Green Onion Pancakes

This recipe also goes by the name of "spring onion crepes", "lotus pad pancakes", or "scallion pancakes".  They are pancakes because of their shape and size, although mine tend to come out quite square and oblong in shape.  

1 1/2 c. unbleached white flour 

3 oz. boiling water 

up to 1/4 c. cold water 

2 stalks green onions, finely minced or sliced

2 tbsp. olive oil 

1. In a bowl, combine flour and 3 oz. of boiling water. Let cool 5 minutes. Add 1/8 c. cold water. Mix until just combined. 

2. Turn flour mixture out onto a floured board. Knead gently until the dough sticks together. Roll into a log and cut into equal portions, about 8 pieces. 

3. In a small bowl, combine green onion and olive oil. This is the "filling" of the pancake. 

4. Roll out a piece and place about a 1/2 tsp. of green onion in the center. Fold in half and then in half again. Set aside on a plate until all the flour sections have green onion folded in them. 

5. Now for the layering. Take one of the double folded pieces and roll it out (with a rolling pin). Spread a thin layer of oil on its surface and fold it in half and in half again. Roll it out a second time. It should be no more than 1/4" thick. Set aside for frying. 

6. Repeat with the remaining pieces of flour. Take care that you do not overwork the dough or the end result will not be a soft pancake. 

7. Heat a skillet on medium. If you use a cast-iron pan, you shouldn't need to add any oil to the pan. Air bubbles are likely to form. The pancake needs to be lightly browned on both sides. Restaurant quality green onion pancakes have several layers and are extremely tasty because lard is used. For this recipe I have substituted olive oil for lard. 

This recipe comes from a book on Chinese appetizers. When I find the book, I'll upate this post with its details.

Spicy Dipping Sauce

A tasty sauce that is good warm or cold, for hot or cold appetizers. This sauce is typically used with a Chinese chicken recipe called Bai-zhan gi (or cut white chicken).

Ingredients

2 stalks green onions, finely chopped
3 slices of ginger, peeled and minced
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small dried hot pepper with seeds removed
2 tbsp red wine or rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp water dash of salt (optional)
1 tbsp sesame oil

Directions

1. In a small sauce pan, heat oil until it just begins to pop. Add ginger, garlic, green onions, and hot pepper. Stir until lightly browned. Simmer on low-medium. Do not let the ingredients burn.

2. In a small bowl combine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and water. Add this combination to the sauce pan.

3. Add sesame oil and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

Deep-Fried Stuffed Taro Balls

I have only done this recipe once in my lifetime. It is one of the hardest recipes in my collection, but it's a good appetizer to impress the guests with. There is a reason why this dish is expensive at a restaurant. Give yourself a few hours for the prep work on this recipe, plus another hour for frying.

Depending on how large you make the taro balls, this recipe yields about 18-24 taro balls. 

Filling Ingredients

1/2 lb. ground pork 
3 shitake mushrooms, finely chopped 
1 tsp. rice wine 
2 tbsp. vegetable oil (for frying) 
1 lb. peeled taro (can be bought from an Asian supermarket) 

Seasoning

1/4 tsp. pepper 
1 tbsp. light soy sauce 
1 tsp. sesame oil 
1 slice ginger, minced 
2 cloves garlic, minced 
1 tsp. salt 
1 tsp. sugar 

Cornstarch or potato starch 
Enough vegetable oil for deep frying 

Directions

1. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in frying pan. Add ginger and garlic and stir until lightly browned. Add ground pork and fry until lightly browned. Add remainder of filling ingredients and seasoning. Stir-fry until combined. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. 

 2. Cut taro root into 1"-2" sized chunks. Put in pot and with enough water to cover the taro. Boil until taro is soft, about 40 minutes. Remove from heat and drain (you may reserve the liquid the taro boiled in to make a sweet dessert soup). 

3. In a large bowl, mash the taro into a paste. Add salt and sugar. Mix well. Add cornstarch (or flour) until the mixture is smooth and workable. It will be sticky regardless of how much you try to fight with it. 

4. Use a tablespoon to scoop out the taro paste onto your hand. I'd suggest putting a bit of flour in your hand first. Flatten the taro paste into a circular mass, enough to accommodate about 1 tsp. of the filling. It will look a lot like mashed potatoes. 

5. Fold and pinch the edges together to form a ball of some sort. You want it in such a way so that none of the filling is showing. Set aside and work through the remainder of the taro paste and filling. 

6. You may lightly coat each ball with some flour or cornstarch to keep it from sticking to the plate, your fingers, or other taro balls. It may or may not work depending on how much moisture is in your taro paste. 

7. Heat frying oil on medium heat. Deep fry taro balls until golden brown. Remove taro balls from oil and let drain on paper towels. Serve hot. 

8. Taro balls can be reheated by frying in fairly hot oil for about 30-45 seconds. 

This recipe does come from a Chinese cuisine cookbook called China the Beautiful cookbook.

Basic Wontons

This is a family recipe and can be used as a soup, an appetizer, or as an entire meal. Where my parents learned it, I don’t know. But I do know that I have been using this recipe and variants of it for the past N or so years. The recipe originally calls for ground pork; this one is modified so that it can accommodate ground turkey (which fries drier than pork).

Ingredients:

1 pkg. Gyoza skins (round or square)
1/2 c. minced fresh chives (optional)
1 lb. ground turkey (or pork)
1 pkg. chopped spinach 
2 tbsp. kelp granules (optional)
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1 1/2 tbsp. lite soy sauce (or regular, if you like salt)
1/4 c. chicken broth or water (omit if using pork) 
Oil for frying (grape seed or canola works best)

1. In a large bowl, mix turkey, spinach, and chives until well mixed. Add sesame oil, soy sauce, and kelp granules. Mix. Add chicken broth until the mixture looks a little mushy, but not runny. If there is too much liquid in the mix, they won’t hold up well when you fry the wontons.

2. Take one Gyoza skin and place a teaspoon of the mixture in the center. Moisten half the edge of the skin on one side with water. Fold in half. At this stage, you don’t need to worry about aesthetics or style. Repeat until you have enough to cover the area of a frying pan; or until there is no more mix or skins.

Frying method: 

Ideally, you’d want to place them in a non-stick frying pan or use a cast iron pan; actually any frying pan with a lid that covers the entire pan will work just as well. About 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil should be enough per batch. Spread the oil so it evenly covers the pan. Heat pan on a medium setting. When the bottom of the wontons are brown, turn wontons over. Cover with lid. Wait a few moments. Add about 1/8 cup water or less to wontons. Cover with lid. When all the water has either evaporated or absorbed, they’re done! Total cook time should be no more than 6 minutes on a medium heat setting.

Soup method:

When the soup comes to a boil, drop prepared wontons in. Simmer until the wontons float to the surface. Add 1/2 cup cold water, then bring up to boil again. Voila! Soup is done.

Dipping sauce:

Basic sauce that tastes good can be as simple as just vinegar; or vinegar and soy sauce. Equal parts of vinegar to soy sauce. Everything else (kelp, ginger, scallions) are in whatever quantity you want.

#1: rice vinegar, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, kelp granules
#2: balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, minced ginger
#3: apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, finely sliced scallions

End notes:

Gyoza (Japanese) or wonton (Chinese) skins can be picked up in the refrigerated section of any supermarket. Kelp granules from the Whole Foods market or similar health food store.

Pesto-Tomato Clams

Clams are my favorite seafood and I rarely hesitate to order it off the menu when they're in season. If I were to be responsible for wiping out a species, it'd be the clam. They're so tasty!!

Pesto:
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
2 oz. Parmigiano-Romano cheese, coarsely grated
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 c. loosely packed basil leaves
1/2 c. virgin olive oil

Food processor: all pesto ingredients, with oil last to blend.

Clams:
2 lbs. littleneck clams
1 c. dry white wine (or 1/2 c. broth and 1/4 c. rice wine)
3 garlic cloves minced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
2-3 red tomatoes, diced
1 c. pesto

1. Bring wine, garlic, and crushed red pepper to boil. Add clams.
2. Cook until clams open. Transfer clams only to 4 large bowls.
3. Stir tomatoes and pesto in pan and bring to a simmer.
4. Ladle pesto broth over clams and serve.