Home-made wrappers envelope a filling of cumin-scented lamb.
I’ve always had utmost respect for the cooks at Chinese restaurants, who huddle over a counter, rolling out perfectly thin circles of dough, one right after another, before crimping them with mind-blogging precision to turn out handmade dumplings quicker than I can take a breath.
But I have even more appreciation for their mad skills now, having tried my hand at making my own dumpling wrappers for the very first time.
Ever since I was a kid making wonton, gyoza and potstickers alongside my mom, we’d always make the filling from scratch, but buy the pre-made wrappers from an Asian market.
With the start of the Lunar New Year this week in yet another pandemic month, I figured now would be as good a time as any to finally check off that box in the annals of dumpling-making.
“Let’s Make Dumplings!” (Ten Speed Press, 2021), of which I received a review copy, proved a perfect resource for that undertaking.
It’s a comic book cookbook — yes, really — by cookbook writer Hugh Amano and illustrator Sarah Becan.
Italian marinara pasta with bread crumbs gets a splash of Vietnamese fish sauce for the win.
My dad probably was never aware of the concept of umami.
All he knew was that a splash of soy sauce imparted a magical touch to so many dishes — from homemade steak sauce to a marinade for prime rib to Thanksgiving gravy.
He’d reach for that bottle of soy sauce instinctively, knowing it would add depth of flavor and a boost of savoriness to most anything it touched.
In much the same way, Vietnamese fish sauce is as indispensable in the kitchen.
If you know the fermented condiment made from black anchovies and salt only from its use in the ubiquitous nuoc cham dipping sauce served alongside so many dishes at Vietnamese restaurants, you know merely a fraction of its uses.
It was written by the East Bay’s Cuong Pham, the former Apple engineer who founded Red Boat Fish Sauce, the game-changing brand that’s beloved by legions of top chefs and home-cooks.
After immigrating to the United States, he hunted high and low for the ultra fragrant, deeply amber fish sauce of his youth. When he couldn’t find any brands here that met his standards, he created his own in 2011, sourcing wild black anchovies off the coast of Vietnam and combining them with nothing but salt in wooden barrels to ferment the age-old way. In doing so, he created a fish sauce celebrated for its purity of flavor with no additives, enhancers, or preservatives.
A dazzling roasted butternut squash dish with a trick for making infused orange oil so easily.
A new Yotam Ottolenghi cookbook is always an occasion to rejoice.
After all, the London restaurateur is a seven-time New York Times best-selling cookbook author.
His latest, “Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love” (Clarkson Potter) of which I received a review copy, was written by him and Noor Murad, head of the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen.
Unlike most of his other cookbooks, which showcased dishes from his acclaimed Nopi and Rovi restaurants, and Ottolenghi delis, this one aims to show you more creative ways to cook from your pantry, fridge and freezer.
That being said, that doesn’t necessarily mean these are recipes that take barely any time or effort to put together. If you know Ottolengthi recipes, you know they often require a number of steps. But in this case, none are especially difficult or laborious. And in many cases, you’ll learn a new tip or technique along the way. Many of the recipes also list handy substitutions or additional ways to use a particular sauce or serve a dish.
Case in point, “Creamy Dreamy Hummus,” which Murad and Ottolenghi provide directions for making with the preferred dried chickpeas, as well as with, yes, canned garbanzos, often considered sacrilege. But, as they note, canned ones can still create a very creamy hummus — provided you first use kitchen towels to gently release their skins, then cook them briefly in water with salt, and a pinch of cumin.
Or take the recipe for “Very Giant Giant Couscous Cake,” a clean-out-the-fridge type of crispy, savory cake made in a pan that can be put together with leftover rice or pearl barley, if you don’t have couscous on hand.
Or the “Skillet Berries, Bread, and Browned Butter” breakfast, brunch or afternoon snack that makes use of half-opened bags of frozen berries, stale bread, and that forgotten container of rolled outs by turning it all into a delicious warm fruit crumble drizzled with cold heavy cream.
With a butternut squash languishing on my countertop for a couple of weeks, I was moved to try my hand at “Butternut Squash with Orange Oil and Caramelized Honey.”
Do yourself a favor: Buy a glazed yeast doughnut. Or two. Pronto.
Now, resist inhaling them in the morning. Instead, save them for the evening.
Then, spend a mere few minutes to transform them into the “Best Dessert in the World.”
That’s what Momofuku’s David Chang calls this uncanny creation.
Given how stupid-simple it is to make and the sheer bliss it provides, I’d have to agree that his multi-named “The Only Dessert I’ll Cook at Home (Doughnuts Cooked in Butter with Ice Cream)” definitely ranks right up there.
It might be best described as the anti-cookbook. Meaning that it’s more like one of those no-recipe cookbooks of late. There are no precise measurements for ingredients. Sometimes, there aren’t even specific ingredients listed. The idea is to trust yourself more, to season to your own personal taste, and to use what’s in your pantry without dashing to the supermarket for obscure items all the time just to make one dish one way all the time.
It’s by Michelle McKenzie, a food writer and professional cook who was formerly the program director and chef at 18 Reasons, a non-profit community cooking school in San Francisco founded by Bi-Rite Market.
This marvelous book will introduce you to 58 ingredients, some familiar and some less so, and show you ingenious ways to use them through more than 260 recipes.
