MINI STICKY RICE WRAPPED IN BANANA LEAVES "Joong/Zongzi"

Toisan Pork and Chinese Sausage Joong (Zongzi)

My kids are carb-addicts.

I have always loved joong (sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves) from New Town Bakery because the fillings most closely approximate the ones I grew up with made by my Poh Poh.  Unfortunately, when she passed away when I was in my early 20s, I lost the source of all the recipes I loved eating growing up. I hadn't had the forethought to ask her for the recipes in my youth and that is my one big regret.  

Now, my kids love them all year 'round and sometimes they take joong to school for lunch in their thermoses.  In the morning, I would take the joong out of the freezer, microwave one on high for 3 minutes and then plop it into a saucepan full of boiling water for 15 minutes to ensure it was heated all the way through.  We have always lamented the fact that each joong was too big for each kid; yet one joong was not quite enough for both to share.  I always supplement with extra Chinese sausage because the store-bought joong only had a miniscule little sliver of sausage that the kids fought over. The salt-pork, mung beans and salted duck yolk were parts of the joong I'd pick out because the kids didn't care for it.

My mother is not a font of information when it comes to cooking Chinese food.  She is more apt to buy cooked food from the market or go out to eat.  She was a career woman so never had the time to stay at home with her mother to watch her cook or learn the secret recipes.  So, that leaves me to search the internet for Toisan mothers and grandmas online who make what most closely resembles foods of my youth.

Fortunately for me, people have documented how to wrap these tricky-to-fold rice dumplings on youtube.  I had no idea how to go about it having never made them with grandma in my youth.  So today was pretty much a test to see if I could do it.  I made a small batch in mini shapes so that I wouldn't be frustrated if I had problems.   Let me know if you want a video of me doing it and I will make one; otherwise there are plenty on youtube if you look.  I learned a few tricks from watching several.

I think I was channeling PohPoh because these turned out fabulously!  The sticky rice was perfectly seasoned, the fillings were so tasty and proportional to the rice.  The problem with other peoples' joong--their fillings were chosen for their family's tastes.  

My kids hate seafood (dried scallops & shrimp), don't care for dried shitake mushrooms, would rather not eat salted duck egg yolk (though I'm starting to enjoy it as I age) and don't appreciate mung beans (which I love).  The 9 yr old is allergic to peanuts and it seems that every auntie that gifts some joong to my mother makes theirs with tons of peanuts.  It's like biting into a nut-bomb.  I dislike the texture and flavour of peanuts myself and find them quite repulsive (sorry peanut-lovers).  

So these mini joong were specifically made for the kids and each one is smaller than my fist.  Each contains: 3 slices of Chinese sausage and 1 piece of salted pork belly.  That's it.  So simple and so yummy. No weird stuff.  Just good ol' pork fat that renders out into the glutinous rice to infuse it with rich flavour.  The fantastic thing about joong is that the fillings are customizable.  You could even go vegan if you wanted to by filling it with red beans, peanuts, firm tofu.  I'm going to try making the sweet joong which is served in my household with maple syrup!  My Poh Poh always put a red stick in the centre which I assume is for good luck because it certainly didn't leave any flavour...just a stain of red dye that radiated from the centre.  I might also try a sweet tapioca and red bean mini joong too. They look so cute and yummy.

MINI STICKY RICE WRAPPED IN BAMBOO LEAVES (TOISAN PORK and CHINESE SAUSAGE JOONG/ZONGZI)

• 36 dried zongzi (bamboo) leaves (2 leaves per zongzi)

• 5 Cups uncooked short grain sticky rice (also called glutinous rice, or "sweet rice")
• 2 Tbsp light soy sauce (for seasoning rice) [I used gluten-free tamari]
• 2 tsp salt (for seasoning rice)
• 2 Tablespoons avocado oil or any veg oil (for seasoning rice)

• 1 lb Fresh pork belly, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (for the pork)
• 2 teaspoons light soy sauce (for the pork) [I used tamari]
• 1/2 tsp sugar (for the pork)
• 2 tsp shaoxing wine (for the pork)
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper (for the pork)
• 1 tsp oil (for the pork)

• 3-4 links of Chinese sausage (4 if you're making just salt pork and sausage; 3 if you're including optional mung bean filling
• Kitchen twine 

Optional ingredients:

• 14 oz of green mung beans, shelled and split (these look yellow, actually) (14 oz package)
• 4 tsp Salt, kosher (for the mung beans)
• 2 tsp Avocado Oil or veg oil (for the mung beans)

• 6 salted duck egg yolks
• Things we never put in joong but other people like: Raw peanuts, chestnuts, rehydrated dried shitake mushrooms, dried shrimp, dried scallops, preserved duck & pork, red beans, shallots, 5-spice powder, bbq pork, bbq duck, dried abalone

THE NIGHT BEFORE

Prepare the bamboo leaves:

1. 36 to 40 bamboo leaves (use 2 leaves for each mini joong; 3 leaves for large joong)
2. Place the dried bamboo leaves in a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil.  Boil for 10 minutes.  Drain and refill with cold water.  If you need to weigh them down with a plate, do so to keep them submerged.  Soak the leaves overnight. The next day, wash and rinse each leaf front and back, keeping them in a large bowl or tub of water until wrapping time so they don’t dry out

Prepare the sweet rice:

1. Use 5 cups of short grain sweet rice for approximately 15 mini joong
2. Soak the sweet rice overnight. The next day, drain completely in a colander. Mix the soaked, uncooked rice with light soy sauce [or tamari]. 2 tablespoons avocado oil and 2 teaspoons salt in a large bowl and set aside.

Prepare the mung beans (if using):

1. Soak the mung beans overnight.
2. Drain. Mix mung beans with 2 tsp oil and 4 tsp salt

Prepare the pork belly:

1. 1 pound pork belly, cut into 12 equal pieces
2. 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
3. 1/2 teaspoon sugar
4. 2 teaspoons shaoxing wine
5. 1/2 teaspoon salt
6. 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
7. 1 teaspoon oil

MAKING THE JOONG:

Prepare the additional ingredients/fillings:

1. 3-4 Chinese sausages (lop cheung):  cut on the diagonal in bite-sized pieces
2. 6 salted duck egg yolks (if using): using a sharp knife cut each in two

Wrapping the zongzi:

1. Check out youtube videos for wrapping technique:
   2 leaved mini joong: (will make about 15)
2. Using kitchen shears, cut off the stem end about half an inch 
3. Have ready the kitchen twine and sharp scissors for cutting the twine.
4. If leaves rip anywhere during the wrapping process, you’ll need to start over and discard the ripped leaf. The recipe calls for extra leaves to mitigate these rips
5. Take 2 leaves:  layer the leaves with the shiny side up; larger leaf on the bottom. If you are OCD, you can place stem ends in opposite directions and trim off the tips to even out the ends.  Fold lengthwise close to the centre.  Then fold up about a third from the end facing you.  Create a cone by opening up the leaves leaving the folds to the right. 
6. Fill with a little rice on the bottom, along with your egg yolk, pork belly and pieces of Chinese sausage. I used 3 small pieces of sausage for each mini joong.  Use 1 tbsp mung beans if using.
7. Top with a bit more rice.
8. Fold the top of the leaf towards you so that it covers the rice.  Ensure that you bend crisply at the fold making clean corners pointing out. Then fold down the edges of the fold to create a point using the trapezoid shape to guide you...all the time cupping your hands at the bottom of the cone so it doesn’t fall apart. Watch the youtube video.  It's easier seen than explained.
9. Tie the joong securely with twine. Cut off excess bits of the leaves with kitchen shears.
10. Continue until your leaves and filling are used up.

To cook the zongzi:

1. Place joong in a large stock pot.  You might need a plate to weigh them down. Fill the pot with cold water, until the zongzi are submerged. Place the pot on the stove over high heat. Once the water boils, turn the heat to low/medium-low, and let it simmer for 1-2 hours.
2. Check the pot occasionally to make sure the joong are always submerged in water. Only add boiling water to adjust the water level—do not add room temperature or cold water. 
3. Remove and cut open the joong leaves to serve, discarding the twine and bamboo leaves. 
4. After cooling to room temperature, you may place in freezer bags, where they will last for months.  When you want a quick meal, you can defrost by putting each in the microwave for 2-3 minutes or you can boil them for about 20 minutes to reheat.
5. Yield: 12-15 zongzi

NOTES:

1. My KIDDIE VERSION: 5 CUPS OF RICE (no mung beans) makes 15 2-leaved mini-dzung
2. Any leftover salt pork can be frozen for future use
3. Any leftover leaves can be dried for future use
4. Serve piping hot with hot sauce (I prefer XO sauce) and soy sauce.  The kids only use sweet soy sauce instead of regular soy sauce on theirs. 

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Garlic Scapes Potstickers

Garlic Scapes! My fave ingredient for amazing home-made potstickers

These are Garlic Scapes.  They are not hollow like scallions or chives but have a solid core.  They are very mild in flavour and a wonderful addition to homemade potstickers.  I threw in a few stalks of green onion also (can you spot them?) because they just happened to be in the fridge too.

See the difference between scallions (green onions) and garlic scapes?  The scallions have a hollow core and the garlic scapes don't.

Each package of potsticker wrappers weighs 1 pound.  I buy all my major ingredients in a 1:1:1 ratio.  I generally buy 2 pounds of pork and 2 large bunches of garlic scapes for 2 pounds of wrappers.  The scapes are available pretty much year round at T&T supermarket (most asian supermarkets carry them).  Local scapes are available in the summer at the weekend farmers' markets. 

I try to fit as much filling as I possibly could in each wrapper. Sometimes this results in a big disastrous mess and the wrapper explodes.  A heaping teaspoon usually suffices.  Ingredients for my filling: ground pork, sesame oil, shaoxing wine, sea salt, soy sauce, white pepper, garlic scapes and a few stalk of green onion.  I saute the scapes with some olive oil until they are soft; then cool them before adding to the ground pork and seasonings.

I use a brush to paint some water on the outer edge of half of the wrapper so the wrapper will more readily stick to itself and then pinch the centre to start the pleating process. 

After the initial central pinch, I pleat towards the centre; usually I use 3 pleats on each side of the central pinch.  If I feel ambitious I try for 4 or 5 pleats!

My kids love to help make potstickers.  They generally don't like frozen store-bought potstickers because of the veggies in them (usually chinese cabbage); nor do they always like the potstickers in restaurants because they sometimes have too much ginger.  Mine have a lovely soft garlic flavour (even without any garlic) from the scapes and they're getting their veggies too!  The texture of scapes is quite similar to asparagus (but they don't taste like asparagus). 

Perfect pleats! yay!  Pleating allows you to cram more filling into each wrapper.  That's what I think anyway. Plus, they're prettier and then you get a 3-sided dumpling that allows you to in the end, get more crunchy goodness from the cooking process.

To cook the potstickers, I usually use a non-stick pan.  I add a little oil and the potstickers.  Then I add 1/3 cup water and immediately cover the pan with a lid. 

Cook on medium heat for approximately 4 minutes, or until the water is evaporated.  

Remove the lid and then allow the potstickers to panfry and crisp up.  I generally like to use tongs or chopsticks to flip each potsticker  

I always pan-fry at least 2 sides of the potsticker (more crunchy skin!) and I like my potstickers separated; not stuck together in a clump like you may find some cooks do (lazy, lazy hey).  I tell you, the scapes thing is perfection.  We don't make potstickers any other way in my kitchen and my kids won't accept anything else now.  

Any left-over potstickers are placed on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, covered with plastic wrap and frozen until solid.  Then, if I remember, I place them into a large ziploc bag and store in the freezer.  

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THANKSGIVING 2013: A VERY GF MEAL

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

Whole Foods Turkey.  Fresh is always better than frozen in my opinion

Happy Thanksgiving Canadians!  It was a beautiful sunny long weekend! hope you all had a good break.  For those of you in the States, I know you're looking forward to your Thanksgiving weekend in the near future.  I wish you have a good one too.

I was thinking of making the traditional turkey with moist bread stuffing and I came to the conclusion that it was primarily my hangup about sticking with traditions that keeps me from experimenting with different stuffings.  Bread stuffing is absolutely my favourite part of the Thanksgiving meal (and the leftovers!)  After discovering that free range and/or organic turkeys simply taste better and more "turkey-ish"than butterballs and other generic frozen turkeys, our family hasn't gone back.  We pre-order our turkey every Thanksgiving and Christmas so as not to be disappointed.

As you know, since being diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease in 2011, I've been converting to a Gluten Free diet.  This has been pretty hard on me during parties and huge feasts where bread products take centre stage.  This year I was going to take the power back.  I decided to stuff my bird with glutinous rice (yah! I know! what a misnomer!) Sweet rice, aka glutinous rice has absolutely no gluten in it.  It's the kind of rice that is used to make "sticky rice", the dish you get at DimSum that's usually wrapped in Lotus Leaves.  Without further ado, here is my day in Vine video clips and pics.  The recipe for the Gluten Free Sticky Rice stuffing is at the bottom of the post.  My recipe.  I made it up along the way, and I believe it's pretty forgiving for modifications and add-ins.

Saturday night, I rinsed that fresh turkey and gave it a good cleaning.  I personally like to pull out any pin feathers that are still remaining in the skin at this point.

I prepared a brine of kosher salt, peppercorns, cloves and water in a clean IKEA bin.  This bin is only ever used for brining.  I don't do anything else with it.  I store the whole shebang in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours (this is good done overnight).  The next morning, I drain everything from the turkey and then dry the bird with a paper towel and then place it in a rack sitting in the roasting pan (uncovered) and allow the bird to dry out in the refrigerator.  A dry skin is a crispy skin!



Along with the brining turkey, I begin my sticky rice stuffing.  I soak dried shitake mushrooms (fresh will do too) in hot water.  I allow this to sit on the counter overnight.

In general, I'm not crazy about dried shitake mushrooms.  I can take 'em or leave 'em.  They are very earthy and lend a smoky woodsy flavour to things.  I used 8 this time.  Next time I'm only going to put 4 shitake mushrooms in the sticky rice stuffing.


On Thanksgiving morning, I prepare the stuffing and cram as much in the body and neck cavity as I can.  The sticky rice stuffing is actually ready to eat after preparation and can be served separately in a casserole dish.  You don't even have to stuff the bird with it at all.  However, imho what's the point if I don't stuff it and have the rice soak up all that turkey goodness?

Prepared sticky rice stuffing ready for cramming into the turkey cavity

The roasted turkey is a glistening golden colour and the crunchy sticky rice bits are yum!

Making the gravy. Turkey neck, carrots, onions and that package of turkey innards (which I always pull out at the end before blending the gravy for a smooth consistency) and all the drippings from the roasting pan.  Let me know if you need this GF recipe.  I'm just too lazy from the turkey meal to post it right now.

Mashed yellow-fleshed potatoes.  I use a ricer to make mine.  It's so smooth!

Roasted butternut squash

Brussel sprouts and shallots with shitake.  Okay, I'll admit I soaked too many mushrooms.  This is why they're in this dish.  Truth be told, they were pretty good but I probably won't add mushrooms again because no one seems to like shitake mushrooms in my house.

Soirette Macarons for dessert: Fleur de lis, Earl Grey Cassis, Apple Pie, Chai, Chocolate and Lavender. 

The best part of the entire day was the fact that my daughters were able to help me with the preparation of the meal.  Bebe, the 10 yo peeled potatoes and carrots, made tutti fruit jello for dessert and prepared lemonade.  Bib, the 6 yo, washed brussels sprouts, potatoes and carrots.  She was in charge of peeling the onions and was official gravy taster.  Both helped wash the dirty prep bowls and set the table too.

To top it all off, after dessert, both of them did a traditional Tea Ceremony for the family.  It was so cool.  They even counted the seconds for each infusion so the tea didn't get bitter.

The best part of a turkey feast is the Turkey leftovers! The kiddies lunchbox next day:  Mommy and Baby Elephant shaped Turkey Sandwiches and persimmon chunks. Oyah... that's one lonely seedless Celebration grape!

CAKEBRAIN'S GLUTEN FREE STICKY RICE STUFFING
4 cups sticky rice (also known as glutinous or sweet rice).  Glutinous rice doesn't contain gluten!
8 dried Chinese shitake mushrooms (4 if you don't like 'em so much)
4 Chinese sausage, diced
2 Tablespoons oil
1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/3 cup Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
2 Tablespoons Gluten Free Soy Sauce (or tamari)
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons roasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
garnishes:  chopped scallions and/or chopped cilantro and/or fried shallots
optional add-ins:  1 cup roasted chestnuts; 1 can chopped water chestnuts, finely chopped carrots, celery or onion, chopped roasted duck, chopped cured Chinese meats

1. The glutinous rice needs to be soaked overnight.  Do this at the same time you're brining your turkey and soaking your dried mushrooms
2. Soak rice in cold water in a bowl, with about an inch more than enough to cover.  Let stand on the counter overnight
3. Soak mushrooms in another large bowl of warm water.  Let stand on the counter overnight.
4. The next morning, rinse the soaked rice in a sieve and drain.
5. Heat oil in a large heavy saucepan or stock pot (I used my ceremic-lined cast iron Le Creuset) and stir try garlic and ginger for several minutes.
6. Add diced sausage, mushrooms, any other optional add-ins and continue to stir for a few minutes.
7. Add rice, wine, broth and all seasoning and bring to a boil.  Keep stirring to the bottom of the pot  and you will find that indeed the rice is sticky.
8. Lower heat to a simmer and cover the pot.  Allow the pot to steam, undisturbed for 20 minutes.  Do not open the lid to look at it!
9. After cooking, you can eat the rice or use it to stuff the turkey.  
10. Stuff and roast per your usual technique.  
11. If you're going to eat the stuffing without stuffing the turkey (why?) then stir to the bottom of the pot to fluff the rice and then put the lid back on for another 10 minutes to just sit.
12. Fluff and serve sprinkling scallions, shallots, cilantro (unless you hate that sort of thing).  This goes very well with the gravy that I made.  yum. And it's excellent as a leftover.

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GREEN DAIKON AND JUMBO CARROT SOUP (GF)

A healthy low sodium soup:  Green daikon and jumbo carrot soup

I drink this broth (not the meat and veggies) primarily when I'm detoxing.  There is no added salt in the soup.  It is both flavourful and filling.  I believe that this soup would fit into a GAPS diet as well as many of the other diets out there that aim to address gut and other immunological issues in your body. 

Dried dates and longans naturally sweeten the soup

Well, in any case, we never drink it for anything else but for the fact that it is very yummy.  It's a savoury broth that is clear.  I use a special skimmer to remove all the fat from the broth.  If you don't have that, you can refrigerate the broth and then remove the congealed fat from the surface before drinking it.  

Green daikon (lo bak) and jumbo carrots are cut in large chunks.  Wash and peel the carrots and daikon.  Regular white daikon and carrots will do if you cannot find the special green daikon or jumbo carrots.    Most Asian supermarkets will carry these specialty veggies that don't taste that great on their own but are especially good for flavouring soups.  Turn your root veggies 1/3 turn as you chop them to get these lovely chunks.

ALWAYS use both NORTH AND SOUTH almond seeds.  My mother told me to always use both in a soup for balance.  I shudder to think what would happen if we ingested a soup made with only one type of almond seed! ;p  These are not regular almonds you eat out of hand but a type of almond seed used specifically for Chinese herbal soups.  Both are required as they have opposing effects on the body...if you believe in that sort of thing.  I just know the soup tastes yummy if you use both.  

You can find these almonds (tiny pit-sized almond shaped seeds) in an Asian herbalist's shop of the dried goods section of any Asian market.  They are extremely common and dirt cheap to buy (as are the dried dates and dried longan above).

You must use pork bones for the broth.  The first (and nastiest) step is you must boil the bones to remove the scum and blood.  Remove any sinew or other nasties too while you're at it.  I generally bring the bones to a boil in a large pot, boil the bones for a few minutes and then drain them in a colander under cold running water.  I wear rubber gloves and scrub the bones of the gunk and discard all the nasty looking bits of fat and stuff while I'm running the water.  It generally takes me several minutes to clean the bones.  The soup bones are then placed into a fresh pot of water for the soup.  Never dump raw pork bones into your soup broth as you'll have a disgusting smelly mess to deal with and the soup will taste musty.

Here's my soup cauldron.  

Boil, boil, toil and trouble...

Chinese soups require 2-4 hours simmer time.  My soup pot is like a crock pot and is made of specialty Purple Clay that is from China.  I think it's the same clay they use in those lovely little teapots.  It makes fantastic soup and relieves my stovetop space.  I just plug it in and forget about it.  I fill my pot up 3/4 of the way with water and then dump in all the ingredients.  Generally, I leave it in there for 3-4 hours and it simmers gently the whole time.

You can eat the cooked veggies and the meat from the soup bones if you wish (my family loves it), but oftentimes the flavour has been sapped out of the veggies and is infused into the broth.  My daughters generally eat the carrots on the first day and they don't seem to like the carrots the next day.  

This is only one of a myriad of slow simmered soups made from combining fruit, veggies or dried herbs, roots and seeds.  There's one using green papaya and chicken feet, another with apples (for coughs) and some herbal ones using sticks of herbs and stuff.   I can't read Chinese, but I go by how they look.  These soup broths are generally very popular in Chinese families during dinner time.  Old grandmas in particular know how to make these.   For some reason women are praised for their abilities to make these soups but when you really think about it, there's not much technique other than the cleaning of the bones.  You just dump everything in a pot with water and simmer it for a long time.  It's not as if you're slaving over a hot stove or anything.  Families make these soups on a daily basis.  I think that drinking a bowl of soup before a meal may take the edge off of hunger and force you to eat less (a simple diet aid) and the broth definitely will hydrate you. As for medicinal properties...my doc says he doubts it.  These are not the icky herbal decoctions that people use in TCM in any case.    

The recipe?  I never use one.  Just grab a handful of each of the dried fruits and herbs I have pictured above.  I used 4 large carrots and 4 large green daikon and 2 pounds of pork bones for the soup.  My pot is huge and I covered the whole thing with water.  Skim off the scum as it's cooking.  You don't have to do this much if you've washed the bones properly.  If you have enough veggies and bones, you won't need added salt.  It'll be plenty flavourful.  Don't add salt if you can help it.  The dates and longan will add sweetness.  

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COCONUT JELLY (GF)

Coconut Jelly (gluten free)

Hello Kitty Coconut Jelly!

I have two plastic jelly molds I purchased to make kiddie jellies.  The huge Hello Kitty face mold above turned out really well and the facial features turned out quite well.

Miffy?

Sorry, I don't know the Hello Kitty characters too well.  The 4-character set produces smaller sized jellies and their features didn't turn out as distinct.  Each jelly is about 2 inches in length.  I used a thin rubber spatula to help ease out the jellies.

 Who's this bear?  Oh well, obviously I'm not learned about Hello Kitty characters.

While my daughters enjoyed the cute characters in coconut jelly form, I preferred the little cubes.  The coconut jelly is firm enough to eat with your fingers, just like the kind you get at DimSum restaurants.  

This version of the Coconut Jelly is not very sweet and isn't spongey like my previous recipe which incorporates whipped egg whites.  It's gluten free but not dairy free.  I suppose if you wanted to, you could replaced the cow's milk with more coconut milk or substitute almond milk or soy milk.  

COCONUT JELLY (Gluten Free)

1 cup (250 ml) water

5 oz (125 g) evaporated cane sugar

1 oz (25 g) gelatine

1 cup (250 ml) coconut milk (ensure you mix the contents in the can well before measuring)

1 cup (250 ml) 2% milk (you may substitute with soy, almond or more coconut milk)

• Boil water, add sugar and stir to dissolve. Cool slightly and add gelatine. Stir well to dissolve. Add coconut milk and 2% milk.
• Immediately pour mixture into plastic-lined pan or molds and chill until firm and set.
• Cut into cubes; serve cold

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