Steamed Chinese Dumplings

When we lived in Atlanta, my husband, Chad and I used to go to this international grocery store right on the perimeter off 85. A little old man used to make fresh steamed dumplings and they were excellent. We had them eaten in the parking lot before we made it to the car! One day I asked myself, "Why don't I try to make these?" And so I did!

This is the recipe I found on about.com and it came out nicely.

http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetarianthairecipes/r/vegdumplings.htm

How to make Vegetarian Dumplings:

Start out chopping the filling ingredients and then processing them in the food processor as requested:

Filling:

• 3 cups sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 1 cup cubed medium-firm tofu (about 2/3 package)
• 1 thumb-size piece galangal OR ginger, sliced
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves and stems, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. white pepper
• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. chili sauce (or more if you want them spicy)
• 1/4 cup vegetarian simulated chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
  
  

Directions:

Prepare a steamer (I used a bamboo steamer) lining the bottom of each section with enough lettuce leaves to cover the entire surface. Take a shallow pan and fill it with about 3 inches of water. Place the pan on a flame until the water boils (without bamboo steamer). The image below shows how to add the filling into the wonton wrapper.

In the meantime, take one wonton wrapper and place about half a tablespoon of filling onto the center of the wonton. Do not add too much filling or it will squirt out of the sides of the wonton. Dip your finger in water and run the water on to the outside perimeter of the entire wonton wrapper. Fold the wonton wrapper once and pinch the edges together so no filling squirts out and place it on a lightly floured surface or on the lettuce in the prepared bamboo steamer. The image below shows the Pre-Cooked Dumpling.

Once you have enough dumplings prepared, place them on the lettuce in the bamboo steamer making sure they do not touch or they will stick together. Place the bamboo steamer directly on the water in the pan. Steam for 10 minutes or until fully cooked. Be careful to watch the water level in the pan. It may steam out and then you will have to add water to the bottom of the pan so that the bamboo steamer is not sitting directly on a hot pan.

Sauce for Dipping:

I whip up my own dipping sauce:

• 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce.
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil.
• a little bit of scallions sliced.

Serve and enjoy!

Make your husband do the dishes!

Gluttony in New York

Fresh new year, fresh new bank of vacation days - yay. Southwest's cheap flights made it easy for us to decide our first weekend trip - New York City. It never fails, each time my husband and I take a trip it revolves around lots of walking, lots of food, and lots of drink. I did fit in some girly shopping time with minimum torture for my husband.

Sabon

Walking through Soho, we came across an adorable soap shop called Sabon. I was attracted by the French country decor in the window display. Every X chromosome in my body begged me to go in. A cutey blonde girl greeted me and walked me through a nice hand scrub at a large stone carved sink to sample various yummy smelling salts, soaps, and lotions. The experience was perfectly girly in every way. I searched the store for the Frenchiest souvenir for my soap obsessed niece. I found two guest soaps imprinted with a tin ceiling tile sort of design - sold! And, they wrapped them in the cutest bag complete with a burgundy and cream ribbon.

Bosie

Sticking to the French theme, we strolled over to the West Village for brunch at Bosie. The space was quaint - including real tin ceiling tiles - I can never get enough of them. The service was impeccable - another cute girl befitting of the restaurant's vibe, complete with simple neutral clothing and a classic fedora to pull together her look. And the menu completed the package. The tea list was so appealing that I wanted to order one of each, but I took the plunge and went with the the Matcha Green Tea Latte. My husband ordered the same and I did not argue that he order something different for variety's sake. The Matcha Green Tea Latte looked too good to pass up - and was.

It was impossible to leave without trying a French Macaron. There were so many flavors to choose from but we narrowed it down to four: rose (I smoked a rose water flavored hookah once and had to try it in cookie form), salted caramel (our server's favorite), pistachio, and chestnut. Yummy.

Fu Sushi

Switching it up over in the East Village, yes we walked it - had to burn off all the wine I have not mentioned - hehehe. We stopped at Fu Sushi, a restaurant my husband read about in a Huffington Post article about 'Eater X'. Loved it (the article and the restaurant). The owner, Fu, was a slightly frazzled, young, down to earth Asian guy with a New York accent. Fu made us feel at home while delivering non-stop tasters of different dishes. The food was fresh and flavorful and the service was spectacular.

Momofuku Noodle Bar

Next stop Momofuku Noodle Bar for buns. The place was packed. A light an airy space - a bit of a Scandinavian feel, clean lines, simplistic. Chopsticks in a box on the counter tops and tables.

We got a seat at the bar in front of the kitchen. Score. We had a blast watching the guys (who seemed to be enjoying themselves, stress-free) mechanically bust out dishes of joy while thirty mouths watered about one feet away from them each hoping the next batch would be his. We had been dreaming about these buns ever since my husband read about them online. They arrived clam-shaped and cute saying, "Eat me!'. Our dreams came true when we sunk our teeth into those palm sized shitake buns from the lunch menu - caramelized shitake mushrooms on a hand made steamed bun (secret pork fat in the dough - aw yeah!) with fresh scallions and cucumber. At that point, we wished we had ordered only buns of all three flavors.

The Village Scandal

I always wanted a hat, damn it. Where better to have bought one that NYC? Fedoras seem to be all the rage these days, a la Jason Mraz, but I always wanted a cloche to make up for the fact that I was supposed to be born a flapper in 1920's Paris. In the past decade, each time I traveled to New York, I always ended up perusing the lovely little hat shoppe called The Village Scandal, and this time was no different. Never mind the amazing hats, the place smelled amazing too. Whatever scent they were pumping in the air made me go back for more. But this time, I vowed to leave with a hat, defying the voice in my head telling me I could not pull it off. As soon as I walked in the door, a gentleman (in a hat) immediately started putting hats on my head: pageboys and fedoras, but none that struck my fancy. I almost made it out the door hat-free yet again when I spotted a cloche displayed handsomely in the window. I asked to try it on and I was sold immediately. I walked the rest of the way back to the hotel beaming in my new hat - and I was pulling it off just fine.

Wild Ginger

Our last meal in New York was at a vegan restaurant in Soho called Wild Ginger that my husband surprised me with. We went for lunch. The 'Open' sign hanging by a string on the front door was made of hollow wood and sounded like a bamboo wind chime each time anybody entered creating good chi from the start. The atmosphere was spa-like with sage green decor and heavy curtains in the front windows blocking any street debris from entering the space. The music playing was a nice easy acoustic guitar not too country, not too folksy. There was even moss creeping up the exposed brick wall. Did I mention my love for moss? I love moss! The service was nice, relaxed and not rushed. We ordered a pot of hot tea, two types of steamed dumplings, fried scallion cakes, seitan skewers, and summer rolls. Divine!