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?