Our second challenge from the book Washoku is done.
As always, I was on the rope regarding the deadline but I made it, yeaaah !
After the shan shoku rice, Rachael proposes us to explore some classic dishes: the gohan rice (which also describes the way of cooking the rice as well as the dish itself), how to cook edamame (green soybeans), and wafu gyoza.
I am currently translating my blog posts about the recipes in English, as soon as they are online, I’ll link them here for an easier overview.
You can read the roundup Rachael made with all the participants write-ups here.
I paste my report here, but I’ll detail it a bit.
At home, we all LOVE gyoza. But I don’t often make them myself because it’s a long process. But it is definitely worth it. We are not fond of pork in general, so I decided to substitute the pork with chicken: what a good idea. It was perfectly balanced with the other flavors. We think it is more subtile in taste than gyoza made with pork.
Usually I don’t like sesame oil because I think that its taste is just too strong and overpowers the other around; and, in my opinion, sesame oil is too… oily; I dislike the sensation of my tongue.
But I wanted to try the recipe as Elizabeth Andoh wrote it. I was not disappointed at all. I also make the simple dipping sauce she suggests: fabulous. It really gives a kick to the gyoza.
I never use wakame otherwise than in salad with cucumber or in miso soup.
And I have to confess you something: I wasn’t so sure that the seaweed I bought in the asian store really was wakame (it’s not written on it, I recognized it visually but you know, mistakes happen !); but finally it really was wakame, yeaaah ! You know what ? Kalynette (2 1/2 yo) ate ALL the leftovers of wakame, just as a snack.
BUT what I loved the most, beyond everything, was the fact that we cooked together. Both my daughters (2 1/2 and 4yo) helped me in the process: one make the filling balls and the other pressed the machine to form the gyoza. They were really proud to say “we made it”.
We had so much fun !
So the wafu gyoza (can I still call them like that ?) were a HUGE hit at home.
The third recipe was the edamame.
We love edamame, and always have a bag in the freezer. It’s a perfect snack and adds some colors and nutritive values to a meal, so I’m glad my daughters love edamame (the thing they prefer ? Pulling the beans out, of course). The coarse salt adds something more, and next time I’ll try to mix it with togarashi to punch it a little more.
I often make maki or inarizushi, so the process of gohan rice is something I begin to really know; and finally I like the washing process (even if in winter, it freezes my fingers to the bones). It’s a must-known in Japanese cooking, in my opinion. I didn’t know about the water that has to be a little bit more than the amount of rice. Now, I’ll use my usual us cup to measure rice and water, and not the cup given with my rice cooker. So: I am always learning something, and I love the fact that this book helps me to improve my Japanese cooking skills, and knowledge. I didn’t make my own gyoza wrappers, but I’ll do next time.
unfortunately I don’t understand your post, but your dumplings look delicious and the rice looks perfect.