Viet World Kitchen

Roasted Kabocha and Vegetable Dumplings Recipe

I’ve had pumpkin dumplings in Monterey Park and Beijing, their pretty tangerine-colored filling of grated winter (hard) squash were unpleasantly bland and sometimes undercooked. It’s an Asian dumpling that I’ve let simmer on the back burner for a while and didn’t tackle till this week, when faced with leftover roasted kabocha squash. My husband Rory said, “Let’s make Italian raviolis with the kabocha.”

I responded with this dumpling filled with roasted squash, earthy shiitake and parsnip, and upbeat celery. The seasonings involve fried shallot, lots of ginger and enough garlic for pungent depth. I wanted the ingredients to support and elevate the natural sweetness of the kabocha. I’d planned on adding soy sauce but in the end, there was so much great flavor from the vegetables that the only seasoning I added was salt. 

In other words, gluten-free dumpling eaters, this filling is for you too! No need to get the wheat-free tamari out. See the link at the end of this post for gluten-free dumpling dough options. 

Matar Soy Paneer Recipe (Peas and Tofu in Spicy Sweet Sauce)

I love the classic northern Indian dish of peas and cheese but I seldom order it at a restaurant. I can’t eat a lot of fresh dairy and frankly, it is often lackluster, especially at inexpensive lunch buffets where there’s more sauce than sweet peas and rich fried cheese.

My solution is to make it at home with soy paneer (tofu). The little fried cubes of tofu soak up the spicy sweet sauce very well. This week, I discovered a frozen bag of San Marzano tomato puree from last summer and a partially used bag of frozen peas. Those finds made for the perfect excuse to prepare a batch of matar (mutter) soy paneer.

We had it for lunch with another frozen discovery – papery thin Middle Eastern flatbread. (Yes, I'm trying to clean out the freezer's 2012 inventory.) Wheat tortillas reheated over an open flame would have been my other choice; it’s a decent shortcut for chapati.

Rava Dosa Semolina Crepes with Chile Recipe

The temperature began dropping last week and my response was to make an warming Indian meal. I hankered for Indian crepes but didn’t want to ferment and grind batter. Something simple was in order and rava dosas came to mind. The southern Indian crepe is made with readily available ingredients and the batter does not require fermentation. Mix it up and an hour later, it’s ready.

I had them with a light curry, chutney and raita. The next day we had the crepes for lunch with a dollop of yoghurt that I mixed up into a quick raita, and a salad. I based the recipe below from one in Julie Sahni’s magnificent Savoring India cookbook.

She used bell pepper and lots of serranos and dried chile flakes. I dialed up the fruity fresh chile heat by using pasilla and Fresnos and lowered the others. Regardless of the chile combination, the result was something to rave about. We didn’t mind eating rava dosas two days in a row.

Asian Tofu Recipe #1 on Favorite List

We’re entering the season when cookbook reviewers announce their top picks of the year. T. Susan Chang, an author, writer, and commentator on NPR kicked off her 2012 list of favorite recipes with one from Asian Tofu! Susan has cooked through and championed the book in NPR’s summer cookbook picks as well as in a glowing Boston Globe review.  

As a professional reviewer, Susan sees a lot of books. She’s persnickety and funny, as you may know if you’ve read her book, A Spoonful of Promises. So when she zoomed in on the recipe for Korean panfried tofu topped with a medley of Asian mushrooms, I was delighted. Okay, I was also relieved. Susan doesn't hold back when she dislikes something.

Pictured above from a reference shot I took long ago, dubu jeon is a recipe that wasn’t photographed for the book. That meant that Susan pored through my entire book. Often times, people cook dishes that’s accompanied by a sexy beauty shot.

I’m old fashioned, and I suppose so is Susan. We grew up with minimally photographed cookbooks. We paged through and perused, letting our palates imagine flavors and textures. Nowadays, cookbooks are heavily photo driven so I'm doubly gratelful that she dug deep and deeper. (I love photos but include too many in a cookbook and you may take space away from good recipe instruction and/or drive up the cost of the book.)

When my publisher and I put Asian Tofu together, my aim was to cover the gamut, from DIY tofu that took cooks from dried beans to curd to wonderful dishes that simply required a trip to a supermarket. Cooks can plug in anywhere to experience beancurd deliciousness. I’m happy that Susan has done just that and encourages others to follow suit.

Since the beginning of September I’ve been in and out of town for a total of 5 week. I just finished my last gig for 2012 and took this week to pause and recover. Lots of good things are happening but I needed to catch my breath. Whew. This was a nice way to finish the week.

Keep up with Susan's picks as she reveals them on her blog. It's bound to have delicious things you want to try. Plus, it's just good reading.

Soy Chicharron Recipe

I didn’t come up with this idea. It belongs to Seattle-based radio show host Dick Stein. When we met up in September to tape an interview for KPLU, Dick said that after reading and cooking from Asian Tofu, he was inspired to buy dried tofu skin and deep fry it. The result was soy chicharron, Dick said.  

You can do all kinds of amazing things with tofu skin, which despite its name is really the film that forms on hot soymilk. The Japanese call it yuba and the Chinese know it as doufu pi or fu pi (tofu skin); in Vietnamese, tofu skin is called dau hu ky. You have likely had it at dim sum or on a Viet ride plate as a dumpling wrapper to encase a paste of shrimp; the recipe for those fried shrimp tofu skin rolls (xia fu pi juan) is on page 182 in Asian Tofu.

There are many kinds of tofu skin and basically, they differ in how dried they are. If you’re interested in extra details, I posted a tofu skin primer earlier this year and tofu guru William Shurtleff just published an online history of yuba. 

Dick’s tofu skin chicharrones used sheets of dried tofu skin – sold at Chinese and Vietnamese markets near the dried mushrooms. Get a flat package that contains the yellow pieces of tofu skin. Then get ready to fry up the skin into sparkly pieces.