Month: September 2018

I’m a quarter finished with the book “Crazy Rich Asians” and have finally gotten a chance to write about how we made our baoze. We made ours a little differently from the traditional recipe. We started off with the same home-made dough, (because my Italian family grew up on home cooking and often asked, “Why do people buy pre-made frozen dough that doesn’t stretch well and has less taste?” It’s never the same as making it yourself) the one we used came from theKitchn.

They’re all pretty much the same; flour, hot water and cold water. For the filling, we used traditional pork. Pigs are members of the Chinese zodiac and are very common for Chinese cooking. We agreed, since we used chicken in our Greek post, we were due for a switch up. We agree we need to stay on land for a while and learn to cook what the butcher sells for those like my mom who don’t particularly like fish, or have allergies.

We hadn’t thought it through with how to steam them without a bamboo steamer, so we tried using a paper towel.  As we’ve posted before, this led to a small fire which we doused with water. Don’t worry; we bought ourselves a steamer right after that for our future endeavors.

They say to pleat them 18 times for prosperity. (Shi-ba and Shi-fa sound near alike) Hebrew agrees because their word for life, “chai” has a numeric value of 18. We really had a fun time tucking the little pork dumplings into place. It brought me back to my time in China. To read about everything I told her, click here.

Just like in the movie, this was one of those moments where family and friends could get together. It’s not about the number of pleats or the number of dumplings made. It was just a moment to relax, have a quiet evening, talk, joke, tell stories or ask questions. I’ve felt this moment painting Halloween cookies with my mom, and coloring Easter eggs with my cousins. In the short “Bao“, the family is seen around the table showing the new inclusion of the girlfriend into their Chinese lifestyle. Kitchens were made for people to cook, sure, but when people get together over something special, it takes on a new sense of meaning. Jeremy and I feel a sense of cooperation when we take on stations and command it as a co-captains mission. Here’s an idea for a date, why not cook together?

Good day, Everyone. It has come to our attention that we must stress the importance of working safely in the kitchen. Careful as we are, we’ve had a few accidents in the past 2 weeks. We implore that you take in these reminders and follow them every time you cook or bake. We make these mistakes ourselves. Do us a favor, don’t copy our blunders. Make your own.

Firstly, I’ve had the odd hair fall into the food because my long hair wasn’t pulled back. This is why chefs wear tall hats and hair nets. It’s disgusting to  find other people’s DNA in your meal, even more true to pull a hair out of your mouth covered in sauces or cheese. I’m thankful that my hair hasn’t gotten caught in a machine. If there aren’t any tall hats or hair nets around, tie your hair back and put it up with clips to keep it out of your face and out of the food.

It’s always in a cook/baker’s best interest to use the most qualified tool for the job. During our baozi cook, we didn’t have a bamboo steamer. The safe option for lack of steamers is to put aluminum foil balls at the bottom of the boiling pot with a heat-proof plate over the top. We made the HUGE mistake of using paper towel on a cooling rack over boiling water. The paper towel was so flimsy, it flew off the top as I took off the baozi, fell underneath the pot into the flames and caught on fire. (NO, THIS WAS NOT THE TIME TO BE TAKING PICTURES OR VIDEOS. DON’T ASK!) It was scarier than every B-rated horror movie I’ve ever seen.We were able to put it out with water without damaging anything. Most kitchen fires can be solved with water, but it’s always important to have easy access to a fire extinguisher just in case. 

This is a huge note; IF AN OBJECT IS HIGHLY FLAMMABLE, KEEP IT AWAY FROM THE FLAMES! Be ready for any and all fires that may occur. If it’s a grease fire, DO NOT USE WATER! For Specific instructions see HERE. If a fire gets out of control, or if you’re not sure how to put it out, take it from Elmo and Maria when a fire broke out a Hooper’s Store. Get low and go call the fire dept. Putting out fires is why they train and gear up. If you try and play the hero if it’s a job too big or too confusing. Make the call. Don’t take the fall.

Our most recent mistake was with our equipment. We were making poached eggs with a special pot. We’re not sure how this one occurred. Somehow, either the pot sat on too high of a heat setting for too long, or the steel had discolored from being used so many times. The pot has since been scrubbed and cleaned like new, with new restrictions as to who may use it. This is a reminder to use the lowest setting necessary when working with heat, and to always know how your tools function, especially if you’re switching between electric, manual or gas powered. Medium on an electric stove isn’t as powerful as a gas stove on medium. 

Safety is everyone’s responsibility wherever you go. Nothing is more important than everyone staying out of the emergency room. I’ve heard of people getting stitches just for cutting a bagel the wrong way. Oven mitts, stretchy gloves and flame-proof tools were made for a reason. They keep you from getting hurt. If you need help, ask for it. You won’t get hurt by asking questions, or needing someone to help you handle something. If worse comes to worst, you can order-in. For everyone’s sake, if you are in the kitchen for any reason, preparing food or not, please remember, Safety Comes First!

If any of you have seen “Crazy Rich Asians” yet, (I’m reading the book) there’s a cute little scene where everyone is essentially taking a break from being sophisticated, high-class society members to gather around the kitchen table and fold up some gyoza. Wasn’t it so adorably cute watching Nick teach Rachel his little pneumonic? “Put the baby in bed, tuck it in, and give it a kiss goodnight.” The cast talk and share some together Here!

The 2018 international gyoza eating competition was just posted today including Joey Chestnut Matt Stonie and Miki Sudo. Watch it get messy HERE!

Or maybe you saw the newest short from Pixar during “Incredibles II” about the Chinese mother and her sweet little dumpling child. We took this as perfect time to reminisce about Jeremy’s time in China and recapture the fun of systematic cooking just the 2 of us. My job was to roll out the dough. Jeremy filled the dough with pork and pinched them closed. 18 is the lucky number of pinches because 9 symbolizes longevity, so twice 9 is twice as good. This is a fantastic way to get kids in the kitchen. I was even remembering making calzones with Mom on my little chair with ricotta and ham. But we can talk about that later. For now, let’s refocus our attention as Jeremy recounts some of his favorite baozi memories from China.

Different parts of China have different grains. The north has more rice focused dishes. South-East China had more noodles. Another part was dumplings. My first time with baozi was the Chinese restaurant style. At the time I liked them and still kind of do, but mostly for novelty. My first time making them was in my sophomore year in ESL. I had a couple of Chinese friends around Chinese New Year. It’s very important, the equivalent of Christmas and our New Year. Everyone goes home. All the major cities are empty. Huge dinner with a number of traditions and things they eat. It’s a time where basically, for family to get together. While I was living up in Potstand, the Chinese New Year started in February during the school year. On a cold snowy night across Clarkson my friends and I traveled to a meeting room filled with all sorts of food for the celebration. I felt like a pelican among sea gulls. It was me and only 1 other American among a flock of Chinese people. We had music, games, not as much drinking, but tons of food including baozi. I remember 1 of the games we played was a baotzi making contest. Who can make the most? We had a bowl of pork and beef filling with boiling water on the side. It was wrapper, filling, seal, water, counting how many we made. Us 2 Americans were on a team together. We tied for first and had a lot of fun.

My second time in China, we were staying with a friend for a week. There I remember a really foggy morning like a ninja movie. We were walking down out to get breakfast for everyone in Chung Doo. (They get up at like 5am, CRAZY!) We saw some bamboo crates stacked at like 5ft 8 every one of them filled with varieties of baozi. Vegetarian, mushroom, beef, egg, pork there was a LOT, ranging from teeny tiny, to big as my face all piping hot. It may be just getting breakfast, but they were memorably good. These could be found anywhere on the street.

Gyoza are boiled, unlike our steamed baozi. They sink and rise a few times. Wontons are sort of like baozi. There are even cream filled ones and Japanese style. Once I went to China for a third time on weekdays we worked noon to 9. On weekends sans class we stayed 8-5 I would usually buy baotzi for breakfast with stewed hard-boiled eggs. The mushroom ones were my favorite. I wish I could have tasted more various baozi.

We even did a sort of Muk-Bang like in Korea with our sushi and baozi. It’s our first time on camera. He was a little stiff, but we’ll get the hang of it all eventually. See the live camera video on our Facebook page. Have you gotten the chance to try and make some of these yourself, or with family or friends? Raina Huang has a record of eating 100 baozi in this video. Tell us in the comments section. We would love to hear some of your stories.