Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Chinese Dumpling

We decided on Chinese Dumpling soup for tomorrow's offering. By we I mean my friend Shannon and I. It was a simple soup to make but has the complex flavors of Chinese foods.

Since I went Asian it meant a stop at the Lee Lee Asian Market on the corner of Orange Grove and La Cholla. I have not been in too many international markets so I don't have much to compare but Lee Lee has unusual stuff compared to your standard American grocery stores. If you've ever been to Lee Lee and noticed an unusual odor to the place you are not alone. Anyway, I got some Chinese dumplings, dried oyster mushrooms, sesame oil, rice cooking wine and Asian chili sauce. The people working there are very helpful especially with ingredients that I'm not familiar with.

The other ingredients are chicken broth, fresh ginger, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, sugar, salt, carrots, scallions, baby spinach and cilantro.

If you've ever used sesame oil before you know that a little bit goes a very long way and the taste can be very overwhelming. I learned this the hard way a couple of years ago when I made some won tons. Too much sesame oil and the darn things were inedible, a large waste of time because won tons are pretty labor intensive.

I'll follow up tomorrow with the outcome of the Chinese Dumpling Soup and I'll expound a bit on knives and how I came to gain some experience with them.

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