Well it’s been a while. I think I accidentally took a blog break. My only excuse is that I was outside. After our crazy winter storm in February, our garden, which used to be mostly cactus, agave, yucca and fan palms, was mostly dead and brown instead. We’ve been busy cutting brown leaves off things that might spring back, removing things that are definitely dead, and slowly adding new plants. I also started cycling outside for the first time in many years. I had gotten used to sitting on bikes for spin classes that go nowhere, and cycling anywhere is a lot of fun. But I want to tell you all about a book I recently read and cooked. I received a review copy My Shanghai: Recipes and Stories from a City by the Water by Betty Liu. She wrote this as a record of her family’s home cooking traditions, which began with her parents in Shaghai and later adapted to her life in Oregon. She writes, “Eating is deeply associated with pride, respect and welcome in Chinese culture. It is a method of treating the body, but also a way of showing love and generosity.” The hope is that the reader will build new traditions from these recipes. The book is organized by season and also includes chapters for street food and core recipes. Memories of sharing food and cooking in both the US and China are being shared everywhere. I particularly enjoyed reading about the breakfast noodles that the author’s father prepared for her on test days when she was growing up and the importance of noodle soup to Suzhou cuisine. I was drawn to several of the pasta recipes in the book and was completely distracted by the scallion recipes. There’s pasta with scallions, fried fish with scallions, poached chicken with scallions, and clams with scallions. Now that eggplant is plentiful for summer, I’ll try the spiced steamed eggplant. And I gotta make the tomato and egg skillet and use it as a topping on the sauce noodles. I’ve also tagged several pages in the street food chapter, such as: Examples include the Scallion Flower Buns made from twisted strips of dough, the Shaghai Shaomai with homemade wraps, and Liu’s favorite version of Scallion Pancakes. However, I set out to make the Shanghai Big Wontons first after reading that in warmer weather they are served at room temperature with chilli oil rather than in a bowl of steaming broth.
Of course I made the filling a bit my own by skipping the ground beef and using reconstituted and finely chopped dried shitake instead. I had some locally grown cabbage and scallions which I used as well. Cornstarch, soy sauce, white wine, white pepper and sesame oil were added and the finely chopped mixture was stirred until it formed a paste-like consistency. I used store bought wonton wrappers here. The wontons were stuffed, folded and sealed, and then covered and refrigerated until cooking time approached. I’ve also frozen some on a baking sheet before placing them in a bag for storage at a later date. I also made the chili oil from the book, which boils oil with ginger, scallions, star anise, a cinnamon stick, bay leaves, fennel seeds, and dried chilies. Once cooked, this oil was sifted into a bowl with crushed red chillies, white sesame seeds, and garlic. For the sauce, some of this chilli oil was mixed with soy sauce, black vinegar, garlic, and green onions. After the wontons were cooked in boiling water, they were placed in serving bowls and garnished with the chili oil sauce and coriander.
Not sure which leftover item was more exciting, the chili oil or the frozen wontons. Both were readily used in a short period of time. There is so much to learn from this book. Whether it leads you on a quest for ingredients or inspires you to make some adjustments, the results are delicious meals.
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