Making Xian Bing ("meat pies")

This is bing as in a bread-styled appetizer found in Chinese cuisine, such as shao bing ("small bread" kind of like a pita), jian bing (crepes), cong you bing (pancakes), etc. This recipe comes from the book of unintelligible Chinese recipes. Basically, it comes from a recipe book written entirely in Chinese from my mom's cookbook collection, none of which I can actually read.

Ingredients

5 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. water

1 3/4 lb ground pork
2 tbsp soy sauce
8 tbsp water
dash of sea salt
2-3 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
10 small shitake mushrooms, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced

Directions

1. Except for the flour, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

2. In a separate bowl, combine flour with 1 cup of water. (Note: if you're using whole wheat flour, you'll need more water). Stir to combine and knead until it comes together as a dough.

3. Form a log and slice into equal chunks. Roll out a dough chunk into a 5" diameter circle.

4. Fill with 2 tbsp of pork mixture and roll the dough up like a pouch. It's better to have the dough in one hand and crimp the edges with the other.

5. Fry on low heat until golden brown on both sides.

View pics.

Roasted Shimp with Honey-Ginger

I'm not sure when this recipe was scribble down on a random piece of paper (I'll write out recipes on whatever can be written upon, blank spots of used envelopes, scraps of paper, etc.), but it looks good enough to repeat.

Marinade

1/4 c. soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp dry yellow mustard
1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

1 1/2 lb large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

Marinade shrimp for a few hours. Remove from marinade and lay out shrimp in a single layer on a baking dish or tray.

Bake for 5 to 8 minutes, or until shrimp begins to curl and its flesh is no longer translucent. Remove from heat and serve.

Review: Serious Pie (Seattle, WA)

Serious Pie is exactly what its name suggests. For a corner pizza place in downtown Seattle, this restaurant isn't ordinary and their ingredients are far from the usually expected. I ate here on Sunday with my sibling and his wife. We ordered two really tasty pizzas (roasted yellowfoot mushrooms, truffle cheese and the penn cove clams, house pancetta, lemon thyme) and promptly devoured both. The mushroom pizza was a little saltier than I like; but the clam pizza more than made up for it.

The shop doesn't have much footprint inside, so it's best to come here at a off-eating hour. And, they don't take reservations. I'm told that during the summer, the line to get into the restaurant goes out the door, down the block, and around the building. It's that popular.

The only downside is the limited food menu. There are only six starters, seven pizzas, and three desserts. The rest of the menu are beverages.

It is one of many eateries that was created and managed by Tom Douglas, a Seattle chef, who also owns Lola, Palace Kitchen, Dahlia Lounge, Dahlia Bakery, and Etta's.

Price: $$ to $$$
Serious Pie location: 316 Virginia & 3rd Street, Seattle, WA
Menu
Website

Review - Rose's Restaurant & Bakery at Fisher's Landing

Was here on a Friday for lunch. For a deli cafe, it's pretty easy to not eat healthy or eat of healthy portions here.

There were to very eye-opening items on their menu. From my table, I had a view of the food prep counter and saw the final dish prep for their matzo ball soup. It was a brisk, windy day too. Matzo ball soup would have been perfect if I was in the mood to eat a 4" diameter matzo ball served up in a cup with some broth. It's no different if you order a bowl of matzo ball soup... two enormous 4" diameter matzo balls are in the bowl. Big does not mean that it would be better. And eating it would not have been a simple matter. It would have been the talk of those at my table. Anyhow. I was in the mood for something simple and not terribly complex. I had the Rose's Deli Cobb Salad since there aren't many ways one can go wrong with a traditional salad. Ok, well, maybe I should have requested the dressing on the side because my salad was drowning in the bleu cheese vinaaigrette. It made the chopped egg taste like I was eating an egg salad salad. I'm just a picky eater, I suppose. There were only praises for the sandwiches and entrees that other people had ordered.

The other eye-opening menu item were the pastrami fries. Imagine if you would a pound of thick-cut French fries topped with melted Swiss cheese, shredded pastrami, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing. Sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen. It was very tasty. And, for a shared appetizer, this one had no leftovers.

Next time, I think I'll try their specialty desserts.. either the Texas donut or the giant cinnamon roll. Those things looked impressive in the bakery case.

Price: $$
Location: 3205 SE 192nd Ave, Vancouver, WA 98683

Review: Voodoo Donuts (Portland, OR)

Voodoo draws in crowds for its wacky topping combinations, but lacks substance when measured against a grocery-store's generic donut. I love donuts and eat them on occassion. My all-time favorites are the vanilla cream-filled chocolate glazed donut and apple fritters.

Buying donuts goes beyond the fact that they're sweet and remind us of our younger years when we could eat anything and not gain weight. I rank donuts by a few factors: aesthetics, taste, availability, variety, and price. Note that price really isn't that much of a factor if the donut has been made really well. Donuts are priced about the same wherever you go, slightly on the cheaper side if you buy a pre-packaged mass produced box, and slightly more expensive if you get them from a bakery or really good quality donut shop. The first two factors pretty much make or break the case for good donuts. The best donuts are eaten the same day they're made. And, having grown up with Winchell's donuts, I have a slight bias towards donuts made the Winchell's way. Unfortunately, the closest Winchell's locations are in Seattle, WA (150 miles away) or Salinas, CA (600 miles away). Sadly, no Winchell's for me.

The Voodoo donuts that showed up at my workplace were of an interesting variety and pretty much represented most of their menu: bacon-topped maple donuts, mini M&M sprinkled donuts, mini marshmallow-topped donuts, a pink-glazed donut with a wrapped bubblegum piece on top, chocolate glazed donuts - round and rectangular, a chocolate donut that didn't seem to have much chocolate flavor, apple fritters, etc.

 

Here's what I think about how Voodoo stacks up against like competitors:

1. Specialty Bakery/Deli, like Winchell's
2. Bakery counter at local grocery store
3. Dunkin' Donuts / Krispy Kreme / your average local donut shop or donut franchise shop
4. Donuts you can find at a gas station's minimart (minimarts get their supply from any of the above places)
5. Donuts you make yourself on the first try
6. Pre-packaged donuts of any mass manufactured brand
7. Voodoo

If you are looking for a real donut taste, you might want to get yourself a real donut somewhere else.

 

Price: $$

Website: http://www.voodoodoughnut.com/

Location: 22 SW 3rd Ave, Portland, OR 97204