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.
Quick, simple, and EASY homemade chocolate pudding is so good you'll NEVER buy the pudding pots again. I promise! This can be made vegan simply by replacing dairy milk with nondairy. I suggest coconut milk for a good rich flavor or almond milk for something a little more light.
Author: FaylinaMeir
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
2 cups milk
100g or 3.5 ounces dark chocolate
3 tablespoons sugar - you can use no sugar or you can use more, up to you!
1 tablespoon potato starch + 1 tablespoon water mixed together
optional: salt and thick sugar for the toppings
Instructions
Over medium high heat add your sugar and chocolate pieces into a pan. Make sure you break up the chocolate bar for quicker melting. Stir constantly with a whisk so it does not burn. Continue until all the sugar is dissolved and you don't hear "crunching" anymore.
Slowly add in your milk, if it looks ugly don't worry. As the chocolate remelts it'll come together. Once it's all melted try your mixture. If you need to add more sugar now is the time to do it!
When you have it sweetened to your liking and all the chocolate is mixed with the milk add in your starch a little at a time. If you add it all at once you might cause lumps.
Keep in mind that if you are eating this hot you might need to add extra starch. If you are going to chill in the fridge the mixture will firm up so don't over thicken it.
Divide the mixture into however many servings you want, you can make 4 good portions with this recipe.
If you want to add the sugar and salt do that now. A little goes a long way with this so be careful.
Chill in the fridge until firm and cold. This will take around 4 hours. Enjoy!
Notes
-If you are making this vegan or nondairy make sure the chocolate bar you used does not contain milk. -Try to use at least 75% dark chocolate, I used 90% cocoa by Lindt. -You can use cornstarch or tapioca instead of potato starch. -Pro tip; use martini or wine glasses to make the pudding more elegant!
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.
For those wanting to bake without eggs we usually turn to store bought egg replacements like Bob’s Red Mill brand or Ener-G brand. While they are both amazing in their own right, they’re expensive, and what happens if you don’t realize you’re out of it? Well, I’m here to tell you that you can make it at home for a fraction of the price, with 4 basic ingredients.
Ingredients:
10 tablespoons potato starch
6 tablespoons tapioca starch
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking soda
Directions:
Mix well and store in a container til use. Will last very long time and is shelf stable.
This makes about 12 egg equivalent. Original recipe HERE.
How to use in recipe:
If a recipe calls for just the powder, do not add addition water. If recipe calls for a mixed egg always mix in a separate container and use this formula (this varies from original recipe):
one whole egg: 1 1/2 teaspoons powder to 2 tablespoons water
egg white: same as whole egg
egg yolk: 1 1/2 teaspoons powder to 1 tablespoon water.
This replacement is not suitable for things like scrambles eggs and the like, this is for baking.
PLEASE TAKE NOTE: If you are making this and 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.
Lately I’ve been dabbling in gluten free cooking, however if you’ve ever looked at all purpose gluten free flour mix, you’ll know it costs a small fortune. While this still isn’t super cheap, its much cheaper than premixed flour.
