Fresh Rolls

Thai or Vietnamese style fresh rolls are a fun group activity for dinner. The special plastic plates for building them make it extra quick.

• Rice paper wrappers
• Protein: shrimp, chicken, tofu, pork
• cucumber sticks
• carrot, shredded
• soft lettuce, leaves
• vermicelli noodles, cooked and optionally tossed with sesame oil (refrigerate until needed).
• mint, coriander, thai basil
• mango, ripe and sliced
• avocado slices
• sauce (see below)
• optional: scallions, bell pepper slices, bean sprouts, purple cabbage

1. Shrimp: Thaw frozen shrimp. Place in boiling water for 2 min. Drain and run in cold water or dip in ice bath to stop cooking. Peel and cut in half (if large). Refrigerate until needed.
2. Chicken: Saute/boil, flavored or not. Tofu: cook
3. Lay out items on table and each person rolls their own. 
1. Dip wrapper in pie plate full of water. No need to drip off excess water. Place on blue plate. It will continue to soften while you place your ingredients. The holes in the plate prevent it from sticking.
2. Add sauce, noodles, protein and favorite fillings and herbs.
3. Roll tightly at one end. Half way, fold in each end and continue rolling. Dip in extra sauce if you didn't put enough inside.

Sauce choices

• hoisin sauce (optional: mixed with finely chopped peanuts)
• peanut sauce
• 1/3 c creamy peanutbutter
• 2 T rice vinegar
• 2 T soy sauce
• 2 T maple syrup
• 1 T sesame oil
• 2 cl garlic, minced
• 2-3 T water, as needed for right sauce consistency
• Vietnamese sauce
• 1/4 c water
• 2 T fresh lime juice
• 2 T white sugar
• 4 t fish sauce
• 1 cl garlic, minced (optional)
• 1/2 t garlic chili sauce

Tofu Black Bean Stir Fry

I usually buy extra firm tofu, but had a package of firm tofu in the fridge I needed to use up. Found a recipe I had the ingredients for.

• 1 pkg firm tofu
• 1 T black bean sauce
• 2 T cooking oil
• 1 cl garlic
• 1 t minced ginger
• assorted vegetables (spinach, carrot, snow peas, broccoli, mushrooms, etc)
• 1 T cornstarch
• 2 T cold water
• 1/2 c broth
• 2 T low sodium soy sauce

1. Pat tofu as dry as possible.
2. Cut into 1/2" cubes.
3. Combine with black bean sauce. My sauce was very thick and did not spread easily. Next time combine with soy or water to make thinner? Let sit for 10 min.
4. Heat oil in wok. Saute tofu until browned. Set aside in bowl.
5. Add oil as needed. Saute vegetables with garlic and ginger.
6. If possible, move veges to side of pan. Add broth and soy sauce.
7. Combine cornstarch and water in small bowl. Pour into broth and stir until thick.
8. Stir in slurry with veggies. Mix until veggies are cooked. 
9. Add tofu and stir one last time.
10. Serve with rice or udon noodles.

Stir Fry Tofu

This came out a bit too salty, as I didn't have low sodium soy, but still tasted good.
3/2/20 Made the sauce but realized had no usable tofu. Used it as sauce for veggies only - broccoli, carrots, eggplant, zucchini. Served with hakka noodles all mixed in with beef broth. Delicious.

• 1 package extra firm tofu
  
• 4 T low sodium soy
• 3 T rice vinegar (I used chinese black vinegar)
• 1 T maple syrup
• 1 t sesame oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 t dried ginger (or 1 T fresh grated ginger)
• Vegetables (carrots, spinach, zucchini, ...), chopped

1. Press the tofu dry. Cut into small cubes
2. Combine the soy to ginger in shallow container. 
3. Add tofu and stir to combine. Let marinate in refrigerator.
4. Heat oil in pan and fry the tofu, not turning until fully browned on one side (to prevent breaking apart).
5. Remove tofu and add in chopped vegetables. Pour in leftover marinade.
6. Serve with rice or noodles.

Chinese Broccoli, Tofu and Mushrooms

Whipped this up for lunch (dinner?) just now. Delicious! Great as leftovers for lunch as well.

• Chinese broccoli (gai lan), trimmed (optional: cut in 2" pieces)
• White or brown mushrooms, sliced
• Shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
• 3 fat slices ginger (~1/2" total)
• 1 t salt
• water
• 3 T broth
• 1 T oyster or vegetarian sauce
• 1/2 t sugar
• 1/2 t cornstarch
• oil
• garlic, sliced
• 1/4" ginger, sliced
• Firm tofu, cubed
• soy sauce
• hoisin sauce
• oyster sauce

1. Fill a pan with enough water to cover the broccoli. Add salt and fat ginger slices. Bring to boil.
2. Add gailan and cook until tender (30 second to 3 minutes).
3. Drain and rinse under cold water.
4. In small bowl, mix broth, sauce, sugar and cornstarch.
5. In frying pan, heat oil. Add garlic and ginger. Stir for a minute or two. Add tofu. Sprinkle with soy sauce. Stir for a while. Add oyster and hoisin sauce to taste.
6. Add button mushrooms and let cook. Top with shiitake mushrooms.
7. Pour sauce mixture over tofu-mushroom mixture and stir.
8. Add broccoli back to pan, cover until warm through.
9. Serve with rice and pickled radishes.

Thai Red Curry

This is a standard dish of mine, loaded with vegetables and plenty of flavor. This time I used bamboo, mushrooms, zucchini, red bell pepper and 家常 tofu. You can also use meat instead of tofu (chicken, duck, etc).

• cooking oil (canola, grapeseed, etc)
• 1 package tofu, firm or extra firm (家常)
• 2-4 cloves garlic, chopped
  
• 1 small onion, chopped
• red curry paste, to taste (2-4 t from jar or one packet)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/4 c water
• vegetables, sliced or chopped (mushrooms, bamboo, red bell pepper, zucchini, Indian or Thai eggplant, baby corn)
  
• salt
• Thai basil (substitute: coriander, European basil)
• optional: lemon juice, fish sauce, chopped hot Thai chillies, lemongrass

1. Drain the tofu and press as much liquid out as possible. Cut into cubes.
   Optional: Fry the tofu.
2. Fry the onion. Add garlic and paste. Optional: skim the coconut cream off the top of the can and mix with paste.
3. Add the remaining coconut juice (or add all at once) and water.
4. Add vegetables of choice and a dash of salt.
5. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add tofu and any other veggies needing less cooking time.
6. If too salty, add lemon juice. If too spicy, add more coconut milk or yogurt.
7. Add basil and any other optional ingredients.
8. Serve over rice (Thai jasmine is a good choice).
   

Tofu Stir Fry with Black Bean Sauce

• oil, for frying
  
• 2-6 cloves garlic, chopped
  
• 1 med onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped/sliced
  
• 1 head broccoli, broken into small pieces
  
• mushrooms, sliced
• 8 squares baked tofu (doufu gan), cubed
  
• spicy black bean sauce
• soy sauce
• optional: sesame seeds

1. Fry the garlic and onions until tender, about 5 minutes.
   
2. Add vegetables and cook until tender. Add water if too dry.
   
3. Stir black bean sauce with tofu. Add to pan and heat through. Sprinkle with soy sauce.
4. Serve over rice. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Variations

• add your favorite vegetables (red pepper, bamboo shoots, lotus root, etc)
• add more water and thickener to make a sauce
• add more spices: black pepper, ginger
  

Cold Sesame Noodles

To make this a gluten-free dish, be sure to check the ingredients of your buckwheat noodle package. Some varieties do add gluten products. If it's pure buckwheat, you're good to go. Also use wheat-free soy sauce and tofu. Also make sure that you have a strong Chinese sesame oil - it should be dark and very fragrant. This dish is great in the summer when you want something cool and refreshing. It is also a colorful dish with the variety of vegetables.
2/16/15 Made this as a warm dish with spinach, carrots, smoked tofu, shitake mushrooms and the sauce. Served with cold sliced cucumbers dipped in soy sauce on the side. Delicious!

Serves 4

• 16 oz (2 packages) buckwheat noodles (usually wheat free, but check ingredient list)
• 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
• 1/3 cucumber, cut into thin strips
• 1 or 2 green onions, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• chopped ginger
• sesame oil (dark kind)
• soy sauce/tamari (wheat-free)
• 1 T sugar
• spinach
• salt and pepper
• smoked tofu (or baked tofu if you can find one made with wheat-free soy sauce), sliced into fat strips
• cilantro

1. Cook the noodles according to package instructions. Do not overcook. Rinse immediately with cold water until noodles are cold. Transfer to serving bowl and sprinkle with some sesame oil.
2. If you have plain tofu, heat it with some garlic, soy/tamari, salt and pepper to add flavor. Otherwise, just heat up the tofu in a skillet.
3. Optionally, you can cook the red pepper. Remove to bowl.
4. Heat the spinach in pan until wilted. Chop.
5. Heat 2 teaspoons sesame oil, chopped ginger and garlic over low heat. Remove from heat and add sugar and 2 T soy. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour over noodles.
6. Combine tofu and other vegetables in bowl. Toss to mix.
7. Garnish with cilantro.

Variations

• Add rice wine vinegar to the sauce
• Use meat instead of tofu (shrimp, beef, etc).
• Carrots also make a good addition, for health and color.
• You can substitute peas for the spinach.

JiaoZi - Chinese Dumplings

Dumpling making parties are fun and tasty. The mixture is made to taste based on ingredients you prefer and have available. Omit the meat to make vegetarian style. Anything goes with jiaozi - my friend Kevin once made a mango jiao zi because he couldn't eat the pork filling we made.

• 2 pkg wrappers (Shanghai style, not Hong Kong; the thicker the better)
• 1 lb lean ground pork
• 2-3 zucchini (cabbage can be substituted) [balance]
• Chinese mushrooms, soaked and chopped [flavor]
• shrimp (uncooked, peeled, deveined, chopped, liberally salted) 
• salt
• soy sauce
• sesame oil
• freshly grated ginger (or ground ginger for different flavor)
• water chestnuts [texture], chopped
• optional: thin rice noodles (softened and chopped), minced spinach (if low on zucchini), garlic, chives [flavor], pepper (white or black), tofu (firm)

1. Grate zucchini, add salt to sweat. Rest for 10-20 min and drain excess liquid.
2. Add mushrooms, ginger, water chestnut to zucchini. Push to half of bowl. If using, also add spinach, noodles, tofu, chives, garlic.
3. In other half of mixing bowl, add the pork. Season liberally with salt (esp if boiling the dumplings). Add splashes of soy sauce and a dash of sesame oil. Mix pork well.
4. Mix 2 mixtures together.
5. Place filling in wrapper with one or two pieces of shrimp.
6. Boil in water until floating and thoroughly cooked - approximately 4 minutes when fresh. Otherwise, freeze immediately. Frozen dumplings take approximately 7 minutes to cook.

Notes

11/6/11 Had a lot of home ground pork leftover from making sausages (ran out of intestine casings), so used the extra meat to make jiaozi. Local store only carries wonton wrappers (square shape, not circle), so used those instead. Pork, zucchini, sesame oil, soy sauce, ground ginger, water chestnuts/shrimp, chinese mushrooms. 3 batches with various ratios of veg to meat. All delicious!

2/15/22 Had a jiaozi making party - a huge success. One friend made a Hong Kong style filling (scallions, bok choi, pork and garlic). Used 1.3 kg pork between the 2 mixtures and had enough to have lunch amongst the 4 of us as well as feeding 4 families for dinner.