Napa Cabbage Rolls

This recipe is inspired by Just Bento's cabbage rolls.
Usually the napa cabbage I buy are so big that I usually make giant cabbage rolls, but i found that if I cut the cabbage in half, I can make smaller 2 bite rolls.

For this roll, I make a dumpling like filling with shiitake mushrooms, dried scallops and mini dried shrimp. Asian flavours for an Asian cabbage roll.

Napa Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients 

• 6 Short (and fat) napa cabbage leaves, cut in half for 12 or 12 small leaves
• 300g Ground pork
• 3 Shiitake mushrooms
• 1 big dried scallop or 2 small ones
• 1 tbsp mini dried shrimp
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp corn starch

Directions

1. Soak the shiitake mushrooms and dried scallop for several hours to re-hydrate. If you do not have several hours, soak in warm water to hasten the process. 
2. If the cabbage leaves you're using is really wide, you can cut it in half down to middle to make it skinnier. But make sure you can still wrap it around the meat when it's cut in half.
3. Do a quick blanch of the leaves to soften them.
4. Once the mushroom is re-hydrated, cut into small pieces and add it into a bowl with the meat.
5. Shred the dried scallop and add it into the bowl with the meat and mushrooms
6. Rinse the dried shrimp and lightly chop it into smaller pieces, add it into the bowl.
7. Add the sugar, soy sauce and corn starch into the bowl and mix all together.
8. Once it's all mix, spoon the mixture onto the soften napa cabbage leaves and roll.
9. Tuck the tail of the cabbage into one of the sides.
10. Your rolls should have a diameter of about 1 inch so it's a bite size roll. 
11. Steam in a dish for 15 mins and you're ready to go!

Chayote Squash and Pork with 雲耳 and/or 木耳

The Chayote in the picture above is home grown so they might look a little different from store brought ones.
This is an other one of those dishes where there are many different variations.

The very basic of this dish is Chayote, meat, soy sauce, sugar and cornstarch.
The onion, garlic and 2 types of black fungus is actually all optional.
The onion and garlic will add more flavour so I always cook with it as long as I have some on hand. But the fungus doesn't add flavour, just nutritional value.
My mother in law only cooks this dish with 雲耳
My parents likes to cook with both 雲耳 and 木耳.
I like to cook with both because I find the texture of both to be slightly different and I enjoy mixing the 2 together.

If you google the word of both types of black fungus, it'll return the same name in English! So when you go shopping, write these words down to find them both.

Chayote Squash and Pork with 雲耳 and/or 木耳

Ingredients

• 2 Chayote Squashes
• 150g pork neck 
• 1 small onion
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• handful of dried 雲耳 (optional)
• 5 dried pieces of 木耳 (optional)

Directions

1. Soak the dried 雲耳 and 木耳 for a couple of hours, or 30 mins in warm water.
2. Peel the chayote. Use a fruit peeler. You may want to use gloves to peel the chayote. I find it'll make my hand peel but it doesn't affect my mom in the same way. So give it a try.
3. Cut it in half. The seed is quite soft so you'll probably cut it right in half. Take the seed out. 
4. Cut it into slices like you would for apple slices. 

5. 

   This is 雲耳

   Cut the onion into strips. 
6. Cut the pork into thin strips and mix in a bowl with the soy sauce and sugar.
7. Once you're done all this, the dried 雲耳 and 木耳 should be ready for use. They should have expanded a lot. 雲耳 expands a lot more then 木耳. 
8. Lightly rub the expanded fungus to wash it. Rinse under the tap.
9. Check the back of the 雲耳 to see if you need to cut off any connection points. It should be small segments of hard white ridges. 
10. Cut it into 1 inch pieces so you can quickly and easily cook it. 
11. There usually isn't connection points on 木耳 but check and 

    

    This is the back of  the 雲耳

    cut away if necessary. Then cut into similar size as the 雲耳.
12. Heat a wok to medium heat, once it's warm add the oil, onion and garlic.
13. Once you smell the mixture cooking, add the chayote slices. Stir and let it cook at medium heat.
14. After 2-3 mins, add in the slice pork. Cook and stir. To speed up cooking time, cover for a bit in-between stir.
15. When the pork is about 80% cooked, add in the 雲耳 and 木耳
16. As usual, stir around to ensure it's getting cooked.
17. Cover and cook for another 2 mins and cover again and let it cook until the pork is done.
18. And you're good to go :)

Notes:
木耳 is firmer in texture where as 雲耳 can be softer.
Do not over cook either of them, especially 雲耳. It can be a bit slimy when overcooked so do not overcook it.

This is 木耳

King Oyster Mushrooms

Have you ever seen these at grocery stores and wonder what to do with them? How they taste like?
I live in Canada and I remember the first time I saw them at the grocery store was several years ago.
It was on demo, I tried it and fell in love with it.

Since then, I've seen the popularity of this mushroom grow. I now see it in restaurant dishes (both Asian and non Asian places) and I see more groceries stores carrying it. However I noticed a lot of people still don't know what it is and after so many years, it's still one of the demo booths I see at the grocery store every week. So I thought I would do a quick post on how easy it can be to cook these tasty mushroom.

Even though I first found these in an Asian grocery store, they are actually native Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Northern African plants. It became popular in Asian and now different Asian countries also grow it.

How to store?
If you're not eating it right away, take it out of the tray and plastic wrap and put it into a paper bag. Then place it in the fridge. If you leave it in the tray, sometimes you'll find something fuzzy on it. That's still safe to eat but I find you avoid that if you put it in the paper bag.

Here's a super simple way to cook the mushroom to try it's flavour and texture.

King Oyster Mushrooms

Prep Time: <5 mins Cook Time: ~5 mins

Ingredients

• 1 package of King Oyster mushrooms, normal or baby size works
• 1 green onion
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• Dash of oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional sesame oil

Directions

1. Rinse the mushrooms
2. Cut into slices as shown in the picture to the right with the white line.
3. Cut the green onion into strips
4. Heat up a pan to medium heat
5. Add oil to the hot pan to help make it non-stick and add the garlic and white part of green onion and stir
6. Count to 30 and add in the mushrooms
7. The mushrooms will start turning more translucent as it's being cooked. Add in the green onion when the mushroom is about 75% done, just the centre is still the original raw color.
8. Add some cracked salt and pepper to taste and you're done!

The sesame oil is optional because it's a very strong flavour and it can over power the mushroom if you're trying to figure out how it taste like. But adding a little gives it extra fragrance.
Simply, yummy and fast!
Enjoy