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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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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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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BAAK TONG GOH FROM NEW TOWN BAKERY

Lookit those great bubbles!

New Town Bakery’s White Sugar Rice Steamed Rice Cake (baak tong goh) are good.  They don’t have that overly-yeasted/fermented taste.  They are soft and white and kids love them. 

Making these yourself is possible, but buying a few pieces is so much more convenient because there’s no long wait for the fermentation of the yeast and rice batter.  Besides, the best recipe I have calls for grinding your own raw rice in a blender and that is a noisy endeavour.  The versions made from rice flour don’t taste very good to me at all. 

There are other good versions of Baak Tong Goh in bakeries, but New Town’s is good PLUS you can buy those excellent Big Steamed Buns and little round sugar-crusted Apple Tarts while you’re there…which no one else has.

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