Ingredients
* 4 cups water
* 4 cubes chicken bouillon
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon dried parsley
* 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, combine water, bouillon, and parsley and onion flakes. Bring to a boil.
2. Lightly beat eggs together. Gradually stir into soup.
3. Remove about half a cup of the soup. Stir in cornstarch until there are no lumps, and return to the soup. Boil until soup thickens.
Ingredients
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 (1/2 inch) piece fresh ginger root, minced
* 6 ounces raw small shrimp, shelled and deveined
* 1 quart chicken stock
* 8 ounces tofu, diced small
* 1/3 cup frozen peas, thawed
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Directions
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or wok over high heat. Cook the garlic and ginger until fragrant and lightly browned. Stir in the shrimp, and stir fry until cooked, then remove and set aside. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, add the tofu and peas, season with salt and pepper, then return to a simmer. Mix the cornstarch with a little water to form a thin paste. Stir the cornstarch into the soup and continue to simmer until clear and thickened, about 1 minute. Stir the shrimp back into the soup and serve.
Steam the dumplings in batches and eat them when they're at their best — hot out of the steamer.
Servings: Makes about 75 dumplings.
Ingredients
Soup
10 cups plus 3 tablespoons (or more) water
2 3/4 to 3 pounds chicken wings, backs, and necks
2 1/2 ounces Chinese-style cured smoked ham or Smithfield ham, cut into 4 slices
3/4 cup coarsely chopped green onions (white parts only)
2 (1-inch-diameter 1/2-inch-thick) slices peeled fresh ginger
1 whole dried shiitake mushroom
1 large garlic clove, flattened
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine)
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin (from 2 envelopes)
Sauce
1 cup black vinegar
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons very thin matchstick-size strips peeled fresh ginger
Filling
1 pound ground pork
1/4 pound peeled deveined uncooked shrimp, finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped green onions (white parts only)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 large garlic clove, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine)
1/4 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
Dumplings
75 (about) 3-inch square or round dumpling wrappers (from two 14-ounce packages)
1 large head of Napa cabbage, leaves separated
Preparation
Stock your pantry
Look for the ingredients and supplies featured here at an Asian market or online at adrianascaravan.com: Chinese-style cured smoked ham (or use Smithfield ham), dried shiitake mushrooms, Shaoxing (also spelled Shao Hsing) wine, black vinegar, dumpling wrappers (don't use wonton wrappers; they are too thin), and bamboo steamer sets.
Make the soup
Combine 10 cups water and all remaining soup ingredients except gelatin in large pot. Bring to boil, spooning off any foam that rises to surface. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until chicken pieces are very soft and beginning to fall apart, adding more water by cupfuls if necessary to keep chicken submerged, about 2 hours 30 minutes.
Strain and chill
Strain soup; discard solids. Return broth to same pot. Boil until reduced to 2 cups, about 35 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour 3 tablespoons water into small bowl; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until gelatin softens. Add to hot broth; stir until gelatin is dissolved. Transfer to 13x9x2-inch glass dish. Cover; refrigerate aspic overnight.
Make the sauce
Mix 1 cup black vinegar, 6 tablespoons soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons fresh ginger strips in small bowl. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Make the filling
Combine all filling ingredients in large bowl and mix with fork just until blended. Cut aspic into 1/3-inch cubes. Add aspic to pork mixture; stir gently with wooden spoon just until incorporated. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
Assemble the dumplings
Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 1 dumpling wrapper on work surface. Spoon 1 very generous teaspoon filling onto center of wrapper, including at least 2 or 3 aspic cubes.
Pleat the wrapper
Lightly brush edges of dumpling wrapper with water. Bring 1 corner of wrapper up around filling, then pleat remaining edges of wrapper at regular intervals all around filling until filling is enclosed and wrapper forms bundle-like shape with small opening at top.
Twist the top
Gather top edges of wrapper together and twist at top to enclose filling. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. DO AHEAD Can be refrigerated, covered, for 1 day, or frozen in single layer in covered containers for 2 weeks.
Prepare the steamer
Line each layer of bamboo steamer basket with cabbage leaves; place over wok filled with enough water to reach just below bottom of bamboo steamer basket. (Or line metal steamer rack with cabbage leaves and set over water in large pot.) Place dumplings atop cabbage, spacing apart.
Steam the dumplings
Bring water to boil. Cover; steam until cooked through, adding more water to wok if evaporating too quickly, about 12 minutes for fresh dumplings and 15 minutes for frozen. Serve dumplings immediately, passing sauce alongside for dipping.
Soups with anything but a broth base are a rarity in Chinese and Japanese households, but corn soups and pumpkin soups—favored Western imports—are the exception. (And any orange-fleshed squash might be called a "pumpkin.") Here, food editor Lillian Chou combines the two and gives them a boost of bracing freshness with lemongrass and cilantro; the result is velvety and light.
Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 45 min
Servings: Makes 8 servings
Ingredients1 fresh lemongrass stalk, root end trimmed and 1 or 2 outer layers discarded
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 3/4 pounds kabocha or butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces (4 cups)
2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (10 ounces; from 2 to 3 ears)
5 cups water
Garnish: cilantro leaves
Preparation
Cut off and discard top of lemongrass, leaving a 6-inch stalk, then smash stalk with side of a large heavy knife.
Cook lemongrass, onion, and 1 teaspoon salt in butter and oil in a heavy medium pot over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 10 minutes. Add squash, corn, water, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and discard lemongrass.
Purée soup in 3 or 4 batches in a blender until very smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids), straining each batch as blended through a fine-mesh sieve into a large heatproof bowl, pressing hard on and then discarding solids. Season with salt and pepper and reheat if necessary.
Cooks' note: Soup can be made 2 days ahead and chilled, uncovered, until cool, then covered. Reheat over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Nutritional Information
Per serving: 133 calories, 7g fat (2g saturated), 8mg cholesterol, 445mg sodium, 3g fiber, 2g protein (nutritional analysis provided by Nutrition Data)
MEATBALLS:
1 pound ground beef, chuck or sirloin, lean
3/4 cup oatmeal or bread crumbs
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced finely
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 egg
SOUP:
2 large cans (14 ounce) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 package (6 ounce) frozen snow pea pods
1/2 pound baby carrots, cut in half
1 1/2 cups fresh or canned bean sprouts
1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2" cube fresh ginger, finely grated
1 clove garlic, finely minced
peanut or olive oil for roasting
Combine soup ingredients in large saucepan over low heat to simmer (reserve snow pea pods and carrots for broiling or stir frying).
Prepare meatballs: stir ingredients together, shape into 1 1/4" meatballs and place on lightly oiled broiler pan. Spray lightly with an olive oil spray if you used very lean meat. Broil until nicely browned or bake at 400° 15 minutes.
To roast the baby carrots, cut carrots in half, lengthwise. Rub in one or 2 tablespoons of olive or peanut oil, and sprinkle between the meatballs on the broiler pan. Do the same with the thawed snow peas.
Check while broiling, and remove carrots, snow peas, and meatballs as they begin to brown. Drain on paper towels briefly and add to soup. If you wish to skip this step, you may alternatively brown the meatballs, snow peas, and carrots in a wok.
With all ingredients now in soup, simmer over low heat 15 to 20 minutes and season to taste with salt, pepper, a pinch of Chinese Red Pepper, if desired, and a dash of soy sauce.
