Thousand Layer Moon Cake

It's been extremely long since I've posted anything. I just finished my thesis (yay!) so now I have free time! Over Thanksgiving break, I tried a lot of things out, one of it being the thousand layer moon cake. I have a weakness for flaky crispy pastries, so this one was a must. It turned out really well! Enjoy!

Thousand Layer Moon Cake with Sweet Potato Filling

Materials

Water Dough

· 1 cup AP flour

· 3.5 tbsp butter, cut to small pieces

· 2 tbsp powdered sugar

· 5 tbsp + 2 tsp water

Oil Dough

· ¾ cup + 1 tbsp AP flour

· 4 tbsp vegetable oil

· 2 – 3 drops of pandan essence

Sweet Potato Filling

· 1 small sweet potato (or ½ a large one)

· 2 tbsp sugar

· 1 tsp oil

Procedure

· Boil the sweet potato until soft.

· Peel and smash until there are no more clumps.

· In a pot, add the sweet potato filling, sugar, and oil, and mix until it is homogenous

· Let cool. Once cool, make 10 1” diameter balls of filling.

· For the water dough: add everything but the water. Slowly add the water as you mix the dough. Mix until it forms a non-sticky ball (~3 minutes) and let sit for 15 minutes.

· After it sits, divide the dough to 5 pieces.

· For the oil dough: add everything but the pandan essence and mix for 1 minute. Add the pandan essence and mix until the ball becomes a nice even green. The dough should be able to form a ball without falling apart. If it is falling apart, add a bit more oil. Let sit for 15 minutes.

· After it sits, divide the dough into 5 pieces and roll it up into a ball.

· See this video for how to roll the dough for the layers. It’s much clearer than anything I could write to help you understand it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig7UV_Idw78 Thanks tinyurbankitchen!

· Preheat the oven to 250°F and bake for 30 minutes until they layers are flaky but the moon cake is not golden.

**Side note: I made this with sweet potato filling because I didn’t have any mung beans at the time. If you have mung beans, you can use mung bean filling. It has a longer shelf life – 1 week. The sweet potato filling lasts only a few days.

Bánh Củ Cải (Turnip Cake)

I never miss a chance to get these at dim sum places... they are so good! However, I sometimes get cravings for them, but not for everything dim sum entails, so I just make them. Hope you enjoy!

Bánh Củ Cải (Turnip Cake)
Savor. Devour.

Materials:

· 1 cup rice flour

· 2 tbsp tapioca starch

· 1.5 cups water

· ¼ cup dried shrimp, soaked in water for two hours and coarsely minced (I usually just take a handful, no need for exact measurements)

· 1 Chinese sausage link, washed and coarsely minced (I wash these sausages by soaking them for a minute under really hot water)

· 2 fried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water for two hours and coarsely minced

· 1.5 cups grated daikon radish

· 1.5 tsp salt, 1.5 tsp pepper, a pinch of sugar

· ¼ cup chopped green onions

· ¼ cup minced onion bulb

· Dipping: 2 tbsp soy sauce + 2 tsp vinegar + optional rooster chili paste

Procedures:

· In a hot pan with a tsp of oil, add the onion, mushroom, Chinese sausage, and dried shrimp. Fry for a minute or two, then add the grated daikon. Season.

· In a bowl, add the flour and starch. Mix well with 3/4 cup cold water. Add in ¾ cup hot water and mix well.

· Add the fried ingredients into the flour mixture and mix well. Pour into a steamable pan of some sort. I use a casserole dish.

· Steam on medium heat for 45 minutes, opening the lid to let the air out for a few seconds every ten minutes.

· Let the turnip cake cool. You can continue to the next step or store it in your fridge for up to 4 days.

· When you are ready to eat it, cut it into 3 inch by 3 inch squares and fry them with a drizzle of oil. Serve with the dipping sauce.

Potstickers (Both Vegetarian and Meat)

Two years ago, I craved potstickers after eating the terrible ones from the dining hall, so I decided to make my own, using all ingredients (except all-purpose flour) from the dining hall. It turned out so well, I've been doing it since. I will also add the meat edition of this dumpling to this post, so you meat lovers out there can enjoy. Oh! I also fry these dumplings in a way that wastes less oil.

My friend Coleen asked me to put the recipe up, after I forgot all about them while thinking about what to blog about next. She had them when I helped out her boyfriend, one of my best friends, with a surprise homemade dinner date. So here it is Coleen. Good luck!

Potstickers
Savor. Devour.

Materials:

For Vegetarian filling:

· ¾ cup baby spinach, coarsely minced

· ½ cup baby carrots, minced

· ¾ cup onion, minced

· 2 cloves garlic, minced

· ½ cup jicama (if you have water chestnut, use those instead), minced

· ½ cup white mushroom (if you have shiitake, use those instead), minced

· ½ cup firm tofu, coarsely minced (I diced mine into tiny cubes)

· 1 egg, beaten

· ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp mushroom seasoning (or any msg substitute)

For Meat filling:

· ¾ cup onion, minced

· 2 cloves garlic, minced

· ½ cup baby bamboo shoots, minced

· ½ cup chives, finely chopped

· ¾ lb ground pork

· ½ cup chicken stock

· ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp mushroom seasoning (or any msg substitute)

For Wrapper (you can buy round wrappers if you do not have time):

· 1 cup all purpose flour

· 1/3 cup hot water

· ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp olive oil

Procedures:

· For the wrapper, add the flour, salt, and black pepper, stir. Slowly add the water, mixing as you go. When the dough sticks together and forms a ball, stop adding water. Too much water will make the dough too sticky. If you accidentally added too much water, slowly add more flour until it reaches that soft but not too sticky consistency. Remember, you will have to roll the dough out into wrappers later. Cover the dough with a damp paper towel or cheesecloth and let it sit in room temperature.

· In the meanwhile, mix all the ingredients in the filling together. For the meat filling, slowly add the chicken stock and mix so that the meat absorbs it.

· Pinch out a palmful amount of the dough, rolling it into a long cylinder of 1” diameter. Pinch the roll at every 1 inch again. Roll each piece into a ball and using a rolling pin (or in my case the first time I made this without one, a hard but smooth plastic cup), roll the dough into a 4 inch diameter circle that resembles the store-bought wrappers. It should be relatively thin.

· Put in 1.5 tsp worth of stuffing and wrap. I wrap my dumplings by pinching the two opposite ends together and folding the dumping wrapper inwards from both sides, creating creases/folds. I pinch all this together and add a bit of water to keep the dumplings closed.

· Repeat until all wrappers and filling is gone.

· In a pan over high heat, add 1 tbsp of oil. Add the dumplings, one by one, until it covers the pan. Let these dumplings fry for about a minute and flip them so they are crispier. Let fry for another minute. (Be careful of oil splatter here) Add in ¼ cup of water, turn the heat to medium-low and let the dumplings simmer and all the water evaporate. The water steam will ensure the dumplings are fully cooked. When all the water has evaporated, add in 1/2 tbsp of oil and let the dumplings fry until it is crispy again. Serve with soy sauce (I like to mix 2 tbsp soysauce with 1 tbsp red vinegar and some crushed chilli peppers).

** If you plan to make a lot and store, there is a way to keep them from sticking to each other. Put the dumplings onto a plate, make sure they are not touching each other, and dust them lightly with flour. Place them into the freezer for 20 minutes. They will get half frozen. Place them into a bag and put back into freezer. Because they froze separately, they will not stick to each other.

麻婆豆腐 (Mapo Doufu)

I remember first tasting this dish in a run down Szechuan restaurant in San Gabriel about two years ago. It was so flavorful and probably the spiciest dish I've had thus far (and yes, I withstand spiciness pretty well). So, I've set out to mimic the dish. I have, for the most part, succeeded, except I do not add as much chilies as the restaurant's chefs, for my own sake. I highly recommend you add as much chilies as your tastebuds can take though, as it is a dish meant for its intensity.

麻婆豆腐 (Mapo Doufu)
Savor. Devour.

Serves 4

Materials:

· 1 block soft/silken tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes

· ¼ lb ground pork (I try to get the 80 - 90% lean)

· 1 tbsp of 豆瓣酱(chili bean paste/sauce)

· 2 cloves of minced garlic

· ¾ inch knob of ginger, minced

· 2 stalks of green onion, chopped

· 2 tsp of black fermented beans

· 2 tsp soy sauce

· 2 tsp of cayenne pepper powder(add more if you can stand the heat)

· 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice

· 1 tsp of crushed Szechuan peppercorn (the dish will turn out pretty well without this, although it really does add a certain flavor to the dish that makes it very distinctive)

Procedures:

· Drizzle oil in a large wok on high heat and stir fry the ginger and garlic for 1 minute.

· Add the chili bean paste to the pan and cook for another minute. Add the pork, along with the chili powder, Chinese five spice, and soy sauce. Break up the pork and mix well with all the sauce ingredients. Cook for about 4-5 minutes, until pork is cooked.

· Add the black beans, crushed Szechuan peppercorn and ½ cup of water. Mix well.

· Slide the tofu into the wok; lightly mix until it is covered in the sauce. Cook for 5 minutes until it is completely heated through and the sauce has simmered down a bit.

· Add the onions in and lightly mix it one last time. Serve with rice.