Egg Rolls

369.  Chinese Food was on the menu last night but not from a local restaurant.  I decided to make homemade, Egg Rolls to be exact.  When I have a craving for certain foods, it is a great challenge to create it yourself.  I made the filling an hour in advance and then let it cool to room temp then enlisted my dinner guests putting the rolls together.  It is not that challenging just following simple steps.  

The filling was Vegetable and Pork and a dipping sauce for the side.  Here is my recipe:

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美味的食物

"When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills." 

 ~ Chinese Proverb

Chinese Dumpling Potstickers

 293.  I will forever be grateful to "Use Real Butter" and Jennifer Yu's perfect family recipe for Chinese Dumpling Potstickers.
Find her recipe here:  Chinese Dumpling

It is a great challenge  to make this recipe without an experienced Potsticker Artist in your kitchen.  But with Jennifer's recipe, it feels like she is standing right next to you guiding you along.  The dough is soft and perfect to work with.

The fillings are so flavorful and when you taste the finished product the filling bursts in your mouth.

I did my absolute best to follow the directions and was concerned my little dumpling purses would open in cooking.  Only two opened slightly...Success!!

The cooking process was fun to watch when the bottoms turned crispy brown.

The finished product was one of the best Potstickers we had ever had.  Jennifer also included a tasteful, light perfect dipping sauce.  Guy Fieri would have been proud of this endeavor...Potstickers are one of his favs.

"I like that it's all hand-made.  You really put some time and energy into that.  Way more than I expected, man.  Nice job.  Nice job."

~Guy Fieri, Diner's Drive Ins and Dives, Caj-Asian Potstickers

Wontons

143. Wontons rate high on my list of tapas and appetizers. My girls love "Crab Rangoon", which is fried wontons with a cheesy crab filling. Oh, so good. Most wontons you order in a Chinese Restaurant will have pork filling. And usually are in soup.

With a taste for Chinese food and the desire to create something, my honey picked up wonton wrappers in the veggie section of the market. I had pork sausages and used them for the filling. I pushed the filling out of the sausage skins into a bowl. I chopped up scallion green onion, crushed a clove of garlic and added about 2 Tablespoons of soy sauce. Then a sprinkling of ground ginger till I could smell it in the meat. I prefer chopped or grated fresh ginger. Then opened a can of water chestnuts and chopped them, about half the can, into tiny cubes. I began to fill the wrappers with a small amount of meat but the wrappers were too small to pull up like little purses, so I decided to fold them in a triangle pocket shape.

Wipe the edge of the wrapper with cold water and use a 1/2 teaspoon size small spoon to fill each wrapper. Of course if you use the large size wonton you will have to adjust your filling amount.

You don't have to press too hard, just make sure there is a seal. Some people suggest cornstarch in water to seal...but plain old water works just fine. There is cornstarch already on each wrapper to keep them from sticking together.

Each wonton turned out perfect. Then place them on a tray or plate to rest as your oil heats up.

I fried them in hot canola oil, about 1 1/2 cup in a small sauce pot. Then, drained them on a paper towel.

They turned out so delicious!

Crispy and light on the outside and juicy tender meat on the inside. When you bit into them, the juicy center would burst in your mouth.

Homemade is always the best!

"Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still."

Chinese Proverb