Many of my friends think I am fantastic cook. I'm really not. I'm simply good at following instructions. When I try to throw stuff together without a recipe the results are usually pretty bad, so I stick with following recipes. I think what gives me a reputation for being a good cook is two fold. 1. I am pretty good about selecting recipes that I am sure will work, or at least I try out recipes on my family before cooking anything for people not related to me. 2. I will try almost anything, even really complicated looking recipes. Creme brule, no problem! Homemade marshmallows? Sounds like fun. Making my own pasta? It's just eggs and flour! How hard can that be?
There is one type of recipe that I always hesitate to try. I am completely intimidated by Asian cooking. Any kind of Asian cooking scares the pants off of me. Don't know why, maybe because it is just so different from the kind of cooking I grew up with. I have decided to in the last year or so to start experimenting. So am I content with simple relatively easy recipes for fried rice, stir fries, and spring rolls? No of course not. I have decided to try out the mother of all complicated recipe, xiao long bao! I might have mentioned a time or 20 how much I love these little bundles of joy. Too bad there are no Din Tai Fung restaurants on the continent of Africa. So I am going to make some of my own. I hope my kitchen survives. The recipe says it takes two days to make. Yikes! Wish me luck.
12 comments:
I love reading your blog, but could you please stop the snow?
I think it's confusing the frog!
(ha)
Hello from snowy new jersey!
Beth
Are you making your own wrappers?
I am but only because I can't buy them here. That is actually the part I am most nervous about. I have been working up to doing this for a while. I actually bought all the sauces and spices needed to make this last summer to put in our consumables shipment. I would probably have wimped out but that big bottle of black chinese vinegar is just sitting in the pantry mocking me.
I am thinking the wrappers will be the hard part. I'd love to see the recipe you use for the wrappers. I need to figure out a gluten free dumpling wrapper.
Everything else should be pretty easy (though perhaps time consuming) with a good recipe since you are good at following directions. Be sure to report how it goes!
On the topic of cooking: you should know I've been thinking of you all day long. I made your recipe for homemade ricotta today and I can't believe how easy and delicious it is! Dinner guests tomorrow are going to love their lasagna. Many thanks, and keep me posted on the dumplings. Oh, how I miss those things!
I was going to use a pretty basic recipe that I have seen on several sites that is about 2 1/2 cups flour and 1 cup water. However I am almost compulsive about looking looking things up when someone asks a question. I don’t know what I would do without the internet, probably spend my life looking things up in an encyclopedia somewhere.
So I had to look it up and see if it is even possible to make gluten free dumpling wrappers and it is! I found this cool site http://www.asiandumplingtips.com/2009/12/gluten-free-pot-stickers-recipe.html I will be reading through this site while Alonzo is working on writing this morning before I try putting together the xaio long bao this afternoon.
Awesome! Thanks Shannon. That whole site is cool. I need to spend more time on it but I am working on the Round Up. I'll have to check it out more later. I did notice she used a tortilla press for the dough though. Genius!
Wow, you must post pictures when finished!! I'm now starving..sigh...
IT WORKED! ALLELUIA! The filling was a little too sweet and it took a couple of times to get the wrappers the right size, but YUM! Totally worth two days cooking. Full blog post coming later. Now I am going to sit back put my feet up and have a glass of wine.
Awesome! I am going to have to try to GF ones sometime this week!
It is time for the Weekly State Department Blog Round Up and you are on it!
It is found here:
http://smallbitsfs.blogspot.com/2011/01/part-2-new-stuff-and-100-or-so-blog.html
If you would like the links to your site removed (or corrections are needed) please contact me. Thanks!
I am so impressed with your courage. I follow recipes all the time and I'll try different cuisines (love Thai food and Indian food), but I tend to shy away from breads and anything with more than 7 ingredients.
ah, yum. i will leave the cooking to you and the eating to..........ME. ;o) anything that takes more than one hour is a "good-bye" for me.
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