Lumplings

My interesting take on gyoza (Japanese dumplings), which I could eat all day until I'm fat.. or... fatter, I suppose. Anyway, I changed some of the traditional ingredients. I still use the requisite ground pork, but I switched the bok choy for red cabbage and added some traditional Thai flavors as well. The result is a deliciously different dumpling - and since mine often come out of the pan in one sticky lump that has to be plucked apart, and I make rather ugly pleats in them, I dubbed them 'lumplings' instead. The cabbage is prepared sweet and the pork savory; the two are then combined, wrapped, and pan fried to create a delicious harmony of Eastern flavors.

Usually dumplings are filled with raw filling, and then either steamed or fried long enough to cook the meat through. I find that using cooked filling instead of raw, while slightly messier when filling, reduces cooking time greatly and allows the first batches to stay hot while the last are cooking, enabling everyone to eat at once and letting me sit down through the meal.

The odd ingredients:
Dumpling wrappers are available in all Asian supermarkets and in many grocery stores, usually frozen; you can also make your own, but I find the process unnecessarily laborious and prefer the convenience of inexpensive frozen wrappers. Galangal is a root popular in Thai cooking, and is similar to ginger; ginger can be substituted if none is available, but the flavor and aroma are noticeably different. I use a jarred variety of galangal that keeps well in the fridge for a long time, since I use it infrequently. Shrimp paste is a hideous smelling pinkish-grey Thai paste made of shrimp and salt, and is available in jars in Asian supermarkets.

1 rounded tsp shrimp paste
1T sesame oil
2 cups diced red cabbage
1/2 cup water
1T packed brown sugar
2 cloves garlic
1 scant tsp galangal
1T mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine)
1T komezu (rice vinegar)
1/2 pound ground pork
1T shoyu (Japanese soy sauce), plus additional for dipping
1 package round dumpling wrappers

Wrap the lump of shrimp paste well in aluminum foil and cook in a heated skillet over medium heat for about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Add the sesame oil to the skillet and heat until just smoking; add cabbage and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Add water, sugar, garlic, galangal, and mirin to the skillet, stirring well to combine, and simmer cabbage until the liquid has evaporated. Transfer cabbage to a mixing bowl and add the pork, shoyu, and cooked (unwrapped) shrimp paste to the skillet. Fry over medium heat until well-cooked. Add pork mixture to the cabbage, mix thoroughly, and allow to cool to room temperature.

Get some water boiling, or have very hot tap water available. Now, get ready to fill the dumplings. Set out your dumpling wrappers, the filling, and a small bowl half full of lukewarm water. To make the dumplings, dip a finger in the water and wet the edge of one wrapper. Spoon a scant tablespoon of filling into the center, and fold roughly in half, making little pleats along the top edge. When you have 20 or so made, heat a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat and arrange as many dumplings as will fit, flat (unpleated) side down. Fry them until the bottoms are browned and crispy. Add boiling or very hot water to come about 1/3 of the way up the dumplings; cover immediately and steam about 3 minutes, or until dumplings become shiny and darker in color. Remove lid and continue steaming until water has evaporated; dump into a large covered serving dish and start cooking the next batch in the same way (more oil will have to be added with each batch). Serve hot with shoyu for dipping.

Curry and rice

Continuing with my love of Japanese food, one of my favorite Japanese dishes is a good curry and rice (karee raisu). It's something that's quick to fix, nutritious, warm and comforting, and the family loves it. The ingredients are very basic and I always have them on hand. When I have no idea what to make for dinner, I whip up a quick curry and rice and everyone's happy.
Japanese curry has an interesting history. S&B Foods, the first company to produce a Japanese-made curry powder, has a lovely page on their website dedicated to the Japanese curry story. Do read it; it's an interesting bit of cultural and culinary history, and will help you to better understand this wonderful dish.

I'm not providing an actual recipe here - sometimes I use S&B's packaged curry mix, which you can find in Asian supermarkets and many grocery stores, but when I do make curry from scratch I never know exactly how much of what I put in it. The first time I made curry and rice, about 8 or 9 years ago in an electric skillet in my college dorm room, I didn't use a recipe, and I still don't to this day. The basic ingredients are listed below; experiment and taste until you come up with something you like.

The basics:

• Beef, chicken, or pork (beef is the most traditional and tastiest)
• a few carrots and potatoes
• an onion
• beef or chicken boullion
• yellow curry powder, mild or hot, to taste
• cornstarch or other thickening agent

It's pretty straightforward: Chop up the meat, carrots, potatoes, and onions. Cook the meat in a large pan with a little oil; when it's done, add the veggies and cook about 5-7 minutes more, covered. Add the boullion and bring to a boil. Mix cornstarch with a little water and stir into pot. Add the desired amount of curry powder. Simmer about 20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Serve with rice.

Fix-you-up chicken soup.

Anyone who knows me well enough knows I love Japanese food. Most of those people also know that my family (particularly the man of the house) do not. Sure, he'll eat yakitori when cornered into taking me to a sushi bar, and he likes gyoza as long as there's no cabbage in them, but he won't touch most everyday Japanese staples. The thought of eating traditional miso soup, made with fish stock and sea vegetables, repulses him. It's a great, healthy meal or snack and I wish I could just hold him down and pour it down his throat, but he's too big for me to beat up.

Right now, however, he's sick. Since sick men are worse to be around than colicky babies, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make some chicken soup. Miso chicken soup, to be exact. There are those that don't believe in the power of chicken soup when you're sick, but it's a simple fact that salty liquids help keep you well-hydrated, and being hydrated plays an important part in getting better - just ask my mother. Miso is not only salty, but it is also made from soybeans and brown rice, the general health benefits of which cannot be touted enough.* It is also tasty and adds a lovely layer of complexity to the flavor of any dish, which never hurts. Combine it with other delicious and nutritious ingredients, and you have a soup that's sure to perk you up any day.

Fix-you-up chicken soup

2 tsp sesame oil
1 1-inch knob of ginger, peeled and cut in half
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
1 small onion, diced, preferably a sweet variety
1 cup carrots, sliced or julienned
1 cup potatoes, diced
a generous splash of sake, preferably Gekkeikan
2 cups chicken broth or boullion
4 cups water
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 large handful of brown rice
1/4 cup brown miso (akamiso) paste**

Heat oil on medium-high in a large pan. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring briskly, about 30 seconds. Add onion, carots, and potatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes. Deglaze the pan with sake and cook an additional minute before adding broth, water, chicken, and rice. Simmer soup about 20 minutes, or until chicken is well-cooked and vegetables and rice are tender. Remove chicken and dice; return to pot and add miso, stirring well to dissolve. Serve in a big bowl with a warm blankie and box of tissues.

* I am not a health professional, and make no claims about the health benefits of eating the above soup. It just makes me feel better when I eat it. But while you're online, why not Google the health benefits of garlic, soybeans, ginger, brown rice, and the other ingredients in this soup?

** White miso makes a good substitution if brown is not available. Miso paste can be found in Asian or Japanese grocery stores, many health food stores, and some grocery stores. Real miso is completely gluten-free.