Geong Chung Har Kok 薑蔥蝦角 Ginger, Spring Onion And Prawn Dumplings － Yum Cha Special 1

At last we had a relatively low key Sunday for a change. I spent a better part of the day catching up with my reading and  composing new posts for the blog. When it was time to plan for dinner, Tummy suggested a yum cha favourite of ours that we always order at yum cha.

If you are a big yum cha fan like we are, the chances are you might be familiar with this delicious dish too. Steaming with a light sauce after deep frying the dumplings might sound weird to some but such a process creates the most agreeable texture and mouthfeel so prized in Chinese cooking.

I will share with you our other yum cha favourites in the near future, hopefully you'll be able to have a cosy yum cha lunch at the comfort of your own home soon.

P.S Another of my lovely reader turned up the the restaurant last night. It was a very nice surprise indeed, thank you again!

makes 12

you'll need;

500 g of prawns, shelled and roughly chopped

6 water chestnuts, roughly chopped

2 spring onions (white parts only), minced

2 cm piece of ginger, grated

dash of Chinese cooking wine

1 tbs of light soy

1 tbs of oyster sauce

1tsp of sesame oil

1/2 tsp of white pepper

1 tbs of corn flour

12 wonton wanton wrappers

oil for frying

2 spring onions, julienned 

3 slices of ginger, julienned

for the sauce;

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 cup of chicken stock

1 tbs of light soy

a dash of Chinese cooking wine

corn flour solution

Peel the prawns, reserving the heads and shells for curry laksa or prawn noodles.

Roughly chop the shelled prawns.

Place chopped prawns, water chestnuts, minced spring onion, grated ginger, seasonings and corn flour in a bowl and mix well.

Place ~ 1.5 tbs of the prawn filling in the middle of the wonton wrapper, gather all edges to form a plum dumpling. Repeat with the rest of the wrappers.

Fry dumplings in batches until golden.

To make the sauce - saute garlic with a little oil, add stock and soy and allow to come to a simmer, thicken with a little corn flour solution.

Place dumplings in a bowl that fit nicely in a steamer, pour the sauce over, top with julienned spring onion and ginger and steam over high heat for 5 minutes.

I served the dumplings as an appetizer with some Cantonese chili oil on the side. 

My Super Crazy Meatball filled Arancini

I didn't quite have the patience and time to do a turducken but did manage to turn some leftovers into an equally crazy dish. If you have tried my cheese filled meatballs or arancini, then it is a matter combining the two into one.

A perfect picnic offering when the warmer weather returns. Watch you friends bite into these ordinary looking arancini and see the smile on their faces.... of course keep them away from vegetarians!

P.S My freezer is filled with goodies and I am looking forward to do a lot of cooking over the weekend, otak-otak, tamarind prawns and Johor laksa are a few of the dishes I have in mind.

recipe from the tummies' kitchen
makes 6
you'll need

~1 cups seasoned mince

mozzarella cheese or tasty cheese, cut into 1 cm cubes

1.5 cups of leftover risotto 

1 egg, lightly beaten

breadcrumbs

a little oil for frying

spiced tomato relish to serve

Divide seasoned mince into 6 equal serves and form each into meatball, fill with cubed cheese of your choice and set aside.

Brown meatballs with a little oil until they are golden all over, transfer the pan into the hot oven for 8 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

Meanwhile moisten the leftover risotto with half of the beaten egg and divide into 6 equal serves. Roll each portion into a ball, flatten it slightly and wrap over the cheese filled meatballs.

Roll the meatball filled arancini tightly before coating them with breadcrumbs.

Fry until golden and crisp, remove and drain on absorbent paper.

Serve with some of my spiced tomato relish.

I hope you might give this totally crazy but wicked snack a try!

Panko Crumbed Mozzarella Filled Arancini

Sleeping in is a real luxury these days and since my body clock wakes me up at the same time everyday (5.30 am that is) it is non existence. However I am happy to have gained the few extra hours during the weekends that would have otherwise gone to waste, more importantly being able to compose new posts in bed with my breakfast means regular posting can now resume

Nothing ground breaking but these cheese filled arancini will bring joys to many at your next picnic or cocktail party, watch the surprise on your unsuspecting friends' faces when they bite into the otherwise ordinary looking arancini. If you have already tried making arancini before, it is a matter of stuffing a piece of cheese in the rice balls.... simple as that :)

Apart from being extremely easy to make, it is delicious and a great way to use up the leftover risotto and cheese in our fridge. For other equally quirky cheese filled snacks, remember to check out my   arancini with Meredith Dairy goat cheese filling and mozzarella filled meatballs.

I might fit in another post tomorrow, if not I will see you on Monday for another delicious Malaysian treat that I have planned to cook on Sunday.

makes about 15

you'll need;

about 1.5 cups of leftover risotto of any kind 

1 egg, lightly beaten

some mozzarella cheese, cubed

ponko breadcrumbs

oil for frying

Add the beaten egg to the leftover risotto, you may also add some lemon zest or chopped parsley to add  freshness to arancini, mix well and form into rice balls the size of ping pong ball.

Coat with panko breadcrumbs.

Fried in batches until golden and crisp.

Drain well and serve immediately with a cold beer or two.

The mozzarella cheese oozes out after a bite. It is a snack worth making from scratch if you don't already have some leftover risotto in the fridge.

Mozzarella Filled Meatballs

As promised, a quick post on what I did with the leftover seasoned mince from my spiced meatballs, chickpeas and vegetables soup..... It also gives me an excellent opportunity to further promote my spiced tomato relish.

This is a not only a fun item to serve at your next cocktail party (or your kid's birthday party?), it is also a quick way to whip up something delicious when your friend turns up with some cold beers on a sunny afternoon. 

I happened to have some mozzarella in my fridge (not quite the artisan type I'm afraid or there simply won't be any leftover in the first place) and thought it might be a good idea to make a stuffing out of it. A good idea it was and I had to make a second (larger) batch soon after, which was duly enjoyed in the warm spring sun with my beer bearing friend K.

I just remember both the footy and rugby union grand finals are to be staged this weekend. The traditional Aussie BBQ is out according the weather forecast, so why not have an indoor party with plenty of delicious finger food instead? Apart from these meatballs which are going to be a big hit with your friends, here are a few more suggestions if you are going to have a party;

1) stuffed chicken wings

2) boxing chicken

3) curry puffs

4) fried wontons and stuffed tofu puff

5) goat cheese filled arancini

6) Thai chicken cakes

7) spring rolls

8) sticky spiced wings

9) Japanese rice balls (onigiri)

recipe from the tummies' kitchen

makes about 15

oven preheated at 220 C (conventional)

you'll need;

~1.5 cups seasoned mince

mozzarella cheese or tasty cheese, cut into 1 cm cubes

a little oil for frying

spiced tomato relish to serve

Pick up a small amount of seasoned mince and form meatball the size slightly larger than a chestnut, wrap the mince around a cube of cheese.

Brown meatballs with a little oil until golden all over, transfer pan to the hot oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.

Serve the delicious cheese filled meatballs with some spiced tomato relish on the side.

The spiced tomato relish goes beautifully with the cheese filled meatballs...

Try not to tell your friends about the filling and allow them to discover the pleasant surprise themselves.

Tamanegi No Furitta 玉ねぎのフリッター Onion Fritters

As promised a quick post on how to turn the excess batter from my previous post (panko crumbed chicken cutlet with Nagoya miso sauce) into the most delicious onion fritters in minutes. However please don't wait until you have leftover batter to try this recipe, all you need is an extra minute to prepare the simple batter from scratch.

I love onions! In fact I love all vegetables and herbs from the allium family; the different varieties of  garlics, chives, leeks, shallots, spring onions and the list goes on. I love the pungent, slightly spicy raw onion in salads and salsas. I also love onion when it is cooked down to sheer sweetness, thickening and adding depth to stews, chutney, curries and soups. In this case, soft sweet onion pieces are encrusted in the light and crisp savoury batter, one small bite and you'll be immediately seduced by the contrasting textures and flavours...... words failed me really!

This is a great snack that will go down well with a cold Kirin beer or two but do double the quantity as these delicious fritters do fly out the windows rather quickly.

P.S use vegetarian dashi powder for a vegetarian version instead.

based on Hiro Fannings's recipe
serves 2 as a light snack

you'll need;

1 onion, peeled and sliced

leftover batter from katsu crumbing

2 tbs of corn flour

2 tsp of instant dashi powder

if you are making the batter from scratch;

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tbs of water

5 tbs of self rising flour

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of sugar

3 tsp of instant dashi powder

3 tbs of corn flour

If you are using the leftover batter, add in dashi powder and corn flour and mix well. if you are preparing the batter from scratch, mix all ingredients in a bowl.

Slice onion into manageable pieces and mix into the batter.

Deep fry 1 heaped tbs of the onion mixture (in batches) until golden and crispy, drain well on absorbent paper.

Drizzle a little katsu sauce over and serve as a hot snack, preferably with a cold Kirin.

Chun Juan 春卷 Spring roll

We had a little spring roll making party over the weekend to mark the arrival of spring....rather appropriately!  It was a fun day filled with laughter as novices tried their hands at spring roll making for the very first time. It didn't take long for them to master the delicate art of wrapping and rolling and soon we were enjoying the first batch (out of many) of the tastiest and crunchiest spring rolls.

A much sought after offering at yum cha, spring roll also happened to be one of the most popular Chinese culinary exports. It followed the routes of Chinese migration over the years and it has been given different localised names in their adopted countries; egg rolls (North America), lumpia (Indonesia and the Philippines), cha gio (Vietnam), Popiah goreng (Malaysia), Por pia tod (Thailand), arrollado primavera (Chile, Uruguay, Argentine) and the list goes on......

Despite it's popularity, good spring rolls are hard to come by in Melbourne except when one is at a good yum cha restaurant. To avoid being disappointed with the rest that are often greasy and soggy from food halls and Chinese takeaways, making them at home is the safest bet yet.

If you are a fan of spring rolls, you can find a few more variations here at the tummies'
1) vegetarian spring rolls
2) vietnamese spring rolls
3) popiah goreng (fried popiah)

P.S I will share with you a non-fried version popular in southern China, Taiwan and southeast Asia after a impending "popiah party" so stay tuned!

recipe from the tummies' kitchen

makes about 30

you'll need;

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

3 cm piece of ginger, grated

1/2 of a cabbage, finely shredded

400 g of green or long beans, topped and tailed and finely chopped

3 carrots, cut into thin batons

1/3 cup of wood fungus, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes, drained 

1/2 cup of dried shrimp, soften in hot water, drained and roughly chopped

200 g of chicken thigh, cut into thin strips and marinated* (see below)

1 cup of bean sprouts, picked

1.5 cups of stock

4 tbs of light soy

4 tbs of oyster sauce

2 tsp of sesame oil

1 tsp of white pepper

corn flour solution

30 to 35 large readymade spring roll wrapper
1 egg white for sealing

peanut oil for deep frying

chili sauce or plum sauce to serve

marinade for chicken;

1/2 tbs of light soy

1/2 tbs of oyster sauce

1/2 tsp of sesame oil

1 tsp of grated ginger

a dash of Chinese cooking wine

2 tsp of corn flour

Prepare the vegetables.

Prepare the dried shrimps, wood fungus and chicken.

Saute half of the chopped garlic and grated ginger with a little cooking oil for 15 seconds, add chicken and stir fry until chicken is just cooked. Remove and set aside.

Saute the other half of the chopped garlic and ginger for 15 seconds, add cabbage, green bean and carrot and continue to cook until vegetables are slightly wilted. Return chicken to the wok, add stock and seasonings and cook for a further minute, add bean sprouts and thicken the mixture with a little corn flour solution.

To wrap the spring roll - loosen a piece of spring roll wrapper from the stack and place 2 heaped tbs of the fried vegetables in the middle of the wrapper.

While pressing down the filling, lift the corner closer to you over the filling then fold in the two sides.

Roll into cylinder about 1.5" wide and 5" long. Brush a little egg white on the upper corner to secure the roll.

Fry spring rolls (in batches) in hot oil until golden and crispy. Drain well on absorbent towels before serving.

Serve them whole with chili sauce or plum sauce.

Or cut each roll into thirds like how they are served at yum cha.