November
2006
cooking class #70
cooking class #7 was chinese food! yay!!! mmm… chinese food… so good. this class was taught by nancy hall (professor/dean hall’s wife). i think nancy has come to most of the cooking classes this term, and she often works with our group. she’s originally from taiwan (cough cough… i have no comments about taiwan. of course not.) this night was really busy and full of recipes. fun and yummy of course though. oh, and nancy got a bunch of recipes from Pei Mei’s Chinese Cookbook (Taiwan, 1969). AND, for the measurement T of any recipes from pei mei’s, that means one of those large asian soup spoons, not tablespoons.
take a look:
from the top going clockwise: rice, beef steak chinese style, kung pao chicken, dumplings, sweet and sour pork, dry cooked string beans, honey walnut shrimp with lettuce.
dumplings/pot stickers
2 1/2 c flour
2/3 c boiling water
1/3 c cold water
3/4 lb. ground pork
4 oz. shrimp, shelled
3 dried black mushrooms
10 oz. cabbage
1 T chopped green onion
1 t chopped giner
2 T soy sauce
2 t salt
2 T sesame oil
3 T vegetable oil
1. add boiling water to flour, mix with chopsticks, then add cold water, and knead it very well, lt stand for at least 15 minutes covered with cloth.
2. add shrimp (cut into small pieces); green onion, ginger, and soy sauce, salt, sesame oil. mix thoroughly with pork until thickened.
3. cook the cabbage in boiling water about 2 minutes, plunge into cold water, squeeze dry, and chop finely, squeeze dry again, add to No. 2 mixture.
4. remove the dough to floured board, knead again until smooth. divide the dough into 40 pieces. flatten each piece with hand and droll into 2 1/2″ round thin pancake, put 1 tablespoon of filling (no. 3 mixture) in center of the dumpling skin then fold over to make a half circle and pinch edges together. (note: leave the end open or close for pot stickers and dumplings, respectively).
for pot stickers:
5. heat a flat frying pan until hot, add 2 tablespoons oil, when oil is hot add enough dumplings to cover the bottom of the pan without overlapping (approx. 20 to a 10″ pan). cook until bottom is golden (about 1 min.), sprinkle with water, cover and cook until water has evaporated.
6. add 1 tablespoon oil to side of pan and fry another half minute. place a serving plate over the frying pan and invert the pan quickly. now prepare the remaining portions. these may be kept warm by covering.
for dumplings:
7. boil a pot of water, then add dumplings, wait until it boils, add 1/2 cup water, repeat three times. dish out dumplings.
comments: these dumplings were way more involved than the ones we make at home (making your own skins is hardcore!), but they were very tasty. i thought the freshly made skin was tasty, but not tasty enough that i would no longer buy ones at the store. the store ones are almost as good. i really like shrimp in dumplings 
honey walnut prawns
(modified from shrimp.com recipe)
1 lb. large or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 c walnuts
1 c water
1 c sugar
2 c oil
1/2 c cornstarch
1/2 c egg whites
2 tbsp honey
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tbsp condensed milk
1/2 c oil
lettuce
1. rinse walnuts, then boil in water for 2 minutes. decant with water.
2. dissolve 1 cup of sugar in 1 cup of water, add walnuts and boil for another 2 minutes, take out walnuts and set aside.
3. heat 2 cups oil until almost smoking, then deep fry walnuts until they are shiny and brown, no longer golden.
4. place walnuts on cookie sheet, let cool.
5. mix cornstarch and egg whites together to form a thick, sticky texture and mix well with shrimp. set aside.
6. mix honey, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and condensed milk in a medium bowl until smooth.
7. heat oil until boiling, then deep fry the shrimp until golden brown. drain, then fold in honey mayonnaise mixture. mix well.
8. arrange lettuce on a platter, put shrimps on top and sprinkle with walnuts.
comments: ok, so every time someone has ordered this at a restaurant, i think it is disgusting. chinese people don’t use mayonnaise! what the hell is that? BUT, this recipe was actually surprisingly light and tasty. the sauce was more like a glaze not this nasty mayo paste that some restaurants use. i actually like this dish when it is prepared like this.
sweet and sour pork
(pei mei’s chinese cookbook)
1 1/2 lb. pork tenderloin
1 ea. small green, yellow, and red pepper
1 8 oz. can chunk pineapple
1 carrot, peeled
6 c vegetable oil
1/2 cornstarch
pork marinade
1/2 t salt
1/2 T soy sauce
1 T cornstarch
1 T cold water
1 egg yolk
seasoning sauce
3 T vinegar
4 T sugar
4 T tomato catsup
4 T cold water
3 t cornstarch
1 t salt
1 t sesame oil
1. pound pork with the back okf a cleaver then cut into 1-inch cubes. soak with marinade for at least 1/2 hour.
2. slice carrot and peppers into approximately 1 1/2″ pieces.
3. heat 6 cups oil. while oil is heating, coat each piece of pork with cornstarch. when oil is ready, fry pork until brown and done (about 2 min), take out, reheat oil then fry once more until crispy. remove pork and drian off oil from frying pan.
4. put back into frying pan 2 tablespoons oil, fry carrot first, add peppers and pineapple, stirring constantly. add the seasoning sauce continuing to stir fry, until thickened. turn off the heat. add the pork, mix well and serve immediately.
comments: ok, this dish is kind of the kind you eat when you eat americanized chinese food (btw, panda sucks), BUT this was americanized chinese food at its best. it was very tasty. i think a lot of these dishes were kind of not hardcore chinese food, but even though some of them are kind of americanized chinese food, they had really tasty sauces and were pretty simple. i personally am more about chinese chinese food, but i did enjoy these dishes
kung pao chicken
(pei mei’s chinese cookbook)
1 lb. chicken breast
8 pcs. dry red pepper
1/2 c unsalted peanuts (without skins)
1 t ginger, chopped
1 large of 2 small bamboo shoot(s)
1 small carrot, peeled
1 T soy sauce (to soak chicken)
1/2-1 T cornstarch (to soak chicken)
5 c vegetable oil
seasoning sauce
2 T soy sauce
1 T wine
1/2 T brown vinegar
1 T sugar
1 t cornstarch
1/2 t salt
1 t sesame oil
1. cut chicken into 1″ cubes, add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch, stir evenly in one direction and soak for half hour.
2. wipe clean, remove tips and seeds of dry red pepper, cut into 1″ long pieces.
3. fry chicken in boiling oil for a half minute. remove chicken and drain off oil from frying pan.
4. cut bamboo shoot and carrot into 1″ cubes.
5. heat 2 tablespoons of oil to fry dry red pepper until it turns black, add ginger, bamboo shoot, and carrot, and chicken, stir quickly, next add the seasoning sauce, stir until thickened and heated thoroughly; turn off the fire. add the peanuts, mix well just before serving.
comments: i actually wanted this to be a little spicier. this dish was decent, but it wasn’t what i imagine when i think of really good kung pao chicken (gong bao ji ding). i think green village (in san gabriel) has really good kung pao.
beef steak chinese style
(pei mei’s chinese cookbook)
2 lbs. beef tenderloin
1 lb. green cabbage
1 t salt
1/2 T cornstarch paste
3 c vegetable oil
beef marinade
3 T cornstarch
1/2 C cold water
1 t meat tenderizer
1/2 t baking soda
1 egg white
3 T cooking oil
seasoning sauce
3 T tomato catsup
1 T worcestershire
1 T wine
1 T sugar
5 T cold water
1. cut beef across the grain into 1/2″ thick 2 1/2″ square pieces. place the beef in the marinating sauce. turn the pieces so that every piece is thoroughly soaked with the sauce. add cooking oil. turn occasionally. marinate for at least one hour.
2. heat the oil. deep fry the steaks until done, turn once. take the steaks out. drain the oil.
3. heat 2 tablespoons oil in same frying pan, pour in the seasoning sauce and bring to a boil. stir in the cornstarch paste until thickened. put the steaks into the sauce and mix well.
4. arrange the steaks on a platter, pour the gravy over the steaks.
5. boil the green cabbage in boiling water about 1 minute, plunge into cold water and squeeze dry. fry with 2 tablespoons oil and season with salt, and 1/2 cup soup. after 2 minutes remove and drain dry, lay in platter around the beef.
comments: this was also a pretty decent dish, but i think if you have tenderloin, other recipes would probably better suit the quality of the meat.
dry cooked string beans
(pei mei’s chinese cookbook)
1 1/4 lbs. string beans
2 oz. ground pork (optional)
2 T dry shrimp
2 oz. salted mustard tuber
2 T chopped green onion
2 t chopped ginger
5 c peanut oil
1 T sugar
1/2 T brown vinegar
2 t salt
1 T sesame oil
2 T soup stock (or water)
1. choose young, tender and short green beans. remove tips and strings but do not cut smaller.
2. soak dry shrimp in warm water about 10 minutes. chop into small pieces. cut salted mustard tuber into small pieces.
3. heat oil very hot, deep fry string beans until they are wrinkled (about 3 min). remove beans and drain off oil from frying pan.
4. put back only 2 tablespoons oil in pan and fry the pork, chopped ginger, dry shrimp and salted vegetable, add salt, sugar, and soup stock/water. then add the string beans to fry pan, stir well over high heat until the sauce is gone.
5. add vinegar and sesame oil and sprinkle in chopped green onion, stir well.
comments: we didn’t have the right beans when we made this, so we didn’t fry the beans. we blanched them and then stir-fried them. i love beans.
anyway, overall this was a really tasty meal. yes, some of the recipes were kind of americanized, but they were made well. i enjoyed this meal very much. for dessert, tom ordered some almost jello and ba bao fan (eight treasure rice pudding) from a local restaurant. no one seemed as excited about the ba bao fan so i took a bunch home (after eating a bunch already). check it out:
ah, the joys of being in this class
