Pork Wonton Soup

Yum! I found this tasty, cheap "pork" gluten at my local Asian market. So far we've done hot BBQ pork/cucumber sushi. It's delicious grilled with sauce. So I decided to make wonton soup. I wanted the soup to be simple and the dumplings to be the star. Have I said a million times that I love dumplings of all sorts? You can also make these dumplings (do a simple triangle) and pan-steam them. Yum!





"Pork" Wonton Soup
1 can Wu-Chung fried pork, drained and pulsed to crumbles in food processor
2 cups small-chopped green cabbage
2 cloves garlic
1 small dried chili pepper, chopped very tiny
small piece ginger, minced (1 tsp)
2 green onions, chopped
2-3 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 pkg vegan wonton wrappers
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp soy sauce
6 cups water
6 tsp/2 Tbsp Better Than Bouillon vegan "chicken" broth, or vegetable broth.

-Soak mushrooms in hot water for 20 min. If using fresh, saute and set aside. Chop small. Can use water in broth for soup if desired.
-Heat a large skillet and add 1 tsp peanut/other neutral oil. Fry garlic, ginger, and chili pepper for about 30-45 seconds. Do not burn garlic because burned garlic will make everything bitter and it can't be fixed.
-Add "pork", soy sauce, and sesame oil and saute about 2-3 minutes, until mixture is not too wet.
-Add cabbage and a small handful of chopped green onions. Cook until cabbage is tender and wilted. Cool to room temperature or colder before making dumplings.
-Shape dumplings as desired, using 1/2-1 tsp filling per wonton. Do not overstuff.
Here is a great demonstration with 3 different folds, from Cmtoy on Youtube. Video posted with permission.
-Heat water to dissolve bouillon; boil and add dumplings. Add mushrooms and rest of green onion. Cook about 2 min or until dumplings are not starchy-looking, and wrappers have tightened around filling. Finish with sesame oil and extra soy sauce to taste in the broth.

Pho and Spring Rolls

Lauren and Daniel came to visit and Lauren requested Pho and Spring Rolls. So..Pho and Spring Rolls they had.

I use this recipe as a base, but I use Better Than Bouillon vegan beef broth, and this time I added a cube of vegan Pho bouillon. You have to be careful to adjust the salt/soy sauce and the liquids used, make sure it is balanced. I just wanted a deep flavor, but the flavor mostly comes from the charred vegetables in the recipe, specifically the anise pods. I am re-posting the recipe here with a few modifications.




Pho from elliemay.com
for the broth...

1 small unpeeled onion, quartered
2 unpeeled shallots, halved (can also use more onion)
8 garlic cloves, halved
a 1-inch piece of ginger, coarsely sliced
two 3-inch cinnamon sticks
2 pods of star anise
4 cloves
8 cups clear vegetable stock
3 tablespoons soy sauce
salt

for the soup ...
about 1 pound rice noodles (I use less)
8 ounces seitan or fried tofu, sliced
6 scallions, thinly sliced
about 1-1/2 cups bean sprouts
a good handful of basil, mint or cilantro leaves, left whole
1 lime, cut into wedges
hoisin sauce
sriracha chili paste

Cooking Instructions

To make the broth, heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, shallots, garlic, ginger, cinnamon sticks, star anise, and cloves and dry-roast, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to char. Add the stock/bouillon/paste and soy sauce and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat down to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 25 minutes. Strain into a clean pot and discard the solids. Taste the broth and add salt if necessary. Keep warm over low heat.

While the broth is simmering, prepare the rice noodles and if you haven't done so already, cook your seitan or tofu. I like to use beef seitan, sliced thin and seared over high heat on each side. Add a little steak sauce or marinade for the finish.

Place the noodles in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the noodles to cover and soak for 20 minutes OR boil rice noodles until done (happens quickly so stand by) and drain/rinse.

When you are ready to assemble the soup, pour broth into each bowl, add noodles to the broth and set up the rest of the ingredients on a platter. Set in the middle of the table. I like to do it this way, family style so each person gets exactly how much of everything they want.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Spring Rolls



This time, the spring rolls had teriyaki mushrooms, carrot, green onion, rice noodles, and tofu. I soaked some dried shiitakes until tender, then sauteed them with button mushrooms and added teryaki sauce to finish. Tofu was simply sauteed in peanut oil until crispy then cut from slabs into strips. If eating with the pho, you may want to skip the rice noodles, and cut romaine lettuce into ribbons. If anyone doesn't know how to do spring rolls, leave a comment and I will include instructions or a link to instructions. Also, serving on saran wrap adds a real touch of class!(not).
I used Vegan Planet's peanut sauce, but used homemade "fish" sauce and soy instead of all soy. It was fantastic!



Bonus pics!

Korean Yumminess: Bulgogi and Kim Chee Tutorial

First, the Kim Chee. Kim Chee is a very old, very popular fermented vegetable dish of Korea. Many kinds have fish or shrimp paste in them, making them not suitable for vegetarians, but you can easily make your own! It's a lot cheaper that way, as well.

This is my first attempt and I am happy with the results. This is how I made it. There are many, many different ingredient combinations, as well as methods. The times for preparation are greatly varied as well. I encourage you to try your own! Kim chee tends to get hotter with age, up to a point so go easy on your heat source if you aren't big on spiciness. Here we go!

First, get your hands on some Napa cabbage. I got mine at the local Asian market.



Next, cut the end off



You can use this as a frisbee or something. My dog actually liked how it tasted so he was licking it...



Cut into fourths lengthwise and wash well. Let drain.



Dispatch into 1-2 inch pieces and salt liberally. I used kosher salt.



Cover loosely and let sit anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours



The salt will purge the liquid from the cabbage. It will wilt and release its liquid. Look how much!



Rinse your cabbage and squeeze well. Do not worry about it being too dry. It will make more liquid as it ferments. Your cabbage should still have a nice texture (not all of it should be limp) and it shouldn't be too salty after rinsing.

This is the fun part...



Go nuts! Add what you want. Here is what I added:

Handful shredded carrots
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 sheet Laver seaweed*, cut into tiny pieces with scissors
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
Sriracha, to taste**
about 2 Tbsp tamari/soy sauce
several green onions, chopped
1 inch ginger, chopped very fine
3-4 small/2 large garlic cloves, chopped very fine

*Laver seaweed is a delicious salted seaweed (?) algae (?) that is different from sushi nori. You can eat it as a snack by itself or with rice. It's really lacy-looking. I added this to impart a little "sea" taste. You can use other sea vegetables, such as kelp, or omit.
**Sriracha is a common Asian hot sauce. It has a rooster on the bottle. I added too much! I would go easy on the heat. You can add more later.

After all ingredients are well-mixed, place in a clean wide-mouth jar. I let mine sit on the stove overnight, but it isn't hot in the house. If it is too warm in your house, find a cool spot and let the kim chee sit there for a few hours or overnight.
You can eat the kim chee right away after it's refrigerated, but some people wait longer. It will keep in your refrigerator for months.

ENJOY!

*********************************

This Bulgogi recipe came from the newspaper and by the time I got to it, it was just an ingredient list and no name for credit. Sorry! Traditionally, it is made with beef. Seitan or tofu makes a really good substitution.

Bulgogi (Korean BBQ)

2-4 lbs protein such as seitan or tofu, cooked and sliced thin

3/4 c soy sauce
1 1/4 c water (less for saltier taste)
2 Tbsp. mirin
2 Tbsp. dark sesame oil
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds, roasted and ground
2-3 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2/3 c sugar
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3-4 scallions, sliced on bias
3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

Mix all ingredients. (Sugar will dissolve.) Can spoon sauce directly onto protein and serve with sticky rice. Can also reduce sauce slightly, or coat protein in sauce and serve with rice. Additional items for a meal: garlic bok choy, kim chee, noodles, sweet and sour soy beans, pickled sweet cucumber, daikon, etc.


NOT the bulgogi recipe, but using the sauce I had left over from when I did make it, and made a soba noodle with cashew dish...




BONUS!!!
Delicious Indian Takeout. Wish I made it, but I didn't.

Sushi, Ribz, Stuffed Mushrooms, Baked Potato + more!

This plate has Ribz, stuffed mushrooms (recipe on this blog), and baked potato with roasted garlic and onion, cheez sauce, Tofutti sour cream, green onion, and Bacos.











Pizza from Decent Pizza. I added FYH Mozzarella.


SUSHI

Setup: carrot, zucchini, roasted peppers, red and green onions, teriyaki mushroom, avocado, inari pockets cut into strips