Mom's Crab Rangoon and My Wonton Wrapped Shrimp

The bf loves crab rangoons (aka crab cheese wontons). You can only imagine his excitement when my mom made them for my friend's baby shower. He ate three dozen. He told me to get my mom's recipe since her wontons were better than the ones served in restaurants.

I called my mom and asked for her "recipe." She told me the ingredients. Her secret ingredient is Knorr chicken bouillon powder. She also adds frozen peas or frozen mixed vegetables to the filling.

I made the platter above to take over to dinner at a friend's house. It was a dinner for four.

Mom’s Crab Rangoons (Crab Cheese Wontons)

1 package 8 ounce cream cheese
2 stalks green onions, finely diced
3 sticks imitation crab meat, finely diced
½ cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
freshly ground pepper
1 package square wonton wrappers

1. Mix cream cheese, green onions, crab meat, peas, bouillon powder and ground pepper.

2. Fill wonton wrappers and shape. I use water to seal the edges. (I'm not wrapping them the same way they do it in the restaurant. My mom doesn't either. She says it is a pain. I make them more like tortellinis.)

3. Freeze them and then fry. (I don't know why but I always like to freeze my wontons and egg rolls before frying them.)

Place a spoonful of filling in the center (or off-center like me) and fold to form a triangle. Bring the two tips of th folded end together.

I also left a few as triangles to store in the freezer. I took the rest over to dinner at a friend's house. She also loves crab rangoons.

I think they look like little pudgy pokemon puffs.

And now the Wonton Wrapped Shrimp.

This is really not a recipe. One of my classmates in middle school showed me a very simple way to cook shrimp. We used small egg roll wrappers instead of wonton wrappers but I think both wrappers work well.

What you need:
Shrimp
Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce
Wonton or small egg roll wrappers

Method:
Peel and devein shrimp but leave the tails on.
Dip shrimp in Mae Ploy sauce and coat well.
Wrap the shrimp.
Fry.

I told you it was easy.

Yunnanese Khao Soi

This is not the more popular Chiang Mai style khao soi noodles – egg noodles in a curry sauce. This is the khao soi version that I grew up eating. Chiang Mai khao soi is said to have originated from versions from the Shan region of Burma and the Yunnan region of China. Learn more about the Khao Soi here.

Since my family is from Yunnan, I grew up eating this version. Unfortunately, I do not have a recipe. I’ve been meaning to learn from my aunt or grandma but haven’t gotten around to it.

The meat sauce is the base for the soup. It can last for months in the refrigerator or freezer. I'm not sure why the sauce doesn't go bad. Maybe because the liquid is completely removed during the cooking process or because the meat is suspended in oil or because of the special preservation properties of the fermented soy beans.

Khao Soi is a quick and delicious weeknight meal. I combine boiled rice noodles, boiling water, shredded cabbage, green onions, coriander leaves, soy sauce, fish sauce and a heaping spoonful of the meat sauce.

The sauce is usually made with pork but because I decided to stop eating red meat, my brother decided to stop eating pork and my sister decided to stop eating meat entirely, my grandmother made a ground chicken version of the sauce and even made a vegetarian version using chopped up mushrooms.

The sauce is made with ground pork, tomatoes, fermented soy beans, dried red chilies and a lot of oil. I think the key is to have really good fermented soy beans. Fermented soy beans is a real project that I have never attempted. I get jars of it from my grandmother or aunt.

This is the meat sauce. It is packed with tons of flavor.

You put all the ingredients in the bowl and then add the boiling water. I usually use green cabbage but the store was out so I bought the red cabbage instead.

I usually do my blog cooking during the weekends but this weekend was a bit hectic. On Saturday we went to Rockies Fest. The bf happened to score some tickets to this event. The event was awesome. I've seen a lot of Coors Field but with these tickets, we had access to rooms that even the media are not allowed to enter. I got tons of autographs. I even got Clint Barmes to autograph my baseball in red ink. (I was coached on the importance of color and placement of autographs.)

The diamond is covered in snow.

Todd Helton's stuff in the Rockies' Club House.

Tulo's stuff.

Ryan Spilborghs, answering a question during the interview session. One of my coworkers (who was part of the 2004 Olympic team) went to school with him at UC Santa Barbara. I really love the Rockies club. The guys are all very down to earth and they all seem to get along. I think my new favorite player is Dexter Fowler.

I took more pictures of more players, the batting cage, the umpire's area, the museum, the massage room and even the urinals in the visiting team's club house. Those pictures will be uploaded on my picasa page.

Chicken Posole

I'm only posting pictures tonight. I was almost done typing up the recipe when Word froze on me. I suppose it's fair since I'm running Microsoft Office on a Mac. I'm surprised Outlook works so well on my phone, considering it is an Apple product, when my sister had a hell of a time getting Google Apps to work on her iphone. (Her work uses Google.)

I had to do a Command+Option+Escape and although it did auto recover my documents, it didn't save the recipe I just typed up. When I'm working up a new recipe, I usually will sit down and write the ingredients down on a piece of paper. I will then write the amounts I use and notes on my method as I cook. I have the "recipe" scribbled on a piece of paper. I just need to type it up.

**Edit** 1/19/2010
I finally got around to retyping the recipe after that catastrophic Microsoft crash.

Chicken Posole

1 3 to 4 pound chicken (cut up) or bone in thighs, breasts or drumsticks
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 pound frozen posole, rinsed well
8-15 dried chiles (New Mexico or Guajillos), stems and seed removed
½ teaspoon Mexican oregano
½ teaspoon cumin
salt
pepper

Typical Garnishes:
Sliced cabbage
Sliced radishes
Cilantro
Sliced green onions
Diced avocados
Cheese
Lime wedges
Reserved chile puree

1. Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken pieces and brown. If using skinless chicken, coat the bottom of dutch oven with oil or lard before browning.

2. Add onions and garlic and cook a few minutes until onions are translucent. Add bay leaves. Cover with water, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer about an hour or until chicken is cooked. (Breasts will take less time than thighs and drums.)

3. Meanwhile, bring rinsed posole and water to a boil and cook 1 to 2 hours, or until soft. Strain and set aside.

4. Toast chiles under broiler. (Be very careful because it literally takes seconds. Some people like to toast them in a cast iron skillet but I find the broiler easier.) Once chiles are toasted, place them in a saucepan and cover with water. Cover pan with lid and simmer about 20 minutes. Leave the lid on and allow the chiles to cool. Once chiles are cool enough, pour chiles and liquid in a blender and puree. Strain the puree to remove seeds and skins. Set aside.

5. Once chicken is cooked, remove from broth, allow to cool and shred. Set shredded chicken aside. Strain the broth to remove onions and garlic. (This step is not necessary and most people leave the onions and garlic but I felt like removing them. Sometimes I will puree the onions and garlic with the chiles but I wanted a pure chile puree.)

6. Bring strained broth back to a boil; add cooked posole and shredded chicken. Season with Mexican oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Add about half to three quarters of the chile puree, depending on the level of spiciness you desire. Save the rest of the puree to add when serving.

7. Garnish with toppings.

Dried chiles from my two potted Big Jim plants.

Rinse and boil the posole.

Toast, boil, puree and strain chiles.

Remove cooked chicken and then strain broth. Return strained broth to a boil and then add shredded chicken, cooked posole and half of the chile puree. (I wasn't sure how spicy my chiles were so I only added half. I ended adding more chile puree to my bowl because the puree was pretty mild.)


Garnish and eat. I only garnished with cabbage, cilantro and green onions. I don't like radishes and I wasn't interested in the other topping options.

Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies

The recipe for the Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies used to be posted on the Top Secret Recipes Site. I think it is still available but for a fee. I looked through my recipe book and I found a print out from November 2000. I also found a printout of the Neiman Marcus recipe from around the same time. (The Neiman Marcus recipe is posted below.)

I used to make these cookies with See’s semi-sweet chocolate chips. See’s chocolate chips are larger and flatter and back then it was the only readily available baking chips of this shape and size. The chips are dark, almost black and taste just as wonderful as See’s chocolates. I just discovered that Guittard supplies the chocolate for See’s.

Unfortunately, in Colorado, See’s cannot be found in every mall like in California. We do have a See’s distribution store but it means I have to intentionally drive there and right now they are in the process of moving. A coworker went over to the shop before Christmas and they were out of certain items because they were moving into their new store. I wasn’t sure if the chips would be in stock so I didn’t make the trip. I think both Doubletree and Neiman Marcus use plain ole semisweet chocolate chips. You can be fancy and use the good stuff if you desire. I’m using semi-sweet chocolate chunks and 60% dark chocolate chips.

It had been so long since I made these cookies that I decided to make both the Doubletree and the Neiman Marcus cookies at the same time to compare them. Which one do I like? They are both really good. The Neiman Marcus cookies bake up really nicely. I love the shape. They look almost like the Keebler Soft Batch cookies. The Doubletree cookies, because of the ground oatmeal, have a very nice taste and texture.

Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
½ cup rolled oats
2¼ cups all purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla
½ teaspoon lemon juice
2 eggs
3 cups semi-sweet, chocolate chips
1½ cups chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine. Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

3. Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in another medium bowl with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix until smooth.

4. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are well blended.

5. Spoon rounded 1 ¼ cup portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the scoops about 2 inches apart. You don’t need to press the dough flat. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle. Store in a sealed container when cool to keep soft.

For the best results, chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator before baking the cookies.

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’m sure everyone has heard the myth behind this cookie recipe and the Mrs. Fields cookie recipe so I won't repeat it. If you haven't heard it, google "Urban Legend Cookie" and you can read it on one of the numerous sites. There are several versions of this recipe on the internet. Some of these recipes that claim to be the secret Neiman Marcus recipe is actually the Mrs. Fields urban legend cookie recipe. I’m posting the actual Neiman Marcus recipe. This recipe is the real deal. It can be found posted on the Neiman Marcus website.

I baked these cookies the same time I baked the Doubletree cookie. I will do a separate post on the Doubletree cookie.

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder (I used plain ole Folger's crystals)
1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used chocolate chunks)


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy (approximately 30 seconds)

2. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.

3. In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.

4. Using a 1 ounce scoop or a 2 tablespoon measure, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into a 2 inch circle. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Nam Khao Tod (Laotian Fried Rice Ball Salad)

A lot of the food I grew up eating is a mix of different Asian dishes from different regions in Asia. This particular dish is from Laos. When I was home during Christmas, we stopped by the Laotian food plaza and my sister ordered some Nam Khao Tod. I haven’t had this in years.

I remember making this dish with my aunt when I was very young. It was something that my family made every once in a while but since it was easier to order from a Laotian restaurant, we seldom made it ourselves. Sometimes I will go to a party and the host will serve trays of nam khao ordered from a restaurant. (I also love the trays of banh cuon that are also usually ordered for these events.)

A lot of Laotian food is a little too pungent for me but I do enjoy most of the dishes. The problem is I can never make it as tasty as my Laotian friends. The sour pork sausages in this dish can be a bit overwhelming for many Western palates. I didn’t tell the bf that the chewy noodle-like strands were boiled and sliced pork skin. (He is still alive and well.)

I’ve never made som moo sausages (soured pork) before because we always bought it from the store. If you’re lucky enough and live in a large city, you might be able to find it at your local Asian grocery store. If you can’t find the sausage and want to make your own, I think there is a mix sold by Lobo called Nam powder mix.

The Lao Cook website has video on their site with pretty detailed instructions. It doesn’t look like they used the powdered mix so I suppose it is possible to make it using natural fermentation. I’ve never tried this and am quite leery since it requires fermenting raw meat. The sour sausages I am using are from my aunt. I visited her last week and she gave me several varieties of homemade sausages. (She just bought a new meat grinder and sausage stuffer contraption.)

I have the sausage so it must not be very difficult to make the other components of this dish. Well not exactly. Unlike other Asian recipes, Laotian recipes are very difficult to find. I searched for recipes but mainly found blogs about people ordering this dish from a Laotian restaurant and are now searching for a recipe. One of the blogs I found featured Lao Champa restaurant in Oakland, California. I have eaten at this restaurant. My sister took the family there when we went to her graduation. Our server was one of her classmates. I remember it being very good but still the site did not have a recipe. I looked to Joy's Thai food site (because she usually makes both Thai and Thai Isaan recipes) for guidance and although she does have a recipe, it was very vague.

How difficult can this be? I know most Asian recipes are not measured using exact quantities so it should be very forgiving. In preparation for this recipe, I wrote down the ingredients I thought I needed and then I filled in the measurements as I cooked. I was working from the memory of my one and only experience making this and my memory of the tastes and textures of this dish. I tried my best to cook this, jot everything down and to photograph the steps. I wish I had a few extra sets of hands in the kitchen. It turned out very well. I am quite satisfied. Feel free to enlighten me if I failed to execute a crucial step or if I leave out a vital ingredient.

Rice balls:
3 ½ cups Jasmine rice
½ cups grated coconut
1 pound ground pork, chicken or turkey
2 eggs
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
MSG, to taste
Fish sauce, to taste
1 tablespoon sugar
Oil for frying

For the salad (Quantities are for one serving of three rice balls.)
¼ cup peanuts (use the raw, skin-on peanuts and toast them yourself)
1 stalk green onion, thinly sliced
5 sprigs coriander leaves, finely chopped
½ length (about 3 tablespoons) Som Moo (sour pork sausages), torn into small pieces
1 tablespoon fried shallots (I used the fried shallots sold in a little canister.)
juice from a wedge of lime

To serve:
Green leaf lettuce
Dried chili peppers, fried
lime wedges
coriander leaves

Mise en place:

1. Cook rice in rice cooker and allow to slightly cool.

2. Grate the coconut (if using fresh coconut). I used frozen grated coconut because it is much easier and for this recipe, the frozen stuff is fine. I just grated a fresh coconut yesterday but I’m saving it for a different recipe. Someone told me that they even made this with Baker’s sweetened coconut and it tasted fine. I think the recipe will also work with the unsweetened shredded coconut I use for coconut cupcakes.

3. Toast, peel and chop the peanuts. You will need about one to two cups for the entire batch. Raw peanuts can be found at Asian grocery stores. It will be labeled either “raw peanuts” or “red peanuts.” My mom used to toast the peanuts in a small frying pan but I find it easier in the oven. Once the peanuts are toasted, allow them to cool and then skin them by rubbing the peanuts between your fingers. I used to do this is the backyard. After rubbing the skins of the peanuts, I would blow the skins off the tray to get rid of them and leave only the heavier skinless peanuts. At this point, I would use a mortar and pestle to crush the peanuts but I don’t have one so I chopped them up with a knife.

Directions:

1. Mix together the cooked jasmine rice, grated coconut, ground meat, eggs, salt, pepper, MSG, fish sauce and sugar

2. Firmly pack the rice mixture into balls about 2 inches in diameter. (I actually make my “balls” into flat saucers in order to increase the surface area for frying. This way, I get more crunchy crust pieces.)

3. Working in batches, fry balls until dark golden brown in color.

4. When all rice balls are fried, toss in a few dried red chilies into the oil and fry for a few seconds, until fragrant. (I never eat the chilies so I omitted them.)

To assemble salad (You can mix up the entire batch or assemble serving size portions. The quantities above are for assembling a serving size portion of three rice balls.)

1. When balls are cool enough to handle, break the balls into smaller pieces.

2. Add chopped peanuts, green onions, coriander leaves, sour pork sausages, fried shallots and lime juice. Mix well.

3. Serve with lettuce, additional lime wedges and fried chili peppers.

Mom's Prawns

I never buy prawns to cook at my own home. The only time I eat it is when I'm with my family. We either order it at Chinese restaurants or cook it at my parent's home. We had a few unexpected guests show up at the house so my mom defrosted some prawns and quickly put this dish together.

The bf was in charge of snipping off the whiskers but I think the beady eyes spooked him out so he ended up cutting off part of the prawn's face. We usually cook these prawns with their heads on. The entire prawn, including shell and head, are eaten.

2 pounds prawns, rinsed (leave the heads and the shells)
oil for deep frying
6 green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
salt
MSG
freshly ground pepper
sliced jalapenos (optional)

1. Heat oil for deep frying. Deep fry prawns about 30 seconds. Drain.
2. In a wok, heat oil and add green onions, prawns, salt, MSG and freshly ground pepper. Stir everything together about another 30 seconds and serve. Garnish with sliced jalapenos if desired.

My sister wanted these fresh rice noodles so we made some. They are sort of a pain to make since everything is rolled and cut by hand. The noodles are made with rice flour and tapioca flour.

Mom also made a quick vegetarian "pad thai." I think they were a little too yellow but they were still very yummy.

This was the best pineapple ever. It was sweet and juicy.