Thank you to my friends that have commented on my blog along the way! Who knew I had friends that actually read my craziness :) As suggested by Miss Molly, I have decided to pick my top 3 surprise favorite dishes and put the recipes I used here with my slight tweakings. Enjoy!
#3: Mabo Tofu
- Ground beef 70 g
- Ginger (minced) 1 tsp
- Garlic(minced) 1/2 tsp
- Soft tofu 80g- cut into large cubes since they will break apart
- Miso 1 tsp
- Soy Sauce 1 tsp
- Brown Sugar 1/4 tsp
- Sake 1 Tbsp
- Dashi 1/2 cup
- Corn or potato starch 1/2 tsp dissolved in 1 tsp water
- Green onions 1 strand chopped for garnish
1. Heat a little oil (a little bit of sesame oil enhances flavor), then cook the ground beef, ginger and garlic together. Try to break up the meat pieces.
2. When cooked mix in the ingredients from miso to dashi and distribute flavors evenly. Then add in tofu trying not to mix too much as the tofu breaks apart easily.
3. Add in the corn starch and water mixture and cook a few minutes longer, so that it thickens a little.
4. Turn off the heat, add the green onions, and enjoy with some rice!
#2: Sukiyaki
- Dashi 1 cup
- Brown sugar 2-3 Tbsp
- Sake 1/2 cup
- Mirin (sweet cooking sake) 1/2 cup
- Soy sauce 1/2 cup
- Water 1 cup
1. Feel free to chop up any vegetables you want to put in! I would recommend Napa cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, firm/grilled tofu, shirataki/konnyaku noodles, and green onions. Don't forget the thinly sliced beef available at asian markets to swish around in the soup as you cook your dinner!
2. Mix those together for the base of the soup. These should heat together to cook the alcohol off (plus it'll cook off while the vegetable are put in).
3. Put the vegetables in and when they're ready to be eaten, start getting vegetables and "shabu shabu"ing the meat!
*Traditionally it is dipped into raw egg (it gets cooked by the heat so not dangerous) but I didn't make my friends do that :)
And now drumroll please...
#1: Nikuman (steamed beef buns):
For the bun:
- bread flour 150g
- all-purpose flour 150g
- sugar 30g
- a pinch of salt
- instant yeast 4g
- baking powder 10g
- milk 40ml
- water 100ml
- butter 15g
1. Mix them all together until it combines and forms a dough. I had to knead it with my hands after the standmixer was finished to bring it all together. Let it rest for 30 min. You can make the meat filling (recipe below) in the meantime.
2. After 30 minutes, break off pieces and roll them out into thin rounds (as round as you can get it) and add the filling. Wrap it up and twist at the top to create a seal.
3. Let it rest again for 15 min.
4. After 15 minutes, steam them for 15 minutes and you're done!
For the meat filling:
- thinly sliced beef- 6 slices - pre flavored with the cornstarch and sake combo below
- japanese cooking sake wine 1 TB
- cornstarch 1/2 TB
Mix the cornstarch and sake together to dissolve, then add the meat while you prepare everything else and start adding it in. Mix everything well!
- chinese cabbage about 4 leaves (I cheated and used leftover sukiyaki cabbage with konnyaku noodles since it was already cooked)
- garlic 2 cloves, minced
- ginger about half the size of a golf ball, minced
- shiitake mushroom 1/4 cup, sliced
- slight sale and pepper
I hope you guys enjoy! Let me know if you try any of them or if you have any other dish or project suggestions!
So for lunch we went to the Shanghai Dumpling Shop in Millbrae my friend Cindy told me about. Apparently there is a SF branch also, and that shop just so happened to come up in conversation with a few other friends... very strange and coincidental indeed! We ordered some xiao long bao which is something they're known for and some pan fried pork buns. We also got the Shanghai wonton soup and dajanmien (black bean sauce noodles). 
Overall, I must say that it was not the best I've had before, but you don't find the xiao long bao in very many places around here so not bad! Everything was good, but not great, thats all. Besides I was going there for the company more than the food. Plus, I didn't know if Brenda wanted Asian since she is going to Asia, but the location was crucial as a place for us to meet somewhere in between and not too far south from her since she has a lot to do before her trip.
