5-Pointed Joong (Pyramid Shape) 五角粽

 

Video is in Cantonese.


As per request - I have been looking for more Joong Wrapping Techniques - this is a 5 pointed shape like a pyramid.  This style (shape and filling) is typical in South China, Guangdong I believe.  They tend to include split yellow mung beans (I think that's what they are?), a piece of fatty belly pork (sometimes seasoned with 5-spice) and some salted duck egg yolk.  The video must be a deluxe version as the lady has added dried shrimps and scallop!


This shape is similar to my mum's pillow-shaped joong except mum doesn't use two leaves twisted to make her base.  Mum's method is one leaf laid flat in palm of your hand, soaked (plain) glutinous rice spread in a thin and even layer, goodies (meaty fillings) laid on top, add sprinkling of chopped shallot, crushed roasted peanuts (if you wish- very tasty this way!) then finally a top layer of rice.  Bring the ends of the leaf to overlap in the centre.  First the top leaf, (hold down end with thumb) then fold bottom leaf up (again hold under thumb).  Next step is to get a small thin leaf to wrap the sides (just like lady in video) one leaf per side (left and right).  Then mum wraps joong with string.  She hold the loose end between her teeth then wraps the joong round and round the length of the joong to hold goodies in.

Mrs Plum's Rice Dumpling (Joong)

I couldn't get a video of my mum's wrapping technique as she was never wrapping any whenever I was visiting.  (Maybe next year ;) )  Not making any myself this year I thought we were not going to get to eat any - luckily, on my recent visit to mum's I was gifted with 4 of these beauties to take home :)

These ones are Chicken and Chinese Mushroom fillings.  There is also the added dried shrimp you see there spilling onto the plate and I found sliced "lap cheong" Chinese Dried Sausage as well as chestnut.  The rice is wonderfully soft and sticky and I chose to eat mine with a splash of thick sweet soy Kecap Manis.  I think chilli oil would've been nice too :p

Hope you enjoyed your dragon Boat Festival and ate lots of tasty dumplings :p

Dragon Boat Festival 端午節

Dragon Boat Festival 端午節 is the 5th Day of the 5th month in the Chinese Calendar.  Usually falling in early June but this year it is today, 23rd June.

It means that there are sticky rice parcels to eat "Joong" in Cantonese 粽 - YUMMY!  Chinese isn't romanised well and you may recognise it as being Chung, Zong-Zi.  Basically it is a bamboo leaf wrapped parcel containing glutinous rice.  They can be savoury and filled with a variety of fillings some dependent on your region (salted duck yolk, mung bean and 5-spice pork belly is a common in Southern China - Guangdong).  You can also have a sweet variety where the rice is soaked in water with added alkali water.  When cooked the rice is yellow and you eat it dipped in sugar, syrup or have red bean paste in them.  Not my thing really.

My mum is a whizz at making Joong - but she makes what I describe a pillow shape.  I have not mastered this technique and I remember when I was younger, my mum going round to one of her friend's house to teach her a few of her friends how to wrap pillow Joong.  Not sure if she is making any this year as she has been busy with work.  I must video her technique so this skills are not lost!

In the meantime, here is a video of Joong wrapping.  This one is of a Pyramid shape which my mum wants to learn >.<   Will have to get her to watch this!  This video is in Cantonese :)

Happy Dumpling Festival!


Triangle Shaped Rice Dumpling

Paella

The great thing about going on holiday is sampling the local fare.  No, haven't been on hols recently, neither likely to in near future  :0(  We like to recreate our favourite dishes at home - I guess it's to relive the fun had in sunnier climes when there was nothing more important than, "What shall I wear today?" or "Where shall we eat?"

Paella packed with squid, scallops, prawns and chorizo

Our first holiday together was almost six years ago when hubbs took me away to Spain for a week.  Neither of us had visited Spain so it was a first on many counts.  A popular dish is Paella.  It has several variants; true Valencian Paella (where dish originates) includes rabbit, chicken, beans, seafood or snails.  Seafood is just a mix of prawns, mussels, clams, langoustine and crab.  There is even one made with squid ink!  At home, I make a mixed paella which contains, chorizo (cured, smoked pork sausage which contains spices and paprika), chicken and seafood.

This is how I make mine at home - although I may change the seafood each time I make it the basis is the same.

Scallops halved and squid cut into rings.

Paella


1 onion, chopped
3 chicken wings, jointed then each joint cut in half, tips discarded
150 g chorizo, 1cm cubes, or 0.5cm slices cut in half
paella rice (I measure in a jug up to the 8fl oz mark)

Cooked Tiger Prawns that I used as garnish instead of mussels

1 pepper, red for colour but not essential, cut in small strips
handful of peas
few saffron threads
1 fish stock cube
raw seafood: scallops, prawns, squid, mussels - any mix of your choice,

Chorizo is richly flavoured with paprika which gives it wonderful colour and flavour

The bright sunny colour from just a few strands of saffron

Soak the saffron threads in a little hot water to infuse.  Leave aside for later.

Keep close eye on the chorizo - don't let it frazzle like I did!

Put the chicken pieces and chorizo in a deep frying pan (I use a non-stick pan so I don't even worry about heating it up first and make sure pan is large enough as everything is cooked in it).  I don't add oil as there will be oil from the chicken wings and the chorizo is fatty too.  Fry lightly so the chicken begins to go golden and the chorizo browns lightly.  Remove the chorizo and keep aside for later.  I take it out now because I don't like it to get too hard and crispy.


Add the chopped onion and continue to fry gently until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes.  Tip in the rice and stir to coat all the rice grains in the fragrant chorizo-infused oil.  Keep stirring and frying over a low heat for 1-2 minutes

Dissolve the fish stock cube in 1 pint of water and add to the pan.  Pour in the saffron threads and water.  Turn the flame up to bring the liquid to boil, then turn down to simmer. 
Return the chorizo to the pan and simmer gently for 5 minutes then scatter the pepper strips and peas over the top.  Continue to simmer for another 5 minutes or so until the water begins to fall below the level of the rice. 
If the rice grains are not plump enough,  add a little more water to the pan - they won't be fully cooked at this point as it will continue to absorb liquid and will steam through later.

Add the seafood to the pan.  I nestle the halved scallops into the rice and mussels if I'm using them.  The squid and prawns cook easily so these are just sprinkled on top.

Cover the pan with a lid and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes on a low heat.  It doesn't matter if you get a little golden brown toasty rice on the bottom as it's made like that (bit like clay-pot rice you get in Hong Kong Dai-Pai Dong.).  The steaming should make the rice lift off the bottom of the pan.

If you don't have a large enough lid, cover with square of foil and twist corners - it makes the foil tighten and form to shape of pan

Turn off fire and leave covered to steam through for 5-10 minutes and serve.  It's usually served with lemon wedges but we don't find that necessary.

Taa-Daa!  Looks good with mussels too!

This is a polite sized serving - I ate more than this! :0)

This amount makes enough for three hungry people sized portions (that's me, hubby and his lunchbox) or four polite appetites.

Mushroom Risotto

This was actually my Saturday night's dinner but I didn't get round to blogging about it!  Hubbs is not a fan of risotto - not sure he likes the wet soggy rice?  Anyway, I made him grilled steak and chips and that kept him happy!  Saying that, when I cook rice, I always cook too much and I find it handy as the extra portion goes into a microwavable box that hubbs takes to work for lunch.  He isn't a sandwich lover like me and prefers hot food (hmm...maybe because he was born in a hot country and that is what he's used to whereas I was brought up on bread in UK?).

I find risotto a very soothing and comforting dish.  Ideally best if you watch it throughout cooking and am able to stir it constantly as I find it tends to make the rice more creamy - didn't work that way for me as I had to cook hubbs dinner whilst making my own!

I like cooking dishes like this where you don't have to constantly refer to recipes for amounts and quantities.  Baking however is a bit of an exact science and I do find you need to be specific.

I used:

100-150g each of three types of mushrooms, fresh shiitake, mini portabella and chestnut

8 oz of arborio risotto rice
1 small onion finely sliced
1 shallot sliced
Handful of fresh shelled peas (optional)
1 1/2 pt vegetable stock (hot)
little oil and knob of butter

I first gently fried off the onion shallot in a frying pan to soften them.  If I had any celery I probably would've added a finely sliced celery stick in for flavour. 

Add the rice (I measure in a jug up to the 8oz mark - no need to wash rice first).  On a low heat stir the grains on rice in the oil for about 1-2 mins so they are all coated in oil but not burnt.

Add some of  the stock in (they say a ladle full at a time so I pour enough just to cover the rice) and allow this to simmer gently whilst stirring all the time.  Risotto rice has an ability to absorb 3 times it's weight of liquid.  Stirring releases the starch giving you that creamy texture.

When the stock has been absorbed, add more stock stirring again. 

I then added the peas so they could simmer along with the rice.  I added the sliced mushrooms in as well.  I decided not to fry them off separately as I wanted all the rich mushroomy goodness and flavour to be in the rice.

Continue adding the stock when the water has been absorbed by the rice.  You can check the rice to see if it's cooked to your liking.  Italians like it al dente, my mum would say it's not cooked through!  So again, personal preference.  Check for seasoning.  When ready, stir in the knob of butter to make it rich and creamy.  Some like to add some grated Parmesan cheese and stir it in.  It does add to the flavour and it certainly is creamy but I didn't want that - I wanted that deep savoury flavour from the shiitake mushrooms.  You can eat as is or you can have it as an accompaniment to other things like grilled meat.  Or you can add some cooked chicken shreds as you are cooking the rice.  Can be handy way of using up small amounts of veggies lurking in bottom of fridge.