Chinese Wonton soup

I don't find that stories of my childhood relating to food are as extravagant as other cooks. I am honored to stem from a traditional southern family and specifically my great grandmother who was an awesome cook. Other then that, my most vivid memory relating to food was constantly craving Chinese. When my father asked where I wanted to eat on my birthdays or other random occasions I always replied enthusiastically "Chinese food!" I was satisfied with a cheap Americanized buffet of egg rolls, fried rice, cashew chicken...and especially Wonton Soup. However, we sometimes went to substantially nice sit down restaurants in the heart of Arlington, Texas that made awesome Wonton Soup. I was lucky enough to go back a couple of years ago to the same restaurant and eat the same wonton soup. They make it just as delicious. So simple, the broth producing clean flavors, the wontons stuffed with delicious pork.

When my mother moved me to Denver for a year in high school there was a restaurant on Broadway called 'Imperial', just right by my house. I would constantly order take out, even if it was just there shrimp wonton soup that I found amazing and like nothing I've eaten.

I started cooking wonton soup a few years ago. My view is that it is a gourmet peasants dish: meaning it is cheap, easy to make, but fit for a king. Gourmet has a wonderful wonton soup recipe w/boy choy: Here.
I still use this recipe as a guideline though I have it in memory. When I cooked it a few days ago I used the broth I had left over from steaming the duck in my previous post. The recipe is fairly simple but maybe a little time consuming if you aren't used to making wontons. I've actually heard someone say that this was just too much work for a soup, which almost offends me because any soup that takes less then an hour is probably not worth its salt. It is also so easy to experiment with the stuffing in the wontons. I have used chunks of shrimp or prawns before instead of ground pork.

A word about the ingredients: You should be able to find wonton wrappers in your local supermarket. I have not yet been adventurous enough to make my own, but maybe one day. I also found bok choy in my very small rural supermarket. This is literally a Chinese cabbage. It was studied by the Ming dynasty for its medicinal qualities. The Koreans picked it up and started using it as a main ingredient in kimchi. It adds a needed crisp texture to soups, but be careful because after a day of being cooked it is very soggy and chewy.

Crispy duck

More fried goodness!!!! I was stoked to learn that my local butcher carried duck. It is only shipped from somewhere else, frozen, but you can't ask for the whole world in rural Utah. I have done this recipe twice now, and I must say it is completely delicious but I kind of a pain in the but....kinda.

I took a day trip to the town over and went to a small little Oriental store. I stocked up on soy sauce, red bean paste, eel sauce, egg noodles...the list goes on. Most exciting of all, I treated myself to a new Wok! Along with the crispy duck I served fried rice from my new beauty, which did not make a final photo shoot because we were too busy eating it while it was hot.

This recipe is taken from The Food of China by Deh-Ta Hsiung and Nina Simonds. This was an thrift store find, just packed with recipes and beautiful photos.

Crispy Duck:

4-5 lb duck
8 scallions, ends trimmed, smashed with flat cleaver
8 slices ginger, smashed
3 T rice wine vinegar
2 T salt
2 t sichuan peppercorns
1 star anise, smashed
2 T soy sauce
1 C corn starch
oil for deep frying (I used part peanut oil part vegie oil)
condiment of choice such as hoisin sauce (I used Eal sauce and it was delicious)

Combine scallions, ginger, rice wine, salt, peppercorns, and star anise. Rub all over duck and let the duck sit face down into the marinade in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour, but I let sit overnight. Put the duck into a steamer and let it steam over simmering water for 1 1/2 hours or until it reaches 160 degrees. I used a stock pot that has a separate steaming basket to place the duck in. You might have to add more water in the process.

Remove the duck and let it cool. Rub the corn starch all over the duck, pressing firmly into the skin. Let the duck dry for a couple of hours uncovered in the fridge.

Fill a wok or large pot 1/4 full of oil. Heat the oil to 350-375 degrees then lower duck into. Ladle oil onto the top of duck and flip the duck over when the bottom is getting golden and crispy. Drain the duck onto a plate, serve with condiment and in my case fried rice.

Veggies for my fried rice

Dak Kang Jung

Despite my self-lessons in the french language and memoir on top of memoir of Paris, I've been kinda obsessed with Asian cuisine lately. Well, I shouldn't say lately, because I've always been a little obsessed and find myself cooking and craving various regions constantly.

A close friend of mine, who happens to be part Korean, made this dish for my son's 2nd birthday party when I invited friends and family to a potluck in his honor. It was a major hit, and though very rich and almost too intense I couldn't stop eating. She had fried some chicken and tossed it in some kind of delicious sweet soy sauce. This opened my horizons of fried chicken, since being from the south I've never known it much other way then being fried and served with gravy and mash potatoes.

The first few times I made this at home I followed my friend's simple directions: fry some chicken (dipping in milk + egg then dredging in flour with some spices), then bringing part soy sauce part brown sugar to a simmer until it reduces and becomes very thick. After that you of course put the chicken right into the sauce so it is heavenly coated.

Just two weeks ago I stumbled across a new food blog (new to me), Notions & Notations of a Novice Cook, that escalated dak-kang jung even further. The dish is still so simple to make and yields amazing flavors. You can find her recipe at the link provided. I made a few simple changed, such as a little more brown sugar and soy sauce to the sauce recipe. I also served it on top of jasmine rice which is a nice balance to all the sauce.