Conference turris::cooks

    re .1:  Yeah, what I used to call "Dumplings" in NYC are called "Peking
    Raviolis" in New England -- that's even the way they list them on
    the menus.  
    
    It's sorta like "English Horn".
    
    (An English Horn is neither English nor a Horn; a Peking Ravioli
    is neither from Peking, nor a Ravioli.)
                                   
    
    					andrew

    I usually call them "pot stickers", which is, I think, what the
    real Chinese name of them translates into.  There is a recipe for
    them in my dimsum recipes that I put in this file every February
    after our Chinese New Year party.  The wrapping we use is just a
    flour and water dough, not very fancy.  The really thick ones you
    get in some Cantonese dimsum places seem to be made with at least
    part rice flour, but I don't have a recipe for dumplings like that.
    If you are going to make the sins with a flour and water dough,
    it helps if you have a real heavy rolling pin (I use a marble one)
    if you are making any quantity of dumplings, or your arms will ache
    in no time!
    
    At my house, we call the ones made with wontin skin wrappers "water
    dumplings", and usually just boil them.  They are EASY to make!
                

    I tried the Gyoza skins Mike recommended, and there is a difference.
    The Gyoza skins are a tiny bit thicker, they don't stick together,
    and they don't rip apart.  I'll use these from now on.
    
   

    Interestingly enough, I was in a Purity Supreme [in Newton to
    be exact] and found a package [where they keep the Tofu in
    the produce section] of Gyoza skins marked just like that,
    Gyoza Skins, with the back of the package having a recipe
    for Gyoza.  Couldn't keep from laughing!  It's refreshing to
    see in a way.  Buy a Honda, eat some Gyoza, it's the American
    way ;-}

    Purity Supreme (Nashua) has premade Rav's that they keep in the
    frozen section. They're great! You just boil them, then pan fry
    them. The dipping sauce is tricky to make, but I'm making progress!
    
    My wife has made them from "scratch" in the past, and she would
    make the dough herself since the store bought wrappers are too
    thin, and the rav's come apart in the frypan or wok.
    
    mike

    
      My favorite dipping sauce for rav's is really easy. Here's how
    I make it.
    
    	Mix equal amounts of soy sauce and chinese black vinegar
        If you don't have the black use cider vinegar.
        <I normally use 1/2c of each>
    
    	Add one finely minced green onion
    	    one tbsp finely minced fresh ginger
    	    a couple of dashes of sesame oil and hot oil
    
    	Mix everything well and serve.
    
     I think it tastes better after a day or two aging in the refrigerator.
    That's why I make so much at a time.
    
    	-mike
         
    

    .9 has it exactly, great sauce.  You might also try heating it
    [but only on low heat] to help mix the different flavors
    of green onion and ginger.

    Have fun!

    I was in a Japanese restaurant and they used ginger sauce for dipping.
    It's kinda like soy sauce, except it's gingery (well, you know...)
    I got some at the chinese grocers on Rte 9 in Framingham (next to
    Rock a Mania?), and it was perfect for the raviolis.  They also
    have peking raviolis in their frozen section, but I thought they
    were rather over priced, that's why I wanted to make my own.

    

    My recipe for Rav sauce is a little different. I'm still adjusting
    the amounts:
    
    Chenkiang vinegar
    Water
    Light Soy Sauce
    Hot Oil
    Sesame Oil
    Small amount of sugar
    Fresh grated garlic
    Fresh grated ginger root
    
    Mix together and let it "ferment" a while before using. 
    
    mike
    

    
    
    re: .9 and .10
    
    Could you replace the soy sauce and fresh ginger with a ginger
    soy sauce?
    
    Also, Joyce Chen on route 2A/119 in Acton carries delicious
    frozen ravioli.
    
    Carole
    

    
    	Realistically, yes, you can, but it goes against
    	cultural morals.  8-}
    
    	Sharon, the place you are referring to is called Ichi Ban.
    	It is above Tropic Isle pet store off Route 9 as you mentioned.
    	They carry a very large variety of general Oriental items,
    	but is a bit far from Boston, where I live now, so i go to
    	Roka on Newbury Street.  HUGE selection of every item i've
    	seen while in Japan and very authentic.  Both Ichi Ban and
    	Roka have take out sushi and Roka has take out cooked foods
    	in addition.  Ichi Ban in itself is overpriced.  Gyoza come
    	to about a dime a piece of if you make them yourself where
    	you'll pay about $4.50 in a restaurant for only 6-8 of them.
    	Mine come out a little more, but I chop my own pork loins
    	so it costs a little more, but is worth it for less fat.
    	
	Aside:  Ichi Ban have family connections with Kiku in
    		Maynard.

    	Itadakimasu! [Let's eat!]
    
    	

    I don't think Ichiban is connected with the Japanese restaurant
    in Maynard, unless maybe peripherally, since I think Kiku is run
    by a Japanese family.  Ichiban is run by a Taiwanese family (Tsai),
    and nearly everyone you see working in there is related somehow
    - the sushi maker is Jerry, the son of the owners (now that the
    Japanese sushi chef they had for a while has gone back to Tokyo
    - Jerry went to chef school in Tokyo).  Despite this, Ichiban stocks
    more Japanese than Chinese stuff, and while I go into there fairly
    often since it closer than Chinatown to where I live and because
    I like the Tsai family a lot, I still go into Boston when I need
    stuff they don't carry - have to go in this weekend, in fact.
                                                                 

    
      rep .13
    
      Yes you can replace the soy sauce with ginger soy sauce but I
     like my sauce with a really strong ginger flavor. I normally go
     very heavy on the ginger!!! Also you can use ketap ajam <sp?>
     which is a slightly sweet Indonesian soy sauce which makes a
     very good dipping sauce for rav's and dumplings of all kinds.
     You would use the same recipe as in .9
    
      Has anybody out there had Nems??? Which are a Vietnamese version
     of a spring roll made with a rice paper wrapper and stuffed with
     ground pork, crab, veggies, and bean thread noodles. They are deep
     fried and then wrapped in a lettuce leave with bean sprouts and
     cucumber slices. This dipping sauce goes great with them. If anybody
     is interested I'll post the recipe. 
                  
    
    	-mike

The most important thing for good homemade ravs is to make the wrappers from
scratch.  The wrappers you can get in the store, whether called wonton wrappers
or gyozu wrappers, are not adequate.  They are too thin and the dough is too
stiff.  Fortunately, pot sticker wrappers are easy to make.  The ingredients
are flour, boiling water, and cold water.  It is the boiling water that
partially cooks the gluten and starch in the flour and results in the proper
sticky, elastic texture.

I think the previous note on this subject has the recipe for the skins.

--PSW

For the skins, I make a dough with 2 cups of flour and enough room temperature
water to make it stick, but not sticky.  Since I'm half yuppie (cuisinart, but
no bmw), I mix the dough in my cuisinart.  When mixed, I cut the dough up into
five or six balls, and put them in plastic.  I roll out each ball to thickness
4 on my atlas pasta machine.  Then I cut out disks using a 3 inch round cookie
cutter.  Save all the trimmings and roll them out in the machine, until you 
use up all the dough.

I found a great little press for making the ravs that saves me lots of time (I
have great big fingers and never could fold and seal the things properly).  I
have seen these plastic presses in lots of places including the standard
cookware catalogs.  I put the dough circle on the press, place a tablespoon of
filling on it, moisten the edge and fold the press.  Since a bit of dough
squeezes out the hinge side of the press, removing that bit of dough makes
removing the finished dumpling MUCH easier. 

I always freeze the dumplings on a tray, and then package together in a bag 
when frozen.  To cook, I heat a silverstone skillet, add a couple of 
tablespoons of what ever stir frying oil (usually safflower), and place the 
dumplings in the pan.  After frying a bit, I add water to cover by half, then 
cover the pan and boil for 15 minutes.  Then, uncover the pan and allow the 
water to evaporate.  Let the dumplings fry a bit more to brown the bottoms.

For the filling, I use a whole pork tenderloin that is trimmed of every last 
bit of fat.  I pass this thru a meat grinder twice with 2 cloves of garlic, 2 
green onions, and a 1 inch cube of ginger.  Then I add an egg, and about 2 
tablespoons each of soy and dry sherry.  As much as I hate lots of salt, I 
usually find the mix needs some extra salt to balance the meat and herb 
flavors.  Without it, the garlic and onion overpower all else.  

The dipping sauce I use has 1 green onion minced, with about 4 tablespoons 
each soy and rice vinegar.  Then chili oil is whisked in to taste.  Whisking 
causes the oil to blend better, and results in a thicker sauce that clings 
to the dumpling.

						     
							- JP

RE: ripping ravs while filling the skins

If you make the dough up fresh, it is very soft and elastic.  It is almost
impossible to rip it, unless you try to use too much filling for the size of
the wrapper.  Store-bought wonton or gyoza skins, on the other hand, are fairly
easy to rip.

Also, you don't need all the yuppie gadgets to make the skins from scratch.
There is enough water in the dough that it is very easy to knead (the biggest
problem is that it is quite sticky).  It also rolls out pretty easily.  I
just divide the dough lump into the proper number of equal-sized pieces (my
recipe makes 40 at a time), then roll them out to about 3", more or less
circular, with a 1" dowel (easier for this purpose than a rolling pin).

--PSW

Paul speaks the truth.  You don't need the yuppie-isms.  However, with the 
gadjets, it takes me about an hour to prep around 50 ravs (including cleanup).  
Without the gadjets, it takes me about an hour and a half to go to Joyce Chens 
and buy the frozen ones.

						     I'm spoiled
							- JP

    I tried a dipping sauce invention, as I am trying to duplicate one I
    ran into in a Tibetan/Nepalese resturant in Denver.  I mushed up a few
    ripe apricots, added a bit of soy sauce and some ground ginger (I
    didn't have any fresh in the house)  It came out pretty close, but I
    still don't quite have it right.  Anyone have an idea for what goes
    into this sauce.  It was a frut-type vase, orangy, not sweet, and salty
    tasting.
    
    My filling last night:
    
    Pound of ground turkey
    three large cloves of garlic
    1/2 large yellow onion
    3 carrots
    maybe a couple of teaspoons of ginger (did I mention that I like
    ginger?)
    a sprinkle of dried chives, as I had no fresh green stuff.
    tablespoon of soysauce
    One bundle(?) of bean threads.  Our packages here come 4 bundles to a
    bag)
    
    Chopped the carrots someplace between dice and mince
    Same with the onions and garlic
    Soaked the hair needles in hot water and then cut them into really
    short pieces.
    
    mixed in the turkey and used Gyoza skins as I had them handy.  
    
    Steamed for 25 minutes, they sort of stuck together, but the flavor was
    outrageous.  Even my oriental-food hating daughter scarfed these down,
    and was not happy when they were all gone.  
    
    Now if anyone has a hint on that dipping sauce.......
    
    meg