Pearl Meatballs

I've stumbled upon a show on the Cooking Channel called 'Easy Chinese' featuring Ching-He Huang and now I'm a fan!  Ching is Taiwanese but has an adorable British accent from her upbringing.  She travels throughout the US exploring Chinese eats and also cooks up food with local ingredients.  For those unfamiliar with Chinese cooking, she definitely makes it look easy and approachable.  Try and catch 'Easy Chinese' on the Cooking Channel! But if you can't, check out her recipes online.

On one episode she cooked up 'Pearl Balls' which are essentially steamed pork meatballs rolled in sticky rice.  Sounds delicious!  I don't often cook Chinese food using a recipe (afterall, Dad always taught me how to cook with "a little of this" and "just enough of that" and his recipes are killer!), but I was really eager to test out Ching's version.  

Pearl Meatballs, using Ching-He Huang's recipe on Cooking Channel TV

I followed her recipe almost exactly and I was so pleased with how it came out!  I made a few very minor substitutions which I've noted below.  Check out Ching's recipe, reposted below courtesy of Cooking Channel TV, and follow along with my pictures.  This one's a keeper, and it's pretty easy!  

Pearl Meatballs

[reposted from Ching-He Huang's recipe on Cooking Channel TV]

Ingredients:

12 oz. Ground Pork (or a boneless, skinless piece of pork belly)

2" piece of fresh Ginger, peeled

1 Shallot

1/2 cube vegetable bouillon (I substituted with chicken bouillon as I had it on hand)

1 tsp Cornstarch, plus more for rolling

1 tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder

1 tsp Shaoshing rice wine

Sea salt

Freshly ground white pepper

1 large egg yolk, beaten

1 scallion, chopped fine (my addition, not in Ching's recipe)

1/2 cup glutinous white rice (sticky rice!), soaked overnight in cold water and drained

Optional dipping sauce: Black rice vinegar, chili oil, or soy sauce

Flushing: Mala Xiang Guo (Spicy Stir-fry Pot)

There's a new shopping center called New World Mall that opened in Flushing just last year.  And its amazing.  Located on Roosevelt Ave right next to the 7 train, New World Mall is comprised of a full Asian supermarket, two floors of shops, a gorgeous restaurant on the top floor, parking garage, and an awesome food court in the basement.  Just like the ones you see in Taiwan!! 

I'm sure I'll be posting about my various trips to eat there, but in this post I'll be taking you through my experience at the Mala Xiang Guo station. 

Mala Xiang Guo station at the New World Mall food court

Located in one of the the corners of the food court (when you come down the escalators, keep going straight and it'll be in the corner on your left at the end), This definitely offers a unique experience that I've never had in the city.

In the simplest terms, Mala Xiang Guo is a spicy and fragrant stir-fry pot.  Its almost like a dry hot pot with only one flavor choice - spicy fragrant.  Not really getting what exactly this is?  Easier for me to show you!

When you come up to the station, you'll notice a large variety of raw veggies.

All your choices to include in your pot!

For the Love of Grandma's Dumplings

Hi Piggy friends, have you missed me? I know I’ve missed you. I’ve been off the radar lately and took a hiatus from my Piggy duties to focus on my #1… my Family.

It’s been a roller coaster month of loss and heartache, but also of love and fond trips down memory lane. You see, I come from a long line of piggys whose favorite pastime is busily whipping things up in the kitchen, and it all comes out of love. I dare say that the food we create may be the thing that some of us (especially my Grandma) are most fondly known for.

I’m so fortunate to have learned how to cook with my family throughout my life, even when I wasn’t tall enough to reach the kitchen counter. As a child, I remember my dear Grandma would take over the kitchen and make big batches of wontons or dumplings at a time. I have memories of Grandma teaching me how to make these lovely specialties. Our hands would be dusted with flour, egg wash and meat filling. I was always amazed at how quickly and effortlessly Grandma’s fingers moved, folding and pinching the dumplings and wontons closed in such a beautiful way. I was never able to recreate her perfect pleating, but her face always lit up in approval anyway and she would hand me another dumpling to work on. Slowly but surely, we would fill up tray after tray of dumplings. As they steamed, the kitchen would brim with a savory smell that left you hanging on each minute until they were done.

This post is dedicated to my Grandma. She dedicated her life to family and making the most extraordinary buns and dumplings. I’m so grateful she gave me this gift that I’ll never forget. Here is my recent attempt at carrying on her legacy…

Rickshaw Dumpling Bar

Midtown Manhattan has an abundance of good lunch spots, and Rickshaw Dumpling Bar decided to join in too! They opened up a branch on Lexington Avenue and East 45th Street last year.  Walk by during lunch time and you'll often spot a crowd milling around the tiny corner store.  It's take out only here, as there are no tables (except for a 6 foot long ledge along the window).

I've known about Rickshaw Dumplings for years but it wasn't until their food truck made an appearance at a holiday party last year that I actually tried it.  Wonder why it took this dumpling lover so long? I've heard very mixed reviews, with negative comments coming mainly from friends who have grown up eating authentic fresh made dumplings like me.  I wasn't wowed by the dumplings I had at their food truck, but I chalked it up to the limited facilities they had working out of the truck.

I've visited the Midtown branch a couple of times since they opened.  While I'm not impressed by the dumplings, it's a nice break from the regular soup/salad lunch options and is still light enough since they're steamed.  I've tried the Pork and Chive dumpling and also the Szechuan Chicken one.  The skin is nice with medium-thickness, but the meat fillings can tend to be a little dry and lacking flavor.  Each order of dumplings comes with a little container of sauce which varies depending on the dumpling you order.  The sauces are tasty and unique!

Pho 32 & Shabu

Piggy KL and I share very similar eating habits and one of our favorites from back in our college days is Shabu Shabu!  Shabu Shabu is a Japanese version of the Chinese hot pot.  But in this post, I'll be talking about the Korean take on Shabu Shabu (at a Korean-run Vietnamese restaurant...confusing I know!).

Both Piggy KL and I grew up on hot pot.  It's pretty much a staple at both our family's dinners (Piggy KL even posted about it in her Non-traditional Christmas Dinners post here).  Piggy KL and I used to make the trek to our favorite Shabu Shabu spot Minni's Shabu in Flushing.  But after a Korean friend of mine introduced me to Pho 32 & Shabu in K-town, we've been able to enjoy Shabu Shabu much closer to home!

Most people go to Pho 32 & Shabu for the pho, but each table there is actually equipped with a hot plate at each seat so diners can enjoy an individual Shabu Shabu pot.  I've had both the pho and the Shabu Shabu and would say that the pho is ehhh but the Shabu Shabu is the REAL hidden gem...which I'm sharing with you all today!

Yao's Dragon Beard Candy

I was already on a high from my lucky find of Osmanthus candy in Chinatown, putting an end to a 5 year long search.  My luck continued that day as I was wandering around aimlessly.  I stumbled upon a little cart on the corner of Chrystie and Grand Street, right by the B/D subway entrance, called Yao's Dragon Beard Candy.  It's not a well-known Chinese dessert.  In fact, the first and last time I had it was in the Vancouver Chinatown over 10 years ago!

There was a man making candy inside the cart as I approached, and I noticed a write up by the Village Voice posted on their window.  They wrote a good review of it here.

Chinese New Year and Dragon Cupcakes!

It's the year of the Dragon!

I'm hoping that this new year will bring good tidings to you all [and a change of luck to those of us who need it!].  It doesn't hurt to follow the usual Chinese traditions to start the new year off on the right foot.  Hey, I need all the help I can get!

Here's my checklist:

• Get together with family [check]
• Have a new year's feast [check]
• Clean the house apartment [check]
• Clean myself! [check]
• Wear red [eh... I'm hoping pink counts! Red just didn't match today's suit]
• Wish friends and family a happy new year! [check and check]

As my family gathered over the weekend to celebrate the new year, we ate lots of traditional food like fish (to wish for a plentiful new year), noodles (longevity), meat balls with strings of seaweed (prosperity), and oysters (good tidings).

Chinese New Year feast cooked by my Dad!

My contribution to the feast was dessert - hoping to put my skills from cake decorating class to good use! I wanted to do cupcakes this time and wound up honoring the new year of the dragon.  I got the idea from Hoosier Homemade's blog and was so impressed/inspired by her dragon cupcakes!  Here is how I put my own spin on it...

Osmanthus Candy

I'm so excited to share this amazing find with you!

When I was vacationing in China 5 years ago, I visited a beautiful city called Guilin.  I traveled there along the Li River and it truly was one of the most pristine places I've ever had the honor of seeing.  I even sailed past water buffaloes in the river!

Beautiful scenery along the Li River

Water Buffalo!  I waved hello but they were busy drinking water...

Guilin is known for its gorgeous scenery and its name translates to "forest of sweet osmanthus".  (Osmanthus is a fragrant flowering plant).  One fond memory of my visit to Guilin was having a very delicate candy called Osmanthus cake.  The airport at Guilin was the last place I had found it.  Ever since then, I have perused the candy aisle at Asian grocery stores hoping to find Osmanthus candy again, with no luck. I felt like I won the lottery when I found it at a newly opened grocery store in Chinatown called New York Mart!

Osmanthus Candy

Roasted Duck Congee (Chinese Rice Porridge)

My little adventure to make Roasted Duck Congee actually started 2 days ago, when I had a craving for Peking Duck. 

Peking Duck House, as their name suggests, serves very good Peking Duck in Manhattan.  They have a location in Chinatown, which is almost always packed as it's popular among locals and tourists, and they also have another location in Midtown East.   A few nights ago, I caved into my craving for Peking Duck and ordered one for take out from their Midtown location.  My duck was packaged well and came with their house-made pancakes, scallions, cucumbers and house peking duck sauce, and also a pint of white rice.  Wow, so much food!

We also ordered the House Made Noodles with Beef, not realizing the enormous amount of duck we were actually getting.  It was yummy, and complemented the duck well!

After picking through all the duck, we were left with lots of bones.  Thinking back to the mornings after Thanksgiving and Christmas, I recalled that my Dad would take the leftover bones from our Turkeys (carcass works best if you have it!) and make Congee from it.  The flavors from the bones would carry through into the porridge and would make it soo delicious and unique!  I figured leftover Peking Duck bones would do the trick too, hoping the roasted flavor would give a great taste. Afterall, their preparation of the Peking Duck sounds amazing (according to their website):

"...air is first pumped into the duck to stretch and loosen the skin, and then boiled water is repeatedly spread over the bird, which is then carefully dried. The dried skin is rubbed all over with maltose and the duck is then roasted in a hot oven for a period of time until the meat is tender and the skin crispy."


Cool right?? Turns out it does make make fabulous congee! Read on to see how I made it.

Cooking: Gai Lan with Garlic Sauce

Next to being a super duper carb-monster, I'm a pretty fabulous veggie-inhaler as well.  My parents never had to tell me to eat my greens twice.  No problem!  These days, I tend to position myself closest to them at the dinner table.  If you ever wind up eating with me, consider yourself warned! I may or may not be the reason why the veggies are disappearing :)

One of the vegetables I grew up eating are Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli).  It's green and leafy and good for you too.  My Dad still makes this pretty often and I've finally learned how he makes it taste SO darn good!  He serves Gai Lan with his wonderfully fragrant Garlic sauce, which is quick and easy to make, and very versatile.  It can be mixed with almost any vegetables (think bok choy, string beans, or a mix of zucchini/mushrooms/baby corn, etc).  I love Garlic and am pretty generous with it when cooking, so don't be afraid to throw in a few extra cloves like I do!

Here's a quick, easy and pretty healthy recipe (courtesy of my Dad aka my greatest cooking teacher!).