Mak Kimchi and Kimchi Bokkeumbap

Kimchi has recently become one of my new favorite foods, it started off as me buying a jar of it, using it in my fried rice, to trying it in more of my foods, eating it with barbecue chicken, adding it to leftover Chinese food and so on. Then a couple weeks later, I bought another container of it, this time a homemade variety from the Asian food store near my apartment and as I was halfway through the second jar, I realized that I had spent almost 20 dollars on kimchi for one month. In order to save money, I decided to make my own, knowing that the ingredients (cabbage, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, salt) were really cheap. Then, in late November, my mission was to develop the best recipe for kimchi, using ingredients I could get at Publix and the Asian grocer. Within the past few months, I had tested out and enjoyed around 6 batches of homemade kimchi for around $25 and have perfected my version of this condiment/side dish.
Kimchi is traditionally made in massive quantities in large clay pots which is then buried underground to ferment. The reason for this large amount is because kimchi is eaten on a daily basis in Korean cuisine, I obviously don't eat that much of it and living in an apartment, I don't know how much of a desire I have to bury my food behind my building. This method I provide is one very common in most preparations nowadays, even in Korea, preparing it and setting it in my pantry for a couple days.

Mak Kimchi is a simplified version of traditional tongbaechu kimchi, which uses the same flavors, but a more complicated process, the end result is an incredibly close flavor, but a more rustic look.

Some aspects in my recipe that differ from tradition is I add a scant amount of vinegar, making the liquid a tad bit more acidic and speeds the fermentation by a couple days. I add cardamom to the mix, which you do not taste in the end result, but it highlights the flavor of the ginger, making it more prominent and bright. The most controversial difference in my recipe is that I do not use the traditional gochugaru given that it is rarely available, so I instead took dried thai chilis and ground them to coarse flakes, but depending on availability, gorchugaru or even the mccormick crushed red pepper flakes can be used, because of various heat levels, if using gorchugaru, double or tripple the amount because it is more mild.
One last thing to address, many varieties of kimchi call for making a paste out of water and rice flour, the purpose of this is to help all of the ingredients stick to the cabbage, this is important when preparing the kimchi with the cabbage left whole, I opt not to do this because when making this with small cuts of cabbage it is not a necessity.

Kimchi traditionally is not vegan, and I remember being criticized by an anonymous commenter for suggesting this in my pad thai recipe, but I dont care, my cooking is about equality, so if you want this to be vegan, replace the fish sauce with soy sauce.

3 pounds of napa cabbage (1 medium or 3/4 a large head), quartered, cored and cut into 2 inch lengths

1/3 cup of kosher salt or any coarse/flaky salt, iodized table salt prevents proper fermentation

6tbs of fish sauce

1/4 cup of ground thai chilis or crushed red pepper or 1 cup of gorchugaro

2 tsp of cayene pepper (omit if using the traditional stuff)

10 cloves of garlic, finely minced (I used a garlic press)

2 tsp of ground cardamom

1 tbs of minced ginger (used the garlic press for this too)

2 tbs of honey

1 tbs of white vinegar

6 scalions, roots trimmed, cut into 1 inch lengths

6 ounces of daikon, peeled and julienned (if unavailable, use regular radishes)
Toss the napa cabbage with the salt in a zip top bag, press out a lot of the air and seal. Let this sit for 2 hours. This draws out the liquid from the stems and is the base for the salty flavor of the kimchi.
Drain and rinse well.

Mix the fish sauce, chili component, cayenne (if using), garlic, ginger, cardamom, honey and vinegar together and combine with the cabbage.

Place in a container and refridgerate overnight.The next day, add in the scallions and daikon (this can be done the same day as the rest of the prep, but I forgot to get these the day of, so yeah)

Let sit in a dark place for 2-3 days, opening everyday, as gasses build this is important or the container may crack. As this sits, if ferments more, and gets more sweet and sour, I lable mine with the beginning date, just to keep track of how long its been sitting.  It lasts for about 3 months, refrigerated, however once its raw flavor has gone bad, it still works very well in cooked preparations, like kimchi fried rice, omelets or scallion and kimchi pancakes.

To make the kimchi bokkeumbap (kimchi fried rice)
3 tbs of oil
1/2 of an onion, finely diced
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 cup of kimchi, finely chopped
Handful of thawed shelled soybeans
1 1/2 cups of cooked rice
2 tbs or more of soy sauce
1 1/2 tbs of the liquid from the kimchi
1/2 tsp of sesame oil
1 egg
Salt
A couple chopped scallions for garnish
Heat the oil over medium high heat in a nonstick skillet, add in the onion, cook until translucent and the edges start to brown, about 10 minuets

Add in the kimchi, garlic and soybeans, cook until the kimchi gets slightly crispy.

Add in the rice, along with the soy sauce and kimchi liquid, combine and cook for 3 minuets.

Push the rice to the edges of the pan and crack the egg in there, season with a pinch of salt and cook, scrambling until cooked through. Kill the heat and mix the eggs into the rice.

Plate and garnish with the scallions. This is a really inexpensive, simple and delicious meal, and it is a bit of a unique flavor compared to most fried rices.

Fermentation: The Former Necessity Turned Art

Before refrigeration was a thing, human beings all over the world either ate their foods right at the source or used a variety of techniques and processes in order to preserve their foods. The people in regions up far north, such as Nordic Areas, Siberia and tribes of modern day Canada/Alaska, much of the year, preservation wasn't as much of an issue or process, burying various meat products in the snow or within the slush perfectly protected their food from various bacteria. However, when it wasn't as cold for them or year round for pretty much everywhere else in the world, pickling and fermenting were used in order to preserve foods. What these processes have in common is that they both use salt and acidity in order to kill off the bacteria that would otherwise be harbored in their foods. Nowadays, with refrigeration and the popularity of a food producing global society (one where food is raised and sold, rather than hunted and gathered) that segment of cuisine has shrunk dramatically in most of the world. Now a large majority of foods that use these processes are scantly used as a condiment, as a small bite before a meal...Basically a gastronomical afterthought. However, the distinctive flavors fermentation yields are still utalized heavily in eastern and southeastern Aisa. While still a condiment for say, these flavors are not an afterthought, fermented ingredients are what makes the cuisine of these countries very distinctive. I touched on this topic in my "Pad Thai Crimes," post, the fermentation process appeals to a scantly utilized and underestimated taste: umami. Umami is commonly confused with saltiness because it is something often associated with salty foods; tomatoes, sharp cheese, fish sauce and soy, however it is the addition of Glutamic Acid that excites the taste buds which is found in any food, but is  concentrated primarily through the aging of the food.

Most popular Asian condiments are a product of fermentation including; soy sauce, fish sauce, sambal oelek, hoison, sriracha (for those hipsters out there) and gochujang (for those ahead of the hipsters.) 

One of the most ubiquitous foods involving fermentation within eastern Asia is found in Korean Cuisine, Kimchi, which is one of those fun foods like Italian caponata or French ratatouille where it can either be a side to a light meal or a condiment for a heavier meal. Kimchi is made traditionally with a wide stemmed cabbage usually in the napa variety, daikon (a broad Korean radish), garlic, ginger, scallions, a fermented seafood flavor (usually fish sauce or salted baby shrimp) and a large amount of gochugaru, Korean chili powder/flakes (it is more mild, so it is used heavily), Some regional variations would consist of carrots, cucumbers, zucchini or apple. The cabbage is cut, salted for a few hours, rinsed, combined with all of the other flavor components, packed tightly and allowed to sit for a long time. Old tradition consists of packing the kimchi mixture in a earthernware vessel and burring it underground for several months, in modern times, a few days inside a pantry or a few weeks refrigerates does it pretty well. During this time, the structural cells of the napa cabbage and daikon relax and chill out as lactic acid is released as their cells become starved for oxygen, this is what causes the sour taste and sugar is formed within the cells, drained of energy causing a more pronounced sweet flavor. In addition, the formerly overly pungent flavors of garlic and salt are mellowed out and the spice is rounded out, making it lose the painful edge. The product after fermentation it transformed into a complex mixture of flavors; sweet, sour, salty, spicy and mellow garlic that is only accomplished through fermentation.

Since November, I have tried out different recipes, using different flavor components and after 5 trial runs, I finally found the perfect combination of flavors to suit my taste, I have decided this week to make it again as I am running low. There are a few unconventional ingredients I use in my recipe which add a touch of Thai and Arabic influence to the dish, however these flavors are only used to further emphasize those flavors used within the recipe (also to compensate with nonavailability of some ingredients) so there is no reinventing, just improving. My goal was succeeded in this, to provide and develop a recipe for kimchi with more accessible ingredients while highlighting the flavors already there.
*As a side note, I tried out a new camera for this and the next post, so picture quality is lower, I apologize for that and will switch back to my old camera soon.

This Newly Found Respect For the Food of Southeast Asia

Since I have moved to Orlando, I have not only developed a new found respect for the Food of Southeast Asia but have seen an ever growing respect from other people.

Southeast Asia as an entire region consists of Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, the most commonly referred countries in the United States being Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, cuisine wise. What makes these cuisines so unique is how difference each nations' history consists of. The more east you go in this region, the more indian influence you see, many dry spices being a key flavor component. The more North you go, the more similar the food is to that of China. Given the large Spanish influence in the Philippines, you will see their cuisine is heavily similar to that of Spain and Latin America. And then, if you go to Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, you will find their food quite similar to that of the Middle East in some senses, given the influence from the Islamic faith. Because of the Vietnamese war, there is a shocking resemblance to French cuisine in their common street foods. Because there is little outside influence in Thai culture, their cuisine could be seen as the base for comparison.
The popularity of Southeast Asian food (specifically Thai and Vietnamese) is very different than that of Chinese and Japanese food, where as American chinese food is just Chinese-esque, Thai and Vietnamese foods are just now growing in popularity in the United States along with a growing appreciation toward traditional international cuisine and larger immigration rates with those nations. Because of this, the food being consumed from these nations are prepared from those who grew up eating these cuisines and people are coming to respect the bold flavors and ingredients from them. Because of this, the food from Southeast Asia are less (for lack of a better term) diluted by American taste. Of course, there are going to be the most popular dishes such as Pho, Pad Thai, Green Curry and Bahn Mi, because they are easier to relate to the cuisine that Americans are used to, but they would act as more of a gateway to the unique flavors used in these cuisines. As poeople begin to enjoy the salty, sweet, caramelized, aromatic flavors of these standard dished, they will grow to try more foods of these cuisines. This is quite similar to the way I became to enjoy Indian food, starting with the foods more similar to the food I am used to, such as tandoori chicken, developing a taste for their spices and working my way to the more "scary" traditional foods.
Along with a more adventurous amount of tastes in the United States, and the large influx of immigration from that region, there is more importation of ingredients from Southeast Asia. Like, when making my Pad Thai recipe, I saw no issues finding the exact traditional ingredients. So the food you are tasting is made more correctly with authentic ingredients and it is easier to make it authentic at home.
Because of people being more adventurous, many first generation people from Southeast Asia and increased trade of foods between the United States and these countries, you wont hear as many statements like "you can only have actual Thai food in Thailand," or "Americans just can't make correct Vietnamese food," as you would hear all the times with cuisines of countries like Mexico, Italy or China. Of course, there are some very traditional dished from the depths of these countries that only very adventurous westerners will try like Dam Nee of northern Thailand which replaces the ussual fish sauce for seasoning with beef bile, but I doubt you can say that you havn't had "real" thai food if you haven't tasted that. This is the same sense that you wouldn't try Casu Marzu ( an Italian cheese with live maggots used in fermentation, still live when served,) or Tacos con Culagulo de Moronga ( West Mexican tacos featuring coagulated pigs blood,) but can still say you know what real Italian and Mexican food tastes like.
I find this appreciation of of Southeast Asian cuisine very beautiful, it displays a new respect toward international cuisine in the United States and I find for a lot of people, that sparks more interest in the countries and cultures themselves. Lastly, I think that if this appreciation for unaltered Thai and Vietnamese food can happen, similar trends can be seen with other rarely seen cuisines in the United States like Northern European, Middle Eastern and Southern African to name a few.

Cider Cranberry Sauce With Tons of Warm Spices

 I feel like this recipe condenses as much seasonality as you can into a cranberry sauce, cranberries, fresh apple cider and lots of ginger, rosemary and baking spices (or what I consider baking spices.) This is kind of like a combination of cranberry sauce and mulled cider really.
 There are two ways to do cranberry sauce, with a small amount of liquid and a quick cook method (taking about 10 minuets) or using a lot of liquid and slowwwwwly simmering all of the ingredients together.
 The first method would result in a sauce sauce with whole berries while the other extracts pectin and makes for a thicker, more jelly like sauce. I have decided to do a combination of the two in sorts, I do a slow simmer with lots of apple cider and and spices, to give it a rich, slow cooked flavor. Then I let it cool until supper thick and thin it out with some more apple cider. When cooking the berries in the cider, you loose that apple flavor, therefore splashing in some more apple cider after it cooks will reinstate a slight apple flavor to the sauce. To add some variety in texture to the sauce, I also add in some dried cranberries and raisins, so as the fresh berries dissolve and liquefy, the dried fruit re hydrate to give that whole berry feel to this sauce. So what you end up with is the texture of a whole berry, quick cooked sauce, while you get the depth of flavor that comes with slow simmering.
Just a little note, this is going to seem like an extreme amount of ginger and spices, however, as it cooks and sits, the flavor looses intensity, so you need a lot.
6 cups of fresh cranberries
3 cups of fresh apple cider, divided
4 ounces of peeled grated ginger
6 cinnamon sticks
1 1/2 tablespoons of fennel seed or anise seed powder
1 1/2 tablespoons of ground cardamom
1 teaspoon of ground allspice
2 sprigs of rosemary left whole
3 cups of brown sugar
1/2 cup of dried cranberries
1/3 cup of golden raisins\
Combine all of the ingredients together in a large sauce pan (minus one cup of apple cider) and bring to a boil, reduces to a simmer at medium low heat and cook until very thick (it will measure to 4 cups) it will take about 45 minuets to an hour.

Let cool (it will thicken like crazy) At this point I am going to let it refrigerate for a few days, which will allow the flavor of the spices to permeate and steep into the sauce better. When it is completely thick (it will be supper thick), thin it out with some cider until it is to the desired consistency.

Hummus with Hibiscus Muhamara

This post puts emphasis on two different Arabic dips, one very well known in the western world, Hummus and one that is not, in fact its not even very wide spread within the Arab world, Muhamara. They are also tied as second place when it comes to my faveriot arabic dips, #1 being Mutabal (roasted eggplant dip.) For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past 5 years, hummus is a dip made from chickpeas and sesame which in the past few years has gained a lot of popularity in the United States as a healthy, protein packed, low fat food. I kinda hated hummus until I moved to Bahrain, in fact the first time I tried hummus and actually liked it was on Thanksgiving, my junior year of high school at a small Yemeni restaurant in Oman (yeah, not a traditional thanksgiving dinner when I look back on it) and was unaware of what I was dipping my bread into.
Unfortunately, 80% of hummus found in the United States is just terrible and tastes nothing like the Hummus found in the Middle East, due to a 2 reasons:
#1 Over complicating flavors- The flavor of hummus should be clean, garlicky, slightly acitic and slightly nutty, from the tahina. The worst thing you can add to hummus, which many people do is cumin. Hummus has a very bright flavor, one that is relatively light one the palate and is meant to contrast with more bold flavored foods. Cumin is used usually with heavier flavors and fatty ingredients that can stand up to its bold flavor, when adding it to something with such a light flavor, it doesn't pair and mix with the flavors, but overpowers the whole dish, causing the hummus that was at first the product of a simple mixture of flavors to taste like nothing but cummin. The same goes with ingredients like tobasco sauce, sriracha, pimenton, garam masala, pretty much any ingredient that has a supper abrasive flavor.
#2 The want to have texture. Not to say that it is a bad thing to have texture in the hummus, but the problem with almost all recipes I have seen that leave the chickpeas in the hummus chunky is that it would either say to under pure it or to just puree half of the chickpeas and then pulse in the other half. The thing that makes hummus creamy is the right balance of tahina, oil, acid (lemon), chickpeas and liquid and blending it enough not only to puree the chickpeas but also to emulsify the fats, acid and solids. Under pureeing would not let the ingredients emulsify, so though you would get the texture you want, it would be very pasty, unpleasant and thin. The later technique would offset the balance of the solids in the mixture, causing it to not emulsify correctly. If you do desire a hummus with more texture, I would suggest, once the hummus is made adding in an additional 1/4 cup of cooked chickpeas and pulsing it in or at the end, folding in 1/4 cup of finely chopped walnuts or toasted sesame seeds.
The lesser common of the two dips, muhammara, a dip that originates in Syria made traditionally from roasted red bell pepper, walnuts and pomegranate molasses. Muhamamara is not very popular in Bahrain, nor the United States, (I don't get why, trendy American eaters would be all over this stuff) I have maybe had it twice prior to making this recipe, one time in a cafe called Levantine near my house in Amwaj Bahrain and one at a local Lebanese restaurant here in Orlando. It is very different than one would expect it to taste, it is really creamy from the wallnuts yet very acitic, sweet almost juicy from the bell pepper. Now, this recipe is slightly different from a traditional recipe, Like said before, traditionally pomegranate molassas is added, which is the juice of a pomegranate reduced until the consistency of molasses, hence the name. The flavor of it is slightly sweet, supper bitter and kinda sour. I found, after a couple tries replicating muhammara that hibiscus, in a concentrated form yields the same flavor without as much sweetness and gives off a really nice maroon color to the muhamarra, I actually preffer the flavor that Hibiscus gives it. I had no walnuts in my kitchen, but pecans work int he same way, so I used those.
 I think that these two, when together compliment each other very well, as the hummus is very light in flavor while the muhammara is very bold in flavor. Think of it like the packaged hummus that is topped with roasted red peppers except fresher in flavor.

½ cup of dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (in the same fashion as in my felafel recipe)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons of tahina

3 tablespoons of cold water

Juice of 2 lemons

½ teaspoon of salt

Place the chickpeas in a medium sauce pan and add enough water to cover by 2 inches, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until supper tender, you should be able to mash one with a fork, about 30-40 minutes, depending on many things, size and freshness being a couple, its better to over cook them than under cook them.

Drain them, place in a food processor and let cool for about 10 minutes, you want them to still be slightly warm. Pulse the chickpeas to grind very fine.

Add in the rest of the ingredients and puree away for at least 5 minutes, 10 would be even better, this does two things, firstly it makes the hummus very smooth, secondly the most whipping it gets, the more emulsification happens between the olive oil, oil in the tahini, water, lemon juice and even the chickpeas themselves, leaving the hummus creamer each minuet.

Hibiscus Muhamara

1 large sweet bell pepper, yellow, red and orange all work perfectly fine, when available, the red ones result in the best color

2 cloves of garlic, minced

¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup of dried hibiscus petals

3 tablespoons of boiling water

½ cup of walnuts or pecans

2 tablespoons of panko bread crumbs

½ teaspoon of smoked paprika

1 tablespoon of water

Roast the pepper for 20 minutes at 500 degrees

Preheat a dry skillet on high heat and cook the pepper on all sides until the skin turns black, this takes about a minuet per side. Let cool, remove the seeds, stem and skin and cut into a rough 1 inch dice, combine with the garlic and olive oil, let sit together for 10 minutes even overnight.

While you let the pepper marinate in the oil and garlic, soak the hibiscus petals in the boiling water for 10 minutes as well.

While both the pepper and hibiscus are sitting all idle, toss the nuts into a dry skillet, let toast on high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Pulse the nuts with the panko into a semi coarse powder in a food processor.

Add in the pepper with all of the oil and garlic, hibiscus water along with half of the rehydrated petals, smoked paprika and water and puree until smooth. Like I said, it is prettier when made with a red pepper.

Serve both drizzled with more olive oil and flat bread, I usually like frozen, prepared naan, but pita and pita chips work just as well.

Sharing Food=Sharing Understanding

So the other day I was asked by a friend about my felafel recipe “why would you boldly name is Palestinian, wouldn't people associate it with politics and not want to try it,” well, though I feel there would be a few people who may go that route, I think that in properly naming and introducing people to cuisines from nations will spark people's interest in those cuisines and their cultures. Anthony Bourdaine always says that no matter which country he goes to, sharing in a meal, he finds is one of the best ways to really get locals to relate to you. Everyone has to eat and everyone has foods they prefer,when sharing a meal, you focus on what you have in common with the locals, not the negative differences. Sharing my experiences with a certain culture and their cuisine with other people, helps people look past the politics of a nation and see that their government does not make the culture or the individual people.

People nowadays feel, when introducing a dish from the Middle East, that they must sugar coat the title because of the negative associations people may have with the middle east. There are many semi misleading terms like “Mediterranean” that people use when introducing a middle eastern dish which though geographically correct when referring North African, Lebanese, Syrian and Israeli cuisines do not truly reflect the culture that created the dish. In addition, there are certain dishes that are general in the entire cuisine of Arabic culture like hummus a prime example, that goes beyond the nations touching the Mediterranean. Lastly, in the United States, many people do not at all associate the Mediterranean with the Middle East, they associate it with southern Europe, specifically Italy or Greece. In the case of Middle Eastern cuisine, I feel it is only right to give credit where credit is due regardless of people's perception.

I have been seeing a disgustingly large amount of people either living in the United States on an international visa for school or as naturalized citizens complain and generalize Americans as being very ignorant toward their culture. In general, people tend to have the wrong attitude when being asked an out there question regarding their culture that it is ignorant, ignorance implies a lack of knowledge in a topic that is widespread in their environment, the better way to look at it is the person in uninformed and has not had the opportunity to learn about said culture. There is an extent to that, in modern time an American thinking “all Muslims are terrorists,” would be a a thought out of ignorance, however, an American thinking that most of the Islamic faith in contained within the Arab would would be mainly because a large population of Muslims in the United States are in fact Arab and therefore assumptions would be made out of simply not being informed. I as an American who has lived in overseas have experienced the same scenarios, often with assumptions being more blunt and hurtful and have had to remember the differences between ignorance and being uninformed.

A final note before I resume to talking about food,when addressing cultural differences, everyone has preconceived notions, whether bold or underlying about a culture, this is where I have experienced people assuming I am racist because of the fact that I am a white American. Here is where it gets complex, people of other cultures have preconceived notions as to what the preconceived notions of a person will be based on their culture, so while im thinking “I wonder if this person feel that I am racist,” the other person is thinking “I wonder if this person thinks that I am a violent natured person because of my religion,” neither preconceived notion feels good when you think of them.

All of what I just said about human nature and culture above applies to how people perceive food. My favorite example is when I talk about Puerto Rican or Cuban cuisine and 4/5 times I will hear “so like isn't it the same as Mexican food.” My initial thoughts when I hear that is to react out at the person as if their response is out of ignorance. I take a second, Puerto Rican and Cuban food aren't supper mainstream in the United States in comparison to Mexican food it is almost nonexistent, unless you are in an area supper populated with Puerto Ricans and Cubans. Many people just havnt experienced this cuisine and culture, so they would just assume it is close to Mexican food. The same can apply when I hear people firmly say felafel is Greek, but I already posted about that ordeal. The solution to solving this misconception would be to either make Puerto Rican food for your uninformed friend or find some source to obtain it.

A simpler assumption I have heard “I don't think I would like Indian or Thai food, because of her third worldie it is, I feel like it wouldn't taste good, because of how poor they are, they eat for survival, not pleasure.” I can tell you first hand that those are two of the most flavorful and delicious cuisines in the world.

Here is where politics, food and culture all come together now, after tasting how different a cuisine is to a preconceived notion, their assumptions toward their culture may change, now, by just introducing a single dish of food to a person, you have sparked an interest in learning of a new country and culture. Even if there aren't any preconceived notions made about the cuisine, by a person tasting the food from another nation, by tasting food and seeing how amazing it is, assumptions about relatively poor cultures will change. People will look at what other foods are made and how these cultures utalize ingredients. Yes, though many people in India and Thailand are pretty poor, they are human beings and just like in the western world, they like flavorful food too.

So if you followed this entire post, I hope this provides a better outlook on culture and cuisine, how assumptions can be very wrong and can limit your experiences and hold you from some of the better ones. Looking past politics, racism and all of these things that separate cultures, we are all human beings and all have to eat, why not share your experiences with other, because food is one of the only things every human can relate to, regardless of religion, culture or political views.

"Rustic" Gyoza

Gyoa and pretty much all forms of Japanese dumpling are something that I have only newly began to like. The first time I had actually had Japanese dumplings was toward the end of my senior year in high school at a dinner/celebration for my schools team at MUSS (model United States Senate) at an Asian fusion restaurant called “David's Stir Fry Crazy.” Now to Western standards, the name of a restaurant can reflect the ambiance of a restaurant and how traditional it is, and in my western mind, I felt that given the name “stir fry crazy this restaurant would not be very traditional or “fancy,” but I was wrong. To Bahraini standards, names don't mean too much, for instance, some of the most traditional Italian pizza comes from a place called pizza express. So if you are in the Middle East, do not let the names of restaurants deceive you.

Though there are many kinds of Japanese dumplings, my favorite would be Gyoza for two reasons The first reason is that it is not packed with filling like most other varieties, so it does not just leave you with a mouth full of meat. Another reason that it is cooked in a different manner than most dumplings, it is seared on the bottom, whereas with dim som or shu mai, are just steamed. This different cooking method can be due to many reasons, but one reason is because of its shape and a smaller filling to wrapping ratio, it does not have to be cooked as delicately, so it can withstand being seared and moved around a lot more. What this alternate cooking method does is offer a textural contrast between the filling and the, for lack of a better term, I will say pastry, whereas with shumai, the pastry is slimy and serves no more of a purpose than to hold the filling, with gyoza, you get the soft pastry on one side, and a crispy bottom. In addition to the textural contrast, much like with meat, searing developed a more savory or umami flavor.

As a last note, for those of you who do not know what the word “rustic” implies half of the time is that it does not look perfect or pretty, sometimes associated with the word ugly, but it should not be this way, rustic food looks just as appetizing as other food, just a little less perfect. Now Japanese cuisine isn't known for being rustic at all, as presentation is just as important as preparation due to meticulous technique and culinary gender rolls (which would not fly for a second in the United States.) In Japanese cooking, many items are associated with a certain gender, traditionally sushi is only made my men for instance. Gyoza, along with most steamed dumplings are traditionally made by females, given their small nimble hands are better for perfectly forming and sealing dumplings. I however am a 6”4' male whose hands are probably twice the size of those of the average Japanese woman, so I am not as skilled or able to produce such fine little details, therefore, I don't attempt to do crimp them shut in the traditional manner, cause I would waste about an hour, probably half of my wrappers and filling and end up with the same results. If you are not often compared to a lumberjack (which has happened to me a lot since I have moved to florida,) or have more confidence in forming these better, I will attach a video on how to properly crimp and seal these dumplings. If not however, enjoy your rustic gyoza.

As a note, when I was making this, I cut my recipe in half, so if it looks like I used a lot less of these ingredients than stated below, that is why.

1 cup of bean sprouts

3 tablespoons of canola oil, divided

1 cup of chopped scallions, white and green parts

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

1 tablespoon of minced ginger

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of sesame oil

1 tablespoon of rice vinegar

1 tablespoon of honey

½ pound of pork loin (not tenderloin) cut into a ½ inch dice

24 wonton wrappers

Water for sealing the dumplings, plus ½ to 1 cup of water for cooking

For the sauce, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon of honey and a few drops of sesame oil, mixed together.

Saute the bean sprouts in 1 tablespoon of the oil at high heat until wilted, about 4 minuets

Add to a food processor along with the scallions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar and honey, pulse until pureed to a smooth paste.

Add the pork to the processor and pulse about 20 times, until coarsely ground and combined, do not over grind or it will ruin the texture.

To assemble the dumbplings, place about a tablespoon of the filling in the middle and lightly apply the water to half of the perimeter of the wrapper (half meaning two sides, connected by a corner)

Press the wet corner to the opposite corner together

NOWWWW, heres the point where you can be creative, you can either follow this video: (attach link) or do like I did, crimp to seal in this fashion, pressing the sides together with a couple random crimps (you want to make sure that there is a sturdy bottom though, so I would not recommend simply folding in half.) If you want to crimp them the traditional way this video shows the "correct" way to seal it-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffvdeBY6Ryw

To cook, add the rest of the canola oil in a large nonstick skillet (if you are making the full recipe, either cook in two batches or use two skillets) and arrange the dumplings, flat side down with enough space to where they do not touch, heat the skillet on high and fry until the bottoms of the dumplings are seared golden brown.

Once seared, add in ½ cup of water and cover the skillet (I did not have a lid that fit this one, so I used a sheet pan) cook until all of the water is evaporated, if they do not feel completely cooked, repeat with another half cup (the wrappers of the dumplings should feel the way cooked pasta does)

Once they are fully steamed and the water has evaporated, add in the rest of the sesame oil and cook until the bottom re-crisps, for about 1-2 minuets.

Serve alongside the sauce, these are traditionally eaten as a first course or in a large meal with many types of dumplings, or if you are me, call an entire batch dinner.

Not bad for Gyoza made by a man, if I do say so myself.

*Final note, for those who feel sesame oil will make the food taste too “Chinese-y” a legit comment I got on my pad thai recipe, omit it and use regular oil. However, sesame oil is used throughout the entire continent of Asia in many forms, toasted sesame oil is used throughout southeast Asia from Japan, to China to Thailand, while raw sesame oil is used within the “Desi” nations like India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, in the Middle East, it is used as an important emulsifying agent tahina, which is used in many foods.

I would also like to appologize that this recipe came without any seporate social analysis, I have had a very busy week, plus that pad thai recipe took a long time to create, write and analyze, however, my blog will be back to normal this week =)