Yum Cha

Shoalhaven Foodies make YUM CHA

One of the wonderful things about living in Australia is the fabulous variety of cuisines available to us.  As a consequence of that, the Shoalhaven Foodies have so many directions they can go in when they get together.  What will they cook?  Will it be Asian, European, cosmopolitan, something art related? The list is endless.

Last time we got together however, it was an easy choice.  Frances had just spent some time in China and was keen to practice her Chinese cooking skills.  After some discussion, we decided we would make our next Foodies event a Yum Cha.  Okay, we can almost hear you laughing.   Not so easy!   So much skill involved when a yum cha is on – dozens of dishes sallying forth from the kitchen – all deliciously inviting. 

However, we think we did well.   We certainly enjoyed the food and as always, the setting was truly exotic.  Kim had managed to find a gorgeous Chinese screen to use as a backdrop and we all brought favourite Asian pieces from our collections.

The Foodies invited two guests; Lesley and Jenny.  We discovered that Jenny had lived in China for some time and she brought some very fresh and appealing side dishes.   Lesley is a great cook and her Asian eggplant dish was quite a favourite.  Suffice to say that all the dishes were favourites – we loved them all!

 
We hope you also enjoy our yum cha!

Christine and Lesley

Lesley’s Chinese Eggplant Hunan Style

 

1 pound Japanese eggplants or 1 pound of egglants                                                 
¼ cup peanut oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger root
1 tablespoon hot bean paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
½ cup stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons chopped green onion (shallots)

Trim eggplants, but do not peel. Cut into 1 inch chunks. Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a skillet. Add eggplant, lower heat to medium and stir-fry for 3 minutes or until soft. Remove from skillet and set aside. Heat remaining peanut oil in skillet and stir-fry garlic, ginger and bean paste 10 seconds. Add soy, sugar and stock. Bring to boil, add vinegar and reserved eggplant. Mix well with sauce and cook 1 minute until sauce is absorbed. Blend in sesame oil and green onion and serve. May also be served at room temperature.
 

Chere and Lesley

 
Chere’s Stuffed Bamboo leaves with glutinous rice,
prawns and chestnuts

  

2 dozen dried bamboo leaves (available from Asian food stores)                 

6 cups cooked glutinous rice                                                                          

1 cup green prawns, chopped                                                                        

½ tin cooked chestnuts                                                                                                          

6 dried forest mushrooms, soaked to soften and chopped

4 tablespoons light soy sauce

4 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine

2 tablespoons sesame oil

Soak bamboo leaves for at least 4 hours.  Wash and drain.   Lay 12 of the leaves flat on board or a clear space.  Place ½ cup cooked rice in the centre and pat down to flatten.   Place some prawns, chestnuts and mushrooms on top.  Mix the soy sauce, cooking wine and sesame oil in a jug and pour a little over.

Fold over in thirds to enclose filling, then turn around, and, taking another leaf, fold in thirds again, so that the rice is fully enclosed.  Tie up with twine and place in a steamer.  Steam above boiling water for 1 hour. Serve hot and let guests open their own packages.

 



Kim and Frances

Kim’s Prawn Wontons with special sauce

Sauce

2.5 tblsp light soy sauce                                                                     

2 tblsp of each of the following:

finely chopped fresh ginger                           

chopped coriander roots and stems

sliced spring onions

kecap manis

malt vinegar

1/4 tsp chilli oil

sesame oil

Wonton filling

2 big handfuls of green king prawns, chopped into small pieces

1 ginger piece (small thumb) cut fine

2 shallots chopped

1 tsp sugar

2 tbls of the following...

Chinese cooking wine or vinegar

Soy sauce

Sesame oil

Kecap manis

Oyster Sauce

wonton skins

Method

Combine all ingredients except wonton skins.

Marinate in fridge for at least 20 minutes.

Once prawns are marinated get the wonton skins and make little parcels with prawn filling.  Steam for 3-5 minutes in a steamer.  Serve with sauce.
 

Frances’ Pork steamed buns

1.5 kg pork belly
1/2 cup Shao xing wine (Chinese wine)                                 
1/2 cup dark soy sauce
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1/3 cup yellow rock sugar
3 cloves garlic
2.5cm piece ginger, sliced
2 spring onions
sesame oil
2 star anise
1 cassia or cinnamon stick
1 piece dried mandarin
dried shitake mushrooms soaked and sliced

Place all ingredients in a pot and allow for all the flavours to infuse. Add pork and cook until the pork is falling apart and all the flavours have infused. You may need to thicken the sauce with a little cornflour mixed with a little water for the dumplings.

You can use roast pork diced and add Asian bought barbeque sauce or plum sauce and adjust flavour with a touch of soy. When using store bought products always adjust the salt and sugar content.

Ingredients for buns:  (Makes 12 medium sized buns)

325g flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon Bicarb soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10ml peanut oil
1/4 cup sugar
15g fresh yeast
1/2-3/4 cup warm water

Method: 
Mix sugar, yeast and water together until it starts to foam.

Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl then add the oil. Mix together until it forms a smooth dough. Knead a little then place in an oil bowl and set aside to double in size. Punch down, knead a little more then place back into oiled bowl again until doubled in size.

After it has been proven twice, punch down the second time. Take bread out of the bowl and roll into balls then working with your hands, gently flatten into a disk. Fill the disc with the pork mix and pull the edges over to form into smooth bun. Drop buns into an oiled steamer and steam for about 6-7 minutes.

 

Our guest, Jenny

 

Jenny's snow peas with sesame seeds

Jenny's Pickled Vegetables

100g Chinese white cabbage

100g cucumber, scrubbed

100g carrot, peeled

100g daikon, peeled

2 celery stalks, cut into thick matchsticks

1 chilli, seeds removed and cut into matchsticks

1 knob of ginger, peeled and sliced

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1 tbsp salt

3 tbsp caster sugar

200ml rice vinegar or white vinegar

100ml water

Roughly chop the cabbage cross-wise into bite-sized pieces, discarding any small shreds. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, remove seeds, then cut into chunky half-moon slices.

Cut the carrot and daikon into 5cm-long sticks. Place all the vegetables, chilli, ginger and garlic in a non-reactive bowl, sprinkle with salt and toss well to coat. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate for 2 hours. Drain off any gathered water.

In a jug mix the sugar and vinegar until the sugar has dissolved. Add the water, pour over the vegetables and lightly toss. Transfer to an airtight glass preserving jar and refrigerate overnight before using. Use within three or four weeks.

 

Snow Pea Sesame Salad

250g snow peas

2 tsp sesame seeds

Dressing:

1 tsp sugar

1 tbspn soy sauce

1 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tsp sesame oil

 

Top, tail and de-string the snow peas, then finely slice lengthwise into matchsticks, using the tip of a sharp knife. This will take some time but the effect it has on the snow pea flavour is astonishing. Mix the sugar, soy, mirin, rice wine, vinegar and sesame oil, and lightly toss the snow peas in the dressing. Drain off any excess dressing, and arrange snow peas on a central serving plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serves four

Colleen and Kim

 

Colleen's Masterstock Chicken

 

Colleen's Cumquat Cakes

  

 Christine's Custard Tarts

The Pastry

225g plain flour

125g butter

55gm icing sugar (not soft icing sugar)

1 egg, whisked

dash of vanilla extract

Cream butter and icing sugar until smooth, fluffy and light in colour.

Add the whisked eggs, one at a time, beat over low speed.

Add the vanilla. Sift in the flour in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl each time. Combine well.

Knead into a soft dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 10 of 15 minutes to rest the pastry. Bring pastry back to room temperature and roll out to approximately 3mm thick. Cut out circles that will fit into your patty or muffin tin. Place pastry over the tin hole and gently press into the centre with your finger and around the sides to evenly line the tin.

The Custard

3 eggs

110g castor sugar

225g hot water

85g evaporated milk

½ tsp vanilla extract

Add the sugar to the hot water and stir until dissolved.

Whisk the egg with the evaporated milk and pour in the sugar mixture. Mix well.

Pour the egg mixture through a strainer (to remove any foam) into a jug. Carefully pour the custard mixture into the tart shells, being careful not to overfill.

Bake in a preheated oven, 200deg C, on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the edges of the tarts are lightly browned. Lower the oven temperature to 180 deg. Watch carefully until the custard puffs up. Pull the oven door open about 2-3 inches and bake the tarts for another 10 minutes. Test the custard by inserting a toothpick into the centre of a tart and if toothpick stands up, the tarts are done.