and microwave for 30 seconds. Wait 2 minutes and ‘enjoy’.

We passed the cake around for our customary taste test. Carson, the 10 year old, stated “It’s okay”. My chocoholic coworker stated that “It is without structure”. Now how scientific is that. It was generally agreed that it was okay, but not great. Even though I wasn’t overly excited about the product, it did exceed my expectations and I am amazed at the amount of science required to develop this product. The development team was a group of brilliant scientists. It’s too bad they weren’t brilliant cooks.

Grilled Sandwich a la Paula Deen

I was watching Paula Deen make a grilled cheese sandwich. Paula was out of butter. I know it’s hard to believe Paula Deen would ever run out of butter. But according to her, she was out of butter. However, this little fact did not stop her from making a grilled cheese sandwich. She simply switched the butter to mayonnaise. I was shocked AND eager to see if it really worked. One day I was out of ideas for lunch and decided to make grilled cheese the way Paula did. I spread my mayonnaise on the outside, added the cheese, and heated up the pan. I must tell you it worked! I ended up with a nicely crisp sandwich and melted cheese. Now, I don’t think it was quite as flavorful as butter would have been. Mayonnaise may never replace butter, but in a pinch, I say try it. Be warned, mayonnaise contains a lot of fat. If you try this with a reduced or nonfat product, it may not work.

Foraging for Food

Since moving to the Midwest I have developed a fondness for cherry pie. Not the cherries, just the pie. A good cherry pie seems to be a little difficult to come by and the cherries are kind of expensive. Low and behold, my neighbor has a cherry tree. I asked if I could have enough for a pie. She graciously agreed, saying we don’t use them anyway. Take as many as you want.

I convinced a buddy of mine to go along on this little adventure. So off we went to pick cherries. My neighbor had even put the ladder out for us. Guess that was her way of saying, ‘you’re welcome’. Mind you, I had never picked cherries. Never even seen a cherry tree before moving to the Midwest. I asked my buddy about picking cherries. She promptly replied, “I don’t know. I have never done this before”. Darn, the only reason I brought her was because I thought she knew more than I did. Well, we are both college graduates. This couldn't be too difficult. In about an hour or so we managed to pick enough cherries for pies. We headed back to my house for the pitting session.

Saying that pitting cherries is a difficult job is an understatement. To get that little pit out without losing all the fruit is a challenge not easily accomplished. It took about 4 hours for two people to pit enough cherries for two pies. We added a little sugar and frozen them for later use.

I guess you are wondering what lesson I learned. I gained a new appreciation for pitted cherries. I no longer think cherries or cherry pie is expensive. I don’t know who I am going to feed my cherry pie to, but they had better appreciate it. ‘Cause picking and pitting is not a job to be taken lightly.

My Very Own Blog

There is an old saying, ‘be careful what you ask for, you just might get it’. For quite some time I have been trying to figure out how to build a community of people interested in food. My bosses handed it to me on a ‘silver platter’. Why don’t you blog, they said. Well why not. And here is the first installment. I do hope that you will find some interesting and entertaining and thought provocative readings around food. We may not always agree, but let’s keep the discussion open, that way; we can all grow and learn.