Easy Chinese Recipe for Pork Dumpling Soup

You'll find a couple of local dishes in Bee Yinn Low's Easy Chinese Recipes (Tuttle Publishing, $24.95). This is because Low lives in Irvine and eats Chinese food all over California as well as in Asia. The L.A.-area recipes are shrimp and yellow chive dumplings, modeled on a dish at Dumpling 10053 in El Monte. The other is pork dumpling soup, which Low says she researched by eating "countless servings" at Sam Woo.

Born into a Chinese family in Penang, Malaysia, Low puts a lifetime of experience into judging Chinese food, and she is harsh when necessary. "The orange chicken served in the United States often looks like a gloppy mess," she writes. Egg drop soup is as bad or worse. "To be brutally honest--I have never tasted a really decent egg drop soup in the Chinese restaurants here in the United States." They are "goopy" and "MSG-laden," she complains.

You can, of course, learn to make "decent" egg drop soup (copied from a restaurant in Shanghai) and excellent orange chicken from her book. The theme is "easy," but Low offers an intriguing range of Chinese food, not just pared-down, simple dishes for beginners. It's subtitled "Family Favorites from Dim Sum to Kung Pao."

If you hang out in the San Gabriel Valley, you've probably eaten plenty of clams with black bean sauce, honey walnut shrimp, salt and pepper squid, pot stickers, Yangzhou fried rice and boba tea.

With Low's book, you can make these and also produce your own chili oil, Sichuan peppercorn oil, Chinese BBQ sauce and even dumpling wrappers. Low herself took the photos that accompany each dish.

Low jumped from a business career to food, launching the popular blog RasaMalaysia.com. Although she talks about eating in such places as Shanghai and Beijing, she is by no means Asia-centric. A hole-in-the-wall in Salt Lake City produces her favorite beef chow fun.

PORK DUMPLING SOUP
From Easy Chinese Recipes

Makes 12 to 20 dumplings

Dumplings
1 small wood ear mushroom
6 ounces ground pork
4 ounces shelled and deveined raw shrimp, cut into small pieces
2 peeled fresh or canned water chestnuts, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion
1 1/2 teaspoons oil
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine or sherry
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
3/4 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 dashes white pepper
1 pack store-bought siu kow or wonton wrappers
4 cups water

Soup
1 3/4 cups homemade chicken stock or 1 (14-ounce) can store-bought chicken broth
1 cup water
3 dashes white pepper
Salt
1 green onion, trimmed and cut into small rounds

1. To make the filling, soak the wood ear mushroom in warm water for about 15 minutes. Cut it into thin strips. Combine the wood ear mushroom, pork, shrimp, water chestnuts, green onion, oil, rice wine, sesame oil, chicken powder, fish sauce, salt and pepper. Chill for 30 minutes.

2. To assemble the dumplings, place a wrapper on your palm and and spoon on about 1 tablespoon filling. Do not overfill. Dip your index finger into a small bowl of water and circle around the outer edges of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper over and press the edges with your thumb and index finger to ensure that the dumpling is sealed tightly and there is no leakage.

3. Repeat for the remaining wrappers and filling.

4. Place the dumplings on a floured surface or baking sheet. Cover them with a damp kitchen towel to prevent drying. Bring the 4 cups water to a boil in a pot. Gently transfer the wrapped dumplings to the boiling water and boil until they float to the top, about 2 to 3 minutes. If necessary, boil in more than 1 batch.

5. Remove the dumplings with a slotted spoon, drain the excess water, and cover them to prevent drying.

6. Make the soup by bringing the chicken broth and 1 cup water to a boil in a pot. Add the white pepper and salt to taste.

7. Place 3 to 4 dumplings in each soup bowl, add some of the soup to the bowl and garnish with green onion rounds. Serve immediately.

Get to Learn about African Food Culture

As many of you know, as one intrigued by all things hospitality, food and culture related, I had been working some extra hours in a new local authentic Nigerian restaurant.  I took on this gig because I wanted to study exactly what modern, NY-style African hospitality is.   Would anything change drastically from what I learned at home?    As a Nigerian-American born, raised and residing in Brooklyn, NY I wasn’t quite sure that the dining culture I knew of was relevant enough to provide great service at this institution that prides itself on being “authentic”.  So I decided to do a little reflecting and comparisons.

Here’s what I do remember of my childhood dining:

1)  Our typical traditional meal was pounded yam and soup (mostly ogbono w/ okra and egusi).

2)  We always ate together.   Rarely did my parents eat alone.  The more the merrier.  My Mom and Dad ate from the same plate.  Sometimes it was my whole family eating from one plate.  They would always ask us to wash our hands and join them at the table.  Us, meaning my sister and I, who were both born in America.  My brother, who was born in Nigeria, ironically didn’t take a liking to traditional Nigerian food!

3) Hands are the best utensils!  Pounded yam or any fufu (pounded starch with the consistency of a really dense mashed potato) were eaten with the hands.  You break of a small peice of fufu with your fingertips.  Use your fingertips to form a ball (about the size of a small gumball) and dip it in the soup using your fingers to scoop up some sauce.  To me pounded yam is the African cousin to Italian gnocchi!

4) Before eating always serve your parents (especially Dad, major respect necessary as patriarch of the family) a bowl of warm water to wash hands and a beverage to drink.  And by noooo means serve it with your left hand.  Please.  You will get an earful about disrespect.

5) When handing parents (especially Dad for same reason as above) a beverage and/or bowl of water to wash hands, tell them “Thank you”.  Yes, you read that right.  When giving something to your parents, don’t wait for them to thank you.  You say “Thank you” to them to which they respond, “Thank God”.   If they make the mistake of  thanking you by no means respond “You’re welcome”  which would then remind them you shouldn’t be thanked or be accepting the thanks as your own in the first place.   This exchange was also done before the meal after a blessing is said.  The children must make thier rounds around the table saying “Thank You” to all the elders (including older siblings) around before eating.  As the youngest in the family I was always annoyed by this tradition!!  Especially when I was hungry! lol

6)  When eating with my parents, it was a sign of affection for them to pick out an appetizing morsel of meat from the soup bowl and offer it to the children.  Usually they would do this with the stockfish, which I’m assuming its because its the most…I’m not sure actually…precious?? lol  Stockfish is a peice of dried fish that is rehydrated to make stews or soups but still maintain a chewy texture and a unique flavor.

Hmm, that’s about all I can remember for now.  But of all the “complexities” of traditional African dining, one thing remains prevalent: Eating time is family time, its a time to commune, to express love and to bring cultural traditions to the American table.

Now, as an adult, I watch my 3 year old nephew, Zephaniah, sit down on his grandparents table during Sunday dinner, eating from a platter of egusi soup and pounded yam with Grandpa and Grandma looking and watching lovingly and happily.  Thrilled and at awe that even their grandson, despite having never been to his homeland of Nigeria, can taste the intensity of Nigerian food that is missing from say “mac n cheese”.   Grandma makes little pounded yam balls for him.  He take a ball, dips it in the flavorful egusi sauce, and puts the delightful morsel in his mouth…he hardly skips a beat, except perhaps to share one of his dazzling smiles to show his approval of Grandma’s execution of his favorite meal!  Makes my heart swoon.

This  led me to the conclusion that African food, made with love, is the original, feel good ”comfort food” and according to the smile on my nephew’s face, that has never changed!