Do you watch this show? Watch it.
I recently just watched the episode where he visits Hong Kong. I had to turn it off because my mouth was watering so much. I’ve been to Hong Kong twice and the food is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! The best dim sum of my life. The best duck, pork buns, dumplings, egg rolls, noodles, rice, etc etc. Oh my gosh so delicious.
Anyway, download, search, youtube this episode and visit Hong Kong someday.
Warning: don’t watch on an empty stomach. you will have very bad hunger pains.
Have you ever had the lettuce cup appetizers at chain restaurants like PF Chang’s, Cheesecake Factory, etc? Last night we celebrated Trav’s mom’s birthday and I was in charge of appetizers. This was my contribution.
Ingredients:
Cornstarch
Dry sherry
Soy sauce
1 lb ground pork, turkey, chicken (whatever you prefer)
Ginger, about 2-3 tbsps finely minced
Garlic, 2 cloves finely minced
Green onions, 2 finely chopped
8 Shitake mushrooms, stems removed, minced (soak the mushrooms in warm water for about 30 minutes beforehand)
1 8 oz can of bamboo shoots, minced
1 8 oz can of water chestnuts, minced
1 pkg of Chinese cellophane noodles
Hoisin sauce
Oyster sauce
Sesame oil
butter lettuce
WHEW!
Ok then. First, we chop and chop a lot. Chop and mince the garlic, ginger, green onions, shitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and set aside. Keep the garlic, ginger and green onions separate from the other ingredients.
Second, in a large mixing bowl, add 1lb of ground pork and add the marinade and mix well. I’d just use your hands. Then add 1 tsp of cooking oil and coat over the meat. Set aside for about 15 minutes.
Marinade:
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tsps dry sherry
2 tsps water
2 tsps soy sauce
While the meat is marinading, prepare the cooking sauce.
Cooking sauce:
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp dry sherry
6 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp water
3 tsp sesame oil
3 tsp sugar
4 tsp corn starch
Now, in a large skillet or wok, add some cooking oil and cook the meat, breaking it up into small pieces. Set aside and pour out any excess liquid.
Add some more cooking oil and saute the ginger, garlic and green onions for about 2 minutes. Then add the rest of the filling ingredients: shitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots. Saute for 3-4 more minutes. Then add the ground pork and the cooking sauce. Cook until the sauce is thickened. Taste and adjust with more hoisin and oyster sauce if you like it really sweet but it should be pretty sweet already.
In a pot, heat about 2 cups of cooking oil to deep fry the noodles. Make the sure the oil is nice and hot and that there is enough oil for the noodles to fry up. Drop in the noodles and it takes really all about 10 seconds to fry up.
Assemble everything on a nice big platter and dig in!
Pictures courtesy of Jess, Trav’s sister. My pictures never come out this good. Isn’t the table set up so pretty too?
