Ma Lai Zhan Zheng Gao

Day 233: I may not be able to wrap my tongue around the name of these cute little steamed sponge cakes (ma lai zhan zheng gao), but I can certainly sink my teeth into them! Mandy of Souped Up Recipes posted the instructions on YouTube a few days ago, and after inventorying my egg supply, I decided I could probably make it through to the middle of next week if I took only left one in the fridge. Out of respect for Mandy's intellectual property, I will not share the recipe here. You can look up her channel easily enough if you'd like to make these very simple dessert dim sum. You undoubtedly have all the ingredients on hand, and in a mere ten minutes, you will have soft, spongy, sweet cakes similar to madeleines, if not almond-flavoured. However, you could change up the recipe by using almond or lemon extract to replace a portion of the vanilla. To me, the flavour as produced by Mandy's recipe was like a light eggnog. In fact, I think I may add a dash of nutmeg the next time I make them! Ideally, the cakes should have come out with one side raised higher than the other, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but because I did such a thorough job of oiling the tartlet pans, mine rose into domes for the most part. But be warned! Tin tartlet pans are a pain in the neck to wash. Silicone would have given a cleaner release.

Five-Nut Mooncakes

Day 164: "We interrupt our regularly scheduled 'Walk With the Naturalist' programming to bring you this feature on Five-Nut Mooncakes." As opposed to snowskin mooncakes which are a relatively recent development in Asian cuisine, baked mooncakes are the more traditional expression of the pastry. Often filled with sweetened red-bean paste or salted duck egg, there are other fillings which might have greater appeal to the uneducated Western palate. For my first experiment in making them, I have used a "five-nut" or "five-kernel" mix of walnuts, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and a combination of black and white sesame seeds in equal proportions. The filling is sweet and slightly salty, and can be altered to a savoury version with the addition of Sichuan or white pepper as desired. I used honey to sweeten the skins (some recipes call for invert sugar). Other than sneaking pinches of raw filling and raw dough, I have not done a taste-test because the cakes must age for several days in the refrigerator to soften the skins, but these promise to be utterly scrumptious and because they are long on high-protein nuts, could be almost a meal in themselves.

Spring Rolls

Day 154: Friends are becoming accustomed to hearing me say, "Smells like a Chinese restaurant in here." Today's project? Spring rolls! What goes in a spring roll? Let's open the fridge and find out!

We'll start with cloud-ears, absolutely. Something cabbage-y...napa, using both the white and green parts of the leaves. Little green onions, because spring isn't complete without little green onions, and carrots for colour. Meat? Ground pork or char siu (barbecue pork)? Ground pork won the toss. And then to fill out the wrappers and bind it all together, softened rice noodles cut into manageable lengths of 1-2".

Heat oil in a frying pan or deep-fryer to 375 degrees. A cooler temp wouldn't make the spring rolls as crisp. Fry the pork and set it aside. Grate the carrots, slice the mushrooms into "fingernail-paring" strips, chop the white part of the napa up in 1/4" cubes or short slices, finely shred the green part and put it in another bowl to be added last in the cooking. Chop up the LGOs (that's how "little green onions" is denoted on my grocery list). Combine the veg except for the napa greens and stir-fry in a little oil until carrots and napa "white bits" are almost tender, then add the greens and continue frying just until they're wilted. Pour all the ingredients in a big bowl with the softened noodles, add a splash of sesame oil, some soy sauce (regular) and an equal amount of oyster sauce. Stir well to combine and your filling is done. Lay out egg roll wrappers three at a time and roll about 1/4 cup of filling inside each one, starting with the bottom point of the diamond shape. Seal the final point with beaten egg. Make no more than six at a time, and fry them until golden brown and crispy. Drain on a wire rack and serve with your favourite dipping sauce. In this case, I used garlic-infused chili oil and dark soy sauce. Leftovers can be frozen, then thawed and reheated under the broiler, but be careful not to let them burn. Dang, it smells good in here!

It's Greek To Me

Day 145: My cupboards are rapidly filling with containers bearing labels I cannot read at first glance. While I'm not likely to mistake lye water for sesame oil, confusing black vinegar with dark soy sauce could be done if the light was too dim to make out the small-print English. Noodles and mushrooms are self-explanatory, even if the primary instructions for their preparation are incomprehensible, written in Chinese, Japanese and Korean. It's all Greek to me! I've gone as "authentic" as it's possible to go for a Westerner, and I have to say my digestion is grateful for the change from the heavy, starchy foods even if I'm not cooking Chinese every day.