Pork Shu-Mai (The Health-Centered Formulation).

Picture

PORK SHU-MAI
(The Health-Centered Formulation)
The process deviates from the usual, which incorporates cubes of fat (pork and/or beef),
mainly to soften bite-effect of all-lean meat
and also to render juiciness to overall profile of the end product.
In lieu of said fat, grated healthy veggies are utilized to simulate “moist” outcome
plus the careful addition of just right & proper ingredients
technologically resulting to rounded-tasteful dim sum.
Behold the shu-mai packed with health-centered ingredients.
Ingredients:
(1 kilo outcome making 50 pieces of 20 grams per piece)500 grams ground all lean pork (zero fat-from ham part)
50 grams grated carrots
50 grams grated turnip (“singkamas”)
50 grams grated “sayote”
3 grams fine salt
10 grams cane sugar
2 grams ground black pepper
45 grams Shiitake or button mushroom, soaked in mushroom water for an hour,
drained and cut to small pieces
30 grams tapioca starch
15 ml. low-sodium soy sauce
15 ml. oyster sauce
230 ml. water (for soaking mushroom)
50 pieces shu-mai wrapper
Note on wrapper:
Major supermarkets sell shu-mai or siomai wrappers
which are thinner than those for dumpling.
Round ones are better. Squares can be cut on edges to make them circular.
Chili Garlic Dipping Sauce:
100 grams crushed-chopped fresh garlic
100 grams crushed chopped “labuyo” (bird’s eye chili pepper)
20 ml. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
low-sodium soy sauce
calamansi or lemon
black beans – optional
Cooking Media:
Steamer
Water
Brush
EVOO
Suitable small pan
Tongs
Procedures:
1.    Combine ground pork, carrots, turnip, “sayote”, mushroom and water.
This is the “meat blend”. Tumble and mix well by hand. Set aside.
2.    Combine low-sodium soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, sugar and black pepper in a bowl
and whisk thoroughly to dissolve solid ingredients until smooth.
3.    Scatter mixture in all parts of “meat blend”
for uniform flavor dissemination when tumbled and tossed by hands.
Tumble thoroughly.
4.    Place a wrapper at palm of one hand, scoop 20 or so grams and wrap to your desired form.
5.    When done refrigerate formed shu-mai for an hour to attain firmness.
6.    Heat EVOO, fry garlic until brown, add in “labuyo”
and continue frying for 3 minutes to attain a “toasted” profile.
Pour in soy sauce. Bring to boil then set aside.
7.    IF STEAMING: Boil enough tap water in a steamer.
Line refrigerated shu-mai in steamer’s slotted top container.
Steam for 6 minutes. Remove by using rubber spatula.
Note on steaming process:
Should you wish, you may use brush to apply little oil
unto slotted container for easier removal.
8.    IF DEEP FRYING: Heat EVOO in pan and deep fry a batch of shu-mai (4-6 pieces)
for 3-4 minutes depending on desired done-ness.
Use tongs to turn dim sum.
9.    In a dipping container mix soy sauce with desired amount of fried chili-garlic,
squeeze in 1 or 2 pieces calamansi. Mix.
10.Savour the luxury of home-made shu-mai.

Complete your technological cooking adventure
by using “chopsticks” in partaking each and every piece of shu-mai.
Doing so adds excitement to your meal.

Tired of the usual egg prep? Try this.

Picture

Fed up with your usual and normal routine of preparing eggs for fam & guests?
Want something new to go in between:
sunny side up (or some call it red-up),
plain salted-scrambled,
omelettes,
over easy or poached?
Worry no more.
Get down and do this original simple innovation of mine…pickled eggs.
Kids will love its sweet bite-full aspect.
Once done ref them for months in its own pickling solution and withdraw as needed.
Great to be wedged into your sandwiches (almost all types maybe)
Going well, too, as Dad’s “pica-pica” for his spirited drinks.
TARADYAAAAANNNNNNN
INGREDIENTS:
1 dozen hard boiled eggs de-shelled. Set aside.
500 ml. tap water (NEVER USE PREPARED STOCK. Don’t let flavor of stock mess up with your eggs)
200 ml. cane vinegar
80 ml. ginger juice
150 grams refined white sugar
80 grams refined salt
8 grams garlic powder
8 grams onion powder
3 grams ground black pepper
OPTIONAL:

4 grams ground Spanish paprika (this gives extra exotic taste & light red color to end products)
10 ml. anisado wine (readily available at your nearest oriental store)
PROCEDURES:
1. in a suited glass jar, combine all ingredients and mix-tumble well until no lumps are visible. Adjust taste to your preference.
Add in sugar or vinegar or salt. Salty-sweet-sour taste must be evident.
2. add in eggs. Stir a bit.
3. shelve unto ref (DO NOT FREEZE)
4. ready to be enjoyed after 3 days. The longer eggs are pickled in ref the tastier they become.
In that misty jar to the left,
I love digging my spoon into it, get 1 or 2, slice and enjoy with my beer.
Simple.
Only the needed ingredients used thereby.
Ohh, but then tons of bliss giveth thou.

Create your own Sweet Chili Sauce.

A bit break from the series of posts re: “extenders”.

Picture

You all love the Sweet-Chili Sauce to dip in your fried stuff.  You yearn to savour that sugary-sweet-piquant concoction a lot.
Most popular & tastier brands are from Thailand while the lower price ones from China are not that so remembered. Quality, many claim, is far behind Thailand’s.Let’s create our own Sweet Chili Sauce. No ARTIFICIAL COLORING. All natural. Kindly NOTE I use grammage system rather than the volumetric teaspoons and cups measurements. So prepare your kitchen weighing scales.
(complete 1 liter formulation expandable to endless commercial quantity)
  SWEET CHILI SAUCE
Serves:    26-28
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Ready In: 25 min
Ingredients:
Water 450ml.
Cane or Palm Vinegar 80ml.
8 grams Salt
375 grams Cane Sugar
70 grams Bell Peppers (Combination of Red & Green)
2 grams Red Cayenne Pepper (or about 2-3 pieces)
15 grams Corn Starch
Step-by-step directions:
1. For multi-color presentation, head & stem cut-off, without removing seeds of red & green bell and red cayenne peppers, lay a portion or a piece of each (should they be smaller) into chopping board. Chop very finely. Include the seeds, set aside.
2. Adding little of our water, also without removing seeds, head & stem taken-off, cut into 4 pieces & blenderize remaining bell and red cayenne until semi smooth emulsion is reached.
3. Leaving about 50ml water for corn starch slurrying, pour remaining water into the blender. STIR manually with long teaspoon so emulsion will be scraped off and mix well with water.
4. Pour into cooking kettle. Add vinegar, salt & sugar. Stir consistently and bring to a boil.
5. While waiting, in a container, mix well 50ml water and corn starch until no lumps are visible.
6. On first boil, simmer down to lowest cooking temp. Add in corn starch slurry and the finely chopped peppers.
7. Stir until a bit viscous consistency is attained.
8. Done.
Notes:
Yield: 80-90% (800-900ml)
Servings: 26-28 on 30ml per serve basis at 80% yield (800ml)
If more Red bell pepper is used, sauce’s outcome color is light red. More green means reddish-green note.
Over time some discoloration will be visible & apparent. No worry. Since formulation did not use artificial colorants, it’s bound to happen. What is lost is the “natural color” of bell & red cayenne peppers. Guaranteed, there is no effect on sensory qualities of finished sauce as: aroma, taste, mouthfeel etc.