Tag: appetizer
Bollos Pelones
Bollos Pelones
Bollos pelones are a great example of Venezuelan home cooking. The dumplings consists of corn flour dough balls filled with seasoned ground beef. They’re boiled, then covered with a tomato sauce. They remind me if you crossed a tamale and a matzah ball. These meat dumplings can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner as an appetizer or as your main course.
Equipment
- immersion blender
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 1/4 cup masa harina
- 2 tbsp butter melted
- 1/2 tsp salt
Filling
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tsp oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 medium white onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 roma tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 pinch sugar
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat up the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Brown the ground beef. Season with oregano, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Heat up olive oil in a small pot over medium high heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for 5 minutes.
- Addin the tomatoes. Season with salt. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender, purée the sauce. Set aside.
- Mix together all of the dough ingredients.
- Form into a dozen balls.
- Make a hole in the center of the ball with your thumb. Fill it with 3 tbsp of the filling.
- Close up and re-roll the balls.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the balls.
- Boil for 10 minutes. The balls are ready when they float to the surface. Drain the balls. Hehe.
Thai Vegetable Egg Rolls
Thai Vegetable Egg Rolls
This is a simple version of Thai-style vegetable egg rolls. The filling cooks up in under 10 minutes, plus another 10 minutes to roll them up. The egg rolls can easily be made vegan, substituting with vegan fish sauce and egg-free wrappers. Serve the egg rolls with Thai sweet chili dipping sauce.
Ingredients
- vegetable oil for frying
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 green chili finely chopped
- 6 shiitake mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 large carrot julienned
- 3 cups napa cabbage chopped
- 3 green onions chopped
- 1/4 cup tofu cut into tiny cubes
- 1/4 cup cooking wine
- 2 cups soy bean sprouts
- egg roll wrappers
Stir Fry Sauce
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Heat up a tbsp of cooking oil in a sauté pan or wok over medium high heat. Sauté the garlic and chilies for 1 minute.
- Add in the mushrooms and 1 tbsp of cooking wine. Cook for another minute.
- Add in the carrots and green onions. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add in the cabbage. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the tofu. Cook for a minute.
- Mix together the stir fry sauce ingredients and pour into the sauté pan. Add in the soy sprouts and cook for 1 minute. Take off the heat and allow to cool.
Egg Roll Assembly
- Place 2 heaping tbsp of the filling across the center an egg roll wrapper.
- Fold the bottom corner over the filling.
- Fold in the left and right corners to the center. Wet the top corner with water.
- Roll up tightly.
- Any egg rolls you don’t plan on cooking immediately should be placed on a baking sheet lined in parchment paper and frozen down. Store in freezer bags for later use.
- Heat up 1” deep of cooking oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in some egg rolls, making sure not to overcrowd the pan.
- Fry for 4-5 minutes a side until crispy. Drain grease on a rack.
Roast Pork Puffs
Roast Pork Puffs
These roast pork puffs are very reminiscent of Chinese steamed pork bao, except the dough is made out of puff pastry. They are baked instead of steamed, resulting in a buttery flaky exterior.
Equipment
- rolling pin
- muffin pan with liners
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup white onion finely chopped
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1/3 cup chicken stock
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup char siu roast pork finely diced
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the onions for 4 minutes.
- Pour in the soy sauces, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. Simmer for a minute.
- Whisk in the chicken stock and cornstarch. Reduce the heat to medium low and allow to thicken for a couple of minutes.
- Add in the char siu. Allow the filling to completely cool.
- Roll out the puff pastry sheet on a floured surface.
- Cut into 16 squares.
- Scoop a tbsp of the filling into the center of the pastry square.
- Place another sheet over the top. Crimp the edges with a fork.
- Put each pork puff into a greased muffin liner in a muffin pan. Brush the tops with the egg wash.
- Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds.
- Bake the pork puffs in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes until golden brown.
Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
If I was put on death row and asked what the last thing on Earth that I'd like to eat, my final meal, char siu would be on the top of the list. I have loved this bbq pork ever since I was a little kid. My family would order everything with bbq pork in it from the Chinese restaurant that we got take out from. I love this pork so much, I snuck some of the pork in the picture into the movie theatre in a ziplock bag.Char siu is typically made out of pork shoulder. It can be made out of pork sirloin, pork loin, or tenderloin; but they tend to be less juicy than pork shoulder. Fat is a good thing here. You will want a 3lbs. piece of boneless pork shoulder. I purchased a whole bone in shoulder and processed out the coppa roast and the flat iron, If the coppa roast was a beef cut, you'd know it as a chuck eye roast. You don't have to go to this extreme. You can use any part of the shoulder. I just happen to know how to cut these muscles out of the shoulder and use them. Cut the pork shoulder into 2" in diameter chunks with the grain. The char siu gets its color from the red bean curd. If you've ever seen this pork really red, the color will be coming from red food coloring. But I want to avoid food coloring as much as possible. The red color in the bean curd comes from a natural fungus. This pork needs to marinate for at least 3 days.When ready to cook the pork, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Yes, 400 degrees. Normally when you think of cooking pork shoulder, you cook it low and slow. Not here. It will be tender. Trust me. I was skeptical the first time I tried making this. Roast this for 15 minutes. Pull it out of the oven and brush on the glaze. Roast for 7 minutes. You want to do this for 3 times total. The honey will caramelize the outside while the bean curd juice will give it a nice red color. Once done roasting, let sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs boneless pork shoulder
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 3 red bean curd cubes + 2 tbsp liquid
- 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese 5 spice powder
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
- 3/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
Pork Glaze
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp red bean curd liquid
- 1 tbsp cooked marinade
Instructions
- Take a 3lb. piece of pork shoulder and cut it into a few long chunks with the grain. Each piece should be around 2″ in diameter. In this picture, I cut out the coppa roast and the flat iron. The coppa roast is the center muscle of the shoulder. If this was beef, you’d know it as a chuck eye roast.
- Mix together the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, red bean curd cubes and liquid, 5 spice powder, honey, cooking, wine, white pepper, sesame, oil, and garlic cloves. Mash the bean curds into a paste. Mix everything thoroughly.
- Add the pork shoulder pieces and the marinade to a gallon sized ziplock bag. Marinate for 72 hours. Turn the bag over every 12 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lay the pork shoulder pieces on a rack onto of a foil covered baking sheet. Add a couple cups of water to the baking sheet to prevent smoking. Roast the pork for 15 minutes.
- While the pork is roasting, mix together honey, red bean curd liquid, and some of the marinade. Make sure to cook the marinade in the microwave for a few seconds before mixing in. Now you have your pork glaze.
- After the first 15 minutes of roasting, take the pork out of the oven and brush on the pork glaze. Don’t worry about getting the bottom. Put the pork back in the oven and roast for 7 minutes. Repeat this step 2 more times, for a total of 3 glazes.
- After the final glazing and roasting, let the pork rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
