Pete takes us to China.

The Club braved the cold yesterday & headed over to Pete's house for the first meal of 2009. We had all seen the menu the day before & I was really excited as Chinese cuisine is not something I typically try at home (aside from the occasional dodgy fried rice). Upon arrival we were greeted with prawn crackers & a delicious Thai-inspired peanut & cilantro dipping sauce.

1) Maine Shrimp served 3 ways.

Pete decided to throw in an extra course, so while we were munching on crackers & downing beers, he was busy peeling shrimp & plating. Soon enough, we were at the table & getting ready to eat. The raw shrimp was insanely creamy, with an amazing texture & sweet taste.



The first one was topped simply with lime juice & zest. Simple yet very effective. Next was something that I've never seen or heard of before; Pork Sung. According to the geniuses at Wikipedia, it's basically shredded & dried pork. it was like pork cotton candy & tasted awesome with the shrimp. Finally, a tiny fried anchovy with a spicy (really spicy) hot sauce. Call me a wuss, but I downed my beer after this one - really good though! An excellent start to the night!

2) Golden Purse Pork Dumplings & Vegetarian Roast Duck Rolls.

The pork dumplings were probably the best I've ever had. Crispy on the outside & the pork inside was amazing. I'll admit that I was a bit skeptical when I saw 'veggie roast duck' on the menu, but again, Pete served up an ingredient that I'd never heard of; Seitan. 'Wheat gluten commonly used as a meat substitute', ah, it all makes sense (& tastes great). Along with our 'duck' in the rolls were shrimp and vegetables. This dish came with 2 dipping sauces, the peanut/cilantro one & basil/chili sauce; both delicious.

3) Vietnamese Spare Ribs.

More pork, YES! I never met a part of a pig that I didn't like, but these ribs were insanely good. Tender, well seasoned & awesome with a delicious, light dipping sauce. I needed to take some time to reposition my expanded belly after this course, so we took a little break while Pete worked on the final course.

4) Gen. Tso's Chicken, Yangzhou Fried Rice & Pea Shoots.

Pete whipped out the biggest wok that I've ever seen outside of a Chinese restaurant & taunted his stove top to get hot enough so he could properly cook all 3 dishes (more on that later). Normally, I'd just talk about the flavors of the dish, but I have to mention the entire cooking process as well as Pete's skill with a wok was a sight to behold.

The chicken had been seasoned & deep fried earlier (while we were eating our prawn crackers), so all they needed was a light stir fry & sauce. Pete added ginger & garlic to peanut oil, then the chicken was stir fried, followed by hoisin sauce, dark soy, sugar & other ingredients. This gave them a far darker color & a less syrupy sauce than I'm normally used to when ordering from restaurants. It wasn't as sweet either & in my opinion, tasted far better.

Again, the pea shoots were stir fried in the wok with garlic & ginger. A bit of oyster sauce was added mid stir fry & the shoots gave off a lot of liquid, making a delicious sauce. They had a slightly bitter aftertaste which I liked. Teddy was ecstatic though & couldn't stop eating them. Great stuff!

Finally, onto my personal favorite of this course, the Yangzhou (or Young Chow) fried rice. Pete had done all of his prep, so he had all of the ingredients ready to go; garlic, ginger, Chinese sausage, Berkshire pork, chicken, shrimp, peas, onions, cabbage & cold (very important) rice.

By this time, it was really hard to get the wok hot enough, so Pete decided to move outdoors & power up his jet engine of a turkey fryer. Needless to say, the rice stir fried quite nicely! Basically, I couldn't get enough of this stuff. I'd have eating the entire platter if given half a chance! There's no way to describe how good it was!


5) Honey Crisp Apple Tart Tatin with Creme Fraiche.

Totally not Chinese, but by this time I really couldn't care less. Pete could have served up his shoe & I would have been happy. Simple yet delicious, I really enjoyed the crust.


We decided to skip the coffee & go with something with a little more bite. As you can see, Teddy approves! This was a really memorable meal & a great way to start the 2009 culinary season, Bravo Pete! I'm up next week & I have no idea how to top this one, or if it's even possible. We'll have to wait & see!

Golden Unicorn (18 E. Broadway)

Nursing a massive hangover (go figure!) I braved the rain & met up with my culinary cohort Alesha for some Dim Sum in Chinatown last week. I've been to Golden Unicorn several times & I really love the place. It has consistently been rated as some of the best dim sum in the city; believe the hype!

The building is really unassuming & looks like any other dull office building. Basically, if you weren't looking for it, you wouldn't know it was there. We were whisked to the top floor (there are 2 floors in the joint) & enjoyed excellent service as the place was pretty empty. We warmed up with some tea & before long, the merry-go-round of Dim Sum carts began.

We started with Shark Fin Shumai & Vegetable Dumplings. I was really looking forward to the shark fin & they were truly delicious. They were far denser/meaty than I expected which was a pleasant surprise. The veggie dumplings were nothing special, but still tasty.

The trip that The Club took to Montreal really opened my eyes to some of the foods that are overlooked & it really helped me to get over my fear of the unknown. In the past, I've refused to eat chicken feet, but today, I was up for it. Drenched in a rich red sauce, I found them to be extremely gelatinous, yet flavorful. I think that by the time were were done, there was no meat on the bone!

Next up were the Dim Sum staple; Pork Shumai & the lesser-known Sticky Rice. The Shumai was average, but it felt like Xmas in February when we peeled back the lotus leaves, dug into the rice & were greeted by an awesome pork filling.



I enjoyed my meal at Golden Unicorn & you can bet your ass that I'll be back there again. We lucked out as it was raining, but if you're going to go, get there early, very early. Service is from noon till 2pm. After 1:30 the selection gets limited. Enjoy!

Bastardization of Chinatown's Finest

Instead of sentencing them to a lifetime of freezer burn, I decided to use some leftover wonton wrappers to cook homemade pot stickers in hopes of duplicating the Chinatown Dumpling Shop-style treat. Although nothing compares to those Lower Manhattan classics (especially in the speed of preparation department), this recipe was close in my estimate. You'll need:

1 lbs Ground Pork
1/2 lbs Shiitake Mushrooms diced
3 Cloves of Garlic minced
3 Scallions chopped (both white and green bits)
1 bunch Cilantro
1 tbsp Chili Sauce
3 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Ginger Paste
Dash of Sesame Oil
One package of defrosted Gyoza Wrappers (roughly 50)
1 Egg beaten
Water

Add a light oil (I used vegetable) to a heavy pan and saute mushrooms for a few minutes until they start to take on color, then add garlic. Make sure to keep at a medium to medium low temperature so the garlic does not burn and turn bitter. Add salt and pepper and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.

While mushrooms continue to soften, whisk together chili sauce, soy, hoisin, ginger paste and sesame oil in a separate bowl. Taste to check the levels of flavor and adjust to your preference. Then, double the sauce in volume with water and whisk to combine. Increase pan to high heat and add liquid to the mushroom mixture. Simmer and stir until the liquid has absorbed, leaving plump little shrooms and little excess sauce. Set aside to cool. In another bowl, combine the uncooked pork, scallions and cilantro. When mushrooms have cooled down, add to pork and incorporate all the ingredients along with more salt and pepper. Using your hands is the best way to make sure all of the ingredients will make it into every dumpling.



Add a small dollop of the pork mixture (careful not to over stuff, as you need room for a tight seal around the edge) to the center of the wonton wrappers. Line the outside of the filling with the beaten egg all the way to the edges. With your hands, gently not to rip the covering wonton wrapper, stretch the dough in a circular motion to create a slightly bigger wrapper to cover the filling. Place over the top. Create a seal with fingers around the entire dumping ensuring the two wrappers are pinched tightly at the edge and no excess air is left inside. This is a very important step so your finished product won't inflate and/or blow up in the cooking process.



In a non-stick pan, add oil and bring to medium high heat. Add dumplings flat side down making sure not to overcrowd. My pan held 7-9 comfortably. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until a brown crust has formed on the bottom. Feel free to shimmy them around to prevent them sticking to each other or the pan. Flip dumplings to the other side, add a 1/2 cup of water, and immediately cover with a tight fitting lid. Be quick with the lid and watch for splashing when you add the water to whatever hot oil might be left in the pan. The water will steam the dumplings and should completely cook out within 4 minutes (keep an eye on it, but try not to remove lid too often, as it slows down cooking). Don't be afraid to add more water and recover if the meat is not completely cooked through. When water is gone, cook with the top off at a low heat for an additional minute, or until the bottom (what started off as the top) is browned and crisp. Remove to a paper towel to drain excess oil.



A simple, but kick-ass dipping sauce for the dumplings uses the same sauce that went onto the mushroom mixture, minus the water, and add the juice of one lime. Whisk and serve in a side bowl.

Forks can be used to cut the finished product into manageable pieces, but I found the best way to inhale these bad boys was use chop sticks and shovel down the whole thing in one bite. Enjoy....