This grocery haul was all about stocking up on the essentials that aren’t that common. Of course we need our staple: rice, but also things like sesame oil, and kimchi making supplies. My main reason for going was to purchase pig fat to render into lard, that video will be coming soon I promise!. Life has been fast paced lately so I apologize for not uploading recipes this week.
A probably not very traditional pork and shrimp shumai recipe that is easy to make and very customize-able. Feel free to replace all or most of the shrimp with pork or another meat. Try chicken or lamb, skys the limit! They are lighter in flavor so feel free to double the seasoning if you prefer stronger flavor.
Author: FaylinaMeir
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Asian
Serves: 42
Ingredients
Shumai
½ to ¾ lb ground pork
1 lb shrimp, raw shrimp is preferred but if you cannot find choose cooked shrimp that you have thawed for at least 24 hours
¼ cup onion or 6-8 green onion
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons ginger, about a 2 inch piece
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
pepper to taste
1 tablespoon potato or corn starch
30-60 circle style dumpling wrappers or cut square wrappers with a 4 inch circle cutter
Dipping Sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
some chopped onion
some chopped chili peppers or pinch of ground chili, optional for heat
½ teaspoon sesame oil
pinch sugar
Instructions
Shumai
Pulse shrimp, garlic, ginger, and onion in a food processor until small pieces. Try not to blend it into a paste, you want some texture. If you prefer you can turn half of it into a paste, but no more than that.
Mix in a bowl with the pork, soy sauce, sesame oil, and starch powder very well. Use your hand and get in there and squeeze it together. Let this mixture sit at least 15 minutes. Several hours is better up to 8 hours in the fridge.
After at least 15 minutes, get a pot of water boiling with your steam basket. At least an inch, maybe two. I suggest you wrap your lid like shown in the video to prevent water from dropping into your shumai.
For filling, wet the wrapper with water quickly and take 1 tablespoon of meat mixture and place into the middle of the wrapper. Make a circle with your hand and use that to push the filling into the wrapper. Pinch the top a bit and pleat the insides if necessary. Squeeze in the middle a little and push against the counter to flatten the bottom. Repeat this for the entire bowl. You should get 30-60 depending on how much you add into the wrappers. I got 42.
Once you're done making all the shumai, add them to your steamer, you want to fill the steamer but don't let them touch. Steam them for 10-20 minutes depending on the size you made. I checked mine after 15 minutes and they were done. You'll want to cook it until the internal temp reaches 145. (If you don't own a thermometer and you should!) cook until the inside is no longer pink.
Let cool for a few minutes before eating. Serve with soy sauce or a vinegar soy dipping sauce.
Dipping Sauce
Mix together and serve. The onions taste amazing if you let this sit in the fridge overnight however.
This is my go to dressing. This recipe can be vegan friendly if maple syrup or another liquid sweetener like agave is used. It can also be a raw dressing depending on your ingredients. If making this for someone with gluten issues, please insure you use gluten free tamari/soy sauce, AND gluten free vinegar.
Ingredients:
1 cup grape-seed oil or extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup sesame seed oil*
2 1/2 tablespoons whole sesame seeds
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 – 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground is best
2-4 tablespoons honey or liquid sweetener of choice**(see notes)
Ginger***(see notes)
Directions:
In a large bowl (high sided works best), add in your vinegar, soy sauce, and honey or other sweetener. Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup of oil. This should take 1-2 minutes of vigorous whisking. The trick is to make a dressing and not oily vinegar, there is a difference. Once you have 1/2 cup of oil in, try your sauce and if desired add the rest of the oil. At this point if you’re using it, whisk in the sesame oil as well. Once all your oil is whisked in, add your extra flavors or extra sweetener if desired. I used whole sesame seeds and black peppers. Stir in and you are done!
To store this dressing use a mason jar or repurposed glass jar with a tight fitting lid OR use a VERY well cleaned salad dressing bottle, I like the ones with the caps on the lid that restricts the amount that comes out at one time. In the fridge this will last for weeks, maybe a month or so I have never tried it that long. Before using, shake really well to re-emulsify and you’re ready to go.
*If you do not want to use or don’t have access to sesame oil, you can substitute it with regular oil or leave out entirely.
**If you are vegan or simply do not use honey, feel free to use maple syrup or agave. If neither appeal to you, try making a simple syrup by boiling 1/4 cup water with 2 tablespoons sugar. Whisk well to ensure no grainy texture. Once cooled, substitute this in for honey. Start with 1 tablespoon and try it from there as this changes the flavor.
***If you want to add a ginger flare to this dish, use a microplane or fine tooth grater and grate some ginger into the bowl. I would suggest 1/2 – 1 tablespoon. Whisk this in with the sesame seeds. Optionally you can add other flavors such as fresh garlic or chili flakes to change the flavor.
PLEASE TAKE NOTE: If you are making this and/or cooking for someone with gluten allergies or celiacs disease. Make sure to purchase ingredients that are certified gluten free, and clean your utensils very well. Better safe than sorry.
Nutritional information is per tablespoon, Thanks!
So lets say its dinner time and you wanna make something super yummy but on a super small budget, look no further than stir fry. This particular stir-fry has vegetables, rice noodles, yellow split peas, scrambled eggs (which can be removed, to make it vegan), brocolli pieces, and a sweet yet spicey sauce!
Ingredients:
1 cup cooked yellow split peas (you can also use any bean for lentil for this)
1 cup vegetables (I used 1 cup of canned peas & carrots)
1/2 cup brocolli pieces (I used stalk pieces I had saved and kept in freezer)
2 whole eggs (omit for vegan friendly)
80g uncooked rice noodles or bean noodles
1 tablespoon oil for stirfrying (I used half sesame and half grapeseed)
2 tablespoons minced green onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon tumeric powder (optional for color)
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes for spice, optional
For Sauce:
1/2 – 1cup water
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoon sweet chili sauce (I suggest Mae Ploy)
1 teaspoon potato startch + 1 teaspoon water for thickening (you can also use 1/2teaspoon cornstartch + 1/2 tablespoon water)
sesame seeds or extra green onion for optional garnish
Directions:
If needed, cook your yellow split peas according to directions or check out our Cooking 101: Split Peas for information on how to do so! Measure out 1 cup cooked split peas, and set aside.
Fill your wok up with enough water to cover your rice noodles and brocolli pieces, boil according to package until tender and strain for later. Now make sure to have all your ignredients ready to go as this recipe cooks fast!
Wipe out the wok and set your heat on high. Once the pan is nice and hot add your oil, quickly stir around pan then add both your garlic and green onions. Stir for 30-45 seconds or until aromas get really strong, then add your two scrambled eggs (omit if vegan) and stir around pan until nearly 100% cooked, tastes about a minute. Then add your split peas and stir for 2 minutes, if you want them to have more color let them sit for 30 seconds in pan before stirring, becareful not to burn them though. Once split peas are warmed up, add in your veggies. I choose to use 1 cup of canned peas and carrot mixture because I was out of fresh, but fresh or frozen veggies work best in stir-fry. Stir fry until they are to your desired tenderness (with canned this will only take about 15 seconds to warm them up) then add in your cooked noodles and brocolli pieces. Use a big wooden spoon like I do to break apart the noodles, thoroughly combining the ingredients. Add your opitional red pepper flakes and tumeric at this point then add your water, chili sauce, and soy sauce to the pan. Stir well and make sure to get any bits off the bottom of the wok. Let this mixture cook for a minute. If you want more sauce add more water, if you want less then add less water. After about 1 minute, add your startch mixture, stir thoroughly again for 30-60 seconds and turn the heat off. Serve nice and hot, topped with sesame seeds or extra green onion for garnish, Enjoy!
Prep time: 45 minute (split peas) Cook time: less than 10 minutes Serves: 1-2 people
allergies: eggs, sesame seeds, rice
Vegetarian and vegan friendly: veganize by omitting the eggs
Gluten-Free
Today’s lunchbox has an Asian twist in it. Its still healthy, but leaves you feeling fuller than other healthy meals would. Its also very budget friendly, making this an A+ meal in my book! I mean, who doesn’t need to save money these days?
For Today’s Menu we have 1 serving of my peanut butter chicken recipe (Recipe Here) tossed with Chinese style wheat noodles , 4 large celery stalks cut into more bite size pieces, a side of my homemade peanut sauce (Recipe Here) for dipping, and one ripe banana.
Pros of this lunch:
*Cheap! this meal cost me $2.00 approximately to make.
*This meal is healthy, while the original recipe calls for chicken, this could very easily be veganized!
*Quick to make. This entire meal took me about 7 minute to make, including the homemade peanut butter sauce
*Decent in calories, high in vitamins and minerals
Cons:
*Depending on the microwave, it could get mushy
(click to see full photo breakdown of nutritional values)
