The celebrated ribeye. I hate cooking for one.

I've been hitting the gym every single day for two weeks now. Ahem!

Recipe: Guõ Tiē (potstickers)

the pot-sticker on the far left is American

It's a simple fact. I love dumplings, in all shapes, flavours and sizes... My mum will tell you, I love dumplings. It's the first thing I request for when I'm back in Singapore. Dumplings. Even the word 'dumplings' connotes in my sleepy mind juicily wrapped mini-parcels, pork broth, pastry with a toothsome bite, and cute chubby cheeks. Dumplings dumplings dumplings - guo tie, xiao long bao, jiao zi, won ton and my favourite dim sum item, jiu cai jiao (chive dumplings). Last year, I went on a quest to find the best xiao long bao in the world. Verdict:

Singapore: Ming Jiang Restaurant, Goodwood Park Hotel;

London: The Chinese Experience, Shaftsbury Avenue, and the reverent Hakkasan.

I've been meaning to make a batch for the longest time - one of my planned culinary projects. So, on Saturday, with a free afternoon at hand and an extra pair of deft dough kneading hands, I thought it was time.

Guo Tie

Filling

A - MEAT

300g pork belly

300g prawns

B - INGREDIENTS

7 leaves of chinese big cabbage, finely julienned and parboiled - drain drain drain, no excess water please!

6 chinese mushrooms, soaked in boiling water (30 mins)

1 tbsp spring onions, minced

1 tbsp ginger, minced

1 bunch of chives, minced (optional)

C- DRY SEASONING

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp chicken stock powder

pepper to taste

D - WET SEASONING

2 tbsp light soya sauce

1 tbsp chinese cooking wine

2 tbsp sesame oil

E - OTHERS

1 egg

A - Mince the meat. Using a knife/chopper to mince produces lovely fluffy filling, rather than the mushy lump you get from a foor processor - but sometimes I am lazy... Set aside.

B - Prepare the filling ingredients. In addition to the dough, the secret to good filling is to mince everything as miniscule and as consistently as possible.

C - Add to A.

D - Add to C. Always add the sesame oil last as the oil "seals" the seasoning in. Leave aside for 30 mins.

E - Add to D to "bind" the filling.

Wrappers

I'm usually lazy and buy store-bought wrappers (note: guo tie/jiaozi wrappers are different from won ton wrappers, which have egg in them and are square). They are too thick and too big for genuinely good dumplings, since the consistency of the dough is the single most important consideration in good dumplings, but sometimes time is valuable.

I was taught to make dough with cold water, but recently came across an interesting method by the esteemable kuidaore (trackback Friday 4 August 2006) - looking at her beautiful pictures alone makes one hungry. From her blog, here is someone who is truly dedicated to perfection in food.

Wrapping the dumplings is a matter of the way you were taught. Kuiadore has great pictures of the process. My method is similar - I started writing it down here, but realised that no one was going to get it without pictures. Do not worry, it will happen soon. Promise!

Dip

Chinese black vinegar

Ginger, finely julienned

I am always reminded how refined and clever Chinese culture is when I see people pick a small brush of julienned ginger and literally use it as a brush to brush their dumpling with vinegar. Then there are those for whom chopsticks are a new thing, and for these poor souls, it is eminently excusable to poke your chopsticks through the dumpling (unless it contains broth, like xiao long baos) and dunk them into the vinegar.

Enjoy! This is truly my favourite comfort food of all time.

The simple things in life: Chocolate truffles

My midnight dark chocolate truffles

Was feeling tearful earlier. But then I thought about the simple things in life that make me happy, and I thought about these chocolate truffles. Of course, life isn't as simple as that, but that's how it is, isn't it? Life's like that. I couldn't imagine going through it without being lifted up on wings of eagles each day... or without chocolate.

Thanks to greedy goose and kuidaore, who are immaculate domestic goddesses in my book, I was introduced to Alice Medrich's Bittersweet and her glorious truffles au chocolat. Here's proudly presenting my first foray into truffles. This has been a long thought-about project, and the winetasting gave me the perfect excuse. All I will say is, I never knew chocolate is so temperamental, and from now onwards, I have a new respect for truffle-makers, who have to work with such a moody ingredient. But practice makes perfect - I only got it after two batches, chucked down the bin!

No recipe here. I would encourage all chocolate lovers to meet Alice Medrich personally - she's truly the expert in the science and creativity of chocolate. One thing I will say here though: keep all your utensils and bowls very very very clean and very very very dry, and pour hot liquid into chocolate very very very slowly.

Will definitely venture into more complex truffle-making pastures after this, ganache and all. Watch this post!

Wetfoot Winetasting Fundraiser

Wetfoot India 2006 Winetasting Fundraiser @casa de Aaron

So many glasses. I'd never seen so many glasses. It was so pretty, the rows and rows of glasses. The friendly wine delivery man asked, so is your friend having a very big party? Urm, no, not really. So he likes wine? Er, yes, although he's just a humble boy from Kansas trying to make his way in the white man's world. And the wine is because he likes helping orphans in India who've been affected by the tsunami. In other words, to summarise in a nutshell, he's a friendly almost teetotaller with a big heart and a big apartment, and what do you do when you have a big heart and a big apartment? Why, you bring the two together and let your friends use it to throw a winetasting fundraiser, of course!

Our speaker, (soon to be Dr) Sujith Kumar

So we had 23 people, 1 speaker, 2 cheeses, 3 tables, 6 wines, 42 bottles and of course, the 156 wineglasses. A very laid back affair it was, "so unpretentious" quote one guest, "edifying - I learned a lot" quote another guest. (There was also "bbqed chicked wings - what a great idea!", but we'll let that slip.) Sujith did a great job, and very soon he had people swirling their wines, observing the speed it took to slide down the glass, the colour of the meniscule, sinking their noses in to take in the different bouquets - leather? chlorine? citrus? berries? pepper?, and of course, drinking. Nobody spit, despite the buckets, so there was a lot of wine being drunk that night, I tell you. Imagine tottering in black satin Burberry heels with a bottle of red wine in your hands and plenty more in your system trying to serve your guests without spilling. A walk in the park, ahem. It was a good selection of wines. The Kabinett was a hit, and so was the burgundy.

Rapt attention

Then there was the post-winetasting party. A bit hit! People were starving, so we started laying out the antipastas and cheeses, Aaron's salsa, my chocolate truffles (recipe coming up!), and of course, Tesco's bbqed chicken wings (it's so weird but so practical). There was plenty of wine leftover to go around. The piano tinkling in the background, the girls curled up on the leather couch, the boys mingling around the kitchen island (and food), the evening followed the lilies in the breeze and time stood still.

The boys putting the projector to good use - if you look carefully, you might just spy me in the right corner loading the dishwasher, ahem

We raised 575.78 pounds for the orphans in India. Praise God!

Finally, I just wanted to end an exhilarating weekend with this:

Swan Lake, presented by Bolshoi Ballet at the Royal Opera House

Just a quick post to say that I will DEFINITELY blog about

a) Wetfoot winetasting fundraiser (which was a blast!)
b) Bolshoi / Swan Lake (exquisite!)
c) New gym project (am addicted to endorphins!)
d) Planned project (time unspecified though) to make kaya, durian jam and other Singaporean goodies
e) India india india

very very soon...

But meanwhile, I have a thesis to write. Don't worry, I have a thermos of Italian coffee extracted from beans lovingly carried from Tazza d'Oro in Rome and carefully brewed atop my kitchen stove this morning to tide me through.

Orbituary

My dog died peacefully this morning. His name was Lance, and I loved him very much. His twin brother, Leon, died four years ago.

Lance, 26th September 1991 - 1st August 2006
Leon, 26th September 1991 - May 2002