Pan-fried Multigrain Calzones with Pork, Eggs and Vegetable Filling

Ok, I know these are not the real authentic calzones you are expecting.  They are more like extra extra extra large pan-fried Asian dumplings.  People make them into these beautiful half moon shape dumplings with pretty wrinkles seal the edges.

Every family has its own unique traditional way to make them.  And probably everyone considers the best ones are made in their grandma’s kitchen.

I make them at home all the time too.  But this time I substituted regular with freshly ground multigrain flour to make a better healthier version. 

Like a lot of people, I too, used to hold this biased opinion against multigrain food; thinking they are all rough and tough and taste like cardboard.  However, after I start to make my own multigrain food at home, I realize how wrong I was before.   Multigrain food can be tasty and healthy at the same time!

Ingredients for pork, eggs and vegetable filling:

400 g ground pork
3 to 4 large eggs
500 g frozen Shepherd’s purse (sold in Asian grocery stores; can be substituted with frozen spinach)
2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1/4 to 1/3 low sodium soy sauce
1 to 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/4 cup chicken stock/ water
salt to taste

For multigrain calzones:

200 g multigrain flour
50 g gluten flour
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
a pinch of salt
3/4 cup water (give or take a couple tablespoons depending on multigrain flour mixture)
2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (for pan frying)

 

Directions:

I usually buy different high fiber whole grains from Sprouts and Wholefoods market and mix everything together in a big jar later.  Top choices are but not limited to kidney beans, split green peas, yellow peas, barley, oats, wheat berries, lentils, wheat bran, flax seeds, and so on.

Add 2 cups multigrain mixture to a Vitamix blender dry container.

Grind on high speeds for 20 to 30 seconds.

Add 200g multigrain flour and gluten flour to a large bowl.

Add water, salt and oil.  Combine everything together in the bowl and knead into a smooth ball of dough.

I use ground oat for dusting.  And of course, ground oat is made by vitamix too.

Cover with plastic wrap.  Let it rest for 10 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare pork filling.

I usually buy large piece of pork shoulder and grind them into ground pork, and then divide and freeze ground pork for later use.  It takes longer than buying ground pork from grocery but the taste and flavor is so much better.

Add rice cooking wine, soy sauce, ground ginger, ground white peppercorn, oyster sauce, sesame oil and corn starch.

Whisk clock-wise with a pair of chopsticks.

While whisking, add a tablespoon chicken stock/ water.  Whisk until the liquid is absorbed before adding more.

Defrosted shepherd’s purse

 It might be considered weed here in America.  However, shepherd’s purse is sold like any other vegetables.  It is really a seasonal delicacy only found in early spring time.  Asian people love it for its sweet, delicate, refreshing earthy flavors. 

Make scrambled eggs with a wok.  Add to the pork mixture along with chopped shepherd’s purse.

Mix until well combined.  Season with salt to taste.  

Equally divide multigrain dough into 12 pieces. 

I grind oat flour with Vitamix too.  And use it to dust the wooden board and the dough.

With a small rolling pin, flat out each piece as thin as possible.

Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of pork filling.

Wrap it up.

Repeat the process until all is done.

Preheat a double sided electric griddle skillet.  Add a couple teaspoons vegetable oil and then 4 to 5 pieces of calzones.  Bake for 3 to 5 minutes.

You will know they are ready when the tops are golden brown.

Pipping hot off the skillet, yum!

Braised Duck Necks in Spicy Soy Sauce

中文菜谱: 辣卤鸭脖

For the foodies who have culinary adventurous spirits, I recommend soy sauce braised duck necks as a meaty, healthy and very satisfying snack when watching Super Bowl on this coming Sunday.  For those who think it is too bizarre, all I can say is that you have no idea what you are missing O(∩_∩)O~  

A lot of Asian countries have long history of eating ducks.  I mean like all parts of ducks.  When food was scarce, nothing edible would go waste.  At first, people eat duck necks because they couldn’t afford expensive meat.  And now people are still eating it because of it is so tasty and flavorful.

Ingredients:

2 lbs duck necks (sold in Asian grocery stores)  
3 to 4 tablespoons Pixian chili paste
a handful dried chili peppers
1/4 to 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 to 4 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 to 3 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
3 to 4 star anises
1 small piece cinnamon bark
2 to 3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon Sichuan pepper corns
3 to 4  pieces dried sand ginger
5 to 6 cloves
1 black cardamom pod
2 cloves of garlic
1 small piece of fresh ginger root, sliced
salt to taste  
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil for cooking
water
1 cup of *“old soy sauce” (opitonal)

(* old soy sauce is the remaining braised sauce that has been boiled, drained and preserved in freezer.  Add old soy sauce to the broth can enrich its flavor, improve the braised meat texture and give everything a better taste.  Think about the old dough used in the bakery.  They pretty much work the same way. *)

 

Directions:

Gather all the needed spices in a small plate.  Don’t they look pretty together?

Clean and rinse duck necks under running water.  Trim any extra surrounding fat or tissues.

Blanch duck necks in boiling water for about 5 minutes.

Rinse them with hot water.  Set aside.

Heat a cast iron wok over medium heat.  Add vegetable oil along with all the spices.

Sautee for several minutes until you can smell intense aroma from the spices.

Add Pixian chili paste.

Add soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice cooking wine, sugar, and old soy sauce.  Continue to sauté for a couple minutes.

Add water.  Turn up the heat to high.  When it comes to boil, add duck necks.

Wait for the broth to boil again.  Cover with lid and reduce the heat to simmer for about 1 hour.  Extend the simmering time if you prefer softer meat texture. 

15 minutes before simmering time is up, do a quick sample taste.  Add salt to taste.  

When the hour is up, turn off the heat.  For maximum flavor, leave the duck necks soaking in broth for another hour or so.

When the duck necks cool down, dice them with a sharp cleaver. 

They are best when served cold beer together! O(∩_∩)O~

Stir-fried Fava Beans with Ground Pork and Pickled Vegetable

中文菜谱: 碎米芽菜肉末炒蚕豆

Fresh fava beans are such a culinary delicacy.  The fresh beans come with light green color and a mild grassy, earthy and refreshing scent and taste.  When cooked, they become a bit sweet and starchy. 

For those who have never had fava beans before, they are very similar to what young lima beans taste like.  The skin on the outside is a little bit firmer than lima beans.  And they are both very tasty!

I cook with fresh fava beans a lot.  The best season for them is late summer.  And they are usually available in Asian grocery markets.  If you live in Houston like I do, Central Market is another good place to shop for fresh fava beans too.

Ingredients:

2 lbs fresh fava beans
200  to 300 g ground pork
1/2  package of Sichuan pickled vegetable, finely chopped (1/2 package weighs about 50 g.  It is sold in most Asian grocery stores)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup of chicken broth/ water
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 slice of ginger root, minced
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
5 to 6 dry red chili peppers, diced
vegetable oil for cooking
salt to taste

Fresh young fava beans are usually sold in pods so that they stay fresh and the beans don’t get bruised. 

Pick the ones with big fat “belly”.

Peel fava beans from their pods.

Directions:

Heat a cast iron wok over high heat.  Add oil, along with minced garlic, ginger, diced peppers and ground pork.  Stir fry over high heat for several minutes until the ground pork begin to turn slightly golden brown.

Add chopped Sichuan pickled vegetable. Sautee for a minute or two. 

Add fava beans and sautee everything together for another couple minutes.

Add chicken broth/water, along with rice cooking wine, oyster suace, low sodium soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar and salt.  Cover with lid and reduce the heat to simmer for 7 to 8 minutes.

Turn the heat back to high and cook until the broth evaporate. 

Sautee over high heat for another couple minutes. 

Remove from heat and serve hot immediately.

Short Pork Ribs Braised in Soy Sauce

Recently I have been more enthusiastic about pork ribs than before. 

Asian grocery stores in Houston area are very customer-friendly.  They sell pre-cut pork ribs in the shape of long thin strips so that you don’t have to go through all the trouble to cut them yourself.  They also help to custom cut the meat of your choice.  Such a life saver! O(∩_∩)O~

I always bring back a few rib strips from my trip to Asian grocery stores.  What I am cooking today is short pork ribs braised in soy sauce. Yum!

Ingredients:

2 strips of pork ribs (baby back /spare ribs cut into long thick strips.  Two weigh about 1lb.  )
1 small piece of ginger root, sliced
1/4 low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon crushed rock sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
2 to 3 star anises
3 to 4 cloves
2 bay leaves
boiling water
salt to taste

 

Directions:

star anises are really amazingly beautiful.

With a sharp kitchen knife, cut the ribs into one by one inch pieces.  Soak in cold water for 4 to 5 hours.  Change the water a few times in between.  

Heat a cast iron wok over medium heat.  Add ribs, with the fatty side down.  Flip over when they are golden brown. 

Add crushed rock sugar.  Sauté the sugar with ribs together.  The sugar will melt quickly and coat the ribs with amber color syrup.

Rock sugar is an essential ingredient in Asian cooking.  It is always available in Asian grocery store.  When unavailable, it can be substituted with regular cane sugar.

Add boiling water, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice cooking wine, sliced ginger root, star anises, cloves and bay leaves. 

Cook over high heat until the broth boils.  Cover with lid and reduce the heat to simmer for about 40 minutes. 

Turn the heat back to high.  Add salt to taste. 

As the broth evaporates, the ribs are getting more and more beautifully golden brown.

Remove from the heat when there is no extra liquid in the wok. 

Serve hot immediately.

The ribs have been simmered and braised for almost an hour.  So they are tender and juicy; sweet and savory all at the same time.  It is full of comfort food flavors. 

Crunchy Soybeans

中文菜谱:

酥黄豆

Crunchy soybeans are far more than a snack to us.  They can also be used as a crunchy topping for Asian style noodle soups too, or as a topping to almost anything you like.  And be careful, these beans can be additive too O(∩_∩)O~

It is super simple and easy to make crunchy soybeans at home.  All you need is a little bit of time and patience, and of course, some soybeans!

Crunchy soybeans make perfect topping for Chinese noodles.

Ingredients:

1 cup of soybeans
water for soaking
1 1/2 to 2 cups oil
salt to taste

 

Directions:

Add soybeans to a bowl, along with water.  Let it sit overnight.

Soaked soybeans

Drain the soybeans.  Add to a thick sauce pan.  Add oil.  I use a 2 quarts cast iron wok which is perfect for frying small batch of meat and vegetables.

Cook over medium low heat. 

With a spoon, stir the beans from time to time to prevent uneven cooking.

A few minutes later, soybeans start to change colors.

They slowly darken the color. 

Reduce the heat to low.  DO NOT use high heat here.  Otherwise, you might end up with burnt or chewy soybeans instead of crunchy ones.

The beans have been deep-fried over low heat for almost 30 minutes.

Now the color is beautifully golden brown.

Drain the beans and let them cool down in a plate lined with kitchen paper towel.

Sprinkle with fine table salt.  Store in an air-tight mason jar up to 2 weeks after the beans are completely cooled. 

I posted how to make noodles at home before: Homemade Noodles in Thick Pork Broth  

Cook the noodles in boiling water for 45 seconds to one minute.  Add to a bowl, along with soy sauce, sesame oil, Sichuan peppercorn oil, chili oil sauce, spicy ground beef with dice tofu, finely shredded cucumber, chopped cilantro, green onion, and of course, crunchy soybeans.

Use pair of chopsticks to toss everything together.

Bon appetite! O(∩_∩)O~