AT LAST, DIM SUM MONTH FINALE
DIM SUM MONTH STILL CONTINUES… OK, I know it's not February anymore, but there's still a couple more dim sum I want to share so DIM SUM MONTH is oozing into March a bit
DIM SUM MONTH CONTINUES… WHAT: Stuffed rice wrapper rolls they call "cheung fun"! WHY: These gorgeous and elegant beauties are often overlooked on the dim sum table because of their less flashy appearances, mellow flavor profiles, and batters with the wrong ratio that results in unfortunate, mushy-textured wrappers. Well, that ain't their fault, in fact, cheung-fun is the most versatile blank canvas waiting for someone who appreciates its possibilities. HOW: In restaurants, this dish is always made to order. The rice batter is usually steamed with the filling on top then rolled into a log and served with sweet soy sauce. This method has its virtues but also, many flaws. It is convenient from a restaurant's perspective, allowing them to serve the dish hot and speedy, but not necessarily so from a creative point of view. Making the dish to order will be unrealistic to pull off for at-home dinner parties, and steaming the wrappers and the fillings simultaneously will greatly limits its possibilities. So, we are going to prepare the rice wrappers beforehand, and assemble them with the filling at the last minute. In my wildest dreams where money flows like abs in a Channing Tatum movie, I would make the filling with gently poached lobster meat
[ezcol_1half] EXACTLY WHAT DIM SUM IS SUPPOSED TO, BUT SOMEHOW FORGOTTEN TO BE, LITERALLY, AS TO TOUCH HEART [/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end] Welcome to DIM SUM MONTH! WHAT: I'm dedicating this whole month to the delicate art that is dim sum. WHY: I'm slowly and painfully realizing how scarce a good, thoughtful and delicious dim sum can be. Even in Hong Kong - the supposedly promised land of dim sum - I found my expectation being shattered with sloppy, tired, and borderline unethical display of dimness. Frankly, I'm fed up. HOW: Just as unfamiliar as most of you are in terms of making dim sum, I'm going to show you that it is possible for us to create these little baskets of happiness at home. We are going to take each conventional dim sum item, and mix them with a bit of thoughtfulness and fun. Almost every items can be made ahead of time, and hopefully at the end of the month, we'll be able to host our own dim sum party that is more awesome than most. Let's start with the classic of the classics - crystal shrimp dumplings. We are going to correct all of its frequently ignored mistakes: soggy and texture-less wrappers, and frankly, boringness. This recipe will yield a wrapper that
[ezcol_1half] Sometimes ideas arise upon the complete rejection of another. This recipe is a perfect example of such. The other day (I say "the other day" a lot, which really means "last year"), I was watching this video on YouTube, a michelin-starred chef explaining how to make his "perfect roast chicken". Curious, so I watched, as he demonstrated with a straight face on how he cooks his chicken slowly inside a low-temperature oven for 4 hours, then afterwards, finish browning the skin inside a skillet, and after which, injecting the chicken with melted butter. I mean, is this guy serious? I don't even know where to begin. First of all, the whole notion that one could crisp up a whole, uncut chicken inside a skillet is basically again the laws of physics. The extremely curvy and maneuvering silhouette of a chicken is exactly the reason why people resort to a three-dimensional heat source to tackle it in the first place. Steaks, flat. Chickens, curvy. Simple logic. Is he Doctor Manhattan? Did his pure geniuses allow him to leap into another dimension of space and time to warp his chicken to the skillet? Of course not! That patchy-browned chicken looked like it just suffered from a skin-graft. But you
[ezcol_1half] Drifting over moving chaos, under the clouds of settling dusts, weeks
[ezcol_1half] I guess I am currently in the middle of what one would call, a blogger limbo. We have "officially" moved out of Beijing, so to speak. But in the next 3 weeks when our apartment is under renovation, we are going to be staying in a hotel where the closest thing to a cooking vessel is the bathroom sink with hot tap water (hotel sous vide?). How do I create something delicious when the mere act of making fruit smoothies posts challenges? Then I realised, the answer lies just around every corner in this city. Cantonese-style roast pork. Something as abundant in Hong Kong as Starbucks are in New York. This awesome thing, is everywhere. Even if you didn't live here, chances are you've seen it in your nearest Chinatown, a staple in Cantonese cuisines. Typically served with rice, which I've always had my doubt on. I mean, it is a great piece of roast pork, with salty yet juicy flesh and gloriously blistered skins. But on its own, and paired with yellow mustard, in my opinion, it just isn't the most flattering companion for steamed rice. It is however, the most perfect yet most under-utilized sandwich candidate, practically an half-way porchetta sandwich. [/ezcol_1half]
[ezcol_1fifth] [/ezcol_1fifth] [ezcol_3fifth] IT CAN'T BE RIGHT. IT SHOUDN'T BE RIGHT. BUT IT MIRACULOUSLY IS. History had it, that whenever two polar opposite cultures are smashed together, often under reluctant or even violent circumstances, despite hardships and losses, something mutated but beautiful eventually comes out at the other end. That something, is usually food. No doubt that America has its unspeakable history from the time of slavery, but what was left from its ugliness, was the unapologetic creole and cajun. Taiwan's predominantly Fujian and kejia culture (derived from China's southern coast) adjusted to 50 years of Japanese rule by nurturing an uniquely categorized cuisine all of its own, which, some say, may be the last-standing pride of this politically fading island. So on