What a long time it has been...so I want to come back with a BI BIM BAP!

I know its been many months, too much time between posts. But lets get right back into it, and bring back some good oldies that have been sitting on the camera for all that time.

I want to take my first trip into Asian food with you because it has long been a favorite of mine. I remember eating with my father at both Korean grills where we would grill our own meat, as well as at classic Korean restaurants that would start with a plethora of Banchan, which are the entire collection of Korean salads.

If you are interested in the most famous of Korean foods, Kim Chee, DON'T EAT IT! It has lots of shrimp for its flavoring and pickling process, and I will include a vegetarian kim chee for you to make at home in a little bit.

But onto our dish of the evening. Bibimbop literally means "mixed rice bowl," and as all Asian cuisines do, it varies greatly all over Korea how it is eaten. The variation we are going to make includes VeggieBeef Strips, Fried egg (as opposed to raw), carrots, sprouts, and bok choy (not traditional).

Served over rice, these various components should hold their own flavor and be a special component of the dish. For the bok choy recipe, I used my earlier cooking method, but all of the other recipes are listed below, notice that they are super simple.  This dish is incredibly easy, and a true crowd pleaser. One thing that is nice about the recipe is that it works to have the vegetables at room temperature (as long as the rice is hot), so you can make them ahead and finish your protein right before dinner.

Beef Recipe
8 oz beef or veggie beef
2 tsp Soy Sauce
1 tsp Garlic
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 Tsp Black Pepper


Combine ingredients and do a quick sear on your beef, 3 minutes. Don't put extra oil in pan.

Carrot Recipe
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 medium carrots, grated
1/2 tsp Salt


Sautee carrots for 3 minutes until a little soft, remove and add salt

Mushroom Recipe
1 tbsp Vegetable oil
10 Shitake Mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Salt


Sautee garlic for 30 seconds until slightly fragrant, add mushrooms and sautee until slightly brown and beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Remove and add salt.

Sprouts Recipe
1 tsp Vegetable oil
1 cup Mung Bean Sprouts
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1/2 tsp salt
Sautee sprouts for 2 minutes, remove and add sesame oil and salt.

For the eggs, you can either make egg strips from an Asian style egg ommlette. I prefer frying them and getting a nice yolk all over your rice. Enjoy!

Once you have completed everything, arrange it beautifully. Here is a failed fried egg that had to become scrambled.

Jamies PotStickers!

Jamie David has always loved Potstickers, and searching around for vegetarian options, I found many recipes. This is a combination of many, and it turned out really well. Make enough, and this can be a main course, but it is usually served as an appetizer.

This is a super easy recipe, with a few pre-sliced ingredients, pre-made wonton wrappers, and a tasty sauce that just mixes up a few flavors.

First begin by dicing 1 cup onion

and

1~2Tbsp Ginger, depending on your taste.

Then sautee them together for 2 minutes in a tbsp of Sesame Oil before the onion softens a tad and the ginger starts releasing an aroma

Get ready 2 cups each of sliced cabbage, carrots and mushrooms.




Add these veggies to the pan, along with 2 Tbsp of Shoyu and 2 Tbsp of Mirin

Sautee for 4 or 5 minutes until everything gets nice and soft.

Some recipes added the cabbage later so there was more of a bite in the dumpling, but I like everything soft.

Now using water to wet the edges of Wonton wrappers, place a tbsp of the finished filling inside the wrapper, and fold the edges together.

Pictured are a few ways to do it, round, pleated circular edge, boats, and triangles.

Get a grouping ready and fry them in a tsp or more of oil, but not too much! This is not the main cooking process! Fry them for 2~3 minutes depending on how hot the oil, the bottom should be golden brown.

Add 1/4 cup~1/3 cup water depending on the size of the pan. Turn up heat if it isnt already on medium high, and cover.

Steam dumplings for 3~4 minutes until the water has fully evaporated.

Serve immediately with a prepared sauce of 2 parts Soy Sauce and Mirin, 1 part Sesame Oil, Sriracha to taste.

You know you have cooked them correctly and tightly enough if the wrapper has shriveled on top and the bottoms are golden brown and not burnt.

Vegetarian Cha-Siu Bao

Baozi, the delectible buns of Dim Sum fame, were for a long time my favorite Asian cuisine. When picking out shrimp of the hum bao was too much for me, I just gave up on eating them all together. What a shame. White fluffy dough, wonderful innards, just an amazing thing to put in ones mouth.

In fact, I started this blog with the intention of learning how to create Cha-Siu Bao, and because we still have not toiveled (kashered) any meat pans, I have decided to make a vegetarian version. Cha-Siu bao could best be translated as BBQ Pork Bun, and are a favorite of many Chinese dim sum enthusiasts. Bao as a food is said to have first been made nearly two thousand years ago, with various forms cropping up in the Northern and Southern regions. This particular bao, which means wrapping or bun, that we are making today hails from Southern China, as it has a sweet flavor and is filled with Cha-Siu, which is Cantonese Cuisine. It gets its fluffiness from the two stages of rising, utilizing both baking powder as well as yeast. Watch the video for instructions- its the first flip usage! Enjoy!



Dough
1 3/4 Cups Hot Water
1/4 Cup Sugar
2 Tbsp Yeast
2 Tbsp Shortening
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
6 Cups Flower


Filling
1 Small Onion Chopped
1 Bag Morning Star Strips


(Double from this point on because you are doing this sauce twice)
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp Honey
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Rice Wine
1/4 Cup Hoison Sauce
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
Red Food Dye (optional)


(The second time we need that sauce thicker and different)
1 tbsp Minced Ginger
1 tbsp Flour