Exploring Asian Cuisines Cooking with TDSB Learn4Life Seniors...

I have been MIA, but certainly not inactive. New year came with a roarin' start particular on the home front- we are planning to move! Decluttering, disposing, donating all came with the territory. Although it's been tiring, it feels good to shed the old and the unused. You'd be surprised how much it naturally helps unclutter the chaos of the mind. Having less means less things to be responsible for and thinking about. I have been gravitating towards minimalism and I hope with our eventual new home, it will embody that 'less is best' philosophy. 

I truly can't believe how fast time flew... My first program of 2020- Asian cooking classes with seniors with mostly familiar faces and some new, we've already had four go by 👩‍🍳👨‍🍳, exploring home-style cooking from Vietnam, China, Korea and Japan.

To kick-start the first session of the year, Vietnamese chicken noodle soup! It's one of the simplest and most subtle flavour of the many variety of Vietnamese noodle soup bowls out there-- think hours-to-make beef pho and rich, pungent spicy beef noodles (bún bò huế) with pork blood cubes and feet.

Chicken legs cook in an hour to make the broth, meat shredded, protein doubled with sliced egg crepe atop vermicelli rice noodles garnished with green onions, cilantro, red chiles and doused with fish sauce and fresh lime juice. Winter comfort soup meal right there 🍜.

Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

Noodles were accompanied by these tasty pan-fried beancurd shrimp and pork mousse rolls which are popular for Chinese dim sum. I added red chilis for colour and a bit of heat and water chestnuts for crunch. Macerating in the blender breaks down the shrimp and creates a springy mousse texture. Adding ground meat help extend the meatiness however, substitute the meat with shrimps and make it a pure ultimate shrimp mousse roll. The taste will be light and airier.

Served these delectables at Chinese New Year

Pan-Fried Beancurd Shrimp and Pork Mousse Rolls
Makes 12 rolls (with about 1-1/2 cups mixture)

400 g shrimps, shelled and deveined, salted and rinsed well with cold water until clear
1/4 lb. to 1/2 lb. lean ground pork or chicken
2 shallots, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp. tapioca flour dissolved in 2 Tbsp. water
1 egg white, yolk reserved for another use
1 long red chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped water chestnuts
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 tsp. white or black ground pepper
Dashes of fish sauce
1 pkg. beancurd sheets
2 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbsp. water
Thai chili plum sauce to serve

Pat the shrimps dry with paper towel and place in a food processor with pork. Add the shallots and garlic; process to a smooth, shiny paste.

Add tapioca paste and egg white to the mixture while motor is still running and process to incorporate all the ingredients. Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in the chili, wagter chestnuts, salt, pepper and fish sauce.

Prepare the beancurd sheets by cutting into twelve 8“ x 8” pieces for wrapping. Place ~ 2 Tbsp. of filling on the bottom of the skin into a flat log. Fold up to encase the filling and fold in the sides. Dip your index finger in the cornstarch mixture and run it across the top seam of the sheet; tuck the filling in the wrap with the top of your fingers and roll up to seal. NOTE: Sheets dry out easily; keep in package or place damp towel over sheets while using.

Heat 2 Tbsp. of oil in a large pan over medium heat, pan fry both sides with the seam side down first until golden brown about four minutes each until cooked through. Sprinkle a little water half way through to slightly steam and to prevent a tough and chewy skin. Drain the rolls on a paper towel-lined plate to soak up any excess oil. Serve with chili plum sauce.

Dumplings 101

It's all in the magic flip ✨... what a little potato starch and water can do to dumplings.

During Chinese New Year, it is custom to eat dumplings- lots of it 🥟🥟🥟! The more you eat the more money it's suppose to bring for you in this year of the rat. The more pleats you make on the dumplings, the more fortune is sealed in for you. Bring It On... 💥.

My cooking class had everyone hands-on filling, wrapping and pleating. We made a pork, ginger and cilantro version in two styles- pan-fried and the main attraction, GYoZas- crispy bottoms with steamed tops in an attached circular fan shape #dumplingart. Paired with a hot and sour soup, it was a delicious dumpling and soup kind of day 🥟🥣🤗!

Crispy gyoza-style dumplings- steamed tops, crispy bottoms.

WoWZers!!!

Into Korea the following week...

Beautiful blistered shishito babies... all you need is a sprinkle of salt and a hot grill pan for these sweet shrivelly peppers. And a skewer to pierce all over first or else they'll pop 💥. Like my son says "gulping gorgeous 🤤!" 

Served in or alongside Korean Pork Belly Kimchi Stir Fry with steamed rice and lettuce parcels, pan fried tofu, kimchi and other panchan (appetizer sides) we got a hearty lunch to comfort us on this cold day ❄!

Shishito peppers are sweet but spicy at the tops where the seeds gather. Fun Fact: Did you know there could be a random 1 or 2 hot ones in every batch?

Love that lone yellow one 💛💚💚

Pork belly and kimchi lettuce parcels... YUMMERS!

The building blocks of good Miso Soup

I love the simplicity of Japanese miso soup. There are as many types of miso soup as there are households in Japan-- a recipe that offers a different taste developed over many years in each family 🥣.

The building blocks of a good miso soup relies on dashi (basic stock) and miso paste. My dashi is made from a combo of kelp and bonito flakes, then I add small diced tofu, wakame seaweed, swirl in red miso (saltier and more umami than lighter coloured) and thinly sliced green onions. Miso paste was also combined with tahini sesame paste, mirin and sugar for a dressing on a green beans side western-style (yoshoku) with sesame seeds. Miso is great for braising, marinating, roasting vegetables, sauces and glazes.

To warm us up even more on this cold day, we also made a hearty skillet simmered beef and tofu. More tofu 🤗. This satisfying recipe features a richly flavoured beef and onion topping nestled in soft tofu with earthy shiitake mushrooms. The delicious light sweet and savoury sauce combining sugar, soy sauce and mirin/sake is a definitive characteristic of home-style Japanese cuisine. Served over hot rice, the beautiful flavours are soaked up and instantly becomes more irresistible and full-filling with each bite. Itadakimasu 🍲🥄🍚🍶🌸.

Japanese Home-Style Simmered Beef and Tofu

That's what it's all about in this Seniors' Centre Community Kitchen... Cooking...

And Eating Together... 💞

I have so much more goodness on the go.... will collate and share on my next post. 

In between goals, there is a thing called life that has to be lived and enjoyed. -- Sid Cesar. 

Be still to savour the moments 💕. The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear, see and experience. 

Namaste my friends 🙏!

Entering Vietnam Made Fast and Easy With Vietnam-Visa...

With Chinese new year and festive celebrations around the corner, I am thrilled to announce an opportune partnership with Vietnam-visa.com, in one of my dear to heart food and travel countries. If you are like me who loves to travel to eat, make Vietnam your next destination.

A bit of background. My husband is from Sóc Trăng, a province in the Mekong Delta in Southern Vietnam. We were lucky to go visit his family in 2004. While in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital we were delighted by a range of sumptuous, exotic foods, and equally seduced by the chaotic pulse and bustle of everyday life into the steamy nights with bright lights. Other than the amazing and elaborate meals we had at the family table, the best eating experiences were had by hitting the streets. Before sunrise, produce markets swell with people. Women were seen stoking kitchen fires and filling flat baskets with tin steamers and arranging soup or fresh spring roll ingredients; these baskets were then hung on both ends of bamboo poles and hoisted upon their shoulders as they hustle their goods to the flood of passersby. Others set up shop with a simple table, cooking ingredients and equipment surround, serving their offerings to hungry customers who would crowd around make-shift plastic tables to eat. The floating markets on small boats and the electric night markets add to the Vietnamese gastronomical charm. 

The symphony on the streets were alluring in itself from the crack of dawn to the day fading into evening-- the buzz of vehicles, the voices of children and busy commuters, families of five riding on one motorbike, steady-handed bicycle drivers toting live animal cargo, trucks, cars, all zipping, weaving and honking their way down overcrowded no-lane boulevards. The frenetic energy and chaos, and the impromptu seeking of food all day all night in the form of savoury, sweet, spicy, soft or crunchy is right there in the streets of Vietnam.

A valid visa is required for almost citizens of foreign countries to visit Vietnam for any purposes from visiting friends and families to going on a business trip or leisure vacation. Fortunately, it is much easier these days for foreign passport holders to apply for visa to Vietnam as there are three available ways to go about this matter.

i) Applying for visa at Vietnam Embassy (traditional way, visa picked up at Vietnam Embassies) or two ways on-line: ii) apply for Visa on arrival with Vietnam-Visa.com (visa picked up at Vietnam International Airports) or iii) obtain an e-visa. Click on site to read more.

With over 10 years experience, Vietnam-visa.com, officially launched by Vietnam Discovery Travel is the first and premier commercial website providing Vietnam visa on arrival for thousands of international tourists annually. Their website receives over 1000 daily visits and 7200+ Likes on Facebook.

Book your trip with Vietnam-Visa

As lunar new year approaches (this year it is January 28th), Tet is celebrated in Vietnam over three days but was traditionally celebrated for one month. Foods eaten at Tet always include steamed rice cakes known as banh chung (square to symbolize the sky) and banh day (round to symbolize the earth) and are used as offerings to ancestors as well as special gifts to relatives and friends.

Banh chung-- a traditional rice cake on Tet holiday (lunar new year)

If you are interested in discovering a food culture that revels in its own rich traditional ingredients and techniques, as well as blending contrasts of French colonialism and foreign influences, travel to Vietnam and taste the diverse sophisticated flavours yourself. 

Communal eating at the table during dinner is an important meal for the Vietnamese as a chance for family to bond after a long day at work that includes extended members such as grandparents. This is also the time for the old teaching the young ethic standards and social norms, traditional rules and etiquette from ancestors, etc. Food is a leisurely experience that involves grazing among a selection of shared dishes. Family meals are simple but refined, often consisting of a soup, a simmered main meat dish, and a stir-fried vegetable dish all placed at the table with abundant rice. Dipping sauces and condiments are also served to enhance the foods. If any dessert is offered, it is fresh fruit and this could be anything from fresh mangosteen, rambutan to durian (an exotic treat for travellers).

There is much unique moments to experience such as spending down-to-earth time with locals and eating in a homey setting, or on the streets. Entering Vietnam is hassle-free with the improvement of visa documents. Now foreigners can get Vietnam visa on arrival with no inconvenience if they travel by air because all procedures are online before applicants get passports stamped at arrival airport. Immerse yourself in Vietnam's paradise of local traditional meals and street foods with an unforgettable visit. For a deeper culinary experience, book Vietnam Discovery Travel's best-selling food tours at the moment such as Hanoi Cuisine Walk and Street Foods of Hanoi.

A typical traditional Vietnamese family meal

* Last two photo credits goes to Vietnam-Visa.