A Trip To Asia...

Off to the Far East today folks...Asia...the Orient...Indochina...

Ah, the food...complex yet simple...noodles, rice, sauces...and batteries???

First up...potstickers.

These pan fried dumplings can hold a wide range of fillings...the sky is the limit. Veggie, meat...whatever.

For mine, I had some left over smoked pork.

Here's the pork which has been chopped fine. 

It already has plenty of flavor from what was used when it was smoked, so I felt nothing else is needed. 

They are typically dipped in a sauce when served...so that can be used as the additional extra flavor.

Here's the wraps...store bought "gyoza" wraps

A small portion of the meat in the center...and with an egg wash, coat the edges...that's the glue...

...fold in half...and press to seal...

...and crimp the edges. I won't show you this technique...because I can't do it well, but you get the idea.

For a detailed look on how...see this video:

...place them in a pan with hot oil and fry until golden...add about 1/2 cup of water to the pan...cover to steam 1 or 2 minutes and that's it. Depending on your fillings, you may need to steam longer to cook the ingredients as my pork was already cooked through.

The dipping sauce is of course whatever you like, just soy sauce or soy sauce with a bit of wasabi or sriracha or sweet chili sauce.

Okay, next up...fried rice. As with most cooking, having your "mis en place" ready is very important when cooking Asian food as things happen fast due to the high heat with the wok.

You will need:

cooking oil, I suggest peanut

3 cups cooked rice

2 eggs

Soy sauce

1 tablespoon of grated ginger (or 1 teaspoon powdered ginger)

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup diced carrot (same size as a pea)

1/2 cup chopped ham (same size as a pea)

green part of 2 spring onions, cut on the bias (for garnish)

chopped cilantro (for garnish)

Toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)

The cilantro is in the small bowl on the left in cold water to help keep it fresh.

This happens fast which is why you need everything set up...so be ready.

First lightly beat the eggs and cook on high heat in 1 tbl oil to a soft scramble and transfer to a bowl 

(I forgot to take a picture of that, but I trust we all know how!)...

...add 1 tbl oil and add the grated ginger, cook 30 seconds (if using powdered ginger, add it later)...add the carrots...cook another 30 seconds...add the ham and cook about 1 minute...each ingredient you add you ned to be constantly stirring and flipping...

...now simply toss in the peas, rice and white pepper. Add the powdered ginger at this step if using. Add 1 or 2 tbl soy sauce...toss and heat....finish with a drizzle of sesame oil...

 ...plate it and sprinkle on the green onions, cilantro and sesame seeds.

For the main course, we have Kalbi (or galbi) ribs, also known as flanken beef ribs or simply beef short ribs. These are beef ribs cut across the bones, usually 3 to 4 bones per piece and about 1'2 inch thick.

 Here I have a rub for some of my ribs, consisting of salt, pepper, onion and garlic powders, chinese five spice and a bit of powdered rosemary.

For the rest of my ribs, I used a combination of bottled teriyaki sauce and some szechuan peppercorns, which I toasted to bring up their flavor more and then crushed in a pestle.

Szechuan peppercorns is not a pepper at all...the reddish-brown berries come from the prickly ash tree. Besides being peppery, it has the unique aspect of a numbing sensation or tingling. Some say it reminds them a 9-volt battery on your tongue! Hey kids...let's cook with batteries today!

The ribs were simply grilled up and served.