2 Cs flour
1 C salt
2 Tbs Cream of Tartar

1Tbs cooking oil
2 Cs water
food colouring

Thoroughly mix all dry ingredients.
Mix all wet ingredients.
Combine wet and dry ingredients, mixing till smooth.
Cook over medium heat until consistency of commercial play dough (I'll try to work on a better description but this is how it was described in the recipe)
Allow to cool then knead until smooth and elastic.
Store in an airtight container.

If young children are helping by making individual portions, let each child:
*pour some mixed dry ingredients into a bowl
*add in some mixed wet ingredients
*allow child to stir to his/her heart's content.

Adult:
*combine contents of all bowls into pot, mix some more and then cook.

Ingredients:
1 onion or leek (white stalk) chopped
1lb ground chicken
3 Cups water
3 pieces kelp
3 shiitake mushrooms sliced
2 Tbs red pepper paste
2 Tbs honey or sugar
1 Tbs garlic black bean paste
1 pack rice cakes (~20 tubular) soaked
2 fish cake (flat rectangular kind) cut into squares
1 tub silken tofu
1 Tbs fish sauce
2 Tbs cilantro chopped

Instructions:
Sauté the onion till glassey, and the mushroom till tender.
Quickly sauté chicken and stir to break into small pieces.
Add water, kelp, red pepper paste, honey and garlic bean paste and bring to a boil.
Simmer rice cakes ~ 15 minutes till just soft but still chewy. The center should not be tough.
Add in the fish cakes and tofu (whole), try to keep the tofu chunks large, stirring will break tofu into smaller pieces.
Reduce to low heat and simmer for 5 minutes until tofu is heated through. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.

Ingredients:
6oz flank steak grilled and sliced

2 Apples (Fuji & Granny Smith) grated
1/4 Cabbage shredded
1 carrot grated
1 Cup bean sprouts
6 sprigs of cilantro
1/4 Cup peanuts
lime wedges

1/2 Cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 Cup fish sauce
2-3 Tbs palm sugar
1-3 tsp hot chilli peppers sliced
up to 1/2 cup water

Preparation:

Mix together vinegar and fish sauce, add sugar and chillies dilute with water to taste.

Layer vegetables together top with beef and nuts. Pour over 3 Tbs of dressing.

Dim sum would not be complete for me without Feng Jiao (romantic translation Phoenix talons) aka chicken feet. Another binary selection food, that people either love or hate. Sometimes it's the texture, maybe it's the idea of it, but everyone has an opinion which they are happy to share with you. In general people appreciate it if you refrain from calling their food disgusting, a sensitive quirk perhaps, but I've found that many folk feel no need to edit their feelings of disgust when it comes to chicken feet.

When I was a kid, I came across my Mum chowing down on a bucket of something strange, brown and wrinkly. I was definitely put off by the way it looked. When I asked her what she was eating, she replied "Nothing you'd like"... but she was so evidently enjoying herself. I thought I'd give it a try- Wow flavour explosion, super chewy yet succulent chicken with sweet, salty and spicy hot notes and an evocative hint of mysterious ginger, cinnamon and anise. When Gwynie wandered into the kitchen to find out what we were eating with such relish, I told her it was "Nothing you'd like"... Lol that didn't dissuade her one bit.

So it's safe to say, thanks to Mum, we're fans of the chicken feet. There are a bunch of different methods of cooking chicken feet. One involves deep frying followed by braising/steaming, and I have to point out that deep frying always improves an item- for example twinkies. Altho this method produces a very intact foot, which is considered more appealing, given that most of us can't indulge in those kind of calories very often, that's slightly limiting.

In Taipei I used to pass by a restaurant called Elastic. It served teas and soups made of connective tissue plus special herbs and spices that are supposed to help your joints. At fraction of the price, holistic and tasting infinitely better than that Glucosamine chondroitin, MSM, Sam-E, CoE Q10 etc. I'm definitely sold on the idea, and I try to make stocks from cheaper parts (pig feet/hocks, pork and beef neck bones). The stock has a richer, glossy, more proteiny feel to it and I get to count it as my cartilage supplement, so it works out all round. Hence chicken feet/carcass make a great start to a stock, and then you can dress up the feet and eat them too!

I recognise that the idea of chicken feet can be initially disconcerting. But I urge you to put aside these preconceived notions and give it a try. Maybe sample a tiny bit at dim sum, or use stock made with chicken feet. Well whatever your preference, I include my recipe below. If you don't want to see the process, read no further.

Ingredients:
1 lemon- juice & zest
OR
1/4 Cup balsamic vinegar

3 Tbs Fish sauce
1 Tbs mustard
1 Tbs sugar/honey
1/3 Cup olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Optional: adjust to taste
white vinegar or rice vinegar for a neutral acid
ginger grated
shallots/green onion/pickled garlic chopped
cilantro finely chopped
Siracha/hot pepper
sesame oil

Gwynie made this for Christmas. It was so good I thought I'd give it a write up. It's more like French toast than a quiche, with a great contrasting texture of succulent mushrooms and crispy bread. Most of the steps can be done in advance, so it would be a great dish for say a dinner party where you'd rather spend time with your guests. Gourmet magazine talks about using parchment lined ramekins, but I prefer to do it in one large dish. If I were going to serve it in smaller volumes, I'd just use large muffin tins with cupcake papers, and prolly bake for only 10-15 minutes. Alternatively prebake and then broil as discussed below.

Herbed Sausage & Wild Mushroom bread pudding
Ingredients
4 Cups (1/2-inch) fresh bread cubes (Acme herb foccacia- missing 4 slices...)
1 large onion coarsely chopped OR
1/2 Cup shallot finely chopped
1/2 lb sausage meat
2 Tbs butter unsalted
1 1/2 lbs mixed fresh mushrooms (crimini, chantrelle and shitake)
1/2 Cup flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
1/2 bunch sage coarsely chopped
2 Cups half-and-half
4 large eggs
1/2 Cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

Gwynie started eating the herb slab before making the bread cubes... I think a whole herb slab would have been too much? Bake bread cubes in 1 layer in a large shallow baking pan until golden-brown, about 10 minutes. This can be done ahead and stored in a air tight container.

Tear or cut mushrooms lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces. Sauté shallot or onion in butter until glassy ~3 minutes. Add mushrooms, sausage, salt & pepper and cook until dry ~15 minutes. Add parsley, sage and cook, stirring ~2 minutes. Remove from heat. Sometimes I feel that a cycle of heating and cooling helps to boost flavours, if you want that then this step can be done ahead and stored in the fridge.

Whisk together half-and-half, eggs, cheese, salt & pepper in a large bowl. Stir in sausage, mushrooms and bread cubes until coated well and let stand 10 minutes for bread to absorb egg mixture. Mix again before placing in a shallow casserole dish, sprinkle top with more cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, remove and allow to rest for 20 minutes. The egg continues to cook while waiting, making for a very tender chew. Gwynie likes hers served hot, and if you want more crunch, heat under broiler ~5 minutes for the top to crisp up. You can also bake in a large dish and then when serving individual portions toast under broiler for more of an edge effect.

As a child, my Gran in Nottingham made light and fluffy Yorkshire puds, with crisp shells and melting centers- served with gravy and roast beef. Yum! But she could never really articulate how she did it. Now my Mum is a great cook, and super adventurous experimenter when it comes to trying recipes. That said, back home, Mum attempted Yorkshire pudding on countless Sundays. Mum would peek anxiously in through a crack in the the oven door every couple of minutes and watch in horror as it deflated to a limply flat and soggy pud. We supported her attempts with typical scientific interest and critical eating, what factors could be changed? some day we were sure, it would all work out. At school in England, the muffin sized yorkies were tough, chewy (and to my horror- bounced). So for me the search for a reliable recipe was similar to the Grail.

In the USA, people refer to popovers and Dutch babies, where it's all about height with crisp shells and serve them sweet instead of savoury. The first time I experienced the impressive form of the Dutch baby was at a ski cabin in Tahoe where a professional chef whipped one up in about 15 minutes. She made it look so easy, producing crispy lofty peaks of golden pillowy meltingly soft goodness in a massive cast iron pan**. With a dusting of icing sugar and raspberry jam, it was a perfect winter wonderland breakfast. Inspired by her success, I made a note of her recipe which I've tweaked and been using ever since. I've experimented with proportions and have determined the golden secret ratios which will work every time. So you can adjust your proportions based on how many people you're cooking for. The ratios are essentially 1:1 for milk:flour*:egg ie For every 1/4 cup flour & milk you need 1 large egg or about 1/4 cup egg.

Ingredients:
3 Tbs Butter
2 Tbs Grapeseed oil (or lard)
4 eggs
1 C milk
1 C flour (3/4 Cup All-Purpose: 1/4 Cup Bread)
1/4 tsp salt

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425oF. Place butter & grapeseed oil in cast iron pan and heat in oven while you prepare the batter. In a blender or food processor whiz eggs until they are well mixed. With the motor running, add milk, flour and salt, whiz for another 30 secs - 1 minute.

Pour batter into preheated skillet (the butter/oil should sizzle) and return to oven. Bake for about 18-25 minutes until craggy peaks are browned but not burned. It's most impressive if everyone is ready and waiting since it deflates slightly when it comes out of the oven. (I've tried leaving it in for longer to keep the puffiness but then the outside gets tough...)

If serving sweet, dust with powdered sugar and top with fruit, preserves etc. Whipped cream is fun too.

For savoury garnish with chopped chives or parsley, and smother with gravy. I served it with sautéed wild mushrooms and shallots.

During the traditional Christmas cookie baking, my friend Wendy produced her birthday present- Tartine's new book- you can imagine my excitement. I quickly flipped to the Rocher recipe and announced that we were going to make it. We didn't have enough sliced almonds so I substituted almond meal but I think that resulted in a flatter and less chewy center since the cookie was overcooked. I'm going to try increasing the sliced almonds to see if that will help with the 3D structure (lattice effect). I'll post pics later...

Tartine's Almond Rochers
1 Cup + 2 Tbs Almond (sliced + meal)
2 Large egg whites
1 Cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp salt (pinch)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350oF.
Line baking sheet with parchment/silpat.
Prepare a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch (no.6 or 7) plain tip.

Toast almonds in a thin layer on a baking sheet in oven until golden
brown 7-10 minutes. Cool completely. Break almonds into ~1/4 inch
pieces. Tartine warns: Large chunks will clog the pastry tip if you plan to
pipe the forms. I didn't have any trouble with clogging but that may be due to the almond meal substitution.

Over a simmering water bath (saucepan with 2 inches water), in
stainless-steel bowl of a stand mixer whisk together egg whites,
confectioners' sugar and salt. Tartine warns: bowl should NOT touch the water.
Continue whisking 5+ minutes till the mixture is hot to the touch
(120oF). Place bowl on stand mixer and fit with whisk attachment.
Whip on high until mixture is thick and holds glossy stiff peaks when
you lift the beater. (I think I should have whisked for longer since my mounds tended to collapse. Heated egg whites are supposed to be more stable than raw egg whites.) Fold in the almonds and vanilla with a spatula.

Immediately fill the pastry bag with the meringue mixture and pipe
onto the baking sheet, forming kisses approx 1 inch in diameter,
spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart. Alternatively you can drop the
meringues by the tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheet. Regular macaroons are left to rest for 30 minutes creating a "foot" with cracks etc when the cookies are finally baked.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and keep the oven door ajar with
the handle of a wooden spoon to allow moisture to escape. Bake the
cookies until they puff slightly, crack along the sides and feel dry
on the outside but soft to the touch 15-20 minutes. Transfer the
cookies to a wire rack, they will harden as they cool.

Store in airtight container at room temp for up to 2 weeks. After a
couple of days they dry out completely and are still tasty delicious.

I was shopping in the Little Saigon section of Fruitvale on International Blvd (in the 'hood) when I came across a very interesting looking pan. Cast iron with spherical indentations. I didn't know what it was for, but my mind went immediately to Yorkshire pudding and fried eggs. It was only $12, so I bought a pan and for that price Gwynie bought one too. But after a couple of failed attempts at eggs, they were consigned to the cupboard.

Fast forward a couple of years, in Taiwan, Takoyaki is a popular Japanese street snack- fried balls made with a wet batter, chopped squid, pickled ginger and green onion. Covered by a generous hand with sauce/mayonaise and shaved fish flakes etc. They are a little crisp on the outside with a soft almost souffle like center and tasty nuggets of chewy squid. These are a fun finger food, to eat them you have to stab them with medium/small bamboo skewers.

It's pretty exciting to watch the vendors make them too. Of course they make it look super easy. All you need is the right pan, a couple of long skewers, and years of practice...

Here's a video I found that demonstrates the technique.

Then I found a recipe online and thought I would give it a try.
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/seafoodfish/r/takoyaki.htm
Ingredients
Batter:
1 2/3 Cup flour
2 1/2 Cup dashi soup
2 eggs
1/2 lb. boiled octopus (yaki), cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 Cup chopped green onion (negi)
1/4 Cup dried red shrimp (sakura ebi)
1/4 Cup chopped pickled red ginger (benishoga)

Toppings:
katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
aonori (green seaweed powder)
takoyaki sauce
mayonnaise

Preparation

Mix flour, dashi soup, and eggs in a bowl to make batter. Heat takoyaki grill pan in oven or stove top. Brush oil inside cups of pan. On stove top, pour batter into the rounds, you don't need to be too careful about spilling since that will get pulled in during the cooking process. Each cup gets a sprinkle of octopus, red ginger, and green onion. As batter cooks, use 2 skewers to rotate 90o bringing the bottom edge up and allowing batter to fill cup, forming hollow sides. Keep rotating, tucking in rough edges, until you have successfully formed a closed ball. Keep turning, till takoyaki become rounded and evenly brown, remove them from the pan and place in a plate. Put sauce and mayonnaise on takoyaki and sprinkle bonito flakes/aonori on the top.

Cooking time: 10-20 minutes

Servings: 50-60 pieces (4-5 persons)

Every year we get together with our friend Wendy to make cookies. Wendy is a very good baker and she makes brilliant cookies. One of Gwynie's favorites is the Molasses spice cookie from Wendy's Magnolia Bakery recipe book. It's a rich deep flavor, not too sweet with a sharp almost gingery quality, despite there being no ginger. Super easy, they take almost no time at all to whip up AND because it makes a great soft chewy cookie, you can bake these in the toaster oven without a drop in quality.

Magnolia Bakery iced molasses cookies

Ingredients:

2 Cups flour sifted
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs all spice
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 Cup or 1 1/2 sticks butter
3/4 Cup sugar
1 large egg
1/4 Cup molasses

Directions:
Pre heat oven 350 degrees.

Combine sifted flour with other dry ingredients, sifting again, set aside.
In food processor, cream butter and sugar until smooth.
Add egg and mix well.
Beat in molasses.
Add dry ingredients all at once, and pulse to mix ~10 seconds. (For a sturdier snap you can go longer to activate the gluten, but watch out for your teeth!). The debate whether to chill the dough or not...
warm dough spreads quickly during cooking resulting in a flatter slightly more crisp effect. Chilled dough holds the mounded shape and makes for a lighter more fluffy center.

Drop by rounded scoops on to parchment lined cookie sheet leaving 1-inch for expansion
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Cool cookies on sheet for 1 minute then remove to rack to completely cool. Cookies are tender and soft (if you want a crisper cookie, you can extend the baking time by 2 minutes- be careful not to burn them!) When cooled spread a thin layer of icing on each cookie with a small knife or spatula. Let icing set before stacking cookies or they will stick together. Makes 3-4 dozen cookies

I recently had a chance to stay a couple of days with some dear friends Dale and Doreen down in Monterey. They get a farm box every week stuffed to the brim and were struggling to finish before the next box arrived. Luckily they have a male monitor lizard (Daphne) which they feed leafy greens so he helped to cut down on leftovers. While I was there, one of the best dinners was a stew which they jokingly referred to as "Daphne stew". I took copious notes as Dale prepped. The meat was tender, the sauce juicy tomato-based, chock full of veggies. Lest you think we were eating the family pet, Doreen explained that they decided to use stuff from the box in every dish. It was working great, they had delicious stews and they started including more and more veg in the recipe. Dale and Doreen laughed as they told me- one day they ran out of veg and decided to use Daphne's portion of the box, wow adding the leafy greens to the stew added a whole other dimension of texture and flavor. Served over rice- perfection!

This week Morgan and Julie kindly gave me a box of their Riverdog Farm share- Rapini, cauliflower, carrots, turnips, bok choy, apples, persimmons. Daphne stew seemed a fitting way to cook these fantastic fresh veggies. I like to think of it as: Meat, onion, garlic, green veg, root veg, leafy greens, moisture, flavor & tomato paste. But if you need a more structured recipe...

Here are my latest efforts in baking- Chocolate wafer cookies. The story starts with the fact that I'm in the process of making a base for a chocolate torte/cheesecake, which requires dark black brown chocolate cookies broken into crumbs. (Think oreos without the filling) My friend Doreen points out the ubiquitously available (at least in the USA) Nabisco "Famous" (brand) chocolate wafers are what I'm really trying to emulate. But my allergies of course make these verboten since they contain some sulfites, and based on the fact that I get hives- contain food dyes as well. Here's a picture for calibration purposes. Notice that they also cost a whopping $4.79! Price alone is an incentive to make my own...

I did a little investigating and found a recipe for the chocolate thin mint girl scout cookie @Baking Bites. These sounded like just the ticket. All I'd have to do was omit the mint and dipping chocolate and I was golden! After an afternoon of happy baking and tempting smells. OMG I must have done something wrong. I think it was the volume of milk that went into the dough and the subsequent mixing then activated the gluten... they were tough as rocks! haha the taste was ok, but my jaw! They were also a great brown color, but not that deep devilishly black brown that I wanted. I think the trick to getting them really DARK is Dutch-Processed cocoa powder (Alkalized Unsweetened Cocoa Powder). Again I returned to the internet for more recipes to test.

So far I think that this recipe from smitten kitchen looks to be the right one. I followed the directions exactly with no deviating from the recipe, and the happy result was a delicate chocolate wafer, crunchingly satisfying with a great crumb. Just about perfect in all respects except the depth of dark in the chocolate color and taste. I really wanted it to be dark black!

On my third try, I used the more expensive Valrhona cocoa that Deb suggested (in her pictures the wafers are pretty dark) and it works a charm. I also swapped out some of the butter with semi-sweet chocolate to boost flavor. The last thing that really amped up the flavor, added depth of color and nice texture was replacing some ground black sesame instead of the flour. (I get it at my local Asian grocery store) Wow! So intensely black chocolatey with an elusive nutty crunch.

1 Cup flour
1/2 Cup black sesame flour
1/2 Cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1 Cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate coarsely chopped
3 Tbs whole milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Combine the dry ingredients: flour, sesame, cocoa, sugar, salt, and baking soda in the food processor and pulse several times to mix. Coarsely cut the butter and chocolate into small chunks and add them. Pulse several times till the mixture forms pea sized sandy grains. Mix milk and vanilla and add gradually while whizzing until the mixture starts to clump and form a rough dough. Use wax paper or clingfilm to form into a log about 1 3/4 inches in diameter OR line a small loaf pan with wax paper and pack the dough in to form a rectangle. Cover with clingfilm, wax paper or foil and refrigerate until firm, at least one hour. (This dough also freezes very well).

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice the dough thinly about 1/8-inch and place them at least 1 inch apart on the sheets. Bake, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and back to front at about 5-6 minutes, for a total of 10 to 12 minutes (watch the baking time carefully-if you can smell them, they're very close to being done). The cookies will spread and puff, sliced too thin you might get little air bubbles that break, giving the cookie a more lacy texture.

Cool the cookies by sliding the parchment onto rack, they crisp up as they cool... about 2 minutes. The flavor changes significantly between warm (nutty) and cool (CHOCOlatey); An interesting taste test to try- ok I admit I couldn't really wait for them to cool! You can store these cookies for up to two weeks (but I bet they won't last this long) or frozen up to two months. (IMHO it's better to freeze the dough and bake fresh, unless you like the girl scout thin mint cookies frozen). They are very delicate, you can add a bit of structural integrity by covering the base with (maybe mint?) chocolate...

Note: These cookies should be crisp once they cool. If they are still soft, return them to the oven to bake a little longer, then cool again. You'll soon figure out the time that works for your oven and the thickness that you slice the dough.

Happy Baking!

Last year Gwynie was advised to bring down her blood pressure- no salt, no caffeine, no wine. By adding oats as a breakfast option, she finds she doesn't need to be as stringent with denial. I'm not sure why oats are such a miracle drug, but they sure do taste good! In the interest of warm breakfasts that meet the hi fiber (5-9 fruits/veg) requirement, I'm cooking up a pot of steel cut oats for the week. Easiest breakfast ever! After spending my early childhood in Scotland, and the last year experimenting with different ways of cooking oats/grains, I feel like a connoisseur of oats. We always called it "porridge" in Scotland, which reinforces the feeling that I'm visiting the Three Bears.

"The stirring is done with a straight wooden spoon /stick without a moulded or flat end and known is Scotland as a 'Spurtle' or 'Theevil'. Porridge should always be spoken of as 'they' and old custom states that it should be eaten standing up. A bone spoon should always be used for eating porridge. " http://www.goldenspurtle.com/

After standing in the supermarket aisle last nite discussing the merits of various types, I realized that even Gwynie and I need to define the oats we like and when we use them. Almost everything you ever wanted to know about oats can be found on the web. Any inaccuracies can be attributed to my vague interpretation of those sources. Typically we have 3-4 kinds of oats on hand

Oat bran is the separated outer hull from the inner oat groat, and as you can see cut into a fine (insoluble fiber) powder. I use this in my smoothies and granola. Generally pretty easy to find in the cereal section. The whole oat berries (aka groats) must be stabilized by steam. During this process the groat can be cut into smaller chunks aka "steel cut" and/or rolled flat. As you can see there are significant physical differences between the various types. Here Steel cut has smallish but 3 dimensional pieces where as the rolled oats are uniformly thin. Quick & Old fashioned refers to the flake size of the rolled oats- "Old fashioned" are larger in diameter (and chewier when cooked) than the "minute" oats but still flat. We normally use steel cut oats in our porridge. I like the 3D mouth feel, sort of like a natural "bobba" (tapioca pearl). I use "Quick" oats when baking (for the nutty flavor & crisp snap) and "Old fashioned" when making granola (they are not really interchangeable)

You can find "steel cut oats" at Trader Joe's and other supermarkets. Cook in water (Oats:Water ratio is 1:4) at a rolling boil for 30-45 minutes depending on mouth feel. Optional salt can be added but we omit this. After initial prep time, made up in advance and stored in fridge- you can reconstitute with 1/3 Cup boiling water or heat in the microwave. It's delicious sweet or savory.

Stanley and Stacy invited us over to their home to learn how to make Northern Chinese Hui style Baozi. The plan was to spend the afternoon cooking and then have a massive dinner sampling all the various types of baozi. First we started the dough and set it to rise while Stacy prepped the other ingredients.
We actually tripled the amount of dough coz we had 3 different fillings. So if you're only doing one kind, this basic recipe is enough. Stacy mentioned that she enjoys the rich flavor of the buttermilk flour, but that too much will make a weak dough.

Dough
1 C lukewarm water
1 packet active dry yeast
3+ C flour (2 C all purpose/1 C buttermilk/bao)
1 t salt

Create a slurry of yeast water and 3 Tbs flour.
Allow to bubble, then add gradually in the rest of the flour.
Mix lightly while flour absorbs the moisture.
Sprinkle flour on a flat surface.
Knead dough till smooth and elastic, adding more flour as needed till no longer sticky.
Wash and dry bowl, oil thoroughly to prevent dough from sticking.
Sprinkle dough with a little water, to keep the surface moist.
Place dough in bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
Let rise in warm space, until more than doubled in size. (~3 hours)

Turn the dough out on to a floured surface.
Split into two, set one aside- loosely covered.
Cut the remaining half into quarters, and half each again till you have 8 pieces.
Roll each into a ball. Flatten each, sprinkle with flour and allow to rest, 10 minutes.
Repeat for remaining dough.

Roll the edges flat using a small rolling pin, making sure to leave the center area mounded.
Place a heaping dinner spoon of filling in the center, cupping your hand.
Pinch the edges together, while using the opposite thumb to push the filling under the fold.
Gradually pull the edges of the circle up around the mounded filling, until you have a raised seam spiraling into a topknot (this is the more traditional shape). For each filling try a different type of seam. You can make half moon shapes and star shapes depending on how you pinch the edges.
Place on a floured tray and allow to rise for 30 minutes to an hour.

Prepare steamer trays, line with cabbage leaves. Place baozi in steamer, topknot up, (take care that they do not touch!) until tray is full.
Cook for 15-20 minutes until done. Dough changes from matte white to glossy sheen. Serve warm with dipping sauces.

Fillings

Shrimp w/ marrow squash and chives
1lb prawns peeled/deveined
Marrow squash grated
¼ C fish sauce
1 bunch chives finely chopped

Coarsely chop shrimp and mix with grated squash.
Add chives & fish sauce and mix well.
Allow to rest.

Beef w/ Daikon
1lb ground beef
½-1 C rendered beef fat or lard, coarsely chopped
1lb daikon peeled and grated
1-2 T salt to taste
6 green onions coarsely chopped
2 eggs
2 T ginger coarsely chopped
¼ C soy sauce
2 T sesame oil

Grind green onion, ginger in a blender with soy sauce, sesame oil and eggs.
Mix with beef and daikon till texture is smooth and silky.
Add beef fat, taking care to maintain pea sized chunks.
Check flavor by cooking a small piece.
Adjust flavor to taste.

Egg & Chives
1 bunch chives finely chopped
1/4 cup oil
4 eggs
½ C milk

Beat eggs and milk with salt.
Heat fry pan and lightly scramble eggs.
Add chives and mix well.

Roll the dough circle flat using a small rolling pin.
Place a heaping dinner spoon of filling in the center.
Pinch the edges together, creating a half moon shape. Flatten into a patty.
Deep fry in oil until crisp and brown.

Dipping Sauces

Soy-vinegar
1/2 C soy sauce
1/4 C vinegar
2 T ginger finely shredded

Hot Sesame Dressing
2T sesame oil
1/2t chile pepper sauce/Siracha
1 T vinegar
2 T soy
1/2t sugar
1/4C cilantro chopped

* Meat
* Chicken
* Shellfish
* Fish

* Cheese
* Yogurt
* Eggs

* Leafy Greens (lettuce, spinach, kale, chard, pea sprouts)
* Vegetables (tomatoes, zucchini, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, cucumbers, cabbage, mushrooms, artichokes, asparagus, bell peppers, brussel sprouts)
* Fruit (Peaches, melon)
*Brown rice
*Corn tortillas
* Nuts (peanuts, walnuts, pistachios, cashews)
* Oil (Olive, sesame, walnut, canola)

* Chocolate
* Red Wine