The perfect appetizer for a small group. Make a batch and let your friends gather in the kitchen to nibble the crisp edges as you scrape these off the hot griddle.
INGREDIENTS
9 tablespoons White Rice Flour
6 tablespoons Sorghum Flour
1/2 tablespoon Tapioca Flour
1/2 tablespoon Potato Flour (flour, not starch, take heed)
1/4 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
1/2 cup Boiling Water (boil first, measure later)
Salt and Pepper
Sesame Oil
~1/4 cup finely chopped Scallions
Oil for pan frying
GET BUSY
In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
Pour the boiling water over the flour mixture and stir everything together. The dough will be tough, so get in there with your hands and knead it toward the end.
Pinch off some dough the size of a ping pong ball. Dust your counter with some extra rice flour and roll the dough out into an oblong shape, about 1/8 inch thick.
Brush the flattened dough with sesame oil and sprinkle gently with salt and pepper.
Scatter about one tablespoon of chopped scallion on the dough.
Roll the dough up like a cigar and pinch the ends to secure.
Roll the cigar into a spiral.
Using your rolling pin, roll this spiral out to about 1/4 inch thick. You should have a pancake roughly 5 inches in diameter.
Heat some oil in a saute pan until it is almost smoking.
Pan fry the cake for 2-3 minutes per side, or until golden brown and crisp all over.
Let the cakes cool on a paper towel to absorb some of the oil, then slice and serve!
If my family is going out for dinner, the odds are high that we're having Chinese food. With Linda at the table we're never stuck ordering American standbys (General Tsao's is just fried chicken, you know that, right?) and my favorite dish is the whole braised fish. To celebrate the new year I decided to serve a few of my friends whole striped bass. Best part? No one fought me for the cheeks.
INGREDIENTS
Sauce
3 tablespoons Sesame Oil
2 inches Ginger, sliced thinly
3 Garlic Cloves, sliced thinly
3 Scallions, minced
1/2 cup Preserved Black Beans
1/2 cup Shaoxing Rice Wine
2 cups Chicken or Veggie Stock
1 tsp Corn Starch
Fish
1 Striped Bass, ~2 pounds
2 inches Ginger, sliced thinly
3 Scallions, roughly chopped
Stems and Roots of one bunch Cilantro
BUSINESS
Begin with the sauce. In the base of a wok heat oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add ginger, garlic, and scallion. Stir fry for 5-7 minutes, until browned and fragrant.
Rinse black beans under hot water until the runoff is relatively clear. Add washed beans to hot wok. Stir fry for another 5 minutes.
Add rice wine to wok, stir to deglaze pan.
Add stock to wok and drop heat to simmer. Whisk in corn starch and cook for ~10 minutes, until slightly thickened.
Prepare the fish. Have your butcher remove the scales, gills, and guts, but leave the head, tail and spine intact. Stuff the raw fish with sliced ginger, and scallions. Using the back of your knife, bruise the cilantro stems until they are fragrant, stuff into fish.
Slide fish into hot wok with sauce. Increase heat to medium. Cover wok with lid or large bowl. Cook fish for 8 minutes, remove lid and flip the fish. Replace lid and cook for another 8 minutes, until the flesh is white and tender. Serve with pan sauce.
Do yourself a favor and scour Chinatown for veggies. You'll see things you never knew existed. Like this, Fu Gwa. It's known as Bitter Melon in America and the name is no joke. Be prepared for an intriguing taste at your table. The texture is close to zucchini, but firmer. Chop it up, stir fry it with some shitake mushrooms and put it on the table. It'll be gone in no time.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups Dried Shitake Mushrooms
Hot Water
2 pounds Fu Gwa
3 tablespoons Sesame Oil
3 cloves Garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons Soy Sauce
BUSINESS
Soak the mushrooms in hot water for at least 30 minutes, until they're tender enough to cut. Cut them into bite sized pieces.
Cut the Fu Gwa in half and scoop out the seeds, then chop it into rounds or cubes.
Heat the sesame oil in the base of a wok and add the garlic when it's hot. Stir fry until garlic is browned.
Add mushrooms and stir fry for 7-10 minutes.
Add Fu Gwa and Soy Sauce, stir fry for 5-7 minutes, then serve.
Without a doubt, Dou Miao is my favorite vegetable. The pea shoots are easy to cook, tender and crunchy all at once, sweet and savory. I can eat more Dou Miao in one sitting than any other vegetable. I guess I should tell my parents they raised me well.
INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons Sesame Oil
3 Cloves Garlic, sliced thinly
3 cubes Fermented Tofu (they're small but mighty)
2 pounds Dou Miao, washed
3 tablespoons Shaoxing Rice Wine
BUSINESS
Heat oil in wok over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir fry until golden.
Add fermented tofu, mash into paste.
Add Dou Miao, stir fry until reduced by at least half (about 7 minutes)
Pour in rice wine, deglaze pan, toss veggies and serve.
A perfect dessert for Lunar New Year, I love to top this cake with plum preserves. Make two so you can keep one in the freezer, an emergency cake never goes to waste!
