Joak (Rice Porrige or Congee)

Joak, Jook, or Juk (cantonese) Zhou (Mandarin) Rice Porrige or Congee

This is akin to fried rice, in that in Asia it is a staple comfort food with endless variations in the details of the recipe and condiments.  There is not even agreement regarding the type of rice to use.  All over the Asian continent, hundreds of millions of people begin their day in homes and cafes with Joak , yet it's simplicity belies the fragrant, silky deliciousness of rice porridge.   Rice, water or stock and a dash of salt, simmered for an hour or two--the rest is an accent, and depends on what is available in the kitchen.  It is also a major offering at dim sum, though it is hidden inside a warmer, on a cart, alongside a stack of bowls and chopped green onion.

9 cups stock (see techniques section on homemade chicken stock) or water.

1 cup short grain rice (calrose rice, not glutinous rice; long grain rice can be used)

salt to taste

Rinse the rice two or three times and drain through a sieve.  Add the rice to a pot with the stock or water and bring to a boil, stirring often.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, adding stock or water as needed to adjust texture.  Add salt to taste.  Joak is generally the texture of a thick soup or batter, and the grains of rice are barely intact.

As for the garnishes and additions, here is a list of typical items, ordered from the most to the least common, although it is purely a matter of personal taste.  Feel free to use none or one or several…

Garnishes:

You tiao (Chinese fried cruller, shown in photo)

Green onion, sliced thin, diagonally

Fresh ginger, finely shredded

Pickled ginger, finely shredded

Pickled vegetable

Chinese black mushroom, reconstituted, stem removed, slivered

Cilantro

Additions:

Peanuts

Thousand year old egg, cut into eighths, lengthwise

Fish, filet, cut in pieces

Lop cheong (Chinese sausage) sliced thin, diagonally

Pork "dumplings"  This simple addition can be made as follows:

Mix 8 oz.  ground pork with a scallion, finely minced and 1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely minced.  About 4 minutes before serving, pluck a teaspoon or so of the pork mixture with the fingers and drop it in the simmering joak.  Repeat for as many dumplings as desired, then gently submerge the meat and allow to cook for 4 minutes, or until firm.

Guo Tie and Jiaozi (pot stickers and pork dumplings)

Pot Stickers  Guo Tie  and Jiaozi

This minutely detailed first recipe for pot stickers and jiaozi is only for those who, like myself, consider eating dumplings as something like a religious experience.

A few years ago in the United states, when asked to name a Chinese dish, most people would say, chow mein or lo mein.  The less savvy might have said chop suey, egg fu yung or egg rolls.  But today, the best known item on Chinese menus is probably pot stickers, or as they are known in Mandarin Chinese, guo tie.  These fried pork dumplings are so common that even grocery store delis have sad, damp heaps of them in warming pans, alongside roast chicken and kielbasa.  (In a more global sense one might think of dumplings as a gastronomical archetype, since stuffed doughs can be seen in just about every culture: raviolis, perogies, knishes, empanadas, samosas, knodels, vushka, pelmeni, Korean mandu...the list is endless) Less famous in the west is the steamed or boiled—and most likely original—version of this dumpling, jiaozi, which is a mainstay of Chinese cuisine.   In fact, jiaozi are at the heart and soul of Chinese culture.  No other food, with the exception of rice and noodles, has a more prominent place in the everyday lives of Chinese: they are a snack, a staple, a holiday treat, and an almost sacred ritual around the Lunar New Year.  During this time, making jiaozi is a social ritual as well, with family and friends gathering round the bowls of fillings and dough, rolling skins, stuffing the jiaozi and talking, until hundreds of the little morsels are ready for boiling.

There is no such thing as an “authentic” Chinese recipe, since within China there is no agreement on how any particular dish should be made.  In China, jiaozi and guo tie are made with beef or pork; they sometimes have fresh shrimp, dried shrimp or no shrimp at all; you’ll find dried mushrooms in some, but not in others; sometimes cabbage, sometimes not.  But in general, the tradition of these dumplings include the ingredients and methods outlined here.

As far as wrappers are concerned, acceptable factory made skins for making jiaozi and guo tie are available at all Asian groceries.  Also, home cooks can take the recipe below and process the skins with a pasta machine, cutting the sheets of dough with an appropriate sized circle cutter; however, the homemade, hand-rolled hot-water version is closest to the traditional Chinese method, and worth the effort in its superior texture: it will be substantial, flavorful and chewy.

About the meat: fatty cuts of meat are not demonized in China as they are in the west; traditional cooks will most often use ground pork belly, here commonly called fresh bacon.  On Chinese streets, you will find vendors selling ground pork for dumplings which is nearly white with fat.  In the present recipe, the cut of pork is optional, and a even lean meat will make an acceptable dumpling.

Filling:

• 1 lb. Pork with fat (pork rib, pork shoulder, or pork belly)
• 1 lb. Napa Cabbage
• 2 green onions, white and green portion minced
• 1 heap TAB minced ginger
• 1 TAB Shao Xing rice wine or dry sherry
• 2 TAB sesame oil
• 1 TAB soy sauce
• 1 round tsp salt, to taste.
• 1 Heap TAB cornstarch
• 1/4 to 3/4 cup Chicken or pork stock

Separate cabbage leaves and blanch in boiling water for about two and a half minutes. Allow to cool; meanwhile, chop the pork with a cleaver, rolling the mass and varying the direction of the chop: this is a matter of personal preference, since finer mincing produces a more tender, “grainy” homogenous filling, while a larger mince, say, 3/16” to 1/4” will be somewhat more firm and varied in texture.  I prefer the larger mince.  You can also put the pork through a meat grinder, using a quarter inch plate. Place chopped meat in a bowl. Wring out the water from the blanched cabbage using a kitchen towel, and chop to 1/4" to 1/2" pieces. Mix this together with meat and all remaining filling ingredients, adding cornstarch last.  Add chicken or pork stock slowly as you mix the filling in one direction.  Continue adding stock until mixture is visibly wet and "sloppy." If you've overdone the addition of liquid, and the fillng is impossible to handle when making the dumpling, add more cornstarch to firm it up. Keep in mind that the filling will firm up when it is refrigerated. Covered, the filling can be refrigerated for up to five days.  When you are ready to fill the dumplings, make one and boil it to test the flavor and texture, and making any adjustments at that time.

Wrappers:

Cold water can be used, but hot water dough produces a softer, more elastic dough, which is preferable in making most dumplings.

• 1-1/4 lb bread flour, sifted.
• 12 fl oz boiling water

When water just comes to a boil, slowly add it to the sifted flour and mix with chopsticks until a crumbled paste forms.  Knead the dough on a floured board as soon as it is cool enough to handle.  Add flour as necessary to form a soft, elastic dough which is not too sticky to handle.  Wrap with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and set aside to rest for about an hour.  Divide the dough in quarters, and roll each quarter into a rope approximately 1” in diameter.  Cut these into segments of about 5/8”, flatten with the palm, then roll out into a disk approximately 3” to 3-1/2” diameter, and 1/16” to 1/8” thick.

Keep all dough and rolled skins covered to prevent drying.  As I said, the skins can be purchased or the dough kneaded and rolled with a pasta machine, but texture and tradition will be sacrificed.

Making the dumplings:

The manipulation required for making jiaozi may appear daunting, but it is really very simple: essentially, the round disk of dough is folded with the filling inside, and the fold furthest from you is pleated as it is pressed to the fold closest to you, resulting in the traditional scalloped crescent-shaped packet.  Place a circle of dough flat in your left hand.  Moisten the edge all the way around with water, then using a spoon or chopsticks, place approximately a heaping tablespoon of filling in the center.  (If the dough is fresh and moist, the water may not be necessary.)  Fold the skin, and before the edges touch, grasp them with your right thumb and index finger, and beginning at the fold, pleat the outside edge, guiding the dough with your left fingers and press it to the inside (see photos).  As you do this from right to left, you will create a dumpling, which, when set aside on a piece of parchment paper or floured board, will form a flat side perfect for browning when making potstickers.  With a little practice, this process will become second nature.  Note that if you are making boiled jiaozi the dumpling must be sealed very securely to prevent the water from seeping into the jiaozi while cooking.

The dumplings can be frozen if desired—arrange them without touching each other on a piece of parchment paper or floured tray and place in freezer until the surface of the dumpling is very firm and dry to the touch.  You can then put them together in a plastic bag and remove as many as needed in the future.

Dipping Sauce:

Dipping sauce for dumplings is traditional in China, and will usually appear served with potstickers and jiaozi in Western Chinese restaurants.  Often, only vinegar is used, especially the famous, dark Qing Kiang vinegar.  But all sorts of variations exists; the sauce below is a sweet version:

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sweet soy
• 2 Tab Shao Xing wine or dry sherry
• 2 Tab rice vinegar, or Qing Kiang vinegar
• 1-1/2 Tab finely minced ginger, steeped in 1/4 cup hot water for 30 min.

Cooking Guo Tie (potstickers):

Pre-heat a flat bottomed, well-seasoned pan or skillet on medium heat; add peanut oil to a depth of approximately 1/16 inch.  Arrange guo tie close together with the flat side of the dumpling in the oil.  Cover and cook for about 3 minutes; after a couple of minutes, lift one or two of the dumplings to see how the browning is progressing. Add water to a depth of about 1/8”—be careful, this will spatter.  Cover again and turn heat down to low or medium low, for about 4 minutes.  After the potstickers are well steamed, uncover and cook for another two minutes, to evaporate any remaining water and to re-crisp the dumplings. Remove dumplings to a platter, and serve with browned sides facing up.

Cooking Jiaozi (boiled dumplings):

One traditional method for cooking jiaozi calls for adding the dumplings to boiling water, then re-boiling after three more additions of  cold water.  However, this causes the cooking time to vary according to the quantity of water, number of dumplings, and size of pot.  I prefer the simpler method of straightforward boiling, depending on the size of the jiaozi.

In a large pot or kettle full of boiling water on high heat, add dumplings and immediately stir very gently to prevent them sticking to the bottom.  Once the water is boiling fully, turn heat to med/med high, and boil for 4 to 6 minutes.  As always, it is recommended that you test the dumpling to make certain it is done.

If you are boiling or frying frozen dumplings, add approximately 1 minute to the cooking time.

Drain and serve in a shallow bowl or platter.  Garnish with sesame oil and minced onion green if desired, although in China jiaozi is generally served without adornment.

Dan Dan Mian (Dan Dan Noodles)

Dan Dan Mian (Dan Dan Noodles)

The name of this dish derives from the verb dan, to carry on a pole, referring to the time, until recently, when Sichuanese street vendors carried the makings for snack noodles on bamboo poles and called out their offerings,"dan dan mian!". Among devotees of this dish there is much discussion with regards to the addition or omission of sesame paste. It's worth noting the difference, since sesame paste is intensely flavorful and the two versions would seem to be at odds within the tradition of dan dan mian. The fact is, both are common in Sichuan, though the exported version of Dan Dan Mian seems to always contain the sesame paste. Common elements to look for are pork, chili oil, scallion and ya cai, (preserved vegetable), and sichuan peppercorn (Hua Jiao)--the latter being included in countless traditional Sichuan preparations. In my time in Chengdu, the capitol of Sichuan province, I enjoyed this snack many times in the small restaurants that one found in the side streets of that city.

12 oz fresh wheat noodles

4 oz pork, minced

3/4 tsp Sichuan peppercorn, lightly roasted and ground

1 med clove garlic, minced

1-1/2 Tab Sichuan pickled vegetable ya cai (editor: Tianjin preserved vegetable works well)1 Tab soy sauce

1 Tab rice wine

Sauce/topping:

2 tsp dark soy sauce

1 Tab Soy sauce

1 Tab chicken stock

1 tsp ChingKiang black vinegar

1/2 tsp sugar

2 Tab chili oil

1/4 tsp of salt

2 scallions, green portion only, sliced thin--reserve a few for garnish

Cook the fresh noodles for 2 minutes or so, and check for desired doneness. Remove, drain until the noodles begin to stick together, then toss with a small amount of oil; portion out to 2 or 3 bowls.

Combine the sauce ingredients.

Heat the wok on medium heat until it just begins to smoke and add 3 or 4 tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot, add minced pork and stir fry, taking care to break up the meat; quickly add the garlic, peppercorn and preserved vegetable and toss. Splash in a tablespoon each of soy sauce and rice wine, toss, and remove.

Portion out the sauce/topping equally over each bowl of noodles; garnish with sesame oil and a few slices of green scallion

To make the sesame paste version: use the recipe above, omitting the Chingkiang vinegar and dark soy sauce. Also, to the sauce/topping ingredients, add 1 round Tablespoon of sesame paste and another tablespoon of chicken stock, and mix very thoroughly to dissolve the sesame paste.

Ha Gao (Shrimp Dumpling)

Ha Gao  (Shrimp Dumpling)

Ha Gao (Cantonese, also Romanized as Ha Gow, Har Gow or Ha Gau, meaning “Shrimp Dumpling”) is possibly the most classic dim sum delicacy, seen in every dim sum restaurant on earth, no matter how limited the menu.  It works excellently as an appetizer for a Western meal, however, in China it is exclusively a dim sum item or a street snack sold alongside other dim sum favorites.  When done well, Ha Gau has a spectacular appearance as well as taste.  Wheat starch is the key ingredient for the skin, and its sticky texture and semi-transparency, while very unusual to western tastes, is ubiquitous in Southern China and Southeast Asia.  When making this snack, you might find that handling the wheat starch wrapper for these dumplings is a challenge. The dough trades off its finished beauty with being sticky and structurally weak to work with. Having said that, because it has no gluten, the dough actually becomes easier to manipulate than wheat flour once you get used to it. I’ve tried to photograph the process in the hopes that this will help.  In any event, the effort will be rewarded...

Filling:

1       oz         Pork Fat, finely diced (Optional...)

10     oz         deveined and shelled shrimp

1       oz         bamboo shoots, rinsed, drained well, chopped fine.

1       egg       white only, lightly beaten

1       tsp         sugar

1/2    Tab       cornstarch

1/2    tsp         salt

1/2    tsp         sherry

1/2    tsp         sesame oil

Dash    white pepper

Finely mince and pound or puree 1/2 of the shrimp.  With the other half, cut the shrimp into 3 or 4 large segments, depending on the size.  (For appearance and texture, you want large pieces of shrimp in the filling; the finely minced provides an overall binder.)   In a bowl, mix the shrimp and beaten egg white thoroughly.  Add minced pork fat, bamboo shoots, sesame oil, salt, white pepper, sherry and cornstarch.  Mix thoroughly with a rubber spatula.  Refrigerate while you make the skins.

Skins:

1       Cup      wheat starch

1/4    Cup      tapioca Starch

1       Tab       Peanut oil

1/4    tsp         salt

1       Cup       boiling water

Sift the starches and salt into a bowl; form a well in the powders, then add the oil.  Pour the boiling water, measured with a pre-heated measuring cup, into the well and stir quickly with a rubber spatula.  Scrape the sides as you mix, to incorporate all the ingredients.  Form a ball of dough.  As soon as you can handle the dough, knead it vigorously for a full 3 minutes, occasionally compressing the ball forcefully as you knead.  Wheat starch dough is firm to the gentle touch, but extremely malleable.  This enthusiastic kneading is to insure that the starches and water and oil are smoothly and completely incorporated.  Divide the dough into 4 pieces and let it rest in a plastic bag for 6 minutes.  In the meantime, make certain your steamer water is boiling.  Prepare a parchment paper liner for the steamer tray—punch or cut 1/4” holes randomly in the paper to allow steam to pass through.

Compress each ball into a smooth, round shape and then roll on a flat surface to make a 3/4”to 1” dia.   Rope.  Put three back in the plastic bag and cut the remaining into 3/4” to 1” segments.  To make the skins: working on a high density polyethylene cutting board, place a piece of 4” square piece of parchment paper over the segment and flatten it one at a time with rolling pin, Chinese cleaver, or tortilla press (works great), making sure the skin is a uniform thickness of between 1/16” and 3/16”  This disk will be slightly irregular in shape; you can proceed with making the dumplings and trim the excess with scissors if necessary, or cut the skin now to appx. 3-1/4” diam. using a cookie cutter, empty tin can or similar round object(An empty 6-1/2 oz.  tuna can works very well).  You can make the skins all at once, if they are kept covered with plastic or damp cloth at room temperature.

Pick up the skin very gently (these wrappers are soft and tear easily—even if you nick it with a fingernail, this will likely produce a tear in the dumpling as it steams) put a rounded tablespoon of filling in the middle, fold the skin patially around the filling to form a trough; hold this loosely in the fingers of your left hand, with the thumb resting in the middle, over the filling.   Gently pleat the side furthest from you only, from right to left, using the left thumb and right index finger to guide the pleats against the side closest to you, while the right thumb provides backing.  Pleat along the dumpling, until the dumpling is enclosed.   You need not tightly seal the wrapper as you pleat—the concern at this point is not to stress the wrapper resulting in a tear.  Once it’s pleated, you can press the edges, sealing the dumpling and cutting off the excess if the wrapper wasn’t pre-cut.  Place as many dumplings as you can (without touching) on the paper-lined steamer tray. It is best to use all the wrapper dough right away; it works best when still warm.

Steam the dumplings for 5 minutes.  If it is necessary to take the dumplings out of the steamer tray—as opposed to setting out the tray as a serving dish—you should wait 3 or 4 

minutes while the skins cool somewhat; they are very soft and sticky while piping hot.

If absolutely necessary, these dumplings can be frozen once they are steamed, but they lose about 15% of their texture.  Thaw them on parchment paper or polyethylene cutting board before reheating, and steam for about 3 minutes as before

Fun Gwor (Pork and Shrimp Dumpling)

Fun Gwor (Pork and Shrimp Dumpling)

This is another classic dim sum tidbit. One might want to refer to the recipe for Ha Gao, with its detailed description of wheat starch dough, as this dumpling uses the same wrapper. 

There can be confusion, even among native speakers, about the exact names of Chinese things, and food items are no exception.  The Cantonese “Fun” in the name is often mistakenly translated as “rice flour,” mistaken because there is no rice flour used in this recipe. The literal translation of “Fun (mandarin: Fen) can mean any number of things, but it most likely attaches to the meanings of powder and flour, especially bean and potato starch flours, which likely have been used in the past instead of wheat starch.  “Gwor” (guo) means fruit, and poetically alludes to its crescent shape, suggesting a section of fruit, or the delicacy of fruit.

8 oz Pork, minced 1/8” to 1/4”
4 oz peeled deveined shrimp, minced per pork
2 dried shitake mushrooms, minced per pork
7 peeled water chestnuts, minced per pork
1 heap tsp garlic, minced med fine
1 scallion, minced med.

Stir-fry this mixture just until pork has cooked through—turn off the heat, then immediately add mixture of:

1/4 cup chicken stock
1 Tab cornstarch
1 Tab wine
2 Tab oyster sauce
1 tsp Kosher salt
2 tsp sugar
1 Tab soy sauce
1 scant teaspoon sesame oil

When the mixture has cooled, add:

1/4 tsp white pepper
2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 heap cup (loosely measured) chopped cilantro and stems

Mix and refrigerate, preferably overnight,.

To make dumplings, follow recipe and procedure for the wheat starch dough used for Ha Gau skins (1 cup wheat starch; 1/4 cup Tapioca Flour, 1 Tab oil, salt and 1 cup water.); place appx 1 rounded Tab of filling on the skin, fold over and press edge gently to seal and form a crescent.  Steam for 5 minutes.  Allow to cool for 2 or 3 minutes before serving or transferring to serving platter (serving in steamer tray is recommended, since the hot dumplings are very sticky and fragile).

Deep-frying this dumpling produces a nice variation.  Remembering that the filling is already cooked, the dumpling can be fried at 325° to 350° in peanut oil for 1 or 2 minutes until crisp.

Zhu Rou Bao Zi (Steamed Pork Buns)

Pork Buns zhu rou bao zi

You won’t find these tasty snacks at the fine dining palaces of Beijing—instead, you’ll see Zhu rou baozi in the side streets and alleys of that super-metropolis. Understandably, the city bureaucrats, and even the central government in Beijing, want to modernize out of existence the seamier side of Chinese life; unfortunately, this includes the unlicensed, unsightly, and occasionally unsanitary street vendors to whom iron-gutted foodies like myself owe their most memorable experiences. In Beijing, during the long run up to the Olympics, the city all but eradicated these makeshift entrepreneurs, and replaced them with spiffy, red-aproned employees in ticky-tacky boxes, all in a row, calling it street food. The China daily shows off these sanitized street stalls in a small photo gallery featuring the more exotic morsels sold there.  Nevertheless, try as they might, city administrators’ attempts to squelch Chinese capitalism is habitually doomed, and you will probably find delicious snacks sold by traditional cooks, out of site of the authorities, for decades to come.

So for now, north of the Yangtze river, in most cities, you will find some sort of baozi sold by sidewalk vendors; they are an inexpensive snack, and yet, along with noodles and rice, constitute the a major staple of the Chinese workers who buy them from their favored neighborhood purveyor. Along with baozi, especially in the morning, these same vendors will often sell mantou, which is steamed wheat flour bread with no filling.

Baozi are sold in many configurations, small to large, fried and steamed, steamed and in southern China, baked. They are close cousins of jiaozi, dumplings, but are usually larger and wrapped with a leavened dough. Baozi have many different fillings—pork and cabbage, vegetables, toufu, mushrooms, red bean paste, lotus seed paste, roast pork, chicken, all with local variations in seasonings and preparation. Nevertheless, the pork and cabbage version, zhu rou bao zi (猪肉包子) is most common.

The yeast dough:

3 cups of bread flour

1 cup warm water (110° F)

1-1/2 teaspoon dry yeast

2-1/2 Tab sugar

2 Tab peanut oil

1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder

The Filling:

1-1/2 lbs Pork (pork belly or rib meat)

1-1/2 lbs Napa Cabbage

1" x 3" washed, unpeeled ginger

1 cup water

2 scallions, minced

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 Tab soy sauce

1 rounded tsp salt

1" x 1/2" pc peeled ginger, minced

1 medium clove garlic, minced

1 tsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornstarch

Smash the unpeeled ginger with the flat of a heavy cleaver so that it will release its juices. Put the ginger in the cup of water, stir, and set aside--1 to 2 hours is preferable.

To the cup of lukewarm water, add the sugar and the yeast and stir until it dissolves. In the meantime, sift the flour into a bowl. When the yeast mixture is foaming, add it to the flour and mix vigorously until the mass begins to stick together. Add the oil, and when the dough coheres enough to remove to the counter and knead for 10 minutes, until it is smooth. It is very important that the dough be soft. Do not add more flour unless necessary to keep it from sticking to your hands and the kneading surface. Once the dough is kneaded, oil the surface with peanut oil and place in a covered bowl in a warm place.

Separate and blanch the cabbage leaves for 2 or 3 minutes in a large pot of boiling water. Remove, drain, and cool. When it is cool enough to handle, roughly chop the cabbage and put in a clean hand towel. Wring out as much of the water as possible, then mince.

Mechanically grind or chop with a cleaver all of the pork into a dice of approximately 1/4". Set aside about a third of this, and mince the remaining pork very fine. Mix together the cabbage, the minced ginger, minced scallion, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Mixing thoroughly with a wooden spoon or paddle of a kitchen mixer, add the cup of strained ginger water, soy, wine and sesame oil. Add cornstarch, and mix in one direction for several minutes. The filling should be moist, almost like batter; add chicken stock if the filling seems stiff or dry.

Making the Baozi:

Have the steamer ready before you begin.

When the dough has doubled in bulk, and you are ready to make the baozi, punch down the dough and make several indentations in the dough with your fingers. Sift the baking powder into these holes, fold up the dough and pinch the edges together to contain the baking powder. Knead for five minutes, or until the baking powder is thoroughly incorporated. Cover the dough ball and let it rest for five or ten minutes. Form the dough into two ropes, approximately 1-1/2" in diameter, then cut the ropes into sections approximately 1-1/2" long. Roll each segment into a ball, place, separated, on a tray, and cover.

To make a baozi, flatten one of the balls with your hand, keeping it as round as possible. Roll the discs into approximately 4” rounds, as thin as possible on the edges, and 1/8” or so in the center. Roll out several rounds and keep them covered as you begin to fill the baozi (Doing these somewhat ahead once again rests the dough and makes them more manageable). Smear a couple of heaping tablespoons of filling to the skin, leaving a border of a half inch or so, and begin pleating the very edge with your fingers and thumb, overlapping the dough by a quarter inch or so. The pleat should be squeezed firmly and pulled slightly vertically to prevent the top of the finished bun from being too thick. As you pleat, rotate the baozi clockwise, making sure the filling remains well below the edges of the bun. Complete the process by closing the top with a spiral twist. Place the pleated baozi, separated from one another, on a steamer tray lined with perforated parchment paper or (napa) cabbage leaves and steam, covered, for 14 to 15 minutes. It is very important to make one or two sample baozi to test for salt and seasonings. When you've done this, you are ready to complete the batch of 20 - 30 baozi.

Zhu Rou Bao Zi can be frozen, once they are steamed and cooled, with very little deterioration. They can also be microwaved to re-heat, but steaming for 12 minutes (from frozen) is far superior.

Loh Baahk Gou (Turnip Cake)

Turnip Cake (Loh Baahk Gou)

Loh Baahk Gou, or Turnip cake, is a classic of Dim Sum and will be found in virtually every Dim Sum restaurant in the world.  (I usually translate names into pinyin, now the standard form of Romanization.  However, Dim Sum is so well known by its southern Chinese nomenclature, deriving from the Cantonese dialect, that I use the Yale system when translating Dim Sum recipes and notes).   Perhaps the greatest attraction of this dish, as with many Chinese offerings, is texture.  When steamed properly, and lightly fried, Loh Baahk Gou is slightly crisp on the surface, while moist and meltingly tender within, punctuated by small morsels of savory sausage, bacon, dried shrimp and mushroom.  The main ingredient, actually Chinese white radish, is nearly identical to Japanese Daikon, the latter being a perfectly usable substitute in the US.  Loh Baahk Gou cannot be frozen, but it will keep in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic wrap, for a week.

Note: the rice flour/liquid slurry will seem too thin to solidify the cake, and you may fear that it will “separate” while it sits in the steamer.  However, the weight of the non-liquid ingredients displace the slurry perfectly, and the cake will be surprisingly homogenous and firm in the end.

1+ oz (35g) (Lop Yok) Chinese Bacon

1 +oz (35g) Lop Cheong Chinese Sausage (about 1 link)

2 med Shitake dried mushrooms

6 g dried shrimp

2 small green onions, chopped roughly, include greens.

1 lbs (450g) Daikon (after peeled and topped)

1-2 tsp Shaoshing wine or dry sherry

3 level tsp sugar

1 cup (130 g)  Thai rice flour

1 level tsp salt

1/2 quart (16 oz) water

White pepper

Peanut oil

Submerge mushroom in one cup hot water and soak 30 min. to an hour. Add 1 cup boiling water to dried shrimp, soak 30 min. to an hour.

Cut bacon into 1 or 2 or pcs and place in a small heatproof bowl.  Steam in steamer for 20 minutes, until bacon softens. 10 minutes into the steaming of the bacon, put sausage in bowl and steam on another rack for ten minutes. Reserve any juices which collect in the bottom of the bowl.  When cool enough to handle,  trim the rind, if any (the tough outer layer), off the bacon and dice 1/8” to 3/16th” and dice the sausage in the same way.

Drain shrimp, reserving liquid, and chop 1/4” minus.  Squeeze water from mushrooms, reserving liquid, cut away stems and dice, 1/4”.   The combined soaking liquids from the shrimp and mushroom should be at least 1 cup.

Shred the daikon radish and place in a 3 qt sauce pan.  Compact the vegetable gently, add 1/2 quart cold water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes until very tender.   In the meantime, heat a wok to med-high, add 1 or 2 tablespoons peanut oil, and stir fry sausage and bacon for 2 or 3 minutes just until meat browns slightly.  Be careful not to brown this very much—the sausage and bacon will become tough.  Add mushrooms, shrimp and scallions, and stir-fry another 2 or 3 minutes; toss in wine, sugar, a dash of ground white pepper and reserved bacon juices.  Toss to combine and set aside.

While reserving the liquid, drain the shredded radish and combine it in a large bowl with the meat and scallion mixture—including residual oils—and the salt.  Into a mixing bowl, measure the rice flour; pour in the 1/2 cup combined shrimp and mushroom water, then 1-1/4 cup hot turnip water, and combine with whisk until smooth.  Add this slurry to the turnip mixture and combine thoroughly.  It will be something like a rice pudding in texture.

Pour mixture into a well-greased (or parchment lined) small loaf pan appx. 8X4X2-1/4” deep, and place in steamer without touching sides or lid of steamer.  (A Chinese cook will often use a covered wok as a steamer, since it is large, in conjunction with a wire rack which supports the pan above the water.)  Gently pat the mixture down to consolidate and distribute slurry.  Steam 45 minutes until firm.  Remove and allow to cool for an hour, then refrigerate for 2 or 3 more hours.

When ready to serve, run a butter knife or spatula along sides of pan; turn over on plate or cutting board; cover for a couple of minutes with a hot towel, then rap the loaf pan to release the cake.  With a sharp knife, cut 1/2 inch pieces crosswise, like bread; cut each of these in half,  to create servings of approx 2-1/2 x 3” and a half inch thick.  Fry the pieces in a flat pan with peanut oil til golden brown and warmed through.   Serve with soy dipping or oyster sauce.