happy year of the tiger!

last week, i headed to kansas city for three days of cooking in preparation for a Chinese New Year feast. it was the most chinesey thing i'd done in a long time. at the home of Heinrich and Cheryl Toh, we tested recipes, minced, filled, rolled, baked, fried, steamed, and concocted into the wee hours of the night. there were an additional 3-8 people who came to help each day, mostly friends from the local thriving arts community. we were cooking for over 50 people in their little kitchen, but somehow everything flowed smoothly thanks to their well stocked kitchen, Cheryl's excellent ability to plan and delegate, and all the eager helpers.

the menu consisted of at least 20 dishes and three desserts. things had more of a malaysian and singaporean slant than chinese, since Heinrich is from Singapore. they included: corn and spinach dumplings, ginger-chicken bundles, shrimp stuffed peppers, chee cheong fun, carrot cake (which is a savory dish of fried rice cake), char sui, curry puffs (yum), beef rendang, fried tofu, ngoh hiang (turkey wrapped in bean curd paper and deep fried), and rice noodles. for dessert, there was red bean soup and two kinds of cookies: pineapple tart and quay bangkit. the quay bangkit is a subtle, melt in your mouth cookie made with tapioca flour and flavored with coconut milk and pandan leaf. it's flavor enchanted everyone who tasted it. you can find the recipe here.

in addition, heinrich made lunch and dinner, and i whipped up ice cream (red bean and green tea) for everyone who came to help each day! unfortunately, my camera battery died after one picture on the night of the festivities, so the pictures here are from a morning-after brunch.

after all that cooking, everything reminded me of food. i drove home sunday night in a snowy bowl of tapioca flour. i thought of us as dumpling filling as we wrapped our blanket around ourselves in bed. i got so used to their kitchen, i forgot which drawer held the utensils when i got home! i came back inspired and ready to get back into the asian-flavored cooking groove that i had left out of my repertoire for the past several years.

every dish served that night came from traditional recipes. however, the corn dumpling recipe was created by Cheryl, after being inspired by a restaurant corn dumpling experience. she has been kind enough to share it with us:

Corn Dumplings

Mince in processor:

1 med shallot

1 clove. garlic

1/2 celery stalk

chop fine:

1 celery stalk

Saute above ingredients 8 - 10 min in peanut oil.

chop or process on pulse:

1 small can water chestnuts

Defrost and drain:

2 c frozen corn

seasoning:

1 tsp. soy sauce or tamari

2 tsp rice wine

1/2 tsp peanut oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp white pepper

3 tsp corn starch

In bowl combine all ingredients and stir well.

Use dried rice wrappers to wrap filling. (use square rice sheets when available)

To use, brush both sides of dried rice sheet with water and allow to soften. When sheet is soft, cut sheet in half and place 1tbsp of filling on the sheet. Fold over the edges and roll to form a neatly shaped pillow. Dust with rice flour to prevent sticking.

Pan fry in a small amount of oil until lightly browned. Do not over crowd the pan or they will stick together.

Serve with chili in oil or sweet chili.