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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BC SPOT PRAWN FESTIVAL! Stir-Fried Ginger Scallion and Soy Spot Prawns

It's BC Spot Prawn Season! yay!

The season lasts from May to June and after seeing friends' Spot Prawn pics posted on FB I had a yearning too.  I sent the man down to T&T supermarket where they were on sale for $15.99/lb until May 18.

A photo posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on May 16, 2015 at 6:28pm PDT

The Spot Prawns were lively in their plastic bag.  These guys have pokey antennae and sharp spear-like tails and heads.  You have to buy the Spot Prawns with the intent to eat them within a few hours.  I kept them in the fridge for an hour before I was ready to prep them.  I am squeamish and even with rubber dish gloves to protect me from their sharp pointy bits, I couldn't handle how each prawn would squirm and hop out of my hand.  In the end, I held a prawn with tongs in my left hand and worked the scissors in my other hand. It gave me the willies...but I was not deterred enough to stop because I knew these prawns had to be cooked quickly to maintain their freshness.  After they die, the prawn flesh becomes mushy...bleh...inedible.  When cooked fresh, they have a firm 'n bouncy texture and they're sweet and juicy.  They do not require much fuss in terms of cooking.  

If you want to eat them quickly, you can either boil or steam them.  But I wanted a more substantial meal so I decided to add some aromatics: ginger, scallion, yellow onions and soy.

After cutting off the huge barbed needle-like spear from the top of the head of the Spot Prawn with kitchen scissors, I trimmed off the antennae and legs too.  I placed them in a colander and rinsed well and allowed it to drain well.  Pat dry.

BC Spot Prawns with Ginger, Scallions & Soy

Ingredients:

2 lbs Live BC Spot Prawns, legs, antennae & sharp bits trimmed (purchase from your fishmonger from May-June)
1 bunch green onions (scallions), cut in 2 inch lengths
1/2 small yellow onion, sliced
2 inches fresh ginger, peeled, sliced and smashed
2 tablespoons supreme soy sauce
1 tablespoon chinese cooking wine
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying

Method:

1. Clean the trimmed prawns and rinse well in a colander.  Drain and pat dry with a paper towel.
2. In a small bowl, combine the soy, wine, sugar and sesame oil
3. Heat a wok or fry pan on high until smoking hot.  Add 2 tablespoons oil for frying.  Swirl the oil to cover the pan and add the ginger & sliced onions.  Stir fry for a minute.  Add the white parts of the scallions and continue to stirfry for another minute.
4. Add prawns to the pan and stir fry.  Toss in the soy mixture and keep tossing until the prawns start to turn colour.  Add the green parts of the scallion and continue to toss until the prawns have curled and look cooked through which shouldn't take more than a couple more minutes.
Do not overcook!
5. Serve!

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FLO TEA ROOM, MARPOLE

Short Ribs and Prawns.  Served with a Mushroom Sauce on the side.

The veggies were an extra add-on.  The prawns were grilled just perfectly in the shells.  The short ribs were good and seasoned perfectly.  Good portions.   Good value. Rating:  5/6


The AAA Prime Rib was Medium Rare, as requested.



Prime Rib special $12.95 comes with an onion sauce.  Good deal.  Nice chunk of meat.  Tasty.  This comes with soup of the day.  Rating:  5/6


Soup of the day:  pork bone broth with green daikon and almonds.  Comes with the prime rib special.  Rating:  6/6 (flavourful, but didn’t go that well with the prime rib)

Fire on Ice Slush.  Lychee on the bottom, and some fruity orangey red stuff on top...Mango and Peach maybe? Grenadine?  I think.  The kiddies fought over who could drink it.  Then when I told them they had to share, it was all about who sipped more during their turn.  To resolve the issue, I said that I’d drink it all so they couldn’t fight over it anymore.


Ham and Egg Sandwich.  We asked for cheese to be added.  It was a good idea.  The fries were crispy.  Rating:  5/6 (would be a 6/6 if they grilled it instead of toasted it)

We've visited both Flo's and think the Vancouver one is better.  We like the setting...it's more fresh.  The food is slightly better and the plating is nicer.  The one in Richmond was okay but didn't particularly impress in any area.  The first few times we visited the Vancouver location, the service was pretty bad but the food was quite good.  Stomach is all about a deal and thought the value was there. So we came back a few more times just to make sure the kitchen was consistent.  They are.   The portions are bigger than Cafe Gloucester and Copa Cafe.  The menu selection is different and they do serve neat drinks.  They have specialty slushies and bubble teas too.

This last time we went, we had perfect service and a perfectly yummy meal.  The value was good and we were very happy.  I think they hire a lot of students.  So it's hit and miss with whether you get good service or not.  Some have no idea that they need to take empty plates/dishes away and top up tea etc. They avoid eye contact and wander around seemingly focused on one task, not realizing that they can do things more quickly if they multi-task.  However, this one waiter we have...he had spiky dyed-brown hair...I like him.  He didn't screw up our orders (unlike the previous wait-staff) and he was friendly, smart and efficient.   I'll be seeking him out next time.

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BBQ DUCK 24/7! No. 9 Restaurant, Richmond

This big ol’ bowl of BBQ Duck on Rice is the only reason I go to No. 9 Restaurant, located in Lansdowne Mall, Richmond.



The restaurant in open 24 hours, every day of the week.  I know that if I ever have a craving for BBQ Duck, that I could fill up here!

The BBQ Duck is served with plum sauce and a small bowl (not a little soy sauce bowl) full of the duck gravy.  It’s like the soy-based duck juices all combined and you pour it all over your rice.  OMG.  No. 9 is the only restaurant I know that gives you a whole bowl full to go with your order of rice.   

This is the only BBQ Duck on Rice that I crave for.  The duck isn’t all bones and skin.  You get actual chunks of meat.  The skin isn’t riddled with feathers as someone took the care to prepare it properly.  It’s crispy on the outside and tender, succulent inside.                        Rating:  6/6


Pork Balls in Noodle Soup.  Rating:  4/6

We rarely ever order any dish here (other than the BBQ Duck) that overwhelmingly impresses us.  The food is filling and the portions are pretty big. However, you also pay a higher price for the bigger portions.
The best deal is still the BBQ Duck on Rice. 


Choy Sum.  Oyster sauce is served on the side.  Rating:  4/6


Congee with fish slices.  Rating:  4/6

If you're going to come here, order the BBQ Duck on rice.  If you like Chinese soups, order the soup of the day.  They give you a heaping big pile of stuff that they fish out of the soup and serve alongside the soup along with a soy dip for all the soup bones.  It's a meal in itself.  Their food is consistently average.  Nothing fancy, but satisfactory.

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HOSHI SUSHI, KITSILANO

Spicy Tuna Sashimi            Rating:  5/6




California Roll, Negitoro Roll, Crab Cake nigiri                        Rating: 5/6


Gyoza.  Not so tasty.  Pasty filling.            3/6 


Golden Dragon Roll.  California Roll topped with Tempura Yam.  Yum  6/6


Here’s the pic showing the whole order of the Specialty Dragon Roll.


Chicken Karaage.  Wings (there were two more pieces but I couldn’t snap the pic in time).  5/6


Beef Udon.     Good tender pieces of meat.  5/6


Oyster Motoyaki.  Creamy with sliced mushrooms.  Rating:  5/6

Hoshi Sushi is a little restaurant with very narrow booths.  Despite being squished, I quite enjoyed my meal.  There seemed to be a  lot of takeout orders lined up and the kitchen was hopping busy.  The one waitress was running around tending to the phone, the restaurant customers' orders and the takeouts.  She was fast and did her best.  I have no complaints.   I think I heard some Cantonese in the kitchen? perhaps the cook back there?  I don't know about the sushi chef.  Anyway, the food was good.  The sushi was tasty and I was pleasantly surprised.   We will be back another time when we're in the neighbourhood.

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BANANA LEAF, W. BROADWAY

Fresh Coconut Juice!


I knew the kids wouldn’t like it, but we ordered it anyway because Bebe wanted to try it.   I ended up drinking most of it.  Coconut juice is in fact coconut water and not coconut milk and doesn’t taste anything like coconut milk.  It was fun to dig out the fresh young coconut flesh though.  This too the girls didn’t like eating.  I knew we should have ordered a fruity drink instead!

Vegetarian Spring Rolls.

These were deliciously crisp and not greasy.  It was accompanied with a spicy sweet dip. Inside, the filling was predominantly cabbage, some carrot and a variety of other shredded veg.

Roti Canai.

The Roti Canai came with a curry dip and was multi-layered and good.

Spicy Eggplant. 

Because Stomach doesn’t like green beans, we modified something on the menu and he requested that the dish be just of eggplant.  The dish came out really good and though it wasn’t as spicy as that from Tropika, it wasn’t as oily either.  Stomach admitted that it was a bit too tame and the Tropika version is better because it has more dried shrimp and heat.  However, I liked this version as it was less greasy.  I agree it could have done with more heat and little bits of shrimp.

Hainan Chicken with rice.

I liked this dish and the girls really enjoyed the tender morsels of chicken.  It was served with a chicken broth and jasmine rice.   You also receive the condiment sauces alongside which to me make the dish.  Tropika serves it with pickled veggies which I always look forward to, but Banana leaf’s version is very good too and the chicken is not as bony.

Hor Fun (fried rice noodles)

We had the kitchen adapt this dish for the kids.   They don’t like it spicy.  The kids loved the big pieces or fresh rice noodles.    There were shrimp, egg, squid and fresh beansprouts in the dish.

Singapore Laksa.

I love laksa.  This was a promising dish as it arrived with tender shrimp, squid and chicken arranged atop the noodle soup.  The rice vermicelli was underneath and though I thought the flavours were really good, I would have appreciated more heat.  Perhaps I’ll have to ask for more heat next time.    It was extremely mild and didn’t have much kick at all. 

Banana Leaf caters to Western palates and the service is attentive.   They also have a drinks menu and though I would have liked to try a drink, I thought it too early in the day!  It was only lunch!

They seem to be accommodating to patrons who do not like heat because I overheard how the table next to us was ordering different degrees of heat for their dishes.  Some of the people were deathly afraid of spice and heat and some were requesting fire.  I think it prudent to inform them what you prefer because if you don’t you may be disappointed.  Because we didn’t indicate heat for the laksa and eggplant, they were not as spicy as we would have liked. 

The restaurant is dark and tastefully decorated with watercolours, rattan and dark furniture.  It is clean and there is parking in the back.  As well, there is some metered parking out front.  I really like Malaysian and Sinaporean food and will probably be back again!

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GOOD CHOICE FOR DIM SUM

Spicy Pan Fried Radish Cake. 


Having had a great dining experience the last time we ate at Good Choice, we gave it a go for Dim Sum today.

The pan fried radish cake had just the right amount of heat.  It had fresh chilies, fresh bean sprouts and the cubes of radish cake held well with a light crispy exterior and soft interior.   Rating:  6/6

Scallions and Pork Neck in Soy sauce. 

By far, my favourite dish of the whole lunch!  It was so good!   The meat was a little springy, very tender and not fatty at all.  I loved the abundance of scallion.  Very savoury and I would definitely order it again.  Rating:  6/6

Black bean sauce clams. 

This dish was okay.  I liked the portion size.  The sauce was on the watery side and I don’t like like it so “wet”.  I liked a drier version myself.  Rating:  4/6

Har Gow.

Stomach is the har gow expert.  He liked it very much.  The skin was pretty good and the shrimp inside flavourful.  Rating:  5/6

Lotus Leaf Sticky Rice.

The filling of the sticky rice consisted of pork, Chinese sausage and a piece of salted duck egg yolk.  This is the kids’ favourite and Bebe ate a whole one on her own (after flicking they yolk on to Stomach’s dish).    Rating:  5/6

Green Onion Pancake.

This version  is fried.  Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  But it is definitely not as flaky done this way in my opinion.  Rating:  4/6

Black Bean Sauce Spareribs.

Juicy, plump, tender morsels or pork ribs and just the right amount of black beans…and seasoned just right.  This dish was good.  Rating: 5.5/6

The clear disappointment of the whole meal was the Singapore Fried Rice Vermicelli.  Though it looks pretty enough, the noodles were hard (not soaked long enough) and needed flavour. 

Though this dish had plump shrimp, I was disappointed with the insipid flavour.  There was no heat and not enough "wok hei” or caramelizing going on.  If it had more heat, more curry flavour or more meat/shrimp and scallion, it would have been saved.  I took the whole dish home and fixed it by adding curry powder and cooking it until the noodles softened more.

Deep Fried Meat-stuffed Dumplings.

This dish was good and had plenty of meat filling.  The exteriors were crisp and the dough was nice and chewy just like it’s supposed to be.  Rating:  5/6

Coconut Pudding .

Really, it’s more like a hard jello.  Anyhow, what’s a meal without dessert?  This coconut pudding was nicely set and tasted cool, milky and refreshing.

Just click on the menus to see the Dim Sum menu up close.   

Good Choice was actually very good for Dim Sum.  I was happy and would come back again.  I just wouldn't order the noodles dishes now that I know that the Singapore Rice Vermicelli was a flop.  The regular items on the dim sum menu were all really good though and I'd like to order some other ones to see how they are too.  There are some interesting items on the menu that are more innovative than the regular Dim Sum fare.

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