Taking for granted

I take for granted a lot of things in my life.... Particularly a mom who doesn't like to cook but does an awesome job at it when she can muster up the energy. And if she can't, she more than willing to take me out to a get my fill of Chinese food before I'm forced back into the wastelands of rural America. Unfortunately, I'm not getting any younger, which means that she isn't either. At some point, I'm going to have to face facts. That there will come a time when I won't be able to just go home to satisfy my taste buds. Not to say that's the main reason for going home but it certainly is an important one. It's also one I can readily do something about myself!

In the process of pulling up my boot-straps, I came across this wonderful recipe posted by ChicKy EgG called Tofu Bok. She does an amazing job has photographing boks and had me drooling from Hello! While my mother never made this dish at home, we did occasionally eat it in restaurants. So I knew I had to try this one out.

I'm not sure where the pronunciation "bok" comes from... Cantonese? Fujian? Hakka? Mandarin speakers pronounce it "pao". In pinyin, it become "Do Fu Pao". Dofu pao (tofu bok) is tofu that has been deep fried. After being fried and cooled off, it becomes hollow and spongy. Personally, I find the process messy and just buy them at my local asian grocer.

ChicKyEgG doesn't go into what she stuffed her pao's with. So here's my twist on her version which includes a stuffing. Warning, I tend to cook without absolutely precise measurements.

Pork Stuffed Dofu Pao [豬肉 豆腐泡]

Stuffing:
1 lb. ground pork
1 scallion onion, chopped
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tbsp. dark soy sauce
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. cooking wine/sherry

18 dofu pao
2 tbsp. cooking oil
2 cups water

Sauce:

1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. oyster sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. dark soy sauce






1. Mix the ground pork and the next 6 ingredients. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to marinate.
2. Cut a small hole on one side of the dofu pao. Stick a finger through the hole to widen the space inside the pao. Stuff as much as possible the pork mixture into each pao.
3. Add 2 tbsp. cooking oil to wok. Place the dofu pockets (meat facing down) and fry until slightly golden. You only need to fry the opening where the meat was stuffed.
4. Add in 2 cups water, cover with a lid and simmer until the water is half gone.
5. Mix the 1 1/2 cups water with cornstarch, oyster sauce, sugar and soy sauce. Pour this sauce into the wok with the stuffed dofu. Mix quickly. The cornstarch will thicken the sauce. Serve.

Side Thoughts: After frying my stuff pao, I transfered it to a claypot and simmered it in there. This allowed me to dish it directly.  I also simmered mine slightly more in the soy sauce, hence the paos took on a darker color. The result? We love it.

Not Really a Toast Person....

We had cereal and bread available when I was growing up but I never could seem to get into it. Eating such things for breakfast often left me dissatisfied... it still does. After having bread with jam, I'd get these salt cravings that would have me raiding the fridge for leftovers from the night before. Pizza, seafood, fried veggies... I became know as the morning cleanup crew XD

My favourite leftover to have was chicken wings. I'd grab the tupperware and sit there contently munching on the bones~ We chinese love to chew bones!

I had two very amusing experiences involving chicken wings... well, chicken wings and chicken feet! First was at a KFC buffet. They liked to stock the buffet with pieces that weren't moving very fast, drumsticks and wings available (a chinese person's dream!) One time, this very big and tall dude started screaming at the staff, crying out "A man can't live on wings alone!!" He wanted them to put out more fat chicken breast meat. It totally killed me XD

My second experience involved chicken feet and not wings but it is applicable. I was having dim sum with a grad student friend and she raved about loving to eat chicken's feet and proclaimed: "You can never get fat eating lots of chicken's feet! After all, it's just skin and bones". I had never thought about it that way. It's so true. Chicken wings are similar! If you take the time to chew the tips and not just the wing and drum you'll never eat that many. Now I know why I never gained weight eating so many chicken wings in my youth! :)

Anyways, here's my new fav~ Coke Wings. I came across it at Tony and Karen's site. I love it for a few reason, it's sweet and it's stupidly easy to make! Here's my take on their version:

Coke Wings

Yield: 1 lb. wings

1 lb. of chicken wings (all segements)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic
1 tbsp. water
1 can of coke

Segment each chicken (drum, wing and tip) into individual pieces by servering at the joint with a heavy knife.

Place water and chicken in a large non-stick pot. Sprinkle on the salt and garlic. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes until water has evaporated. 

Pour in 1/3 can of coke and let wings simmer in the liquid until it has almost disappeared. Stir occasionally. When the liquid has almost evaporated, add another 1/3 can of coke. Repeat process. Add the last 1/3 can of coke into the pot. Simmer until it is a thick glazy syrup. 

Toss wings around to coat well. It is ready! Plate and serve!

Note: If you don't wish for your wings to be swimming in sauce, stop at 2/3rd can. Do not pour in the last 1/3. The idea here is to evaporate the water content in the coke and have it thicken into a sweet glaze/syrup. I added a little salt and garlic just to give the taste a little balance. However, the recipe is quite flexible. You can even spice it up however you like it!

Keeping the Humidity at Bay...

Honestly, I don't know how Southerns do it but the humidity, coupled with the heat, nearly killed me. I had to double barrel by running a dehumidifier with my A/C just to drive it down to 60%... >_<

Well, it's less of a problem now that I've returned North to the UP. This snowbird has returned home! I love the moderate warmth and eternal daylight. Nothing says summer more to me than a setting sun at 10pm and going for some ice cream or do a little evening shopping! All that aside, what I've really come to appreciate is the relatively low humidity (32% as we speak!). I'll never take it for granted ever again! So to take full advantage of this, I made Candied Pecans! 

Yes, I realize that is EXTREMELY anti-Candida diet unfriendly. I made them for one reason: neighbors. The husband recently had a stroke and they've been going through a rough time adjusting. It's so sad to see as they are just entering retirement. They should be enjoying their golden years instead of battling it. These same wonderful neighbors have helped watch over our winterized house for the last few years, so I wanted to show my appreciation. 

So here's my version of epicurious.com Sweet and Spicy Candied Pecans. Mine are just sweet. Did I taste them? You bet!  My excuse: What kind of cook would I be if I don't taste what I make? Besides, I have to be sure that it tastes proper! XD

CANDIED PECANS:
Yield: 2 cups

3 tbsp. light corn syrup
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt

2 cups pecans (10 oz. pkg)
cooking spray
2 sheets of aluminum foil

Mix the first 3 ingredients. Add the pecans and stir until coated.

Place an aluminum foil sheet on table and coat with cooking spray.

Place another aluminum foil in the toaster oven tray. Spray the foil with cooking spray. Pour sugared pecan mixture onto tray. Note: An oven will work too.

Bake at 300F for 25 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes or so until it has almost stopped bubbling and most of the syrup liquid has evporated. I used 300F because anything higher seemed to evporate the syrup too slowly while burning the pecans very quickly.

Pour baked pecans onto the oiled aluminum foil sheet on the table to cool. Seperate pecans as quickly as possible while still hot. The glaze on  the peacan will harden quickly as it cools into a cruncy candy coating.

Done!

Something Light...

Personally, I like my food heavy. Fried and crunchy or thick and creamy. The kind of food that makes you feel like a sausage wrapped in a big fuzzy blanket. They kind that you literally roll away from the table in rotund satisfaction. XD

Even so, occasionally I will crave a "light" meal. Especially after a day when I've been flying and grazing through the fast food at airports. A refreshing salad afterwords always seems to hit the spot, probably due to dehydration :P

One of those quick "light" foods I love is salmon. I like it baked, fried or grilled. Grilled is my favourite... the meat is so moist and flaky......*sigh*... Unfortunately, I'm only around "little pal", our charcoal grill, in summers. Pan fried is nice too but creates an ungodly mess plus a lingering smell for days. Toaster oven baked is my preferred easy and quick indoor option.

I was nibbling on the almonds while grinding ^_^'

My mother's chinese version of corn holders. ;)

Toaster-Oven Almond-Crusted Salmon
Servings: 4 regular or 2 very hungry

1 lb. salmon
salt
pepper
1/2 green onion, minced
1 cup ground sliced almonds

Line the toaster oven baking tray with aluminum foil. Gently spray the foil with oil. Place salmon on foil skin side down (if there is skin).

Gently salt and pepper the salmon. Evenly spread the minced green onions and ground sliced almonds over top of the salmon to cover. You can toss a few unground sliced almonds on top for appearances.

Place the tray with salmon into the toaster oven and baked at 400F for 15 minutes or until it flakes easily when tested. Remove and serve.

Notes:
1. You may want to slice your raw salmon into 4 ready to serve slices prior to encrusting with almonds. I'm really lazy so I just slice when it's done baking.
2. Some of the almonds will come out browned and even slightly burned. If this is something that bothers you, you can lay a foil over top during baking. Personally, I like the colourization. :)

This is candida diet friendly. I often use cornmeal the same way but on other types of fish. Somehow, I can't imagine cornmeal on salmon.