Pan-fried Chinese Buns with Pork and Shiitake Mushrooms Filling

中文：生煎全麦香菇肉包

Got some really good and fresh shiitake mushrooms during my last grocery trip near Detroit.  I use some to make pan-fried Chinese buns with pork.  And they are fantastic! O(∩_∩)O~

Vinegar and chili sauce is a popular dipping sauce for pan-fried buns.  It is refreshing and enhances the flavors.

Ingredients for the bun dough：

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 to 2 tablespoons gluten flour
1/2 to 1/3 cup of warm water
1 teaspoon yeast
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 teaspoon oil
 

For pork and shiitake mushrooms filling：

2/3 to 1 cup ground pork
6 large fresh shiitake mushrooms
1 to 2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1tablespoon rice cooking wine
4 to 6 tablespoons chicken stock/ water
a pinch of freshly ground ginger
salt to taste

For pan-frying：

2 to 4 tablespoons oil
1/3 to 1/2 cup of water
chopped green onion
white sesame seeds
 

Directions：

The dough takes longer time to make so I start with bun dough.

In the stand mixer mixing bowl, add all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, gluten flour, sugar and salt.  Mix them with hand or a whisk. 

Make a well in the middle of the flour.  Add warm water; sprinkle with yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes. 

Stand mixer kneads the dough at speed 2 until the dough is smooth and elastic.  It takes between 10 to 15 minutes.

Cover the bowl with lid. The dough proofs for 25 to 35 minutes.  It doesn’t have to double in size.  

When waiting for the dough to be ready, I make the pork and shiitake mushrooms filling.

In a medium mixing bowl, add ground pork, soy sauce, ground white pepper, oyster sauce, sugar, rice cooking wine, ground ginger and salt.  Mix them well.  The best tool to do this is a pair of chop sticks.

When whisking with chop sticks, slowly add chicken stock/ water.  Don’t worry about the filling getting too thin.  Ground pork will absorb the liquid. 

Clean the shiitake mushroom with a damp towel or rinse them under running if there is a lot of dirt.  Pat day with kitchen towel and add to food processor.

Chop finely

Add to the pork and mix well again.

Gently knead the dough to get rid of any large air bubbles.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for another 10 minutes.

Evenly divide the dough into small pieces.  I like to make small buns so I divide it into 28 small pieces of dough.

Press down the dough with palm.  With a small rolling pin, roll the dough edge thin.

Add two to three tablespoons of pork filling to the center.

Wrap it up

Repeat the process until all 28 are done.

Cover them with plastic wrap and proof for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Heat a 12 inches cast iron skillet over medium high heat. 

Add oil and then the buns.  Pan fry for about 1 minute.  Add water and cover with lid.

When the water is almost gone, which takes between 6 to 10 minutes, reduce the heat to medium low.  Cook for another 4 to 6 minutes.  It will cook buns bottom to be golden brown, crispy, crunchy and yummy. 

Serve immediately with bottom side up. 

In winter time, I like to serve with the cast iron skillet so that they would stay hot for longer time.

They go really great with sweet rice vinegar and chili sauce!

Lamb Soup with Diced Chinese Bread

中文：羊肉泡馍

Lamp soup with diced Chinese bread is a traditional dish in central China where wheat is widely grown instead of rice.   Because there are proteins, starch, veggies all in one bowl, a bowl of soup like this can be served as breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

Served piping hot the second right after it is cooked, a bowl of lamb soup does not just provide you energy to get through the day, but also brings you comfort in cold winter time.

The authentic way is to make lamp soup with both lamb and lamb bones.  I don’t have any lamb bones, so I substitute with a free range chicken.

And the dense hearty pan grilled Chinese bread is a must for the dish. O(∩_∩)O~

They always come with pickled young garlic and chili sauce. 

Ingredients for the lamb soup:

1 large piece of lamb leg (about 2 to 3 pounds)
1 free range chicken
1 large piece of ginger root, sliced into thick pieces
2 to 3 stalks green onion
3 bay leaves
1 black cardamom pot
3 to 4 pieces of dried rhizome/ dried ginger slices
2 star anises (optional)
1/2teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon  ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
water
salt to taste

For individual serving:

1/2 to 1 head pickled garlic
chopped cilantro
Chinese vermicelli (It is super fine noodles made from green bean starch), soaked in water for at least 1 hour
edible tree black fungus
chili sauce
 

For the dough:

2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup water
a pinch of salt

Directions：

Rinse the chicken under cold running water.  Pat dry and chop the chicken into 3 by 4 inches pieces.

Soak the lamb in a large pot of cold water for 2 hours.  Change the water two to three times in between.

Wrap the bay leaves, star anises, cardamom, rhizome, Sichuan peppercorns and black peppercorns with a piece of coffee filter.

Tightly tie it up

Blanch both diced chicken and lamb in boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes.  Drain well.

In a large Staub Dutch oven pot , add chicken and lamb.  Fill the pot with fresh boiling water.  The water should be 4 to 5 inches above the meat.  

Heat the pot over high heat until it boils.  Add rice cooking wine, spices wrapped in coffee filter paper, green onions and ginger root slices.

Reduce the heat to simmer for about 2 hours.

Discard the green onions.

Add sugar, ground white pepper and salt to taste.

Continue to cook for another 20 minutes.  Now we have a nice pot of lamb soup.  Remove from heat.  Transfer the lamb to a plate.  Allow it to completely cool down.

When the soup is simmering on the stove, I make the Chinese bread.

Add flour, salt and water to s stand mixer  mixing bowl.

Set it to speed 2.  Knead for about 10 minutes.

Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Transfer to a wooden board.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow it rest for 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into 6 to 8 equal pieces.

We are on a low carbohydrates diet so that I divide it into 16 pieces.  

Each piece weighs 28 grams.  I use a kitchen scale  to make sure they are all the same size.  The stand size is bigger than this. O(∩_∩)O~ 

With a small rolling pin, roll each piece flat.

Fold it in the middle.

Roll up from one end all the way to the other end.

Repeat the process until all the pieces are finished.

With your palm, press them down and then roll every single one into flat disc shape.

Heat a cast iron skillet  over medium low heat. 

Add the bread dough pieces.  Cover with lid.  Cook each side for 2 to 3 minutes until they are golden brown.  if you are doing larger dough pieces, remember to extend the cooking time accordingly.

All done

The traditional way is to break them apart with finger tips.  I just find it more efficient and easier to dice them up with a sharp knife.

Slice the lamb

The correct way is to fill each individual bowl with dice bread, wood black mushroom, green bean noodles and lamb.

Add 1 to 1 1/2 lamb stock to a small soup pot.  Heat over high heat until it boils.  Add what is in the bowl to the pot.  Cook for about 1 minute. Remove from heat.  Transfer everything back to bowl.  Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.  Add pickled garlic and chili sauce on the top.

Serve it hot immediately.  The lamp soup goes really well with cilantro and pickled garlic.  Try not to skip them because it is the most authentic way to enjoy it.  O(∩_∩)O~

I made the pickled garlic from what I harvested from our backyard vegetable garden. 

The recipe was posted before.

They get better when sitting longer in the sugar vinegar brine.

And yes, I made my own chili sauce too.  The recipe is here.

Homemade Hot and Spicy Noodles

中文： STAND MIXER洗面皮版之酸辣凉皮

This is a very special kind of noodle.  It originated in Southwest of China, and now it is widely popular through the whole main land. 

Unlike the noodle people have in mind, this one is not served hot in soup.  It is tossed with all kinds of spices and seasoning, more like noodle salad.  What really makes it special is how the noodle is made.  Simply put, you need to knead a piece of dough, and then you need to work on the dough in water to separate the wheat gluten and starch, and then make noodle out of starchy water.  It is a very interesting process but also quite labor intensive.  Although it is very widely popular in China, not many people like to make it from scratch at home.  So many restaurants, food trucks and street vendors sell these noodles that you can get them almost anywhere and anytime.

My husband and I live in a small town in Michigan where there is no Asian grocery store.  That means I need to DIY any authentic Chinese food we crave for, and fortunately, I very much enjoy doing so. And I also enjoy sharing with everyone else. O(∩_∩)O~

I use kitchenaid stand mixer to work on the dough and to separate wheat gluten and starch.  It is traditionally done by hands.  Stand mixer is such a great help in my kitchen!  

For the noodle：

2 1/2 cup bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
9 to 10 cups water (to work with dough)

Noodle seasoning：

Red chili oil sauce (homemade or available in Asian grocery store)
sesame oil
garlic water (2 gloves of garlic, minced and soaked in 2 tablespoons water)
soy sauce
sugar
chopped green onion
chopped cilantro
cucumber, peeled and cut into French fries size
freshly roasted peanut, crushed
rice vinegar
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 to 2 tablespoon sesame paste

Direction：

 In the stand mixer mixing bowl, add flour, salt and water.  Turn it on and knead the dough at speed 2 for 12 to 15 minutes.

The dough is becoming smooth and elastic.

Cover the dough and allow it to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Switch the dough hook to paddle. Add 1 1/2 cups water into the mixing bowl.

What I am using is KitchenAid professional600.  The mixing bowl is 6 quarts so I can do this without getting a big mess in the kitchen.  It is not recommended for any mixing bowl smaller than 6 quarts. 

Put on the pouring shield.  Turn on the machine and set to speed 2 again.  Knead for 4 minutes.

4 minutes later.  The water becomes white and starchy.

Drain the water to a big glass bowl.

Add another 1 1/2 cup water.

Speed 2, knead for 4 minutes.

Water becomes starchy again.  

Drain the water to the big glass bowl. 

After the third kneading

After the forth kneading

The fifth

After the sixth kneading, the water is pale, which means most starch has been extracted.  What we have left in the mixing bowl is wheat gluten. 

Steam the gluten on high heat for 16 to 20 minutes. 

Cool for 10 minutes and then dice it up. 

All the starchy water has been collected in a big glass bowl.   

Cover and let it sit for at least 4 hours. 

You can see that starchy water separates again.  All the starch sinks to the bottom.

Drain the clear water on top.  Please remember to do it very gently; otherwise the starch may be stirred up again.

With a whisk, whisk the remaining starchy mixture into smooth batter. 

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

Brush two 8 inches wilton cake pans with a little bit of oil. 

Add a big spoon of batter to a cake pan.  

Swirl the pan so that the batter can evenly coated the pan. 

Place the pan on boiling water top, cover, and steam on high heat for 1 minutes.

Fill another pot with ice water.

When the pan has been steamed for 1 minute, transfer the pan from boiling water pot to the one filled with ice water.  The ice water will cool down the cake pan fast and it would be easier to remove noodle from pan.

Here is one big piece of noodle!

It is almost paper thin and elastic.

Repeat the steaming and cooling process until all the batter is used.  You should be able to get between 14 and 18 pieces.

Cut them into thick strings and place in a big bowl. 

Add the prepared noodle seasonings. There is no rule here how much of what should be added.  You can add whatever to create your own flavor. 

I usually add red chili pepper oil sauce, sesame oil, garlic water, soy sauce, sugar, green onion, cilantro, cucumber, vinegar, peanut butter, sesame paste, and the diced steamed gluten bread.  

Mix gently until everything combines together, sprinkle with crushed peanut and serve immediately. 

That is one bowl of authentic hot and spicy Chinese noodle!

Zucchini Dumplings: the Taste of Summer

中文： 西葫芦饺子，夏天的味道

Finally, it is summer time!  Summer in Michigan means lots of fresh local produces in farmer’s market.  I get so excited that I always automatically wake up earlier on Wednesday and Saturday morning, so that I can go to our local farmer’s market to see what good eats are available today. To me, summer is the best time of the year.  Yes, it is way better than the holiday season!

Among the produce I am so looking forward to is zucchini.  They are fresh, sweet, tender and refreshing.  There are many ways to cook with zucchini and each and every way is good.  I use them in stir-fries, soup, savory pancakes and dumplings.

Making dumplings is really a good use of zucchini.  But I don’t just chop it up and use it like that.  I dehydrate the zucchini first, so that the flavor is more intense, and zucchini won’t be mushy when cooked.  

For whole-wheat dumpling wraps:

3 cups bread flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oil

For dumpling filling：

1 1/2 pound ground pork
3 large zucchinis
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 rice cooking wine
2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 ground ginger
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
salt to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup water/ chicken stock

Directions：

Rinse the zucchinis under running water.  Pat dry and slice them thinly with a mandoline slicer. Spread zucchini chips on one or several racks. Dehydrate them under the sun or in a food dehydrator until zucchinis are half way dry.  

In a large bowl, add bread flour, whole wheat flour, oil and salt.  Whisk while gradually adding water to the bowl.  When flour starts to come together, knead with hands until smooth and elastic dough forms. 

Cover and let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes. 

In another large bowl, add ground pork, ground white pepper, sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, ground ginger and salt.  Whisk with a pair of chopsticks.  If you whisk hard enough, the ground pork, just like the flour, is going to come together and develop some kind of gluten.  Add water/ chicken broth, little by little; and keep whisking.

Add dehydrated zucchinis to a food processor.  

In seconds, zucchinis are evenly and finely chopped. I love my newly bought cuisinart 14 cups food processor.  It can be so helpful in the kitchen.

Add finely chopped zucchinis to the ground pork.

Whisk until the whole pork filling is well combined.  Add salt to taste.

Run the dough through stand mixer pasta roller several times.  

Set the thickness to 5, and run it one more time.

With a round cookie cutter, cut out round dumpling wraps. 

He is working on the dough and wraps; while I am working on dumplings. O(∩_∩)O~

Put 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoon pork filling in the center of one wrap.

Fold the wrap over.  Press the sides together and make a couple creases on the each side.

That is how you make a authentic Chinese dumpling.

Line up the dumplings on a well-flour-dusted board.

I like to make dozens of dumplings at a time and freeze the extra and keep them in large Ziploc bags.  They are so much better than the dumplings you find in grocery store freezer.

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add dumplings.  When the water boils again, add one cup of cold water to the pot.  That should help to cook dumplings evenly inside and out. When the water boils again, add another cup of cold water to the pot.  Repeat it one more time and the dumplings should be ready. 

I like to serve my dumplings with garlic chili sauce.  This is the home version.  I post it before: http://www.yankitchen.com/blog/2k1o27b6fzy82wn0sphsah9oqd3hbo

Take a bite!

The dehydrated zucchini has more intense flavor.  I didn’t add any sugar to the filling, but it taste very sweet and refreshing, just like the way zucchini should be.  If you cook with zucchini before, you will know cooked zucchini are most likely to be mushy and watery.  But my version of zucchini dumplings are the very opposite of that.  It is sweet and tender, and well worthy of all the labor work. O(∩_∩)O~

Spicy Noodle with pickled Vegetable and Ground Pork

 中文： 雪菜肉碎拌面

Noodle to Chinese people is just like pasta to Italians. We are obsessed with it and devoted to create many, many, many varieties.

I, too, love to make noodle from scratch at home.  They are mostly for breakfast.  I usually make dough and toppings ahead of time so that I can make noodle soup fast in the morning. 

Ingredients：

1 cup bread flour
1/4 cup of water
a pinch of salt

Pickled vegetable and ground pork toppings：

1/2 package of chopped pickled vegetable (available in any Asian grocery store)
1 cup ground pork
2 gloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 slice of ginger root, minced
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4  to 1/2 cup chicken stock, hot
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon garlic water (minced garlic in water)
1/4 teaspoon ground Sichuan pepper corns
2 to 3 tablespoon chili oil sauce (available in any Chinese grocery store. I use homemade version.)
1/2  teaspoon sugar
chopped cilantro
roasted soy beans
chopped green onion
salt to taste
2 tablespoons oil for cooking ground pork

Directions：

In a medium bowl, combine bread flour, salt and water.  Mix them together and then knead into a smooth dough ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for at least 1 hour.

Heat a wok over high heat.  Add oil to the wok, along with garlic and ginger.  Add ground pork and salt, black pepper and oyster sauce.  Stir fry the ground pork on high heat until the pork is golden brown.  Add chopped pickled vegetable.  Stir fry for a couple more minutes.  Remove from heat.

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

Run the dough through kitchenaid pasta roller several times until the dough is smooth out.  Set the thickness to 3 and run it through one more time.

Use the pasta cutter attachment to cut it into spaghetti size noodle.

Isn’t it beautiful? O(∩_∩)O~

Cook the noodle in boiling water for 30 to 45 seconds.  Drain and transfer to a bowl.

Add cooked ground pork, chicken stock, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic water, ground Sichuan pepper corns, chili oil sauce, sugar, salt, cilantro, green onion and roasted soy beans.

Mix well with a pair of chopsticks.  Now it is time to enjoy a bowl of tasty noodle!