Introduction
As you may know, I’ve done the recipe for dango before, and in it I included rough instructions on how to make your own variation(s) of the dish. Well, when it comes to deciding the “flavor” for something sweet (ice cream, jello, etc.), one of the absolute best options out there is strawberry. So, I have devised a means for flavoring one’s dango to be, well, strawberry flavored. It’s not too different from the original recipe, so if you’ve done that one, you can probably do this one.
Make this dish when…
Identical to regular dango for the most part.
Don’t make this dish when…
Again, pretty much the same as for regular dango.
2/28/09
Strawberry Dango (continued)
Statistics
Dish Type: Snack
Health Value: This “brand” is fairly healthy, though perhaps a bit starchy.
Serving Size: Like before, it depends a bit
Preparation Difficulty: Fairly easy, once you get the hang of it
Preparation Time: 30-45 minutes, depending on how fast you can get the dough ready
Shelf-Life: A few hours (though this can be slightly extended by keeping the components separate)
Freshness Requirements: Probably best when fresh, but can be refrigerated
Vegetarian/Vegan Concerns: This brand is 100% meat free.
Pre-cooked Edibility: Probably gross and sticky, but shouldn’t really be a problem
What You Need
Ingredients
1. 1 cup Mochiko (Sweet Rice Flour)
2. Water (only for boiling)
3. Strawberry Juice
4. Powdered Sugar (also known as confectioner’s sugar)
Equipment
1. Medium-Large mixing bowl
2. Measuring cup
3. Cutting Board
4. Large pot
5. Plastic Plates (paper will work, but plastic is preferable)
6. Strainer-Spatula/Ladel (the key is the strainer part; you can use almost any kind of strainer if you have to, but the long handle is very useful)
7. Bamboo Skewers (not necessarily required, but they’re the traditional serving style)
A Few Questions Before We Begin…
How many? Well, basically, this recipe works on a “sum of its parts” basis. What you put into the dough, is what you get out of the dough. How many dumplings your dough actually will make wholly depends on how big or small you make your dumplings, but the current recipe will result in around 10-20 dumplings.
Dish Type: Snack
Health Value: This “brand” is fairly healthy, though perhaps a bit starchy.
Serving Size: Like before, it depends a bit
Preparation Difficulty: Fairly easy, once you get the hang of it
Preparation Time: 30-45 minutes, depending on how fast you can get the dough ready
Shelf-Life: A few hours (though this can be slightly extended by keeping the components separate)
Freshness Requirements: Probably best when fresh, but can be refrigerated
Vegetarian/Vegan Concerns: This brand is 100% meat free.
Pre-cooked Edibility: Probably gross and sticky, but shouldn’t really be a problem
What You Need
Ingredients
1. 1 cup Mochiko (Sweet Rice Flour)
2. Water (only for boiling)
3. Strawberry Juice
4. Powdered Sugar (also known as confectioner’s sugar)
Equipment
1. Medium-Large mixing bowl
2. Measuring cup
3. Cutting Board
4. Large pot
5. Plastic Plates (paper will work, but plastic is preferable)
6. Strainer-Spatula/Ladel (the key is the strainer part; you can use almost any kind of strainer if you have to, but the long handle is very useful)
7. Bamboo Skewers (not necessarily required, but they’re the traditional serving style)
A Few Questions Before We Begin…
How many? Well, basically, this recipe works on a “sum of its parts” basis. What you put into the dough, is what you get out of the dough. How many dumplings your dough actually will make wholly depends on how big or small you make your dumplings, but the current recipe will result in around 10-20 dumplings.
Strawberry Dango (continued)
Now On To Business
WARNING: Read through this recipe at least once before cooking!
In comparison to regular dango, this recipe is pretty much the same. Just instead of water for making the dough, use the strawberry juice (or the strawberry juice and a little water).
Seriously, that’s it, that’s all the more you have to do. You could maybe try boiling in a water-pomegranate juice mix to get an interesting secondary flavor (I wouldn’t recommend boiling the strawberry juice, the sugars might burn or something; it just doesn’t seem like that great of an idea, but maybe it would be fine). And, of course, the other, previously noted techniques for creating variations can be applied to this one!
Enjoy!
WARNING: Read through this recipe at least once before cooking!
In comparison to regular dango, this recipe is pretty much the same. Just instead of water for making the dough, use the strawberry juice (or the strawberry juice and a little water).
Seriously, that’s it, that’s all the more you have to do. You could maybe try boiling in a water-pomegranate juice mix to get an interesting secondary flavor (I wouldn’t recommend boiling the strawberry juice, the sugars might burn or something; it just doesn’t seem like that great of an idea, but maybe it would be fine). And, of course, the other, previously noted techniques for creating variations can be applied to this one!
Enjoy!
Strawberry Dango (continued)
The Recipe In Short
WARNING: Only use this if you have: read and understand the above complete recipe, have prepared this dish before, or really know what you’re doing.
1. Combine dry ingredients.
2. Add strawberry juice to dry ingredients.
3. Knead mixture into dough.
4. Form dough into dumplings.
5. Boil dumplings until they float.
6. Remove dumplings from boiling water and submerge in ice water for 1 minute.
7. Plate dumplings, skewer, garnish, and serve.
8. Enjoy!
WARNING: Only use this if you have: read and understand the above complete recipe, have prepared this dish before, or really know what you’re doing.
1. Combine dry ingredients.
2. Add strawberry juice to dry ingredients.
3. Knead mixture into dough.
4. Form dough into dumplings.
5. Boil dumplings until they float.
6. Remove dumplings from boiling water and submerge in ice water for 1 minute.
7. Plate dumplings, skewer, garnish, and serve.
8. Enjoy!
Strawberry Dango (continued)
Credits and Acknowledgements
• To my Dad, for teaching me to cook in the first place, and for the use of your kitchen and all of its tools/appliances, and loaning me the camera.
• To Lindsey, for all your help taking pictures.
• To my Dad, for teaching me to cook in the first place, and for the use of your kitchen and all of its tools/appliances, and loaning me the camera.
• To Lindsey, for all your help taking pictures.
2/21/09
Work So Far
So, I have gone through and choreographed and setup the majority of the camera angles and other features that will be in the video. Thank goodness I put a cinematic camera system into the map in the first place! Right now I'm working on the writing the script of what I am going to say in the video to describe things. I decided to make things a little more interesting and turn it into a dialogue between myself and a character in the game, who will be performing a variety of in-game actions. Hopefully that works out well. I'll try to remember to post the finished video on here (via a link to youtube) once it's done. Now back to work!
I FORGOT
Ok, I am going to be honest here: I completely forgot to blog this week. I was a combination of being busy with many things, but the biggest and most important one was this:
I applied for the internship at the end of January, and they finally replied! Technically speaking that is how long it was supposed to take (they say 2-3 weeks), since they get somewhere around 200 resumes A DAY. So, I have been working feverishly to try and put together a good video displaying some of my work. I'll keep you posted (pun mildly intended). And yes, I know this is completely and absolutely unrelated to the existing blog posts and style, buuut, well, simply put, I think this perhaps just a little more important, being a major step towards my career and all.
Hello Robert,
Thank you for your interest in the Design Internship position. We would
like you to send us screenshots and descriptions of the map that you
made or a short video with voice-over detailing the gameplay and
encounters in a particular area of your map. Please send the requested
documents along with an electronic copy of your resume, cover letter,
and any additional information you have submitted to us previously by
Monday, February 23rd.
Thank you,
Blizzard University Relations
I applied for the internship at the end of January, and they finally replied! Technically speaking that is how long it was supposed to take (they say 2-3 weeks), since they get somewhere around 200 resumes A DAY. So, I have been working feverishly to try and put together a good video displaying some of my work. I'll keep you posted (pun mildly intended). And yes, I know this is completely and absolutely unrelated to the existing blog posts and style, buuut, well, simply put, I think this perhaps just a little more important, being a major step towards my career and all.
2/14/09
Nigiri Sushi
Introduction
Sushi, perhaps the most popular dish originating from Japan, is really more of a category of dishes than a single dish. Sushi, in its broadest definition, can be prepared in a wide variety of ways, but we will be focusing on nigiri sushi (or simply nigirizushi), which is essentially sushi rice with some sort of topping. Note that the term sushi is actually referring to the rice, not to the toppings (which, while often are seafood, do not have to be). Thus, we will be covering here how to make sushi rice (as it is in fact different from regular rice), as well as the basic for making nigiri using this rice.
Make this dish when…
Sushi, in its origins, was finger food. By that nature, sushi makes great hors d'oeuvres, especially with their subtle and elegant taste. However, sushi can of course act as a main course as well, but you will need to be producing much more. Note that sushi is best served fresh though, so you won’t have the opportunity to prepare it much in advance, and it cannot be refrigerated. The rice preparation, depending on your method, can take up to an hour, with the sushi preparation taking perhaps a few minutes per-piece after that. Thus, this dish isn’t the best if you are in a hurry, but if you have about an hour and a half of time before a party starts, you’ll be fine.
Don’t make this dish when…
Again, this dish is not good if you are in a hurry. However, I would not recommend preparing this dish for people who have not tried sushi before (unless they’re interested in trying it), or those who are squeamish about texture or raw meat (fish). Also, if you don’t have access to higher quality ingredients, don’t bother trying to make this dish: this dish derives its flavor from almost nothing but its ingredients; there is not cooking process or special sauce to cover up the taste of bad ingredients. If you do try to blot out bad ingredients with some powerful sauce, you’ll be completely defeating the purpose of sushi.
Statistics
Dish Type: Appetizer or Main Course
Health Value: Generally speaking, pretty healthy. The rice itself is little different regular rice in terms of healthiness, and typical “toppings” are usually fairly healthy as well
Serving Size: This recipe makes 4 cups of cooked rice; depending on how you distribute it, said 4 cups can make enough nigiri rice cakes to hold a lot of toppings (at least 20 pieces usually)
Preparation Difficulty: Fairly easy, once you get the hang of it
Preparation Time: 1:30 minutes, depending on how fast your rice cooks and how quickly you prepare your pieces
Shelf-Life: Realistically, at most 30 minutes. Fish and rice start to oxidize and develop a sort of “skin” after just a small amount of time, and while the food will be edible once it’s develop said skin, it’s just not the same
Freshness Requirements: Cannot be refrigerated: make how much you want, exactly when you want it; early preparation and storage (or left-overs) are not really an option
Vegetarian/Vegan Concerns: While a lot of the toppings for this dish traditionally involve fish and other sea critters (usually raw), technically speaking sushi can be topped with anything, but I can’t guarantee how well it will all work together
Pre-cooked Edibility: As far as the rice, well, it will be uncooked rice, which is really crunchy. Uncooked fish, on the other hand, is simply referred to as sashimi as a dish, and is still quite delicious. Any pieces of unused fish I highly recommend turning into a little side of sashimi for the chef, or if you have a lot, could even be turned into a poke (pronounced p-oh-key), but that’s another recipe.
Sushi, perhaps the most popular dish originating from Japan, is really more of a category of dishes than a single dish. Sushi, in its broadest definition, can be prepared in a wide variety of ways, but we will be focusing on nigiri sushi (or simply nigirizushi), which is essentially sushi rice with some sort of topping. Note that the term sushi is actually referring to the rice, not to the toppings (which, while often are seafood, do not have to be). Thus, we will be covering here how to make sushi rice (as it is in fact different from regular rice), as well as the basic for making nigiri using this rice.
Make this dish when…
Sushi, in its origins, was finger food. By that nature, sushi makes great hors d'oeuvres, especially with their subtle and elegant taste. However, sushi can of course act as a main course as well, but you will need to be producing much more. Note that sushi is best served fresh though, so you won’t have the opportunity to prepare it much in advance, and it cannot be refrigerated. The rice preparation, depending on your method, can take up to an hour, with the sushi preparation taking perhaps a few minutes per-piece after that. Thus, this dish isn’t the best if you are in a hurry, but if you have about an hour and a half of time before a party starts, you’ll be fine.
Don’t make this dish when…
Again, this dish is not good if you are in a hurry. However, I would not recommend preparing this dish for people who have not tried sushi before (unless they’re interested in trying it), or those who are squeamish about texture or raw meat (fish). Also, if you don’t have access to higher quality ingredients, don’t bother trying to make this dish: this dish derives its flavor from almost nothing but its ingredients; there is not cooking process or special sauce to cover up the taste of bad ingredients. If you do try to blot out bad ingredients with some powerful sauce, you’ll be completely defeating the purpose of sushi.
Statistics
Dish Type: Appetizer or Main Course
Health Value: Generally speaking, pretty healthy. The rice itself is little different regular rice in terms of healthiness, and typical “toppings” are usually fairly healthy as well
Serving Size: This recipe makes 4 cups of cooked rice; depending on how you distribute it, said 4 cups can make enough nigiri rice cakes to hold a lot of toppings (at least 20 pieces usually)
Preparation Difficulty: Fairly easy, once you get the hang of it
Preparation Time: 1:30 minutes, depending on how fast your rice cooks and how quickly you prepare your pieces
Shelf-Life: Realistically, at most 30 minutes. Fish and rice start to oxidize and develop a sort of “skin” after just a small amount of time, and while the food will be edible once it’s develop said skin, it’s just not the same
Freshness Requirements: Cannot be refrigerated: make how much you want, exactly when you want it; early preparation and storage (or left-overs) are not really an option
Vegetarian/Vegan Concerns: While a lot of the toppings for this dish traditionally involve fish and other sea critters (usually raw), technically speaking sushi can be topped with anything, but I can’t guarantee how well it will all work together
Pre-cooked Edibility: As far as the rice, well, it will be uncooked rice, which is really crunchy. Uncooked fish, on the other hand, is simply referred to as sashimi as a dish, and is still quite delicious. Any pieces of unused fish I highly recommend turning into a little side of sashimi for the chef, or if you have a lot, could even be turned into a poke (pronounced p-oh-key), but that’s another recipe.
Nigiri Sushi (continued)
What You Need
Ingredients
1. 2 cups of short-grain rice (it MUST be short-grain; traditional Japanese short-grain rice isn’t exported as I have been told, but California grows some good equivalents that will work just fine)
2. 2 cups of water
3. 2 Tbsp of Rice Vinegar (also referred to as Rice Wine Vinegar or Sushi Seasoning)
4. 2 Tbsp of Sugar (what kind doesn’t really matter, just not brown sugar)
5. 1 Tbsp of Salt (you can use less, depending on how “sour” you want your rice)
6. Topping(s)
7. Wasabi (optional)
Equipment
1. Rice Cooker (I refuse to cook rice any other way; preferably a device with “Fuzzy” logic)
2. Measuring cup
3. Measuring Spoons
4. Cutting Board
5. Sharp Knife
6. Large wooden bowl (un-lacquered is preferable; if you can’t do wood, then glass is your next best choice, followed by thick plastic, then ceramic/earthenware, then thin plastic, then metal. You want to reduce the dissipation of heat as much as possible)
7. Paper Plate
8. Rubber Spatula
9. Kitchen Cloth (a hand towel)
10. Small Bowl
A Few Questions Before We Begin…
What topping do you want? There are many topping possibilities for sushi; the most common are raw fish and other seafood, but many other options are available. Traditionally, even cooked eggs (in a sort of mini-omelets) are used, but you can use cooked food if you like, or fruits and vegetables even. You could even just slap on a glob of some kind of paste, but whatever you pick, just keep in mind how it will work with the rice. Also note that traditionally sushi is eaten with soy sauce for dipping, but if you your particular topping would not benefit from such a salty dip, then by all means skip the soy.
Wasabi? As I understand it, wasabi was traditionally part of the sushi recipe, but traditional wasabi is very different from the spicy green paste many of us are familiar with today. Accordingly, real wasabi, which comes from a specific root that has rather picky growing requirements, is more on the sweet end, just a little kick to it. Thus, the reason I question the use of “modern” wasabi is that I find its blaring flavor to be in serious contradiction with the other subtleties that make much of sushi. If you are a fan of spicy wasabi, then by all means go for it, but if you aim for the more subtle, smooth textures and flavors of sushi, then I recommend that you use it in very light amounts, or not at all. While wasabi can be used as a useful bonding agent between a wet topping and wet rice (wet and wet don’t stick so well), use too much and you may very well ruin the sushi. I haven’t explored alternate means for improving the bond, but I will let you know if I come up with anything useful.
Ingredients
1. 2 cups of short-grain rice (it MUST be short-grain; traditional Japanese short-grain rice isn’t exported as I have been told, but California grows some good equivalents that will work just fine)
2. 2 cups of water
3. 2 Tbsp of Rice Vinegar (also referred to as Rice Wine Vinegar or Sushi Seasoning)
4. 2 Tbsp of Sugar (what kind doesn’t really matter, just not brown sugar)
5. 1 Tbsp of Salt (you can use less, depending on how “sour” you want your rice)
6. Topping(s)
7. Wasabi (optional)
Equipment
1. Rice Cooker (I refuse to cook rice any other way; preferably a device with “Fuzzy” logic)
2. Measuring cup
3. Measuring Spoons
4. Cutting Board
5. Sharp Knife
6. Large wooden bowl (un-lacquered is preferable; if you can’t do wood, then glass is your next best choice, followed by thick plastic, then ceramic/earthenware, then thin plastic, then metal. You want to reduce the dissipation of heat as much as possible)
7. Paper Plate
8. Rubber Spatula
9. Kitchen Cloth (a hand towel)
10. Small Bowl
A Few Questions Before We Begin…
What topping do you want? There are many topping possibilities for sushi; the most common are raw fish and other seafood, but many other options are available. Traditionally, even cooked eggs (in a sort of mini-omelets) are used, but you can use cooked food if you like, or fruits and vegetables even. You could even just slap on a glob of some kind of paste, but whatever you pick, just keep in mind how it will work with the rice. Also note that traditionally sushi is eaten with soy sauce for dipping, but if you your particular topping would not benefit from such a salty dip, then by all means skip the soy.
Wasabi? As I understand it, wasabi was traditionally part of the sushi recipe, but traditional wasabi is very different from the spicy green paste many of us are familiar with today. Accordingly, real wasabi, which comes from a specific root that has rather picky growing requirements, is more on the sweet end, just a little kick to it. Thus, the reason I question the use of “modern” wasabi is that I find its blaring flavor to be in serious contradiction with the other subtleties that make much of sushi. If you are a fan of spicy wasabi, then by all means go for it, but if you aim for the more subtle, smooth textures and flavors of sushi, then I recommend that you use it in very light amounts, or not at all. While wasabi can be used as a useful bonding agent between a wet topping and wet rice (wet and wet don’t stick so well), use too much and you may very well ruin the sushi. I haven’t explored alternate means for improving the bond, but I will let you know if I come up with anything useful.
Nigiri Sushi (continued)
Now On To Business
WARNING: Read through this recipe at least once before cooking!
Now, as briefly noted in the Equipment section above, I will be using a rice-cooker to prepare my rice. Why? Well, the short answer is that I have had poor luck using just a pot ad stove (it has trouble cooking evenly), and rice from a rice cooker is some of the best I have ever had. If you plan on cooking rice fairly often, a rice cooker can be a very sound investment. I personally recommend going the extra distance and buying a more expensive model that features “Fuzzy” logic; how exactly it works, I am not sure, but it has never ever burned my rice. Models from Japan, in my experience, work out quite nicely. So, in order to prepare your rice, use your rice cooker and follow its instruction, or if you don’t have one, I’m sorry but you’re going to have to find rice cooking instructions elsewhere, because I won’t include here a method that I can’t guarantee will produce good rice.
Get It All Ready
Sadly, when it comes to sushi, pre-game preparation is actually something you don’t want to do. Practically all of the ingredients involved in sushi need to be cut, prepared, etc. only moments before use, otherwise you will have problems. So go ahead and start your rice, get out your rice wine, sugar and salt (maybe even combine the two dry ingredients together in the measuring cup), and be ready to bide your time until the rice is done. If you are using a “Fuzzy” logic rice cooker, it may not immediately tell you how much time is remaining for cooking; it will probably only provide a countdown once it reaches its final cooking cycle. Only once you have only a few minutes left until rice is done, then you want to move into action. You should however get out all of the equipment have it ready (the knife goes with the cutting board, and the rubber spatula and paper plate go with the wooden bowl).
When the Rice Has Just a Few Minutes Left
With just two or three minutes left for your rice to finish, combine the sugar, salt, and rice vinegar (yes, I know it has an extremely pungent odor, but it will fade added to the rice) into the measuring cup, and perhaps give it a little bit of a stir. Microwave this mixture on high for 2 minutes. This will allow the solids to better combine with the liquid. However, they will not completely combine; do not worry, the moisture in the rice will make up the difference. Once this is done microwaving, take it out and have it ready to add to the rice.
When the Rice is Done
Once the rice has finished, immediately transfer it to the wooden bowl, and then poor the rice vinegar concoction on top. Use the rubber spatula to scrape as much of the solids as you can (if there is any stuck inside the measuring cup). With all “syrup” added, use one hand and the rubber spatula to “cut” and “fold” the mixture together. Think of it as if you are using the spatula to slice the rice, and slide the spatula underneath the rice and fold it over on top of itself. This will evenly distribute the syrup without damaging the rice. Stirring will damage to the rice, so don’t do it! In general, be gentle.
While doing all of this, your other hand should have the paper plate, and be using it to fan the rice. If you have an assistant, this is where they could be very helpful of course. The point of doing this is to have the rice cool quickly but evenly, resulting in just the right amount of stickiness, and proper bonding of the syrup to the rice.
Once the ingredients are thoroughly combined and at room temperature, stop fanning, and cover the top of the wooden bowl with a wet kitchen cloth. This will prevent the rice of developing that skin I talked about earlier. Throughout the entire process, you want to keep this cover on the rice. When you later take rice out of the bowl, remove the cover only enough to get your rice, and re-cover it. Also, make sure that the cloth is not so wet that it will drip on the rice, ruining it.
Making Nigiri
Making nigiri is a fairly simple process. Get your small bowl partially filled with water, just enough to give your hands a light soak, and then get out your toppings. If you are dealing with fish, I recommend using plastic wrap to cover all of the fish except the portion you are immediately cutting. Then, you should recover the fish (this is again to prevent the development of a “skin”). Once you have everything ready, here what to do:
1. Cut yourself a piece of topping, to go on just a single piece of nigiri.
2. Wet one hand (using the small bowl of water) and grab a small handful of rice, however much you want to use to compose a single “cake” (which you will put your single piece of topping on top of).
3. With the rice in hand, gently squeeze it to compact it into a sort of long, oval shape. Relax your hand. If the rice is falling apart, give it another squeeze, just ever-so-slightly tighter this time, hold it a little longer this time, and then relax again. You do NOT want to smoosh the rice together, just to stick well enough.
If you are going to put wasabi in your nigiri, add it to the “top” (the part sticking up if you are holding your hand out flat) of the rice cake now.
4. Place your piece of topping onto the top of the rice cake, press it on gently, and then plate/serve.
Now just repeat these steps until you’re out of toppings or out of rice (or both), and don’t be afraid to try using different shapes if you like, depending on what ratio you want between topping and rice. Now just enjoy!
Topping Cutting Tips
When cutting your topping(s) for nigiri, you typically want to do thin, roughly rectangular slices, so that the topping will fit nice and evenly along the top of the rice. When cutting fish, you want to cut it “against the grain” (many types of fish meat have a visible “grain,” or essentially lines of fat). So, if the lines of fat are running in one direction, you want to cut in the opposite direction. This will allow the fix to nearly fall apart in your mouth, instead of being a slab of meat lined with fat (making for a very chewy experience). Beyond that, just keep in mind the ratio of topping to rice and adjust to what you think (or discover) works well.
WARNING: Read through this recipe at least once before cooking!
Now, as briefly noted in the Equipment section above, I will be using a rice-cooker to prepare my rice. Why? Well, the short answer is that I have had poor luck using just a pot ad stove (it has trouble cooking evenly), and rice from a rice cooker is some of the best I have ever had. If you plan on cooking rice fairly often, a rice cooker can be a very sound investment. I personally recommend going the extra distance and buying a more expensive model that features “Fuzzy” logic; how exactly it works, I am not sure, but it has never ever burned my rice. Models from Japan, in my experience, work out quite nicely. So, in order to prepare your rice, use your rice cooker and follow its instruction, or if you don’t have one, I’m sorry but you’re going to have to find rice cooking instructions elsewhere, because I won’t include here a method that I can’t guarantee will produce good rice.
Get It All Ready
Sadly, when it comes to sushi, pre-game preparation is actually something you don’t want to do. Practically all of the ingredients involved in sushi need to be cut, prepared, etc. only moments before use, otherwise you will have problems. So go ahead and start your rice, get out your rice wine, sugar and salt (maybe even combine the two dry ingredients together in the measuring cup), and be ready to bide your time until the rice is done. If you are using a “Fuzzy” logic rice cooker, it may not immediately tell you how much time is remaining for cooking; it will probably only provide a countdown once it reaches its final cooking cycle. Only once you have only a few minutes left until rice is done, then you want to move into action. You should however get out all of the equipment have it ready (the knife goes with the cutting board, and the rubber spatula and paper plate go with the wooden bowl).
When the Rice Has Just a Few Minutes Left
With just two or three minutes left for your rice to finish, combine the sugar, salt, and rice vinegar (yes, I know it has an extremely pungent odor, but it will fade added to the rice) into the measuring cup, and perhaps give it a little bit of a stir. Microwave this mixture on high for 2 minutes. This will allow the solids to better combine with the liquid. However, they will not completely combine; do not worry, the moisture in the rice will make up the difference. Once this is done microwaving, take it out and have it ready to add to the rice.
When the Rice is Done
Once the rice has finished, immediately transfer it to the wooden bowl, and then poor the rice vinegar concoction on top. Use the rubber spatula to scrape as much of the solids as you can (if there is any stuck inside the measuring cup). With all “syrup” added, use one hand and the rubber spatula to “cut” and “fold” the mixture together. Think of it as if you are using the spatula to slice the rice, and slide the spatula underneath the rice and fold it over on top of itself. This will evenly distribute the syrup without damaging the rice. Stirring will damage to the rice, so don’t do it! In general, be gentle.
While doing all of this, your other hand should have the paper plate, and be using it to fan the rice. If you have an assistant, this is where they could be very helpful of course. The point of doing this is to have the rice cool quickly but evenly, resulting in just the right amount of stickiness, and proper bonding of the syrup to the rice.
Once the ingredients are thoroughly combined and at room temperature, stop fanning, and cover the top of the wooden bowl with a wet kitchen cloth. This will prevent the rice of developing that skin I talked about earlier. Throughout the entire process, you want to keep this cover on the rice. When you later take rice out of the bowl, remove the cover only enough to get your rice, and re-cover it. Also, make sure that the cloth is not so wet that it will drip on the rice, ruining it.
Making Nigiri
Making nigiri is a fairly simple process. Get your small bowl partially filled with water, just enough to give your hands a light soak, and then get out your toppings. If you are dealing with fish, I recommend using plastic wrap to cover all of the fish except the portion you are immediately cutting. Then, you should recover the fish (this is again to prevent the development of a “skin”). Once you have everything ready, here what to do:
1. Cut yourself a piece of topping, to go on just a single piece of nigiri.
2. Wet one hand (using the small bowl of water) and grab a small handful of rice, however much you want to use to compose a single “cake” (which you will put your single piece of topping on top of).
3. With the rice in hand, gently squeeze it to compact it into a sort of long, oval shape. Relax your hand. If the rice is falling apart, give it another squeeze, just ever-so-slightly tighter this time, hold it a little longer this time, and then relax again. You do NOT want to smoosh the rice together, just to stick well enough.
If you are going to put wasabi in your nigiri, add it to the “top” (the part sticking up if you are holding your hand out flat) of the rice cake now.
4. Place your piece of topping onto the top of the rice cake, press it on gently, and then plate/serve.
Now just repeat these steps until you’re out of toppings or out of rice (or both), and don’t be afraid to try using different shapes if you like, depending on what ratio you want between topping and rice. Now just enjoy!
Topping Cutting Tips
When cutting your topping(s) for nigiri, you typically want to do thin, roughly rectangular slices, so that the topping will fit nice and evenly along the top of the rice. When cutting fish, you want to cut it “against the grain” (many types of fish meat have a visible “grain,” or essentially lines of fat). So, if the lines of fat are running in one direction, you want to cut in the opposite direction. This will allow the fix to nearly fall apart in your mouth, instead of being a slab of meat lined with fat (making for a very chewy experience). Beyond that, just keep in mind the ratio of topping to rice and adjust to what you think (or discover) works well.
Nigiri Sushi (continued)
The Recipe In Short
WARNING: Only use this if you have: read and understand the above complete recipe, have prepared this dish before, or really know what you’re doing.
1. Cook rice.
2. As rice finishes, prepare syrup.
3. Add syrup to rice, fanning rice during entire process.
4. Form cooled rice into rice cakes, and apply topping(s).
5. Enjoy!
WARNING: Only use this if you have: read and understand the above complete recipe, have prepared this dish before, or really know what you’re doing.
1. Cook rice.
2. As rice finishes, prepare syrup.
3. Add syrup to rice, fanning rice during entire process.
4. Form cooled rice into rice cakes, and apply topping(s).
5. Enjoy!
Nigiri Sushi (continued)
Cleanup Tips
This stuff can get pretty sticky. It might help to let the bowl soak for a bit once before trying to get everything out, but beyond that, there is nothing that requires particularly difficult cleanup.
Other Possibilities/Recipe Variations
The above covers the basics for how make your own variations, but suffice to say anything that you think would be good with rice would probably work as a decent topping. While things like cooked beef or a strawberry are not necessarily traditional, they can certainly make for interesting contrasts. Be creative, try different things, you might end up with something you really like that is a creation all of your own.
This stuff can get pretty sticky. It might help to let the bowl soak for a bit once before trying to get everything out, but beyond that, there is nothing that requires particularly difficult cleanup.
Other Possibilities/Recipe Variations
The above covers the basics for how make your own variations, but suffice to say anything that you think would be good with rice would probably work as a decent topping. While things like cooked beef or a strawberry are not necessarily traditional, they can certainly make for interesting contrasts. Be creative, try different things, you might end up with something you really like that is a creation all of your own.
Nigiri Sushi (continued)
Credits and Acknowledgements
• To my Dad, for teaching me to cook in the first place, and for the use of your kitchen and all of its tools/appliances, and loaning me the camera.
• To Lindsey, for all your help taking pictures and being so enthusiastic about the process.
• To my Dad, for teaching me to cook in the first place, and for the use of your kitchen and all of its tools/appliances, and loaning me the camera.
• To Lindsey, for all your help taking pictures and being so enthusiastic about the process.
2/7/09
Next Week
I apologize, this week has been so hectic, I wasn't able to cook much of anything, let alone document it. Not to mention, I can't seem to find one of my favorite recipe books either. Next week though, I'll be going over one of the best foods on the planet: SUSHI (I haven't decided exactly what kind yet). To provide a little culinary info though, here is tip for making modifications to the last recipe, dango:
Avoid using salty substitutes for water, like soy sauce, as they will dry out the dough and make it crack. I haven't tried it, but juices may work better, and add nice strong flavor to the dango. Also, feel free to shape the dango into something other than a ball. Enjoy!
Avoid using salty substitutes for water, like soy sauce, as they will dry out the dough and make it crack. I haven't tried it, but juices may work better, and add nice strong flavor to the dango. Also, feel free to shape the dango into something other than a ball. Enjoy!
Issues...
So...as you may have noticed, all the previous posts, with the exception of the first one, have been lacking pictures and formatting. I don't know why, but blogger has decided to stop acknowledging the formatting that have in fact put into the work (I write my blog in MS word first). It worked on that first post, but since then, it has completely failed at formatting. As far as pictures go, well, they're just so much of a hassle it's hardly worth it. If somebody really wants/needs pictures, I'll see what I can do (I have taken them all, but getting them uploaded and working with the blog has just been epic fail...). So, I apologize for these issues, and that the blog as not been everything I promised, but with midterms and projects, I'm sorry to say that that isn't exactly going to change...
=(
=(
1/31/09
Dango
Introduction
This Japanese rice dumpling dish comes in many forms, but because of its simplicity, you can transform and enhance it to become almost anything. Dango is essentially just small, cooked rice dumplings on a skewer. They can be flavored by mixture, sauce, coating, or even the water that they’re cooked in. The options are nearly limitless, as the rice flour itself has very little flavor, allow it simply serve as a vessel for other flavors, or a base for a more complex concoction. Now, the traditional flavors of dango are still plenty tasty, but this recipe becomes so much more fun when you get creative and make the dango your own way.
Make this dish when…
This dish is fairly simple, doesn’t require too much work (including cleanup), and once you get it down, it can probably be whipped up in around 30 minutes. Because of the creativity allowed, this dish can easily be adapted to a wide variety of occasions: make creepy eye-ball dango for Halloween, pastel-colored dango for Easter, etc.
Don’t make this dish when…
The only time I wouldn’t recommend this dish is if you don’t want to get your hands dirty, have less than 30 minutes, or simply don’t like rice. For the most part, it’s just a matter of taste.
Statistics
Dish Type: Snack
Health Value: Depends on how exactly you make, but for the most part, these are like bread
Serving Size: Depends on a lot of things, but a batch will almost certainly be more than enough for 1 person
Preparation Difficulty: Fairly easy, once you get the hang of it
Preparation Time: 30-45 minutes, depending on how fast you can get the dough ready
Shelf-Life: A few hours (though this can be slightly extended by keeping the components separate)
Freshness Requirements: Probably best when fresh, but can be refrigerated
Vegetarian/Vegan Concerns: Unless you put meat in them, they’re totally fine
Pre-cooked Edibility: Probably gross and sticky, but shouldn’t really be a problem
This Japanese rice dumpling dish comes in many forms, but because of its simplicity, you can transform and enhance it to become almost anything. Dango is essentially just small, cooked rice dumplings on a skewer. They can be flavored by mixture, sauce, coating, or even the water that they’re cooked in. The options are nearly limitless, as the rice flour itself has very little flavor, allow it simply serve as a vessel for other flavors, or a base for a more complex concoction. Now, the traditional flavors of dango are still plenty tasty, but this recipe becomes so much more fun when you get creative and make the dango your own way.
Make this dish when…
This dish is fairly simple, doesn’t require too much work (including cleanup), and once you get it down, it can probably be whipped up in around 30 minutes. Because of the creativity allowed, this dish can easily be adapted to a wide variety of occasions: make creepy eye-ball dango for Halloween, pastel-colored dango for Easter, etc.
Don’t make this dish when…
The only time I wouldn’t recommend this dish is if you don’t want to get your hands dirty, have less than 30 minutes, or simply don’t like rice. For the most part, it’s just a matter of taste.
Statistics
Dish Type: Snack
Health Value: Depends on how exactly you make, but for the most part, these are like bread
Serving Size: Depends on a lot of things, but a batch will almost certainly be more than enough for 1 person
Preparation Difficulty: Fairly easy, once you get the hang of it
Preparation Time: 30-45 minutes, depending on how fast you can get the dough ready
Shelf-Life: A few hours (though this can be slightly extended by keeping the components separate)
Freshness Requirements: Probably best when fresh, but can be refrigerated
Vegetarian/Vegan Concerns: Unless you put meat in them, they’re totally fine
Pre-cooked Edibility: Probably gross and sticky, but shouldn’t really be a problem
Dango (continued)
What You Need
Ingredients
1. 1 cup Mochiko (Sweet Rice Flour)
2. Water (the amount can vary)
3. Whatever extras you want!
Equipment
1. Medium-Large mixing bowl
2. Measuring cup
3. Cutting Board
4. Large pot
5. Plastic Plates (paper will work, but plastic is preferable)
6. Strainer-Spatula/Ladel (the key is the strainer part; you can use almost any kind of strainer if you have to, but the long handle is very useful)
7. Bamboo Skewers (not necessarily required, but they’re the traditional serving style)
A Few Questions Before We Begin…
What kind of dango are you making? To answer this question, you can look outward to see what kinds of dango already exist (there are many), or you can look inward to your creativity and come up with your own kind. Whatever you come up with should essentially be a variation of the original recipe by either adding something to or exchanging something in (either in whole or in part) from said original recipe. Even though the recipe is only rice flour and water, there is still plenty of substitution that can be done. Water, both when creating the dough and when cooking, can be replaced (in whole or in part) with other liquids (just beware of burning the sugars in some juices; I recommend doing only a partial replacement if you want to use juice for cooking). If you use a custom liquid during the dough-creation, it will most likely have a stronger impact than if used cooking. Also note that features of a liquid (like viscosity) will have an effect on dango texture. As far as dry ingredients go, you can add different powders or similarly ground-up ingredients (like sugar), but these may effect dango texture and may require additional water to properly mix. You can also coat the finished dango with a powder-esque mixture as well by simply rolling them in it (sugar is once again a possibility if you want sweet dango, but it doesn’t have to be! You could use ground beef jerky if you really wanted to…). You also try skewering different things along with your dango to create a more complex dish. Lastly, you can also consider sauces for putting on top of your dango; nearly any kind can work. Ultimately, it’s all up to you; just use your judgment and avoid bad combos (I can’t even think of one, but it’s probably for the best; I don’t want anyone trying something nasty just to try it). You can also do other interesting things to the dango, like giving it a light grilling once it has been cooked, or just putting it into a soup. One last thing to consider is your ratio between water and mochiko: more mochiko results in chewier, firmer, and dryer dango (yes, they can seem a bit dry believe it or not), while more water naturally results in the opposite.
Ingredients
1. 1 cup Mochiko (Sweet Rice Flour)
2. Water (the amount can vary)
3. Whatever extras you want!
Equipment
1. Medium-Large mixing bowl
2. Measuring cup
3. Cutting Board
4. Large pot
5. Plastic Plates (paper will work, but plastic is preferable)
6. Strainer-Spatula/Ladel (the key is the strainer part; you can use almost any kind of strainer if you have to, but the long handle is very useful)
7. Bamboo Skewers (not necessarily required, but they’re the traditional serving style)
A Few Questions Before We Begin…
What kind of dango are you making? To answer this question, you can look outward to see what kinds of dango already exist (there are many), or you can look inward to your creativity and come up with your own kind. Whatever you come up with should essentially be a variation of the original recipe by either adding something to or exchanging something in (either in whole or in part) from said original recipe. Even though the recipe is only rice flour and water, there is still plenty of substitution that can be done. Water, both when creating the dough and when cooking, can be replaced (in whole or in part) with other liquids (just beware of burning the sugars in some juices; I recommend doing only a partial replacement if you want to use juice for cooking). If you use a custom liquid during the dough-creation, it will most likely have a stronger impact than if used cooking. Also note that features of a liquid (like viscosity) will have an effect on dango texture. As far as dry ingredients go, you can add different powders or similarly ground-up ingredients (like sugar), but these may effect dango texture and may require additional water to properly mix. You can also coat the finished dango with a powder-esque mixture as well by simply rolling them in it (sugar is once again a possibility if you want sweet dango, but it doesn’t have to be! You could use ground beef jerky if you really wanted to…). You also try skewering different things along with your dango to create a more complex dish. Lastly, you can also consider sauces for putting on top of your dango; nearly any kind can work. Ultimately, it’s all up to you; just use your judgment and avoid bad combos (I can’t even think of one, but it’s probably for the best; I don’t want anyone trying something nasty just to try it). You can also do other interesting things to the dango, like giving it a light grilling once it has been cooked, or just putting it into a soup. One last thing to consider is your ratio between water and mochiko: more mochiko results in chewier, firmer, and dryer dango (yes, they can seem a bit dry believe it or not), while more water naturally results in the opposite.
Dango (continued)
Now On To Business
WARNING: Read through this recipe at least once before cooking!
Sadly, I cannot give you perfect amounts of how much mochiko or water to use; the amount can seriously vary if you change anything at all, and even then it depends on how chewy etc. you want your dango. My recommendation is to start with ½ as much water as mochiko, which will most likely give you more water than you need. If the dough is just too sticky that you can’t knead it properly into a single glob, add a little mochiko. Just be careful to make sure that you aren’t judging the dough based only on what is stuck you hands, as that is where the stickiest stuff will be. If you’re worried about the dough being too sticky, try cleaning your hands first then going at it again.
Get It All Ready
As with most other recipes, getting as much done ahead of time as possible is an extremely helpful practice. So get out all of your ingredients and equipment, and get ready to get to work. Get everything measured out (if you know exactly how much you want to use), but keep the ingredients out anyway if you need to add more later. Get your big pot ½-¾ full of water (or whatever liquid you are using), and get it started on its boil (just keep an eye on it to be safe). If you are going to make a sauce from scratch (as is included in many traditional dango recipes), you might want to get things ready so you can prepare your dango and sauce in parallel. Also, give your cutting board a light coating of mochiko to prevent sticking.
Being Kneady
Kneading dough is an interesting process, especially if you have never done it before. In the case of making a dough from scratch and kneading it, here are some guidelines: your ultimate goal is to get all of the moisture evenly distributed across your dry mix. Doing this is easiest with the hands by simply trying to “massage” it all together. You will find that at first, everything will get very crumply and chunky; do not lose hope! That is what is actually supposed to happen, as it is essentially the moisture remaining in little pockets of resistance against your unstoppable will, holding out until you stamp out any hope for rebellion with your iron fist. Eventually, the weaklings will break and you will have your dough. In the case of serious resistance, add just a tiny bit of water, and keep working it in. If your watery fury has proved too overwhelming for the feeble rebels, resulting in a big gooey mess, add just a little more mochiko (combined with whatever dry stock you’re using), and keep asserting your fist-power. Eventually you will have your dough, but note that this process is not instant! It takes at least 5 minutes to get the dough into a proper state (get it, state? Hehe), and naturally takes longer if you encounter problems along the way. Also refer to the first paragraph of this section (“Now On To Business”) for info on recommended ratios and a few other tips.
So, with all of this information about kneading (it is a rather needy process? Har har har…somebody stop me please…X_X), let’s begin:
1. Combine all of your dry ingredients in the large mixing bowl. You may want to stir, or even sift, them together. This just helps in creating a more uniform mixture.
2. Add the water (or substitute liquid) to the mixture. Some people prefer to add the water in small increments, but I find that it works out fine if you add it all at once, so the choice is yours.
3. Now just keep kneading the dough together using the information described above. Once your dough is combined, transfer it from the bowl to the cutting board.
4. Gently smoosh the dough flat on the cutting board.
5. Fold four “corners” of the dough up and into the center of the dough, and then squish those corners together.
6. Flip the glob over and gently smoosh it flat into the cutting board again, thus smoothing out the creases created by joining the “corners” against the flat board.
Now simply repeat the last two steps until you have a nice, fairly smooth uniform chunk of dough.
Taking a Dump(ling)
With your dough pounded into ideal submission, it’s time to form it into little dumplings. I once read a recipe that said to only divide the dough now, and then try and form the dumplings later. It also recommended a few other things, and, simply put, none of them really worked (I even ended up with a burnt dish towel, but that’s another story). So now is the time for dumpling forming!
1. Rip off a little chunk of dough, a piece maybe ¾ inch in diameter, or a the equivalent of maybe 2-3 pieces of chewing gum (it’s hard to find decent units of measure for amorphous blobs you know!)
2. Just using your hands, roll the piece into a nice little ball. Use your play-doh skills that I know you developed as a child.
3. Place your little ball on to a plastic plate.
Now just repeat these steps for the remainder of your dough, and you’ll have a plate full of ready-to-cook dumplings in a few minutes. If you really want to make sure that you get nice and even-sized dumplings, you can go with the division method of simply dividing piece after piece of dough into halves or thirds until the divided pieces are the right size.
Smoking Pot
Well, ok, technically, the pot will be steaming, as it should be boiling by now, but with two ridiculous section titles already, I can’t break the combo! Though, for the record, I do not support the action this section title is referencing, and certainly don’t recommend engaging in such activities while cooking/working with an open flame, it’s just not safe. Anyway, your liquid should be to a boil now, so let’s get to work:
NOTE: I have seen other cooking methods recommended in other recipes, but this is the only one I have had success with; I’ve tried other boiling techniques, as well as steaming, and have had results ranging from poor to absolute failure. So I recommend you stick to this method, especially if it’s your first time.
1. Gently add the dango to the boiling liquid, taking care to avoid any splashes. You may wish to simply load several dumplings into your spatula and lower them into the liquid. Keep your liquid boiling this entire time (high-heat recommended).
2. Once all of your dango is into the pot, give it a stir to make sure the dango doesn’t stick to the bottom. Be careful not to stab any dango with the side of your stirring device though; I recommend lowering it to the bottom against the wall of the pot.
3. Periodically give your dango a stir, again taking care not to stab any, while waiting for them to float to the top. At several points they may start to sort of “roll” to the top with the boil, but they won’t stay floating. You must wait for them to be truly floating on the top. While waiting for this to happen, wash your mixing bowl clean, then fill it with enough ice water to eventually be able to submerge all of your dumplings.
4. Once your dumplings have finally reached their floater-stage, give them another 1-2 minutes in the boil to finish cooking.
5. Take out a single dumpling using your strainer ladle thingy, and put into the ice water bowl.
6. Give the dumpling about 30 seconds to cool, then fish it out with your hands. Either cut the dumpling open or bite it in half to check to see that it is cooked uniformly. If you decided to boil your dumplings in something more interesting than water that could have coloration effects (like it; I used a water and pomegranate juice combo), don’t confuse the outer discoloration with a difference in cooking. What you should be looking for is a difference in texture: uncooked dango will look very white and fairly opaque, while the cooked stuff will look a little more translucent.
7. If the dumplings was properly cooked, go ahead and strain-ladle out the rest of them and give them at least a minute in the ice water. If it wasn’t cooked, give the dumplings another minute or so in the water, then strain-ladle them out and put them into the ice water for a minute. You want to try to avoid getting the hot water into the ice water, is it will neutralize its effects. You might want to add a few extra ice cubes once you put the dango in to keep the stuff cool.
8. Fish your cooled dumplings from the ice water and place them gently on to another plastic plate to let them dry a little.
Now, at this point, what you do with your dumplings is very dependent on what you decided you want to do with them. You can skewer them, coat them, sauce them, or just eat them. If you’re going for coating or saucing, I recommend skewering them to make eating them a little less messy (and be sure to skewer them first to avoid any mess). I opted to skewer mine and top them with a little raspberry sauce to complement the faint pomegranate flavor they picked up during cooking, resulting in a tart, almost fruit-snack like dango. If you need to save these for later, parchment paper and a Tupperware will do you just fine. Enjoy!
WARNING: Read through this recipe at least once before cooking!
Sadly, I cannot give you perfect amounts of how much mochiko or water to use; the amount can seriously vary if you change anything at all, and even then it depends on how chewy etc. you want your dango. My recommendation is to start with ½ as much water as mochiko, which will most likely give you more water than you need. If the dough is just too sticky that you can’t knead it properly into a single glob, add a little mochiko. Just be careful to make sure that you aren’t judging the dough based only on what is stuck you hands, as that is where the stickiest stuff will be. If you’re worried about the dough being too sticky, try cleaning your hands first then going at it again.
Get It All Ready
As with most other recipes, getting as much done ahead of time as possible is an extremely helpful practice. So get out all of your ingredients and equipment, and get ready to get to work. Get everything measured out (if you know exactly how much you want to use), but keep the ingredients out anyway if you need to add more later. Get your big pot ½-¾ full of water (or whatever liquid you are using), and get it started on its boil (just keep an eye on it to be safe). If you are going to make a sauce from scratch (as is included in many traditional dango recipes), you might want to get things ready so you can prepare your dango and sauce in parallel. Also, give your cutting board a light coating of mochiko to prevent sticking.
Being Kneady
Kneading dough is an interesting process, especially if you have never done it before. In the case of making a dough from scratch and kneading it, here are some guidelines: your ultimate goal is to get all of the moisture evenly distributed across your dry mix. Doing this is easiest with the hands by simply trying to “massage” it all together. You will find that at first, everything will get very crumply and chunky; do not lose hope! That is what is actually supposed to happen, as it is essentially the moisture remaining in little pockets of resistance against your unstoppable will, holding out until you stamp out any hope for rebellion with your iron fist. Eventually, the weaklings will break and you will have your dough. In the case of serious resistance, add just a tiny bit of water, and keep working it in. If your watery fury has proved too overwhelming for the feeble rebels, resulting in a big gooey mess, add just a little more mochiko (combined with whatever dry stock you’re using), and keep asserting your fist-power. Eventually you will have your dough, but note that this process is not instant! It takes at least 5 minutes to get the dough into a proper state (get it, state? Hehe), and naturally takes longer if you encounter problems along the way. Also refer to the first paragraph of this section (“Now On To Business”) for info on recommended ratios and a few other tips.
So, with all of this information about kneading (it is a rather needy process? Har har har…somebody stop me please…X_X), let’s begin:
1. Combine all of your dry ingredients in the large mixing bowl. You may want to stir, or even sift, them together. This just helps in creating a more uniform mixture.
2. Add the water (or substitute liquid) to the mixture. Some people prefer to add the water in small increments, but I find that it works out fine if you add it all at once, so the choice is yours.
3. Now just keep kneading the dough together using the information described above. Once your dough is combined, transfer it from the bowl to the cutting board.
4. Gently smoosh the dough flat on the cutting board.
5. Fold four “corners” of the dough up and into the center of the dough, and then squish those corners together.
6. Flip the glob over and gently smoosh it flat into the cutting board again, thus smoothing out the creases created by joining the “corners” against the flat board.
Now simply repeat the last two steps until you have a nice, fairly smooth uniform chunk of dough.
Taking a Dump(ling)
With your dough pounded into ideal submission, it’s time to form it into little dumplings. I once read a recipe that said to only divide the dough now, and then try and form the dumplings later. It also recommended a few other things, and, simply put, none of them really worked (I even ended up with a burnt dish towel, but that’s another story). So now is the time for dumpling forming!
1. Rip off a little chunk of dough, a piece maybe ¾ inch in diameter, or a the equivalent of maybe 2-3 pieces of chewing gum (it’s hard to find decent units of measure for amorphous blobs you know!)
2. Just using your hands, roll the piece into a nice little ball. Use your play-doh skills that I know you developed as a child.
3. Place your little ball on to a plastic plate.
Now just repeat these steps for the remainder of your dough, and you’ll have a plate full of ready-to-cook dumplings in a few minutes. If you really want to make sure that you get nice and even-sized dumplings, you can go with the division method of simply dividing piece after piece of dough into halves or thirds until the divided pieces are the right size.
Smoking Pot
Well, ok, technically, the pot will be steaming, as it should be boiling by now, but with two ridiculous section titles already, I can’t break the combo! Though, for the record, I do not support the action this section title is referencing, and certainly don’t recommend engaging in such activities while cooking/working with an open flame, it’s just not safe. Anyway, your liquid should be to a boil now, so let’s get to work:
NOTE: I have seen other cooking methods recommended in other recipes, but this is the only one I have had success with; I’ve tried other boiling techniques, as well as steaming, and have had results ranging from poor to absolute failure. So I recommend you stick to this method, especially if it’s your first time.
1. Gently add the dango to the boiling liquid, taking care to avoid any splashes. You may wish to simply load several dumplings into your spatula and lower them into the liquid. Keep your liquid boiling this entire time (high-heat recommended).
2. Once all of your dango is into the pot, give it a stir to make sure the dango doesn’t stick to the bottom. Be careful not to stab any dango with the side of your stirring device though; I recommend lowering it to the bottom against the wall of the pot.
3. Periodically give your dango a stir, again taking care not to stab any, while waiting for them to float to the top. At several points they may start to sort of “roll” to the top with the boil, but they won’t stay floating. You must wait for them to be truly floating on the top. While waiting for this to happen, wash your mixing bowl clean, then fill it with enough ice water to eventually be able to submerge all of your dumplings.
4. Once your dumplings have finally reached their floater-stage, give them another 1-2 minutes in the boil to finish cooking.
5. Take out a single dumpling using your strainer ladle thingy, and put into the ice water bowl.
6. Give the dumpling about 30 seconds to cool, then fish it out with your hands. Either cut the dumpling open or bite it in half to check to see that it is cooked uniformly. If you decided to boil your dumplings in something more interesting than water that could have coloration effects (like it; I used a water and pomegranate juice combo), don’t confuse the outer discoloration with a difference in cooking. What you should be looking for is a difference in texture: uncooked dango will look very white and fairly opaque, while the cooked stuff will look a little more translucent.
7. If the dumplings was properly cooked, go ahead and strain-ladle out the rest of them and give them at least a minute in the ice water. If it wasn’t cooked, give the dumplings another minute or so in the water, then strain-ladle them out and put them into the ice water for a minute. You want to try to avoid getting the hot water into the ice water, is it will neutralize its effects. You might want to add a few extra ice cubes once you put the dango in to keep the stuff cool.
8. Fish your cooled dumplings from the ice water and place them gently on to another plastic plate to let them dry a little.
Now, at this point, what you do with your dumplings is very dependent on what you decided you want to do with them. You can skewer them, coat them, sauce them, or just eat them. If you’re going for coating or saucing, I recommend skewering them to make eating them a little less messy (and be sure to skewer them first to avoid any mess). I opted to skewer mine and top them with a little raspberry sauce to complement the faint pomegranate flavor they picked up during cooking, resulting in a tart, almost fruit-snack like dango. If you need to save these for later, parchment paper and a Tupperware will do you just fine. Enjoy!
Dango (continued)
The Recipe In Short
WARNING: Only use this if you have: read and understand the above complete recipe, have prepared this dish before, or really know what you’re doing.
1. Combine dry ingredients.
2. Add water to dry ingredients.
3. Knead mixture into dough.
4. Form dough into dumplings.
5. Boil dumplings until they float.
6. Remove dumplings from boiling water and submerge in ice water for 1 minute.
7. Plate dumplings, skewer, garnish, and serve.
8. Enjoy!
WARNING: Only use this if you have: read and understand the above complete recipe, have prepared this dish before, or really know what you’re doing.
1. Combine dry ingredients.
2. Add water to dry ingredients.
3. Knead mixture into dough.
4. Form dough into dumplings.
5. Boil dumplings until they float.
6. Remove dumplings from boiling water and submerge in ice water for 1 minute.
7. Plate dumplings, skewer, garnish, and serve.
8. Enjoy!
Dango (continued)
Cleanup Tips
One and only tip: beware of the extremely hot pot: once you boil water in it, it will take a long time to cool. Do not just assume it’s cold and try and touch it freely. Even the handles may still be hot after a half-hour of cooling. For a lot of people this might seem like a no-brainer, but I’m just advising extra caution to avoid making a normally reasonable assumption that could result in unpleasant burns.
Other Possibilities/Recipe Variations
The above covers the basics for how make your own variations, and I won’t delve into the many cultural/traditional variations available, but I will provide just a few more tips/ideas here:
• Like flavors go well together, but opposites can attract as well, while a balance can also effective. Think of existing dishes and see how they work, then just apply that same logic to your dango.
• You could try giving your dango a filling by sort of wrapping the uncooked dough around a glob or chunk of something. If you use meat though, make sure the meat is completely cooked first; you can’t count on the boiling to take care of it.
One and only tip: beware of the extremely hot pot: once you boil water in it, it will take a long time to cool. Do not just assume it’s cold and try and touch it freely. Even the handles may still be hot after a half-hour of cooling. For a lot of people this might seem like a no-brainer, but I’m just advising extra caution to avoid making a normally reasonable assumption that could result in unpleasant burns.
Other Possibilities/Recipe Variations
The above covers the basics for how make your own variations, and I won’t delve into the many cultural/traditional variations available, but I will provide just a few more tips/ideas here:
• Like flavors go well together, but opposites can attract as well, while a balance can also effective. Think of existing dishes and see how they work, then just apply that same logic to your dango.
• You could try giving your dango a filling by sort of wrapping the uncooked dough around a glob or chunk of something. If you use meat though, make sure the meat is completely cooked first; you can’t count on the boiling to take care of it.
Dango (continued)
Credits and Acknowledgements
• To my Dad, for teaching me to cook in the first place, and for the use of your kitchen and all of its tools/appliances, and loaning me the camera.
• To Lindsey, for all your help taking pictures and encouraging me to go on after the failure in round one.
• To my Dad, for teaching me to cook in the first place, and for the use of your kitchen and all of its tools/appliances, and loaning me the camera.
• To Lindsey, for all your help taking pictures and encouraging me to go on after the failure in round one.
1/24/09
Pepper Steak Ginger Salad
Introduction
Looking for a tasty salad that can make for a good start, or even a good meal? This Pepper Steak Ginger Salad is relatively easy to prepare and fits both of those roles nicely. It has a nice blend of sweetness and spice that results a truly delicious salad, all the while staying relatively healthy.
Make this dish when…
This dish, as a meal, is great when you don’t have more than an hour or so to cook with. As a starter salad, this dish works out very nicely if somebody else is preparing the main course for the meal (as trying to prepare this salad alongside a main course might be too much work). This salad travels reasonably well, so if you want to take it to a party on the same day that you prepare it, then you should be fine.
Don’t make this dish when…
This dish does not keep particularly well for more than a few hours (everything tends to get a bit soggy from the ginger), so if you don’t plan on eating this dish on the same that you prepare it, then you probably should consider something else. Also, while meat isn’t necessarily required for this dish, I don’t think it’s quite the same without it, so if meat isn’t your thing, then you may want to look into something else.
Statistics
Dish Type: Salad (Starter or Dinner)
Health Value: Depends on what meat you use, but overall pretty healthy
Serving Size: 5-6 starter salads or a full meal for 2-4
Preparation Difficulty: Fairly easy, cooking meat can be difficult, but it’s not too hard
Preparation Time: 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how fast you can cut things
Shelf-Life: A few hours (though this can be slightly extended by keeping the components separate)
Freshness Requirements: Best when completely fresh
Vegetarian/Vegan Concerns: You could swap in tofu instead of the meat, or skip the meat completely if you like, though the salad might feel like it’s “missing something” then
Pre-cooked Edibility: Raw land-animal meat is never a good thing, but as for the peppers…well they make for a pretty tasty snack (more on that later)
Looking for a tasty salad that can make for a good start, or even a good meal? This Pepper Steak Ginger Salad is relatively easy to prepare and fits both of those roles nicely. It has a nice blend of sweetness and spice that results a truly delicious salad, all the while staying relatively healthy.
Make this dish when…
This dish, as a meal, is great when you don’t have more than an hour or so to cook with. As a starter salad, this dish works out very nicely if somebody else is preparing the main course for the meal (as trying to prepare this salad alongside a main course might be too much work). This salad travels reasonably well, so if you want to take it to a party on the same day that you prepare it, then you should be fine.
Don’t make this dish when…
This dish does not keep particularly well for more than a few hours (everything tends to get a bit soggy from the ginger), so if you don’t plan on eating this dish on the same that you prepare it, then you probably should consider something else. Also, while meat isn’t necessarily required for this dish, I don’t think it’s quite the same without it, so if meat isn’t your thing, then you may want to look into something else.
Statistics
Dish Type: Salad (Starter or Dinner)
Health Value: Depends on what meat you use, but overall pretty healthy
Serving Size: 5-6 starter salads or a full meal for 2-4
Preparation Difficulty: Fairly easy, cooking meat can be difficult, but it’s not too hard
Preparation Time: 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how fast you can cut things
Shelf-Life: A few hours (though this can be slightly extended by keeping the components separate)
Freshness Requirements: Best when completely fresh
Vegetarian/Vegan Concerns: You could swap in tofu instead of the meat, or skip the meat completely if you like, though the salad might feel like it’s “missing something” then
Pre-cooked Edibility: Raw land-animal meat is never a good thing, but as for the peppers…well they make for a pretty tasty snack (more on that later)
Pepper Steak Ginger Salad (continued)
What You Need
Ingredients
1. A bag or 1-2 heads of Romaine Lettuce
2. A package of Grape Tomatoes (the smaller the sweeter than therefore better)
3. A package of Small Bell Peppers (red-yellow-orange variety; No pre-cut stuff allowed!)
4. A bottle of Ginger Dressing (I recommend chunky over smooth, it usually tastes better)
5. About 1 pound of Steak (I recommend a lean or porous cut: Flank steak is good. You can substitute this for other meats, like chicken breast, or I suppose even Salmon)
6. A decanter of soy-sauce (I prefer regular, but you can use low-sodium if you prefer)
7. A bottle of Macadamia Nut Oil (I recommend this as a first choice; if it’s too pricy or just not on hand, try to stick to something exotic and more finely flavored, like Sesame Oil. Something like Canola oil just adds to much of a starchy flavor to the meat)
Equipment
1. Sharp Knife
2. Cutting Board
3. Wok (or similar cooking pan)
4. Tupperware (just big enough to hold your cut-up meat)
5. Plate (not a paper one: the soy sauce will soak through)
6. Spatula (preferably with a smaller head and long handle)
7. Bowl (just a regular size one; this is not for serving)
A Few Questions Before We Begin…
What kind of dish are you cooking? A starter or a full meal? Refer to the notes above to decide which role you’re trying to fit. Then, simply pick your delivery means, which could range from doing individual bowls for each person, to having a large communal bowl that everyone takes servings from, or even something more interesting like providing the salad disassembled and allowing people to create a “perfect bite” (one piece of everything) using a skewer.
Ingredients
1. A bag or 1-2 heads of Romaine Lettuce
2. A package of Grape Tomatoes (the smaller the sweeter than therefore better)
3. A package of Small Bell Peppers (red-yellow-orange variety; No pre-cut stuff allowed!)
4. A bottle of Ginger Dressing (I recommend chunky over smooth, it usually tastes better)
5. About 1 pound of Steak (I recommend a lean or porous cut: Flank steak is good. You can substitute this for other meats, like chicken breast, or I suppose even Salmon)
6. A decanter of soy-sauce (I prefer regular, but you can use low-sodium if you prefer)
7. A bottle of Macadamia Nut Oil (I recommend this as a first choice; if it’s too pricy or just not on hand, try to stick to something exotic and more finely flavored, like Sesame Oil. Something like Canola oil just adds to much of a starchy flavor to the meat)
Equipment
1. Sharp Knife
2. Cutting Board
3. Wok (or similar cooking pan)
4. Tupperware (just big enough to hold your cut-up meat)
5. Plate (not a paper one: the soy sauce will soak through)
6. Spatula (preferably with a smaller head and long handle)
7. Bowl (just a regular size one; this is not for serving)
A Few Questions Before We Begin…
What kind of dish are you cooking? A starter or a full meal? Refer to the notes above to decide which role you’re trying to fit. Then, simply pick your delivery means, which could range from doing individual bowls for each person, to having a large communal bowl that everyone takes servings from, or even something more interesting like providing the salad disassembled and allowing people to create a “perfect bite” (one piece of everything) using a skewer.
Pepper Steak Ginger Salad (continued)
Now On To Business
WARNING: Read through this recipe at least once before cooking!
One last thing before we begin: raw meat is bad. If you touch it, if it touches something else, if you touch it with something else, cleaning will be required. So once you handle your raw meat, wash your hands before you handle anything else. Once you cut it, wash your knife and cutting board. Once you take it out of its Tupperware (explained later), wash the Tupperware. The reason why is that there may be bacteria in the meat (that will get toasted during cooking), and this bacteria could get transferred to whatever the meat touches, and from there to anything else. And once the bacteria are on something, it’s recommended to clean it sooner rather than later, so the bacterium doesn’t spread. Now, this might not be exactly as big of a concern as I am making it out to be, but sanitation is the key to a clean kitchen, and therefore clean food, and therefore no sick stomachs.
Get It All Ready
As with most other recipes, getting as much done ahead of time as possible is an extremely helpful practice. So get out all of your ingredients and equipment, and get ready to get to work. I would recommend starting by washing all of your vegetables (but not the meat yet; save that for right before you cut it), and perhaps putting your lettuce into a large bowl (even if you intend to serve the salad in smaller bowls). You can add the tomatoes to the lettuce now, or later, it doesn’t matter much. You should get your cutting board and knife ready, and have that plate standing by as well. Get the wok onto the stove (but not heated or oiled yet), and just get ready with things.
Pepper Time
Generally speaking, one should cut their vegetables before they cut their meat, so as to avoid cross-contamination (just in case). So get all of your peppers out onto your cutting board (or at least near it), grab your knife, and get ready for some slicing.
1. Grab a single pepper, and lay it down on the cutting board. Hold the pepper down by its bottom (narrow) end in one hand, with the knife in your other hand.
2. Place the tip of your blade near the head of the pepper, about 1/5 of the length of the pepper from the stem, and use a single long slice to cut completely through the pepper. You should not need to apply very much pressure (unless you are using a fairly short or dull knife), just let the knife glide through the pepper. They key is to avoid making a sawing motion, as that may tear the skin of the pepper.
3. Using the same slicing technique, slice the very tip off of the pepper as well; just enough so that you can see completely through the pepper.
Now that you have your pepper de-ended, you need to cut it to more manageable pieces. This depends on how exactly the interior of the pepper is formatted. You’ll notice that inside the pepper is a sort of seed pod that is attached to the inner walls of the pepper via a sort of white fleshy stuff. We’ll call this the husk for lack of a better word.
If your pepper has a husk that is attached to the walls of your pepper in an even number of branches (most likely 2 or 4), then…
1. Place your pepper on the cutting board, holding it straight up with the narrow-end down.
2. Place your knife on top of the pepper so that it goes straight through the pepper’s middle, fitted directly in between two husk branches. You may need to re-position your other hand so that it is above the knife (so you don’t cut through your hand).
3. Using the slicing motion described above, cut straight through the pepper down to the board, dividing it in half. If your had more than just 2 branches of husk, divide the remaining pieces in half until you only have one husk-branch per piece.
If your pepper has a husk that is attached to the walls of your pepper in an odd number of branches (most likely 3), then…
1. Place your pepper on the cutting board, holding it straight up with the narrow-end down.
2. Place the tip of your knife on the top of the pepper at a downward angle, between two branches of husk pointing towards the center of the pepper. Make sure your other hand is clear of the knife’s path (which will be straight down).
3. If your knife is sharp enough, you should be able to slide it just about straight down through the pepper, apply just a tiny amount of forward motion to facilitate slicing. If your knife is not as sharp, you may have to use a gentle sawing motion to get all the way down. The idea is to not slice into the opposite side of the pepper.
4. Using this same slicing technique, divide the remaining pieces in half until you only have one husk-branch per piece.
Now that your pepper is cut into one-husk-branch pieces, you may want to cut each piece in half cross-wise (meaning not would have been “vertically” if the pepper were still intact, but across its side) if they seem too big for a single bite. You should also peel off any excess husk on each piece, and remove any seeds (they could just get burnt during cooking). Place all of your pieces of pepper onto the plate.
Repeat the above steps for each pepper until you have all of them cut and on the plate. Then, using the soy sauce decanter, drizzle some soy sauce onto each slice of pepper, thus adding a little extra flavor to the party.
NOTE: Freshly cut peppers with soy sauce, like you have just made, makes for an excellent snack. It’s very rich and powerful in flavor, and is also exceedingly healthy. If you have the patience to cut them, they combo can make a scrumptious alternative to chips’n’dip at a party.
Meatness
Now, naturally if you don’t intend to use meat during your cooking, then you can just skip this step completely. Just scroll on down to the next one.
NOTE: I am not providing thoroughly in-depth steps here on how to cut the meat, as this can seriously depend on the type, shape, and particular cut of meat. I’m afraid you’re just going to have to use your own judgment here, but I will provide some broad guidelines.
Begin by washing your meat (which is indeed something you should do. How clean do you really think it is? And don’t worry about losing the juice, the majority of it should still be nicely packed inside the meat). This simply means giving it a good rinse; definitely don’t use any cleaning products. Once washed, be sure to place your meat directly onto the cutting board; placing it back into its packaging will completely defeat the purpose of cleaning it!
The first thing you want to do is trim any extra fat off of your meat. Don’t be afraid to use a sawing motion here if you have to, but single long strokes are always preferable. How you do this exactly depends on the particular piece of fat and how it is attach to the meat, but you most likely have to cut at an angle while trying to pull the fat away by simply holding it up a little bit (this keeps the fat in tension and makes it easier to slice through its often fibrous connection to the meat).
Once the fat has been trimmed, you are going to cut your meat into thin little slices, about ¼ inch thick, and maybe 1 inch wide, and as long as however tall the slab of meat is. Thus, you should be cutting from the top of the meat down in ¼ inch segments. The idea is get small enough pieces that make for a pleasant single bite, as well as pieces that will cook quickly in the work so that you don’t end up with a burnt exterior and a raw interior (hence the thin slices).
With all of your meat properly cut, place it neatly stacked into the Tupperware. Drizzle some soy sauce into the Tupperware, again simply to add a little extra flavor to the party. You should add enough soy sauce so that roughly the bottom half of the meat is submerged (which should not require too much soy sauce if you stacked your meat well).
If you really want the flavor to get into the meat, let it soak (in the fridge) for about 1 hour. Half way through, flip the container upside down. You should probably put it on top of something to catch any soy sauce that might leak out if your Tupperware doesn’t make a perfect seal. Other techniques that can help are poking holes into the meat with a fork, or even injecting it I suppose
Cooking Time
NOTE: We are going to be cooking with oil here, which simply put, is fairly dangerous. The biggest concern is the oil splashing or bubbling and burning you in a spray of liquid hot death. Sadly, the oil tends to bubble and splat when just about anything else is introduced to the mix, particularly liquids, and most especially water. Under absolutely no circumstances should you try to add water to hot oil, as it will essentially explode. So you might be wondering, “Hey, my peppers and meat are covered in soy sauce, which is seems pretty liquid-y to me. Are you trying to kill me? What gives?” The short answer is “no,” and the long answer will be addressed below.
1. Take your peppers, and individually shake off any excess soy sauce. You may want to simply grab a second plate, shake out a pepper, and place it on the new dry plate.
2. Take your meat, and do roughly the same thing. Remember, the soy sauce that touched the peppers = ok, it won’t harm you (but probably shouldn’t go back into the decanter), but the meaty soy sauce should be well disposed of.
Now that your two ingredients are prepped (yes, it is a shame to lose all of that excess soy, but it will taste mighty dandy), it’s time to prepare the wok.
1. Place your wok on the stove if it isn’t there already, and add some of your oil. You want just enough oil to coat the wok, nothing more. This is simply used as a lubricant so that your precious ingredients don’t stick to the wok.
2. You may wish to use your hand to get the oil coated all over the wok, but in all honestly most of it will end up sliding back down into the middle. That’s fine, but either way you should tilt and turn the wok a bit just to work the oil around a bit.
3. Put the stove on to high heat and let the oil heat up for about three minutes. Sadly, unless you have an infrared thermometer, you can’t very easily check the temperature of the oil, as it won’t look very different unless it starts to burn. Just don’t try touching it or adding water!
Once your oil is heated, prepare to add the peppers to the wok. You may want to give it one last twist and turn to get the oil worked around, and then be ready drop in the peppers.
1. Grab your plate of peppers in one hand, your spatula in the other, and approach the wok.
2. Dump in the peppers (not from very high above the wok of course!). Now, there is a fair chance the oil will react a bit violently at first, so once you add your peppers, feel free to (safely) dart back a foot or two to wait for the initial chaos to subside. Don’t wait more than about five seconds though, as you need to get back in there and start stirring your peppers.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-high, and keep stirring the peppers. This is where the long spatula handle comes in handy, as it allows you to keep your soft, easily burnable flesh at a good distance from the most likely bubbling oil.
Once the peppers seem to have softened a bit and have take on marks of browning, it will be time to add the beef (leave the peppers where they are!). Don’t worry if there is a bit of burnt soy sauce on the pan, that’s just a little carmelization!
1. Add a little more oil, bump the heat up just a notch, and dump in the meat. Run away accordingly.
2. Return to your post and keep mixing things up. You want to try to get the meat covered with searing oil as fast as possible so that its outer most layer becomes sealed, therefore keep all the delicious juices inside.
3. After just a few minutes, several of your pieces of meat will star to seem done. You can try to scoop them out of the middle of the wok and onto the cooler upper sides, while moving and flipping any uncooked pieces/sides of meat to the center to finish off.
Once all of the meat is cooked, immediately transfer all of the solids to a bowl, while trying to avoid dumping the oil along with it. Let this stuff cool for just a little bit before adding it to the salad. Once you have all of your ingredients (lettuce, tomato, peppers, and beef) into the salad (in a large salad bowl presumably), add the dressing. You shouldn’t need too much, as this stuff is fairly strong. Mix it all up, and then you can dish out into single portions, or just bring the whole thing to table. You’re done, enjoy!
Cleanup Tips
Wait for the wok to cool before cleaning it, but don’t let the oil get too solidified onto it either. Hot water helps get the oil off more easily, along with a scrub brush.
Just about everything else should just easily rinse off except for the cutting board: though it may look clean after a rinse, it should be thoroughly washed (as should everything else!).
WARNING: Read through this recipe at least once before cooking!
One last thing before we begin: raw meat is bad. If you touch it, if it touches something else, if you touch it with something else, cleaning will be required. So once you handle your raw meat, wash your hands before you handle anything else. Once you cut it, wash your knife and cutting board. Once you take it out of its Tupperware (explained later), wash the Tupperware. The reason why is that there may be bacteria in the meat (that will get toasted during cooking), and this bacteria could get transferred to whatever the meat touches, and from there to anything else. And once the bacteria are on something, it’s recommended to clean it sooner rather than later, so the bacterium doesn’t spread. Now, this might not be exactly as big of a concern as I am making it out to be, but sanitation is the key to a clean kitchen, and therefore clean food, and therefore no sick stomachs.
Get It All Ready
As with most other recipes, getting as much done ahead of time as possible is an extremely helpful practice. So get out all of your ingredients and equipment, and get ready to get to work. I would recommend starting by washing all of your vegetables (but not the meat yet; save that for right before you cut it), and perhaps putting your lettuce into a large bowl (even if you intend to serve the salad in smaller bowls). You can add the tomatoes to the lettuce now, or later, it doesn’t matter much. You should get your cutting board and knife ready, and have that plate standing by as well. Get the wok onto the stove (but not heated or oiled yet), and just get ready with things.
Pepper Time
Generally speaking, one should cut their vegetables before they cut their meat, so as to avoid cross-contamination (just in case). So get all of your peppers out onto your cutting board (or at least near it), grab your knife, and get ready for some slicing.
1. Grab a single pepper, and lay it down on the cutting board. Hold the pepper down by its bottom (narrow) end in one hand, with the knife in your other hand.
2. Place the tip of your blade near the head of the pepper, about 1/5 of the length of the pepper from the stem, and use a single long slice to cut completely through the pepper. You should not need to apply very much pressure (unless you are using a fairly short or dull knife), just let the knife glide through the pepper. They key is to avoid making a sawing motion, as that may tear the skin of the pepper.
3. Using the same slicing technique, slice the very tip off of the pepper as well; just enough so that you can see completely through the pepper.
Now that you have your pepper de-ended, you need to cut it to more manageable pieces. This depends on how exactly the interior of the pepper is formatted. You’ll notice that inside the pepper is a sort of seed pod that is attached to the inner walls of the pepper via a sort of white fleshy stuff. We’ll call this the husk for lack of a better word.
If your pepper has a husk that is attached to the walls of your pepper in an even number of branches (most likely 2 or 4), then…
1. Place your pepper on the cutting board, holding it straight up with the narrow-end down.
2. Place your knife on top of the pepper so that it goes straight through the pepper’s middle, fitted directly in between two husk branches. You may need to re-position your other hand so that it is above the knife (so you don’t cut through your hand).
3. Using the slicing motion described above, cut straight through the pepper down to the board, dividing it in half. If your had more than just 2 branches of husk, divide the remaining pieces in half until you only have one husk-branch per piece.
If your pepper has a husk that is attached to the walls of your pepper in an odd number of branches (most likely 3), then…
1. Place your pepper on the cutting board, holding it straight up with the narrow-end down.
2. Place the tip of your knife on the top of the pepper at a downward angle, between two branches of husk pointing towards the center of the pepper. Make sure your other hand is clear of the knife’s path (which will be straight down).
3. If your knife is sharp enough, you should be able to slide it just about straight down through the pepper, apply just a tiny amount of forward motion to facilitate slicing. If your knife is not as sharp, you may have to use a gentle sawing motion to get all the way down. The idea is to not slice into the opposite side of the pepper.
4. Using this same slicing technique, divide the remaining pieces in half until you only have one husk-branch per piece.
Now that your pepper is cut into one-husk-branch pieces, you may want to cut each piece in half cross-wise (meaning not would have been “vertically” if the pepper were still intact, but across its side) if they seem too big for a single bite. You should also peel off any excess husk on each piece, and remove any seeds (they could just get burnt during cooking). Place all of your pieces of pepper onto the plate.
Repeat the above steps for each pepper until you have all of them cut and on the plate. Then, using the soy sauce decanter, drizzle some soy sauce onto each slice of pepper, thus adding a little extra flavor to the party.
NOTE: Freshly cut peppers with soy sauce, like you have just made, makes for an excellent snack. It’s very rich and powerful in flavor, and is also exceedingly healthy. If you have the patience to cut them, they combo can make a scrumptious alternative to chips’n’dip at a party.
Meatness
Now, naturally if you don’t intend to use meat during your cooking, then you can just skip this step completely. Just scroll on down to the next one.
NOTE: I am not providing thoroughly in-depth steps here on how to cut the meat, as this can seriously depend on the type, shape, and particular cut of meat. I’m afraid you’re just going to have to use your own judgment here, but I will provide some broad guidelines.
Begin by washing your meat (which is indeed something you should do. How clean do you really think it is? And don’t worry about losing the juice, the majority of it should still be nicely packed inside the meat). This simply means giving it a good rinse; definitely don’t use any cleaning products. Once washed, be sure to place your meat directly onto the cutting board; placing it back into its packaging will completely defeat the purpose of cleaning it!
The first thing you want to do is trim any extra fat off of your meat. Don’t be afraid to use a sawing motion here if you have to, but single long strokes are always preferable. How you do this exactly depends on the particular piece of fat and how it is attach to the meat, but you most likely have to cut at an angle while trying to pull the fat away by simply holding it up a little bit (this keeps the fat in tension and makes it easier to slice through its often fibrous connection to the meat).
Once the fat has been trimmed, you are going to cut your meat into thin little slices, about ¼ inch thick, and maybe 1 inch wide, and as long as however tall the slab of meat is. Thus, you should be cutting from the top of the meat down in ¼ inch segments. The idea is get small enough pieces that make for a pleasant single bite, as well as pieces that will cook quickly in the work so that you don’t end up with a burnt exterior and a raw interior (hence the thin slices).
With all of your meat properly cut, place it neatly stacked into the Tupperware. Drizzle some soy sauce into the Tupperware, again simply to add a little extra flavor to the party. You should add enough soy sauce so that roughly the bottom half of the meat is submerged (which should not require too much soy sauce if you stacked your meat well).
If you really want the flavor to get into the meat, let it soak (in the fridge) for about 1 hour. Half way through, flip the container upside down. You should probably put it on top of something to catch any soy sauce that might leak out if your Tupperware doesn’t make a perfect seal. Other techniques that can help are poking holes into the meat with a fork, or even injecting it I suppose
Cooking Time
NOTE: We are going to be cooking with oil here, which simply put, is fairly dangerous. The biggest concern is the oil splashing or bubbling and burning you in a spray of liquid hot death. Sadly, the oil tends to bubble and splat when just about anything else is introduced to the mix, particularly liquids, and most especially water. Under absolutely no circumstances should you try to add water to hot oil, as it will essentially explode. So you might be wondering, “Hey, my peppers and meat are covered in soy sauce, which is seems pretty liquid-y to me. Are you trying to kill me? What gives?” The short answer is “no,” and the long answer will be addressed below.
1. Take your peppers, and individually shake off any excess soy sauce. You may want to simply grab a second plate, shake out a pepper, and place it on the new dry plate.
2. Take your meat, and do roughly the same thing. Remember, the soy sauce that touched the peppers = ok, it won’t harm you (but probably shouldn’t go back into the decanter), but the meaty soy sauce should be well disposed of.
Now that your two ingredients are prepped (yes, it is a shame to lose all of that excess soy, but it will taste mighty dandy), it’s time to prepare the wok.
1. Place your wok on the stove if it isn’t there already, and add some of your oil. You want just enough oil to coat the wok, nothing more. This is simply used as a lubricant so that your precious ingredients don’t stick to the wok.
2. You may wish to use your hand to get the oil coated all over the wok, but in all honestly most of it will end up sliding back down into the middle. That’s fine, but either way you should tilt and turn the wok a bit just to work the oil around a bit.
3. Put the stove on to high heat and let the oil heat up for about three minutes. Sadly, unless you have an infrared thermometer, you can’t very easily check the temperature of the oil, as it won’t look very different unless it starts to burn. Just don’t try touching it or adding water!
Once your oil is heated, prepare to add the peppers to the wok. You may want to give it one last twist and turn to get the oil worked around, and then be ready drop in the peppers.
1. Grab your plate of peppers in one hand, your spatula in the other, and approach the wok.
2. Dump in the peppers (not from very high above the wok of course!). Now, there is a fair chance the oil will react a bit violently at first, so once you add your peppers, feel free to (safely) dart back a foot or two to wait for the initial chaos to subside. Don’t wait more than about five seconds though, as you need to get back in there and start stirring your peppers.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-high, and keep stirring the peppers. This is where the long spatula handle comes in handy, as it allows you to keep your soft, easily burnable flesh at a good distance from the most likely bubbling oil.
Once the peppers seem to have softened a bit and have take on marks of browning, it will be time to add the beef (leave the peppers where they are!). Don’t worry if there is a bit of burnt soy sauce on the pan, that’s just a little carmelization!
1. Add a little more oil, bump the heat up just a notch, and dump in the meat. Run away accordingly.
2. Return to your post and keep mixing things up. You want to try to get the meat covered with searing oil as fast as possible so that its outer most layer becomes sealed, therefore keep all the delicious juices inside.
3. After just a few minutes, several of your pieces of meat will star to seem done. You can try to scoop them out of the middle of the wok and onto the cooler upper sides, while moving and flipping any uncooked pieces/sides of meat to the center to finish off.
Once all of the meat is cooked, immediately transfer all of the solids to a bowl, while trying to avoid dumping the oil along with it. Let this stuff cool for just a little bit before adding it to the salad. Once you have all of your ingredients (lettuce, tomato, peppers, and beef) into the salad (in a large salad bowl presumably), add the dressing. You shouldn’t need too much, as this stuff is fairly strong. Mix it all up, and then you can dish out into single portions, or just bring the whole thing to table. You’re done, enjoy!
Cleanup Tips
Wait for the wok to cool before cleaning it, but don’t let the oil get too solidified onto it either. Hot water helps get the oil off more easily, along with a scrub brush.
Just about everything else should just easily rinse off except for the cutting board: though it may look clean after a rinse, it should be thoroughly washed (as should everything else!).
Pepper Steak Ginger Salad (continued)
The Recipe In Short
WARNING: Only use this if you have: read and understand the above complete recipe, have prepared this dish before, or really know what you’re doing.
1. Clean meat and vegetables
2. Cut peppers
3. Place cut pepper on plate and add soy sauce
4. Cut beef
5. Place cut beef into Tupperware and add soy sauce
6. Prepare wok with oil
7. Sauté peppers
8. Add meat to wok and sauté
9. Move cooked items from wok and into salad
10. Add tomatoes and dressing
11. Enjoy!
WARNING: Only use this if you have: read and understand the above complete recipe, have prepared this dish before, or really know what you’re doing.
1. Clean meat and vegetables
2. Cut peppers
3. Place cut pepper on plate and add soy sauce
4. Cut beef
5. Place cut beef into Tupperware and add soy sauce
6. Prepare wok with oil
7. Sauté peppers
8. Add meat to wok and sauté
9. Move cooked items from wok and into salad
10. Add tomatoes and dressing
11. Enjoy!
Pepper Steak Ginger Salad (continued)
Credits and Acknowledgements
• To my Dad, for teaching me to cook in the first place, and for the use of your kitchen and all of its tools/appliances, and loaning me the camera.
• To Lindsey, for all your help taking pictures and preparing the meal.
• To my Dad, for teaching me to cook in the first place, and for the use of your kitchen and all of its tools/appliances, and loaning me the camera.
• To Lindsey, for all your help taking pictures and preparing the meal.
1/17/09
1up Mushrooms
Introduction
Need an extra life? Have one of these Mario 1up Mushrooms! Just be careful: if you intend to use them to gain immortality, you’ll probably die from a sugar over-dose first. This recipe can also be easily adapted to make the red “super” mushrooms of similar (if not greater) fame. Note that this is not a “full” recipe I am providing here, but an “expansion” of sorts to the previously posted Chocolate Covered Mushrooms recipe. So before you try to make these little greenies, you need to read and understand the Chocolate Covered Mushrooms recipe (to be honest, I would recommend trying to make the CCM’s first, as those are a little easier than these). So as you’re reading the instructions below, understand that they are modified/additional steps to be applied to the CCM recipe. Now, on to what these little life-givers are about: pure sugar. They’re made of meringue like the CCM’s, but instead of milk chocolate, they use white chocolate, which is pretty much just sugar in the consistency of chocolate…so, yea, just sugar…you get the idea.
Make this dish when…
The same rules from CCM apply here pretty much, but you probably won’t freak anyone out into thinking these are real mushrooms. However, making these takes even longer than regular CCM, so you’re definitely going to need plenty of time. You’re going to need a long evening, and the next morning, or simply an entire day if you start early (you won’t be busy the entire time, but waiting for chocolate to cool etc takes a while). Also, these of course are great for anything gamer or geek related, and I suppose even just fun for kids, because hey, just about everybody knows who Mario is.
Don’t make this dish when…
Again, definitely need a lot of time for these. Having a helper is also mandatory for this recipe (one person just cannot do some of these tasks at the same time, but that is pretty much what needs to happen). You need to be even more patient while making these than with CCM’s, and this recipe has a few parts that require a little more technical skill than CCM’s, so if you think you might get a little lazy on them after working for a bit, they might not come out so hot (but hey, mine aren’t perfect either, so no worries). Additionally, these will stain your tongue when you eat them (non-permanently of course), so if you don’t like that, then don’t have these. They will probably stain your fingers a little bit while you’re making them, and if you spill something, they might stain your clothes as well (and that could be permanent). Lastly, if you don’t like white chocolate, or prefer milk chocolate, then you’re probably better off with CCM’s instead.
Statistics
Dish Type: Dessert/Candy
Health Value: You gain an extra life! Just, in the form of raw calorific value…
Serving Size: About 30-70, depending on how you prepare them
Preparation Difficulty: More tiring and difficult than CCM’s by a long-shot; putting each white chocolate
Preparation Time: 8-9 hours (including baking), then several “set-up” periods (can be overnight)
Shelf-Life: 1 month (sealed in Tupperware at room temperature)
Freshness Requirements: These don’t need to be served fresh; just keep them at room temperature
Vegetarian/Vegan Concerns: These use egg-whites; you can use Meringue Powder, but that is pretty much just dehydrated egg-whites, so if you don’t like using eggs, I’m afraid there’s no way around it
Pre-cooked Edibility: I ate a little and I’m still here, but the mixture has raw egg in it (potential for salmonella), so eat it at your own risk
Need an extra life? Have one of these Mario 1up Mushrooms! Just be careful: if you intend to use them to gain immortality, you’ll probably die from a sugar over-dose first. This recipe can also be easily adapted to make the red “super” mushrooms of similar (if not greater) fame. Note that this is not a “full” recipe I am providing here, but an “expansion” of sorts to the previously posted Chocolate Covered Mushrooms recipe. So before you try to make these little greenies, you need to read and understand the Chocolate Covered Mushrooms recipe (to be honest, I would recommend trying to make the CCM’s first, as those are a little easier than these). So as you’re reading the instructions below, understand that they are modified/additional steps to be applied to the CCM recipe. Now, on to what these little life-givers are about: pure sugar. They’re made of meringue like the CCM’s, but instead of milk chocolate, they use white chocolate, which is pretty much just sugar in the consistency of chocolate…so, yea, just sugar…you get the idea.
Make this dish when…
The same rules from CCM apply here pretty much, but you probably won’t freak anyone out into thinking these are real mushrooms. However, making these takes even longer than regular CCM, so you’re definitely going to need plenty of time. You’re going to need a long evening, and the next morning, or simply an entire day if you start early (you won’t be busy the entire time, but waiting for chocolate to cool etc takes a while). Also, these of course are great for anything gamer or geek related, and I suppose even just fun for kids, because hey, just about everybody knows who Mario is.
Don’t make this dish when…
Again, definitely need a lot of time for these. Having a helper is also mandatory for this recipe (one person just cannot do some of these tasks at the same time, but that is pretty much what needs to happen). You need to be even more patient while making these than with CCM’s, and this recipe has a few parts that require a little more technical skill than CCM’s, so if you think you might get a little lazy on them after working for a bit, they might not come out so hot (but hey, mine aren’t perfect either, so no worries). Additionally, these will stain your tongue when you eat them (non-permanently of course), so if you don’t like that, then don’t have these. They will probably stain your fingers a little bit while you’re making them, and if you spill something, they might stain your clothes as well (and that could be permanent). Lastly, if you don’t like white chocolate, or prefer milk chocolate, then you’re probably better off with CCM’s instead.
Statistics
Dish Type: Dessert/Candy
Health Value: You gain an extra life! Just, in the form of raw calorific value…
Serving Size: About 30-70, depending on how you prepare them
Preparation Difficulty: More tiring and difficult than CCM’s by a long-shot; putting each white chocolate
Preparation Time: 8-9 hours (including baking), then several “set-up” periods (can be overnight)
Shelf-Life: 1 month (sealed in Tupperware at room temperature)
Freshness Requirements: These don’t need to be served fresh; just keep them at room temperature
Vegetarian/Vegan Concerns: These use egg-whites; you can use Meringue Powder, but that is pretty much just dehydrated egg-whites, so if you don’t like using eggs, I’m afraid there’s no way around it
Pre-cooked Edibility: I ate a little and I’m still here, but the mixture has raw egg in it (potential for salmonella), so eat it at your own risk
1up Mushrooms (continued)
What You Need
Ingredients
You no longer need…
1. Cocoa Powder (this can be a culinary brand or you can use certain kinds of hot-chocolate mix. I prefer sweeter tasting ones, but it can be bitter if you like. If you use hot-cocoa mix, make sure that it is pretty much just chocolate, not with all the extra weird chemicals like in Swiss Miss allowed!)
2. About ¾ Cup of Chocolate Chips (for melting. You can use chocolate kisses, but I recommend going for something a little more high-quality, like Ghirardelli’s or Guittard’s, as the quality flavor really makes the dish)
But you now need…
1. About 1-2 Cups of White Chocolate Chips (for melting. You can use chocolate kisses, but I recommend going for something a little more high-quality, like Ghirardelli’s or Guittard’s, as the quality flavor really makes the dish)
2. Green Food Coloring (or Red if you intend to make Super Mushrooms instead. Gel or powdered only!)
3. Black Food Coloring (for the eyes; if you don’t want eyes, don’t worry about this then. Gel is preferable, but you could work with other kinds I suppose)
Equipment
You no longer need…
1. Sharp Knife
2. Fine Strainer/Fine Straining Lid for a Shaker (and said Shaker)
But you now need…
1. 2x Cocktail forks or similar sized tools for extracting food coloring form small jar
2. Plate
3. Something to use like a brush for the chocolate (this could even be a brush; I used the back of a small paint dropper)
4. Microbrush (for the eyes; if you don’t want eyes, don’t worry about this then)
5. A helper (this was optional in CCM’s, but is required for this recipe; otherwise your meringue could collapse or you will die of exhaustion while putting on the white spots)
6. A second piping tip and accompanying large zip-loc bag.
A Few Questions Before We Begin…
The same questions from CCM’s apply here (NOTE: less-dense meringue takes on food coloring better and is recommended for this recipe), but also consider…
What do you want your mushrooms to look like? Think about color/dots, overall size/the size ratio between caps and stems, and if you want your mushrooms to have eyes or not. Swap the green food coloring for whatever color you want your caps to be (red Super Mushrooms, purple poisonous ones, or even a made up kind, just have fun), and check the ingredients and equipment lists above depending if you want eyes or not. As far size and ration, naturally if you make smaller mushrooms you can make more of them, but they are extremely difficult to work with, and making stems that small can also be very tricky. My batch is of fairly large mushrooms, some with really large caps, some with fairly large stems. But whatever ratio you decide on, figure it out ahead of time so that when you split your meringue between stems and caps, you’ll know how much you want and don’t end up with too many of one or the other. I personally recommend doing about 2/3 caps and 1/3 stems, because bigger caps just work better all around. For the dots, these are a lot of work, but a really great touch in my opinion. I aim for 5 dots on my mushrooms, but fewer dots = less work. They would still be cool without the dots, just not as cool… Lastly, the eyes are really cute, I highly recommend including them (unless you’ll feel bad eating them because of their cuteness).
Ingredients
You no longer need…
1. Cocoa Powder (this can be a culinary brand or you can use certain kinds of hot-chocolate mix. I prefer sweeter tasting ones, but it can be bitter if you like. If you use hot-cocoa mix, make sure that it is pretty much just chocolate, not with all the extra weird chemicals like in Swiss Miss allowed!)
2. About ¾ Cup of Chocolate Chips (for melting. You can use chocolate kisses, but I recommend going for something a little more high-quality, like Ghirardelli’s or Guittard’s, as the quality flavor really makes the dish)
But you now need…
1. About 1-2 Cups of White Chocolate Chips (for melting. You can use chocolate kisses, but I recommend going for something a little more high-quality, like Ghirardelli’s or Guittard’s, as the quality flavor really makes the dish)
2. Green Food Coloring (or Red if you intend to make Super Mushrooms instead. Gel or powdered only!)
3. Black Food Coloring (for the eyes; if you don’t want eyes, don’t worry about this then. Gel is preferable, but you could work with other kinds I suppose)
Equipment
You no longer need…
1. Sharp Knife
2. Fine Strainer/Fine Straining Lid for a Shaker (and said Shaker)
But you now need…
1. 2x Cocktail forks or similar sized tools for extracting food coloring form small jar
2. Plate
3. Something to use like a brush for the chocolate (this could even be a brush; I used the back of a small paint dropper)
4. Microbrush (for the eyes; if you don’t want eyes, don’t worry about this then)
5. A helper (this was optional in CCM’s, but is required for this recipe; otherwise your meringue could collapse or you will die of exhaustion while putting on the white spots)
6. A second piping tip and accompanying large zip-loc bag.
A Few Questions Before We Begin…
The same questions from CCM’s apply here (NOTE: less-dense meringue takes on food coloring better and is recommended for this recipe), but also consider…
What do you want your mushrooms to look like? Think about color/dots, overall size/the size ratio between caps and stems, and if you want your mushrooms to have eyes or not. Swap the green food coloring for whatever color you want your caps to be (red Super Mushrooms, purple poisonous ones, or even a made up kind, just have fun), and check the ingredients and equipment lists above depending if you want eyes or not. As far size and ration, naturally if you make smaller mushrooms you can make more of them, but they are extremely difficult to work with, and making stems that small can also be very tricky. My batch is of fairly large mushrooms, some with really large caps, some with fairly large stems. But whatever ratio you decide on, figure it out ahead of time so that when you split your meringue between stems and caps, you’ll know how much you want and don’t end up with too many of one or the other. I personally recommend doing about 2/3 caps and 1/3 stems, because bigger caps just work better all around. For the dots, these are a lot of work, but a really great touch in my opinion. I aim for 5 dots on my mushrooms, but fewer dots = less work. They would still be cool without the dots, just not as cool… Lastly, the eyes are really cute, I highly recommend including them (unless you’ll feel bad eating them because of their cuteness).
1up Mushrooms (continued)
Now On To Business
WARNING: Read through this recipe and the CCM recipe at least once before cooking!
You are going to do just about everything the same up until you reach the Piping Your Mush(rooms) stage. The only additional things that need to be done before then are to make sure that your food coloring is easily accessible, and that you prepare the second piping bag as well. Now, it’s piping time!
Piping Your Mush(rooms) Redux
Getting your gel into the piping bag should be roughly the same as in CCM, but in this case, you’re going to only remove enough of the gel to make the stems. If you’re going by my ratio, that’s about 1/3 of your gel. The reason you do this is to allow you to use the mixer to nice and evenly mix the food coloring into the remaining gel, aka the caps. So in this case, you have no choice but to make your stems first. One last note before making the stems: these are shaped and used differently from the CCM stems; you want to be sort of cones that you will then flatten the top of, and when you stick them onto the caps, you will actually place them upside-down in comparison to how they were placed on the CCM’s, resulting in stems with smaller bases that stalks. So once you have the bag ready and loaded, here’s what you (or your helper) should do:
1. Place the piping tip about ¼ inch above the cookie sheet, and very gently squeeze the bag (from the top down) DSC6242.
2. Gently raise the bag/tip about ¾ inch while still squeezing, creating the stalk. You’re aiming for a roughly conical shape here, as opposed to the footed shape used in CCM’s.
Now just repeat these steps until you’ve used up all of your gel. Once you’ve used all of it up, place the piping setup aside and grab your spoon. Like when CCM’s, you’re going to wet the spoon to just the right amount to allow it smooth the gel without getting it soggy or sticking to it. But instead of smoothing down the top of caps, you’re going to be flattening the “tops” (the eventual bottoms) of the stems. So simply use the wet spoon to shape your stems into what could be described as a cylinder with a smaller top. This doesn’t have to be perfectly flat, but if you can get it pretty flat, your mushrooms may be able to stand on their own!
While somebody is doing the above process, somebody else needs to be preparing the gel for the caps. This is what to do:
1. Using the rubber spatula, scrape all of the gel into a pile in the middle of the bowl, and then create a little pit in the middle of said pile.
2. Using your 2 cocktail forks (or equivalent tool/tools), scoop out a pretty big glob of food coloring. Ultimately you’re aiming for around ¼ teaspoon of it (which is a pretty big amount when it comes to food coloring).
3. Dump this blob of food coloring into the little pit you made in the gel. Keep adding more until you get about ¼ teaspoon (a little less is fine, probably not more though) of food coloring into the pit. Set your food coloring and related tools aside.
4. Using the rubber spatula, fold a blob of gel over and on top of the pit, cover the food coloring. Do not mix!
5. Put the bowl back into the electric mixer, and mix it on high. Periodically stop and scrap down the sides and bottom of the bowl to get all the gel into the center so that it mixes evenly. Once you have a good even tone (for the most part at least), you can put the gel into your second piping bag and pipe your caps just like in the CCM recipe, or differently if you want them to be different, whatever you planned on doing.
Once you’re done piping your caps, just set the bag off to the side. Now it’s time to smooth the caps, but it’s a little different this time. Because the caps have food coloring in them, that means they most likely (it depends on what brand of coloring I suppose) have a water-based coloring agent in them that will run with water. That means that if you get too much water on your caps the color will run and look weird. To avoid this, here is what you do:
1. Get your plate, and put just enough water on it so that it forms little puddles. Dip your index finger into one of these puddles, and give it a shake or two (just to get any large droplets off).
2. Using your finger, gently smooth down the caps to make that nice dome shape. You may need to use a sort of swirling motion to get it completely smooth.
After just one cap, your finger will likely be too dry and start to stick instead of smooth; just get it wet again and keep going until all of your caps are done.
Now that everything piped and smoothed, put your caps and stems into the over for 2 hours just like for CCM’s. Let them cool etc, and then move onto the (modified) chocolate step below.
The Chocolate Redux
Ok, this is it, the most painfully time-consuming step in the process: putting on the chocolate spots. Melt the white chocolate just like regular chocolate, and then figure out who is going to do what job: one person needs to be the spotter (the person who applies the spots, get it? Corny for the win), and the other needs to be the smoother (to smooth out the inevitably unsmooth chocolate). Here’s what the two of you do:
1. Spotter: Grab a cap, and using your brushing tool, put a single spot on it. If you’re going for the 5-spot pattern (where you have one spot on top and four going around the sides; this is the original design of the mushrooms), start with the spot on the top. How you apply the spots really depends on your tool, but you definitely don’t want a tail of chocolate to fall onto the rest of the cap. However, a tail of chocolate within the spot is pretty much unavoidable. Once you’re done spotting the cap, place it back down onto the cookie sheet, so that the Smoother can pick it up easily
2. Smoother: Now that the Spotter has put a spot onto a cap, your goal as Smoother is to use a wet finger (just like when smoothing the caps before they went into the oven) to smooth the tail into a nice smooth spot on the cap of the mushroom. Don’t worry about making the spot perfectly blend into the side of the mushroom or about being completely even: as long as you have a decently round shape and no big blobs or creases, it will come out fine.
Repeat these steps until you get through all of your caps. Once you’ve done one spot on every cap, go back to your first cap and put another spot or two on it, going in the order that you originally spotted your caps so as to give the chocolate the most time to “dry.” If you’re doing the 5-spot pattern, all of your top spots should be done now, so next you should probably do two opposite side spots. Regardless of how you’re doing your spots, keep doing this process until you have enough spots that you’re satisfied.
Now that your caps are all spotted, it’s time to paint the eyes (if you want to). Get out your black food coloring and your microbrush, and do this:
1. Dip the microbrush into the food coloring just enough to get the majority of the brush tip coated (not submerged!).
2. Pick a side of a stem and use the microbrush to paint a simple little line down it. I recommend looking over the stem and finding a side that is nice and smooth if your stems have developed any cracks.
3. Now dip the brush again, and paint another little line down next to the first, making long skinny little eyes just like in the game. You can try to aim for rounded edges, but it doesn’t matter too much.
When painting the eyes, don’t be afraid to deviate a little for more expression, or if there is a particularly interestingly shaped stem that could result in something like a facial expression, go for it.
Now that your stems and caps are decorated, you need to let them dry. This will take at least a few hours, but I let mine go overnight. The next morning, I joined my stems to my caps, but this time, I did it a little different:
1. First, make a match between all of your stems and caps, picking a fitting stem for each cap.
2. Pick up a stem in one hand, and the appropriate cap in the other, and dip the flat side (the side that was touching the parchment paper during baking) into the chocolate, getting just enough on to cover that side of the stem.
3. Attach the now chocolate-y side of the stem to the flat side of the cap, creating a mushroom. If you’re going for the authentic look (using the 5-spots pattern), then the eyes should be facing the same direction as one of the side spots.
4. Set the mushroom stem-up to dry, just like in the CCM recipe.
Now give these another hour two to dry, and you’ll be set!
Cleanup Tips Redux
For the most part, the same tips apply as with CCM’s, but with one exception: letting things soak in the mixing bowl will likely stain them, as the water will be all green from food coloring.
WARNING: Read through this recipe and the CCM recipe at least once before cooking!
You are going to do just about everything the same up until you reach the Piping Your Mush(rooms) stage. The only additional things that need to be done before then are to make sure that your food coloring is easily accessible, and that you prepare the second piping bag as well. Now, it’s piping time!
Piping Your Mush(rooms) Redux
Getting your gel into the piping bag should be roughly the same as in CCM, but in this case, you’re going to only remove enough of the gel to make the stems. If you’re going by my ratio, that’s about 1/3 of your gel. The reason you do this is to allow you to use the mixer to nice and evenly mix the food coloring into the remaining gel, aka the caps. So in this case, you have no choice but to make your stems first. One last note before making the stems: these are shaped and used differently from the CCM stems; you want to be sort of cones that you will then flatten the top of, and when you stick them onto the caps, you will actually place them upside-down in comparison to how they were placed on the CCM’s, resulting in stems with smaller bases that stalks. So once you have the bag ready and loaded, here’s what you (or your helper) should do:
1. Place the piping tip about ¼ inch above the cookie sheet, and very gently squeeze the bag (from the top down) DSC6242.
2. Gently raise the bag/tip about ¾ inch while still squeezing, creating the stalk. You’re aiming for a roughly conical shape here, as opposed to the footed shape used in CCM’s.
Now just repeat these steps until you’ve used up all of your gel. Once you’ve used all of it up, place the piping setup aside and grab your spoon. Like when CCM’s, you’re going to wet the spoon to just the right amount to allow it smooth the gel without getting it soggy or sticking to it. But instead of smoothing down the top of caps, you’re going to be flattening the “tops” (the eventual bottoms) of the stems. So simply use the wet spoon to shape your stems into what could be described as a cylinder with a smaller top. This doesn’t have to be perfectly flat, but if you can get it pretty flat, your mushrooms may be able to stand on their own!
While somebody is doing the above process, somebody else needs to be preparing the gel for the caps. This is what to do:
1. Using the rubber spatula, scrape all of the gel into a pile in the middle of the bowl, and then create a little pit in the middle of said pile.
2. Using your 2 cocktail forks (or equivalent tool/tools), scoop out a pretty big glob of food coloring. Ultimately you’re aiming for around ¼ teaspoon of it (which is a pretty big amount when it comes to food coloring).
3. Dump this blob of food coloring into the little pit you made in the gel. Keep adding more until you get about ¼ teaspoon (a little less is fine, probably not more though) of food coloring into the pit. Set your food coloring and related tools aside.
4. Using the rubber spatula, fold a blob of gel over and on top of the pit, cover the food coloring. Do not mix!
5. Put the bowl back into the electric mixer, and mix it on high. Periodically stop and scrap down the sides and bottom of the bowl to get all the gel into the center so that it mixes evenly. Once you have a good even tone (for the most part at least), you can put the gel into your second piping bag and pipe your caps just like in the CCM recipe, or differently if you want them to be different, whatever you planned on doing.
Once you’re done piping your caps, just set the bag off to the side. Now it’s time to smooth the caps, but it’s a little different this time. Because the caps have food coloring in them, that means they most likely (it depends on what brand of coloring I suppose) have a water-based coloring agent in them that will run with water. That means that if you get too much water on your caps the color will run and look weird. To avoid this, here is what you do:
1. Get your plate, and put just enough water on it so that it forms little puddles. Dip your index finger into one of these puddles, and give it a shake or two (just to get any large droplets off).
2. Using your finger, gently smooth down the caps to make that nice dome shape. You may need to use a sort of swirling motion to get it completely smooth.
After just one cap, your finger will likely be too dry and start to stick instead of smooth; just get it wet again and keep going until all of your caps are done.
Now that everything piped and smoothed, put your caps and stems into the over for 2 hours just like for CCM’s. Let them cool etc, and then move onto the (modified) chocolate step below.
The Chocolate Redux
Ok, this is it, the most painfully time-consuming step in the process: putting on the chocolate spots. Melt the white chocolate just like regular chocolate, and then figure out who is going to do what job: one person needs to be the spotter (the person who applies the spots, get it? Corny for the win), and the other needs to be the smoother (to smooth out the inevitably unsmooth chocolate). Here’s what the two of you do:
1. Spotter: Grab a cap, and using your brushing tool, put a single spot on it. If you’re going for the 5-spot pattern (where you have one spot on top and four going around the sides; this is the original design of the mushrooms), start with the spot on the top. How you apply the spots really depends on your tool, but you definitely don’t want a tail of chocolate to fall onto the rest of the cap. However, a tail of chocolate within the spot is pretty much unavoidable. Once you’re done spotting the cap, place it back down onto the cookie sheet, so that the Smoother can pick it up easily
2. Smoother: Now that the Spotter has put a spot onto a cap, your goal as Smoother is to use a wet finger (just like when smoothing the caps before they went into the oven) to smooth the tail into a nice smooth spot on the cap of the mushroom. Don’t worry about making the spot perfectly blend into the side of the mushroom or about being completely even: as long as you have a decently round shape and no big blobs or creases, it will come out fine.
Repeat these steps until you get through all of your caps. Once you’ve done one spot on every cap, go back to your first cap and put another spot or two on it, going in the order that you originally spotted your caps so as to give the chocolate the most time to “dry.” If you’re doing the 5-spot pattern, all of your top spots should be done now, so next you should probably do two opposite side spots. Regardless of how you’re doing your spots, keep doing this process until you have enough spots that you’re satisfied.
Now that your caps are all spotted, it’s time to paint the eyes (if you want to). Get out your black food coloring and your microbrush, and do this:
1. Dip the microbrush into the food coloring just enough to get the majority of the brush tip coated (not submerged!).
2. Pick a side of a stem and use the microbrush to paint a simple little line down it. I recommend looking over the stem and finding a side that is nice and smooth if your stems have developed any cracks.
3. Now dip the brush again, and paint another little line down next to the first, making long skinny little eyes just like in the game. You can try to aim for rounded edges, but it doesn’t matter too much.
When painting the eyes, don’t be afraid to deviate a little for more expression, or if there is a particularly interestingly shaped stem that could result in something like a facial expression, go for it.
Now that your stems and caps are decorated, you need to let them dry. This will take at least a few hours, but I let mine go overnight. The next morning, I joined my stems to my caps, but this time, I did it a little different:
1. First, make a match between all of your stems and caps, picking a fitting stem for each cap.
2. Pick up a stem in one hand, and the appropriate cap in the other, and dip the flat side (the side that was touching the parchment paper during baking) into the chocolate, getting just enough on to cover that side of the stem.
3. Attach the now chocolate-y side of the stem to the flat side of the cap, creating a mushroom. If you’re going for the authentic look (using the 5-spots pattern), then the eyes should be facing the same direction as one of the side spots.
4. Set the mushroom stem-up to dry, just like in the CCM recipe.
Now give these another hour two to dry, and you’ll be set!
Cleanup Tips Redux
For the most part, the same tips apply as with CCM’s, but with one exception: letting things soak in the mixing bowl will likely stain them, as the water will be all green from food coloring.
1up Mushrooms (continued)
The Recipe In Short
WARNING: Only use this if you have: read and understand the above complete recipe, have prepared this dish before, or really know what you’re doing.
1. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar together on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add sugar and beat on high speed for another 5-10 minutes, depending on desired density.
3. Transfer part of the mixture into a piping bag and pipe stems.
4. Add food coloring to remaining part of mixture and mix thoroughly.
5. Pipe caps using colored mixture.
6. Smooth stems and caps accordingly.
7. Bake mushrooms for 2 hours in a 200° F oven.
8. Remove mushrooms from oven and let them cool to room temperature.
9. Melt chocolate chips in a bowl.
10. Apply spots to caps.
11. Apply eyes to stems.
12. Allow stems and caps to setup/dry.
13. Attach stems to caps using chocolate.
14. Place completed mushrooms onto a cookie tray to setup.
15. Allow mushrooms to setup for several more hours.
16. Enjoy!
WARNING: Only use this if you have: read and understand the above complete recipe, have prepared this dish before, or really know what you’re doing.
1. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar together on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add sugar and beat on high speed for another 5-10 minutes, depending on desired density.
3. Transfer part of the mixture into a piping bag and pipe stems.
4. Add food coloring to remaining part of mixture and mix thoroughly.
5. Pipe caps using colored mixture.
6. Smooth stems and caps accordingly.
7. Bake mushrooms for 2 hours in a 200° F oven.
8. Remove mushrooms from oven and let them cool to room temperature.
9. Melt chocolate chips in a bowl.
10. Apply spots to caps.
11. Apply eyes to stems.
12. Allow stems and caps to setup/dry.
13. Attach stems to caps using chocolate.
14. Place completed mushrooms onto a cookie tray to setup.
15. Allow mushrooms to setup for several more hours.
16. Enjoy!
1up Mushrooms (continued)
Credits and Acknowledgements
- To my Dad, for showing me the recipe in the first place, for all those times you made them when I was a kid, and for your supportive guidance while I learned to make them. Oh, and for the use of your kitchen and all of its tools/appliances, and loaning me the camera.
- To Lindsey, for all your help taking pictures and with making the mushrooms.
- Original Recipe from: Cocolat: Extraordinary Chocolate Desserts by Alice Medrich.
- Mushroom design/idea © Nintendo
1/12/09
Chocolate Covered Mushrooms
DSC6305
Introduction
These little "mushrooms" (thankfully) have nothing to do with fungus of any sort; they're actually a delicious dessert that amounts to little more than sugar and chocolate. They're made of meringue (puffed sugar, somewhat similar to marshmallows), cocoa powder and chocolate. But most people, at least at first glance, think that they're real mushrooms, and if somebody asks you what you're cooking, you get to say "chocolate covered mushrooms" and relish in their facial expressions of horror and disgust (or pitiful attempts to hide such feelings). Then you can keep working on your merry way, finish the mushrooms, and eat one with a satisfying crunch (yes, they are quite crunchy) right in front of them, freaking them out yet again as they ponder what could possibly make a mushroom crunch. They're also nice decorations or sides to other dessert dishes (you can try sticking them onto a Yule-log, or use them on a themed cake), and are just a fun snack to bring to school or work (where you can disturb more people!). Beware though: they can be addictive.
Make this dish when…
You have a decent amount of free time (preferably in the evening), ideally with a movie to watch (or other entertainment that lasts a similar amount of time), and have a craving for some chocolate (because you will eat some while you're cooking). And of course, if you want to freak out some people or need something fun for a theme party (Halloween perhaps?), these are great.
Don't make this dish when…
You need something in a pinch: these take quite a while to make, and they can actually be a little tiring to prepare. Don't make these if you don't like to share: leave some of these out somewhere and somebody brave (or who knows what they are) might try one, and then they'll be gone before you know it. Also, you need to be a little patient while making these, so if patience isn't your game, then making these might not be for you. These are also definitely not recommended for anyone diabetic.
Statistics
Dish Type: Dessert/Candy
Serving Size: About 30-70, depending on how you prepare them
Preparation Difficulty: Can actually be a little tiring, but doesn't demand too much technical skill, and the cooking (baking) process is quite simple
Preparation Time: 3-4 hours (including baking), then "setting-up" over several more hours or overnight
Shelf-Life: 1 month (sealed in Tupperware at room temperature)
Freshness Requirements: These don't need to be served fresh; just keep them at room temperature
Vegetarian/Vegan Concerns: These require egg-whites; I don't know if you can use (or if there is) a substitute if you are not into the use of eggs
Pre-cooked Edibility: I ate a little and I'm still here, but the mixture has raw egg in it (potential for salmonella), so eat it at your own risk
What You Need
Ingredients
- About 3 Eggs (or a carton of egg-whites), to obtain ½ cup of egg-whites
- ¼ Teaspoon Cream of Tatar (this is key for acidity balance; if you use a copper mixing bowl though, this is unnecessary, as the copper bowl will take care of this…supposedly. I recommend you just go stainless-steel use the cream of tartar)
- 1 Cup White Sugar (preferably super-fine; with regular sugar you may notice the occasional crystal in the finished product (this is not referring to powdered/confectioner's sugar though)
- Cocoa Powder (this can be a culinary brand or you can use certain kinds of hot-chocolate mix. I prefer sweeter tasting ones, but it can be bitter if you like. If you use hot-cocoa mix, make sure that it is pretty much just chocolate, not with all the extra weird chemicals like in Swiss Miss allowed!)
- About ¾ Cup of Chocolate Chips (for melting. You can use chocolate kisses, but I recommend going for something a little more high-quality, like Ghirardelli's or Guittard's, as the quality flavor really makes the dish)
Equipment
- Measuring Glass
- Measuring Spoon Set (Or at least ¼ tsp spoon)
- Measuring Cup (1 cup is preferable, but you can use a smaller one several times to the same effect)
- Scissors
- Sharp Knife
- Butter Knife
- Spoon
- Small Bowl
- Large Zip-Loc Bag
- Piping Tip Mount
- Electric Mixing Bowl (you must use one of these; nothing else will really get the job done) DSC6178
- Beater Attachment (for said bowl)
- Parchment Paper
- 2x Cookie Sheets
- Oven (with enough room for both Cookie Sheets)
- Fine Strainer/Fine Straining Lid for a Shaker (and said Shaker)
- Rubber Spatula
- Someone to help you (not required, but highly recommended)
A Few Questions Before We Begin…
- What type of and how many mushrooms do you want? These two parts of this question are interrelated, as they both depend on the density of the meringue. A more dense meringue means fewer (about 30) but crunchier and sweeter mushrooms, while a less-dense meringue results in a larger batch (about 60-70) of fluffier mushrooms that are not as sugary. If you want the chocolate flavor to stand out more, go for the less-dense mushrooms, as the amount of chocolate will stay the same, but there will be less sugar-per-mushroom to overpower said chocolate. But if you want each bite to be a sugar bomb of death, the more dense meringue is the route to take. Also, if you only have one cookie sheet or have a smaller oven, then go for the more dense meringue so you make fewer mushrooms and don't waste any of the mixture. Lastly, note that with denser mushrooms, if you are not using super-fine sugar, you may notice the occasional sugar granule in the finished mushrooms.
- What do you want to do with the unused egg yolks? If you buy a carton of egg-whites, you don't need to worry about this, but otherwise, you may want to consider something else to do with your unused egg-yolks so as not to waste them (like finding a recipe that calls for egg-yolks, such as béarnaise sauce). Though, you could always just try and cook them, throw them at somebody, or feed them to a dog. If you only care about the waste in a fiscal sense, it may actually be cheaper to buy eggs and toss the yolks than to buy just egg-whites anyway.
Now On To Business
WARNING: Read through this at least once before you start cooking!
Obtaining the Egg Whites
If you have bought yourself a carton of egg whites, then simply pour ½ cup from the carton into your measuring glass.
If you are using just plain eggs, this is where things get technical. Grab your small bowl, and your measuring glass. Your goal is to collect your whites, from one egg at a time, in a bowl, then pour from that bowl into the measuring glass. This way, if you mess up, you only "contaminate" the contents of that single egg, thus preserving the other eggs (imagine getting 2 eggs perfect, then messing up the third and contaminating all of them. It would be an awful waste…or an interesting omelet…). Anyway, to do this:
- Crack 1 egg over the bowl, making sure to keep the yolk inside one half of the shell while emptying the whites from the other half of the shell into the bowl.
- Dispose of the empty shell half, then (over the bowl of course) gently pour the egg yolk from its shell into your other hand, taking care not to break the yolk (don't let the shell cut it, or let it fall from too high).
- Empty into the bowl any whites left in the shell, then dispose of the shell. Now, you basically want to try and let the whites sift between your fingers while hanging onto the yolk. One technique that works well for this is to gently swap the yolk between your hands. If the yolk starts to break, you're best to cut your losses and do with it whatever you have planned for your yolks before it contaminates the whites in the bowl.
- Once you're done, pour the whites into the measuring glass.
Now repeat these steps again; when adding your last batch of whites, don't worry if you end up with more than ½ cup, we'll handle that here…
If
you have more than ½ cup of whites in your measuring glass, pour a little back into your bowl/carton. Keep doing this until you have just ½ cup. If you accidently pour out too much, you can just pour it back into the measuring glass from the bowl/carton (this is why you shouldn't pour the whites down the sink). It doesn't have to be perfect though, so don't worry if you're a little off.
Setting Up Everything Else
I highly recommend that you measure out the rest of your ingredients and have them ready ahead of time (except the chocolate; that's at least two hours away from this point), and get as much as you can ready now instead of later. So get your ¼ tsp of cream of tartar (using your measuring spoon) and your 1 cup of sugar (using your measuring cup and butter knife) measured out and ready (but separate from each other!). I also recommend that you get your piping equipment and cooking sheets ready. This means covering the top of both cooking sheets with parchment paper (no greasing or cooking-spray needed), and see below for preparing your piping bag. You also should probably start preheating your oven to 200° F now. The reason to get everything setup ahead of time is that once things are set in motion, they really shouldn't stop: meringue is essentially puffed sugar, so if you wait too long between steps, it may lose all of its puff!
Prepping Your Piping Equipment
This procedure has at least two methods: you can be old-school and fancy and use a piping bag (don't know what one is? No worries, it's not important), or use my preferred method and use a plastic bag. So…
If you're going the piping bag route, you probably already know what to do, so you're on your own. Just remember that don't need to use an actual tip, just the mount will work fine.
If you're going with the plastic bag (zip-loc), here is what you do:
- Cut a small amount of one of the lower corners off of the bag so that you can get your piping tip mount through the hole. This sort of depends on the size of your mount, but to be safe, go smaller first, then make the hole bigger to accommodate your mount.
- Place the taller, conical (back) end of the mount part-way through the hole (narrow-end first) from the inside of the bag. Then (while holding the "back" piece of the mount in place), screw on the "cap" (the other part of the mount) over the bag, so as to hold the mount to the bag. Ta-da! You have just made yourself a semi-disposable piping-bag that is way easier to clean than a regular one, and to be honest, probably works a bit better DSC6173.
Now just keep your bag open, but out of the way. If you want to make the final production of the mushrooms easier (and have obtained a helper!), you may wish to prepare two bags, so that you can pipe half of the mushrooms while your helper pipes the other half.
The First Mixture
Alright, you are now ready to start actually making some stuff! Here's what you do:
- Pour the eggs whites into the mixing bowl for your electric mixer.
- Drop in your little blob of cream of tartar (if you're using it, which you should! Check the info about this ingredient if you don't know what I'm talking about).
- Now attach your mixing bowl to the mixer (if you haven't already), and then attach the beater attachment (again, if you haven't already).
- Start the mixer on its lowest setting, and slowly work up to medium speed.
- Let these two things get beaten together for at least 2-3 minutes, until "soft peaks form." Well, that's what the recipe book said, but you'll probably end up with plenty of foam, and eventually get something that looks like the last picture in the slide show below.
At this point, you might want to power down the mixer and lower the bowl (if your mixer can do that; otherwise raise the mixing arm away from the bowl, if it can do that). Then use the rubber spatula to scrape the foam down back into the mixture. Your first mixture is done, but quickly now, it's time for the next step!
Making It Sweet
Now for a little flavor, adding the sugar! Here's what to do:
- Get your mixing bowl back into its mixing position on the mixer, and slowly power the mixer up to full speed.
- With the mixer running, slowly add the sugar to the mixture. To do this, rest the cup of sugar on the lip of the mixing bowl; then, using your other hand, gently tap the back of the cup to drop only small amounts of sugar into the bowl at a time. This results in the sugar being more evenly distributed, and prevents the big mess of sugar flying everywhere DSC6221.
- Once all the sugar has been added, power down the mixer and use the rubber spatula to scrape any sugar etc. stuck up on the sides of the bowl and back into the main mixture.
Now at this point, you need to refer back to the decision that you should have made regarding what kind of and how many mushrooms you want…
If you want more-dense mushrooms, you need to beat the mixture for a shorter period of time. Maybe somewhere around 5 minutes, until the mixture is uniform and glossy, a bit soft and looks like this: DSC6236.
If you want less-dense mushrooms, you need to beat the mixture for a longer period of time, maybe 10 minutes, until the mixture is uniform, dull, and stiff.
I apologize: because I went with the first option of more dense mushrooms, I don't have a picture to more thoroughly explain the second option. Perhaps I will make a less-dense batch some other time and get a picture of the mixture. Until then, sorry!
Piping Your Mush(rooms)
Ok, so you have your mushrooms! They're just in, well, gel form. So now we're going to go about shaping that gel into mushrooms, and the way we do that is…piping! So, let's fill our piping bag(s) and get to work! What you're going to do is create the stems and caps separately (they'll be combined later). Thus, you should fill one cookie sheet with stems and one with caps (with an equal number of stems and caps of course), unless you're doing the dense mushrooms: you can probably fit all of your stems and caps on one sheet (but the other sheet will be useful later for assembly purposes). Here's how to do it:
NOTE: When doing this, you'll likely find that the gel sticks to the bag a bit: I don't really worry about it, but if you want to avoid any stickage and try to get out every last drop, you can use cooking spray to lube the inside of the bag, but just don't use too much or things will get nasty. Also, this might get a little tiring, as very controlled movements are required, but you can't stop or your mushrooms will turn into raw fail (they won't puff well)!
Remove your mixing bowl from the mixer, and use your rubber spatula to sort of scoop/pour your gel into the bag through its open zip top. This is a time when a helper is extremely, well, helpful: they can hold the bag open while you scoop (which is why I have no pictures of this process: my photographer was too busy holding the bag to take pictures).
Now, I highly recommend that you pipe the stems first, as the meringue will be stiffer and thus stand-up better. But don't worry; it's quite alright if some of your stems fall over: real mushrooms don't grow perfect anyway! So to make your stems:
- Place the piping tip about ¼ inch above the cookie sheet, and very
gently squeeze the bag (from the top down). - Keep the bag/tip in the same place and keep (gently!) squeezing until a small glob forms (the foot of the mushroom).
- Gently raise the bag/tip about ¾ inch while still squeezing, creating the stalk. You can variate on the height and angle of the stalks, but once you've reached your desired height, stop squeezing and twist the bag/tip as you pull away.
Now just repeat these steps until you've used about half of your gel (preferably a little less than half), spacing the stems about ¼-½ inch apart (they don't expand too much). Don't worry about any little tails or extra bits hanging around: they'll be taken care of later. Just count how many stems you have made (if you don't already know), and prepare to make some caps. This is what to do:
- Place the piping tip about ½ inch above the cookie sheet, and again, very gently squeeze the bag to form a single large glob the size of a cap. This is like making the foot of the stems, but a bit bigger.
- Once your glob has expanded to the proper size, stop squeezing and gently twist the bag/tip up and away. You'll end up with something that looks like a giant chocolate kiss: don't worry, we'll make it look more like a mushroom in a bit.
Now just repeat these steps until you have as many caps as stems. If you have some gel left (which you very well may, no worries), just alternate between creating stems and caps to make sure you have an equal amount of both. Once you're done, just set the bag off to the side. Now it's time to smooth the caps:
- Get your regular spoon, or at least its bottom side, wet (more than moist, but not dripping).
- Using the bottom of said spoon, gently smooth down the top of a cap into a uniform, dome-y shape that befits a mushroom.
After about 4 mushrooms, your spoon will likely get dry and start to stick instead of smooth; just get it wet again and keep going until all of your mushrooms are done.
Congratulations, you're finished piping! But there is still more to be done…
Adding That Mushroom Grunge
The key to making your mushrooms look like the real deal is to properly dirty them with a little cocoa powder. There are two techniques to use here, and you should probably use both, but you don't have to; in fact, you can skip this step completely if you like. A few broad tips first: imperfection is fine, if not recommended, as you don't want all of your mushrooms to look the same. However, you want to avoid large clumps of cocoa powder, as such clumps will melt in the oven, creating a strangely dark and plastic-y mark on the mushroom. So first, to speckle your mushrooms:
If you're using a shaker with a fine strainer lid (like I am)…
- Load the shaker with some cocoa powder (if you want to just have a shaker full of cocoa powder around, which is a completely reasonable thing to want...then fill it to about ¾ full, otherwise, put in just a little bit, and you can always add more).
- Turn the shaker sideways and a little downward over an empty spot on the cookie sheet full of caps (if you don't have such a spot, a paper plate will do), as a large amount of powder will likely fall out.
- With the shaker still held sideways, hold it about 2-3 inches above a cap, and give the "butt" of the shaker a little tap or two to make some powder fall out and speckle the top of the mushroom. You can also try to just shake the shaker, but you're more likely to get too much or too little powder that way DSC6264.
Now just move to the next cap and repeat the spanking part until all of your mushrooms are properly coated.
If you're using a fine strainer…
- Load the strainer with some cocoa powder (not much; you can always add more if you need it). You should probably do this over an empty spot on the cookie sheet or on a paper plate near the cookie sheet, as too much powder will likely fall through, and even just moving the strainer may result in a small amount of powder falling.
- Hold the strainer over (maybe 2-3 inches above) a mushroom cap. Gently tap the side of your strainer to make powder fall out and speckle your cap.
Now just move to the next cap and repeat the tapping part until all of your mushrooms are properly coated.
I decided to speckle my stems as well by simply repeating the same technique that was used on the caps.
Now for the second technique (which I recommend using on both the stems and caps as well): dusting. To dust your mushrooms, giving them a nice brown shading, you need to:
- Using your strainer or shaker, create a small pile of cocoa powder on an unoccupied portion of your cookie sheet or on a paper plate. The plate is preferable if you really care about which parts of your mushrooms get dusted, because you can move the plate.
- Gently blow (or fan, if you're worried about the sanitary quality of your own breath) the cocoa powder into the desired mushroom parts, creating a nice smooth browning similar to air-brushing DSC6268.
Repeat these steps as much as you like; you could completely brown your mushrooms if you want, get all of the sides, or just one side, it doesn't really matter. But again, be sure not to get too much cocoa powder on there, or it will melt (or even worse, burn!), resulting in weirdo mushrooms. If you did accidently pour too much powder onto a particular mushroom while speckling, then you can blow (or fan) the excess powder off to dust the nearby mushrooms.
Torch 'Em
Now that you're done shakin', it's time to get bakin' (sorry, I couldn't resist). This also means you get to enjoy whatever roughly 2-hour long entertainment (or chore…) you have planned. Remember, the oven should already be heated up to a toasty 200° F by now, so just do these few things and you're good to go:
- Place both trays of mushrooms in the oven (you can use convection if you like; if you have a digital oven, it should automatically compensate the temperature by 25° F if you do opt for convection) onto separate racks. Placing the caps on the upper rack might help them rise more, but it doesn't matter too much.
- Close up the oven, set a timer for 2 hours, and walk away. No peaking, or your mushrooms might die a horrible death of imploding (they might collapse from a change in temperature in the same way that baking bread can)!
Now, when I say walk away, I mean to stay within earshot of the timer; if you used a portable timer (or a cell phone alarm), then you can just take that with you, but you still shouldn't leave the building: leaving an oven completely un-attended is the sort of thing that catches people's houses on fire, or at least burns their food. Also, just make sure that whatever you have planned is something that you can stop within a minute or two: the mushrooms don't have to come out at 2 hours on the dot, but they might get burned if you decide to "just finish this match" or something like that (you gamers out there know what I'm talking about).
Once you've taken them out of the oven, give the mushrooms a few minutes to cool, and they should, or at least can, look like this: DSC6271 DSC6272.
If you need to finish up something else you have going on at the moment (like that match…), now is a good time, as these need to cool to room temperature, and should be fine for a while once they've reached that temperature (as long as nobody wanders by and eats them). Just don't forget about them. Once they're all cooled, you can move on to the next step.
The Chocolate
Ok, this is it, the step that earns them the name "Chocolate Covered Mushrooms." Okay, so they're not exactly covered in chocolate as you might think, but they still have plenty of the stuff. But before we start chocolating things up, we need to prepare the stems for joining with the caps. It's pretty simple:
- Using a sharp knife (as in not a butter knife), cut the pointy tips off of any stems, and separate any stems that might be joined by random tails.
- Place the cut stems onto a paper plate (you will be using their cookie sheet as a place for the completed mushrooms to cool).
So now that you have all of your stems ready, it's time to melt some chocolate. This is yet another step that has at least two ways to do it, so…
If you're lazy like me and want to just microwave the chocolate, do this:
- Place your chocolate chips into a bowl.
- Microwave the chocolate for 30 seconds on half-power.
- Stir the chocolate, and repeat the previous step until the chocolate is melted (but don't forget to take out the spoon!). This will likely add up to about 2-3 minutes.
NOTE: If the chocolate starts to solidify again, give it another 15 seconds on half-power. You could place an electric heating-pad under the chocolate to try to prevent this.
If you want to be a little more professional…
- Place your chocolate in a bowl like above; the high sides are important (the higher the better; this prevents water from spilling in). You might prefer to use a bigger bowl, just so that it is easier to work with.
- Get a pan (not a pot; you need to be able to easily reach down inside) that is large enough so that you can place your bowl in it (a wok might work well for this), and add enough hot water to it so that the bottom of your bowl (and only the bottom!) will be submerged.
- Bring the water to a simmer using only low heat and wait for the chocolate to melt.
Now your chocolate is melted, and it should probably stay that way. Just be careful around the flame, the steam, and the boiling water. The microwave is a lot safer you know…
Ok, so now you have melted chocolate through some way or another, and it's time to get working (and quickly if you used the microwave method). You need to:
- Grab a cap in one hand, and a stem in the other hand. You're playing match-maker here, so make a happy couple!
- Take the cap, and gently dip its bottom (the flat side) into the chocolate.
- Pull the cap back out of the chocolate while twisting.
- Try to sort of flip the cap back up right without having a chocolate tail dangle over the edge and onto the top of the cap. Try spinning the cap while righting it or using your finger to block any dangles from spilling over onto the top.
- Take the stem, and use its cut end to push the chocolate bulge most likely left on one side of the cap into its center.
- Press the stem into the center of the cap. There should be enough chocolate there to hold the stem in place, creating a completed mushroom!
- Place your completed mushroom cap-down (stem-up) onto the cookie sheet (or the part of it) that you were using for your stems.
Repeat this process until you have made all of your mushrooms, creating a lovely little upside-down mushroom wonderland DSC6296.
Now here's the bad news: these take a while to cool and "set up." They're truly done only once the chocolate is no longer glossy, but a flat brown like the chocolate chips were DSC6300.
This will probably take at least a few (1-4) hours (it would probably be faster in the fridge, but then you need to wait for the mushrooms to return to room temperature, possibly wasting more time than was saved), but I prefer let them set overnight. If you have roommates/family, make sure to put a note on them so nobody eats them while you're asleep (I wake up last usually, so the note is very important!). So once you're done forming all of your mushrooms you can move on to clean up, and call it a night.
The Morning After
Congratulations, after all of your patience and hard work, your mushrooms are done at last! Take a bite (or use my preferred method of cramming an entire one into your mouth; no mess, and very crunchy!), savor the flavor, and then consider storage options. If you intend to keep them for a while, Tupperware is the way to go. I like to line the Tupperware with a piece of parchment paper, just to add that sort of "hey, are those really mushrooms?" mystery to the box, but it's not necessary. If you want to leave them out for people to eat, pile them onto a plate (you can arrange them, but I find the sort of disorganized pile look more befitting of mushrooms) and loosely cover them with plastic wrap. That's it, you're done!
Cleanup Tips
- Take the mixing bowl, fill it almost completely with water, and then slide in anything that had contact with the gel (except for the plastic bag; I'll get to that in a second). Let this soak overnight, and the gel will have either dissolved away or at least be loosened up enough to be easily rinsed off.
- The whole idea behind using the plastic bag is that it is disposable! So when you're done piping, unscrew the piping tip mount, just pull the long end of the mount completely through (instead of reaching into the bag and pulling it out the way it went in), and toss the bag! You should probably rinse the mount to get most of the stuff out of it before you let it soak in the mixing bowl though.
- The moment you're done with it (including eating from it), the chocolate bowl should be rinsed out completely. The chocolate will be extremely difficult to remove once it has hardened, but shouldn't be too much trouble while it's still soft. Using hot water makes the process easier.
The Recipe In Short
WARNING: Only use this if you have: read and understand the above complete recipe, have prepared this dish before, or really know what you're doing.
- Beat egg whites and cream of tartar together on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
- Add sugar and beat on high speed for another 5-10 minutes, depending on desired density.
- Transfer mixture into a piping bag and pipe an equal number of stems and caps onto cookie sheets.
- Smooth tops of the caps.
- Using cocoa powder, dust and speckle mushrooms for realism.
- Bake mushrooms for 2 hours in a 200° F oven.
- Remove mushrooms from oven and let them cool to room temperature.
- Melt chocolate chips in a bowl.
- Dip caps into melted chocolate and attach stems.
- Place completed mushrooms onto a cookie tray to setup.
- Allow mushrooms to setup overnight.
- Enjoy!
Other Possibilities/Recipe Variations
Aside from their many decorative possibilities, I believe this recipe has the potential to be adapted in a few interesting ways:
- While the mushrooms I created looked like little portobellos or some other type of "button mushroom," differing amounts of speckling and dusting, coupled with different shaped stems and caps, could create other types of mushrooms. For example, to create shitake mushrooms, you would need a minimal amount of speckling and a fairly heavy amount of dusting, along with small/narrow stems and larger/flatter caps. To achieve the darker tone of shitakes, you might even want to mix a little cocoa powder into the raw mushroom gel, though I'm not sure of what effects (if any) that could have on the meringue's properties, but it would probably be fine.
- This recipe involves piping, so you can make almost anything, as long as you can properly extrude it through a piping tip or get it to work with a mold. Somebody want to make a meringue house or car or something? The trick to making these is figuring out the bake time, but you're on your own with that one I'm afraid.
- I have one other idea in mind, but I think I want to actually try it; if it works out, I'd rather devote and entire blog post to it than just give a short little snippet here. All I'm going to say is that it has something to do with toads: see if you can figure out the rest from there ;-).
Credits and Acknowledgements
- To my Dad, for showing me the recipe in the first place, for all those times you made them when I was a kid, and for your supportive guidance while I learned to make them. Oh, and for the use of your kitchen and all of its tools/appliances, and loaning me the camera.
- To Lindsey, for all your help taking pictures and with making the mushrooms.
- Original Recipe from: Cocolat: Extraordinary Chocolate Desserts by Alice Medrich.
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