Sunday, April 14, 2013

Cha Gio

Special thanks to Phuong for being the cooking instructor.
As she is an intuitive cooker - we were eye balling ingredients & checking the amounts. So this is a guide. 

We made about 35-40 rolls. The extras will be frozen for another day.  



INGREDIENTS:
1 Pack of Bean thread 

Cut up black fungus, approximately 1/4 of bag (0.5 oz) 

4 small taros (These are better than the big taro, which are too dry for this dish) = we want about 1 cup shredded taro
1 cup shredded carrot
½ Onion, diced = approximately 1 cup

1 lb raw shrimp (deveined and chopped)
1/2 lb raw ground pork
1.5 head of garlic, minced

Approx 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of sugar
1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
1.5 tablespoons oyster sauce



·      First, mix black fungus and 1 pack of bean thread in water to rehydrate. Let it sit while you make the rest of the filling.
·      Shred the carrot and the small taros, using the big hole grater
·      Mix the chopped shrimp, ground pork, taro, carrot, diced onions together.
·      By the time this is done, then the fungus and noodles should be rehydrated. Cut up the fungus into small pieces. Pick out the mushroom stems if present.

·      With the bean threads, cut at the bend , then make about thumb nail length.


·      Add the seasonings (pepper, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce) – to test the seasoning, you can microwave a small portion to taste it (15-30 seconds) 
The ingredients are all raw - they'll cook up when fried. 

·      Make sure to buy the right kinds of wrappers. If it has the multiple labels, then you've got the right one. Other kinds of wrappers would puff up. 



·      Here’s a video on how to roll them!




This was accompanied by a dipping sauce:
Our instructor recommends either fish sauce brands called flying horses or flying lions (pictured below). 


you mix approximately:
2 parts water:1 part sugar: 1 part fish sauce & lime juice. 

Pour fish sauce
Then just cover the sugar with sauce

We added the juice from about 1/4 of a lime
You want everything to dissolve together. You can use room temperature water or hot water to dissolve sugar faster
Add in some chili sauce to taste - which will add color and a little spice. 

Then you fry them, and they are all done! 







Tuesday, November 20, 2012

crack (pie) for thanksgiving


dessert for family thanksgiving will be: 

regular crack pie

crack pie with pecans 


Sunday, November 18, 2012

No Knead Bread


Here's my first shot at the Lahey recipe seen in NYTIMES and various other blogs too.
It was crusty and warm. My dog jumped onto the counter & got a slice too.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Corn Cookies


from the Milk Bar Cook Book - There's a mix from Williams Sonoma that was good, so I got the ingredients to make this from scratch.