Gyōza is one of those dishes that I will definitely order whenever I go to Japanese restaurant. Gyōza is originally a Chinese dish before becoming a staple in Japanese cuisine. Jiaozi or potsticker is the equivalent of gyōza in Chinese dish. Gyōza typically consists of ground meat, garlic, cabbage, nira (Chinve vhinces), soya sauce, and sesame oil, which is then wrapped into thinly rolled piece of dough and sealed by pressing the edges together or by crimping.

Like jiaozi, gyōza can be boiled, steamed, pan frying and deep frying. The most popular preparation method if pan frying, which is called yaki-gyōza (焼き餃子). The dumpling is first fried on one flat side to create a crispy skin. Then, water is added to the pan and covered with lid, which then forms steam to cook the upper part of the gyōza. In this case, gyōza is the equivalent of potsticker or guotie (锅贴) in Chinese. Usually, a soya based dipping sauce is accompanied with gyōza. For those who like a bit of spiciness in food, rāyu (ラー油, known as làyóu (辣油) – a chili pepper infused sesame oil) can be added. The way I like the dipping sauce is to add some Japanese chili powder in the soya sauce.

Making gyōza could be quite a lengthy process if you are also making the dough from scratch. I tend to buy gyoza wrappers from Chinese/Japanese supermarkets. When comes to wrapping the gyōza, I think it’s down to practise. I started off not very good but after wrapping a few ugly looking gyōza, they started to improve. I still think that my skill is not perfect and I still need more practice to make them nice looking. Having said that, I might have to wait until I finish all my gyōza in the freezer! I made lots of them, probably about 40-50!

As you may or may not know, Harumi Kurihara is always my inspiration in Japanese cooking. Her book, Harumi’s Japanese Cooking is one of my favourites that I will not get bored in reading and referring to! She is very talented and all her food are really healthy and yummy. I once made Chawan Mushi, based on her recipe too. Her recipes are worth trying. So, you may want to give her authentic gyōza recipe a go!

Recipe: Yaki Gyōza

Makes 48 dumplings

Ingredients:

Cabbage, 100g

Chinese cabbage, 100g

Salt, 0.5 tsp

Nira (Chinese chives), 100g

Minced pork, 200g

Lard, 2 tbsp

Water, 100ml mixed with 1 tsp Chinese soup paste or rich chicken stock

Sesame oil, 1 tbsp

Shokoshu or dry sherry, 1 tbsp

Garlic (finely chopped), 2 cloves

Ginger (finely chopped), 15g

Spring onions (finely chopped), 50g

Salt and pepper, to taste

Round gyōza pastry skins, 48

Potato starch or cornflour, as needed

Sunflower or vegetable oil

For dipping sauce:

Rice vinegar, soya sauce with a few drops of chili oil (rāyu)

Method:

1. Finely chop two types of cabbage. Mix them together in a bowl, season with salt and set aside to use later. Cut the nira in half lengthways and finely chop.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the pork and lard by hand. Add the Chinese soup mix, leave to cool then add the sesame oil, shokoshu, finely chopped garlic, ginger, and spring onions. Mix together before adding the nira.

3. Squeeze the cabbage to remove excess water. Add to the meat mixture, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.

4. The stuffing is now ready, and you can either use it now or leave in the fridge  overnight and use the next day.

5. Place an even spoonful of stuffing onto each pastry skin. Wet the edges of the skin with water and pleat them to seal.  (How to pleat gyōza)

6. Dust each dumpling with a litter potato starch. Heat a small quantity of oil in a large frying pan. Shake the dumplings to remove any excess potato starch and then arrange them in rows in the pan.

7. Add enough water to come a third of the way up the dumplings, cover and cook over a medium heat until the water has evaporated and you can see the bottoms of the dumplings changing colour.

8. Remove the lid and drizzle a little oil over the dumplings. Carry on cooking uncovered, until the bottom is crispy then turn them over to brown both sides. Place on a large serving dish.

9. To make the dipping sauce: mix together soya sauce, rice vinegar and a few drops of rāyu. Eat with the hot dumplings.

It has been a busy week.. plus it was my birthday 3 days ago! Ahh.. getting another year older.. ops!!! Anyway, we should have gone out for dinner but the restaurant was fully booked even if we booked it a month before my birthday! However, we managed to reserve a table for 2 next Friday! I am so looking forward to dine in this restaurant, which I will tell you all about it next week!

It was also exactly 2 years ago on the 28th October that my food blog was named My Cooking Hut. So, indirectly, it was kind of like a 2 year anniversary for My Cooking Hut 3 days ago, how cool is that?

Just a day before my birthday, I baked a lot of Triple Chocolate Brownies and Madeleines to share them with my work colleagues. They absolutely loved the brownies and madeleines!! I came back with empty boxes which was a good sign and received good feedback from them, which made me feel really flattered!

Today, I am going to share a very easy dish. It’s stuffed tofu with pork. Tofu is of Chinese origin, but it’s widely used in other Asian countries too. It has very little flavour on its own, thus, to make an interesting tofu dish, the accompanied ingredients are really important. There are many types of tofu; silken tofu, firm tofu, and dried tofu, which are commonly used in Asian kitchen.

This time, I pair tofu with minced pork. Instead of using minced pork as an ingredient in the sauce, I have opted to stuff minced pork in the tofu. Then, dress stuffed tofu with some vegetables in a light sauce. It is extremely easy to get this done for a healthy dinner.

Recipe: Stuffed Tofu with Pork

Ingredients:

Firm tofu (each cut into 2 triangles), 4 square blocks

Minced pork, 200g

Sesame oil, 1 tbsp

Oyster sauce, 1 tbsp

Soya sauce, 1 tbsp

Ground white pepper, 0.5 tsp

Corn flour, 1 tsp

Carrots (cut into cubes), 1

Courgette/Zuchinni (cut into thin slices), half

Oil, enough for pan-frying

Garlic (chopped), 1

Sauce

Water, 4-5 tbsp

Oyster sauce, 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Cut tofu into equal triangles. Using a knife, carefully cut around the edges of the long side of triangle. Make the incision slightly more than half way through the tofu. Make sure you don’t cut through.

2. Use a teaspoon to remove the tofu from the middle of each triangle. Be very careful to keep the pouch intact. Set aside the tofu that is take out from the middle.

3. In small bowl, mix minced pork, tofu crumb, oyster sauce, soya sauce, white pepper, sesame oil, and corn flour.

4. With a teaspoon, scoop the filling and stuff in to the middle part of the tofu as much as you could fit in. Shape the stuffing with your hands. Repeat this to the rest of the tofu pieces.

5. Heat up a pan with oil enough to pan fry, pan fry each side of the tofu until golden brown. It takes about 15- 20 minutes to brown each piece of tofu and cook through the stuffing. Once all cooked, set tofu aside.

6. Use back the same pan, drizzle some oil, put in the chopped garlic and cook until fragrant and slightly brown. Then, put in carrots and courgette/zucchini.  Add in the sauce and cook until tender. Add in more water if necessary.

7. Add back the cooked tofu to warm up. Coat tofu with the sauce. Sprinkle some chili flakes if you wish. Serve warm.

A meal isn’t complete without a good dessert. I have learnt to make quite a few desserts in the recent years and I like the fact that they mostly taste and look good!

My mom baked a lot when I was younger. She still bakes but not as much as she used to. She told me that the best present ever for her is when my dad and us praise her for nice cakes that she bakes, not to mention nice food that she makes everyday. When we talk on the phone every weekend, we can’t help but like to share what we cooked  or baked for that week or even on that day!

Remember the Madeleines recipe? The recipe has been passed to me from Arnaud’s mom. I have learnt a lot about French food through her. Every time we visit her, she always surprises us with great meals! For her, desserts can put a smile on her face. She told me once that she wants us to be happy after every meal. So, I can tell the importance of desserts in a French family! Through her, I look at desserts from a different dimension. I guess, over there years, I have broaden my knowledge in food greatly!

I probably have been influenced, in a good way – I started to love making desserts and pastries. I love those little touches that can make desserts look really eye-catching! When comes to pastries, tarts (you can find them here, here, here, here, here, and here) – savoury or sweet, they are always my favourites.

Earlier this week, I promised that I would use figs in 2 dishes. One of them is a hearty dish – Chicken with Figs that I have posted. Today, it is the fig tart that I made on the same day! Instead of making it into a big tart, I had chosen to make into tarlets. I really love the sweetness of the figs and the crunch of the pastry. I was totally immersed in my dessert, made that very moment really sweet!

Recipe: Fig Tart (Adapted from: www.isaveurs.com)

For 4 persons

Ingredients:

Almond powder, 75g

Butter, 50g

Brown sugar, 75g

Figs, 700-800g

Eggs, 3

Shortcrust pastry (Pâte brisée), 1

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 210°C. Peel off the skins of the figs and cut into quarters.

2. Flatten the dough. Lightly prick the base of the tart with a fork, line the tart case with a large circle of greaseproof paper or foil, then fill with baking beans. Blind-bake the tart for 20 mins, remove the paper and beans, then continue to cook for 5-10 mins until it’s slightly brown.

4. Meanwhile, in a bowl, put the butter and sugar. Melt over low heat and cook the figs gently for 10 mins, stirring gently. Remove from heat and set aside.

5. Remove the pastry from the oven, remove beans and paper. Lower the oven thermostat to 180 ° C.

6. Beat the eggs. Add the figs and butter mixture with almond powder and eggs. Mix thoroughly. Put the mixture into the pre-baked dough and bake again for 25 minutes.

Figs are abundant at this time of the year. You can pretty much get them at supermarkets or farmers’ markets. For me, I never knew fresh figs before until a few years ago! I have only seen dried figs and my mom uses them in Chinese cooking. As for fig trees, first time in my life, I saw them when I was in Greece.

When I was pretty new to these fruits, I was asking myself if I should peel the skin or eat with the skin? Well, the skin can be left on but some people like to peel a little of the skin off starting at the stem end pulling toward the large end but only if the skin is a little thick around the stem. I absolutely love the natural sweetness of figs. I also particularly love to chew on the crunchy little seeds!!

Instead of eating figs raw, I have been thinking and finding another way of using them. I like the idea to use figs in starters, mains and desserts. Since I bought quite a lot of figs lately, I thought I would make figs in 2 ways! Today, I’m going to share with you the first way – a savoury dish using figs. I decided to pair figs with chicken (one of my favourite meats)! I think both chicken and figs go really well. As the weather gets more chilly at night, I start to fancy dishes with more sauce/liquid.

I found a real good recipe that uses both chicken and figs. As a bonus, honey is one of the ingredients that is used too! I think the combinations of all these are great! I added some carrots just to make the whole dish even more colourful and wholesome.

Recipe: Chicken with Figs & Honey (adapted from The Independent)

Serves 6

Ingredients:

Organic Free-range chicken (jointed into 6-8 pieces), about 1.6kg

Freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste

Olive oil, 2 tbsp

Onion (peeled and sliced), 1

Thyme, a few sprigs

Bay leaf, 1

White wine, 125ml

Chicken stock, 150ml

White wine vinegar, 2 tbsp

Mild-tasting honey, 1 tbsp

Ripe figs, 10

Carrots (halves, cut into 5-6cm length), 4-5

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Trim off the excess fat from the chicken, then season generously with salt and pepper.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, then brown the chicken pieces in batches, skin side down, for roughly about 8 minutes, turning to colour them evenly all over.

3. Remove the chicken to a flameproof casserole dish with a slotted spoon.

4. Pour off most of the fat from the frying pan, then add the onion and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes to soften.

5. Add the onion and carrots (if using) to the casserole dish with the thyme and bay leaf. Pour over the wine and chicken stock.

6. Place the casserole, uncovered, on the middle shelf of the oven and cook for about 30 minutes until the meat is tender but not quite falling from the bone. The skin should now be golden and the liquid reduced by about half.

7. Place the casserole over a low heat on the hob. Mix the wine vinegar and honey and pour in.

8. Tear each fig into four and add to the casserole. Bring to a boil, allow to bubble until the liquor has reduced to a syrupy consistency – it should be glossy and taste both sweet and sour.

9. Serve on warm plates, with a salad and some bread.

I am really glad to have known Lai Kuan from Food for Tots through her blog. It wasn’t too long ago that Lai Kuan invited me to be a guest on her blog. I agreed immediately! I thought it was a great honour to be featured on her blog! Lai Kuan is another talented Malaysian food blogger who currently resides in Singapore. I really love her style of cooking. And the idea behind her blog is just wonderful – simple and healthy recipes that are suitable for toddlers!

Lai Kuan and I couldn’t escape the temptation of chocolate, hence, we agreed to share the recipe of Triple Chocolate Brownies! Please hop over to Food for Tots for my guest post and the recipe for triple chocolate brownies! Again, Lai Kuan, thank you very much for this opportunity to feature on your blog! It has been a great pleasure to know you!

What to eat in October? I can’t believe that we are about 2 months away from 2010! Weather is getting colder and I tend to cook soupy or one-pot kind of food during Autumn/Winter. In October, there are lots of things in season. All these food reminds me of shorter days and longer nights, which I don’t really look forward.

It’s good to eat whatever that’s in season because this reduce the energy needed to grow and transport the food we eat. Of course, the main reason would be that seasonal food is fresher and so tends to be tastier and more nutritious. Nowadays, we can eat almost everything 12 months a year without having to wait for the actual season of a particular food though. Most often than not, a lot of vegs and fruits are imported from other countries to the UK, so, there’s very  good chance to get hold of food that is not in season. I am not sure if this is good, I guess, modern shoppers like us are really demanding and always want to be able to get any types of food all year round, this has made food import essential.

So, mussels are in season again! I am such a great fan of mussels! Maybe I should say I just love seafood! Indulging in seafood makes me feel closer to the sea. The smell and taste of the sea makes seafood such irresistible! Do you remember the following recipes that I previously made?

1. Mussels in Herby Tomato Sauce

2. Mussels in White Wine (Moules Marinieres)

3. Curry Mussels (Moules au Curry)

They are just as irresistible as Thai-Style mussels that I am going to share with you guys. All the above recipes that I made were more of Western-style cooking. This time, why not give mussels a Thai twist, the clean, fresh flavours work brilliantly!

Recipe: Thai-Style Mussels

Ingredients:

Mussels, 1kg

Oil, 1 tbsp

Garlic, 4 cloves

Lemongrass (white parts), 1 stem

Red chilies (chopped), 2-3 tsp

Water, 100ml

Rice wine/white wine, 2 tbsp

Thai basil leaves (roughly chopped), a handful

Method:

1. Scrub the outside of the mussels with a brush. Remove and discard the beards.

2. Heat the oil in a wok or large pan add garlic, lemongrass and chili. Cook until slightly brown and fragrant.

3. Add the mussels to the wok and toss well. Add in chinese rice wine, water, and Thai basil after about 3 minutes. Mix well. Put the lid back on for another 1 minutes or so until all the mussels are open (discard any that stay closed).

As well as fishing sustainably, we should also be using every part of the fish that’s edible. Monkfish liver, for example, is a delicacy. Monkfish cheeks and even the bones and heads can all be put to use in the kitchen! Not too long ago, I found out a cheaper way to eat monkfish! Previously blogged recipe – Monkfish in salted soya bean and black bean sauce, is one of the best ways to prepare monkfish. I used monkfish loin last time. It didn’t cost me a fortune, but it’s still rather expensive!

Not long ago, I went to my usual fishmonger that sells diver scallops. I got some scallops and then he asked me if I wanted some monkfish cheeks. I repeated in my head “Monkfish cheeks?” He replied “Yeah! They are  really good and full of flesh!” I paused for a few seconds. He continued “Give it a try! All you need to do is to slightly coat them in flour, season with salt and pepper. Then, fry them!” Even before I had the chance to make up my mind, he scooped up a handful of monkfish cheeks and weighed them. He then turned to me and said “It’s going to be £2.50.” I paused again. Ok, about 300g of monkfish cheeks costs only £2.50? I then decided to bargain (always do!). I got it down to £2.00!!

Monkfish cheeks are of course the flesh from the cheeks of monkfish. In the past, monkfish cheeks are discarded but now, they are even served on the menu at the best restaurants! There is no difference in the texture, it is exactly the same to the loin or fillet. Before cooking, remove the membrane enclosing them or this will contract in cooking making the flesh tough.

I got pretty excited when I got home as I wanted to try out monkfish cheeks, I couldn’t wait any longer! Without wasting much time, I thought a quick stir-fry would be the best. It came across my mind a recipe that I made previously, garlic and coriander chicken. I decided to adopt the same ingredients, plus a bit of chili, perhaps? Coriander turns out to be a fantastic pairing with monkfish too!

Recipe: Coriander & Chili Monkfish Cheeks Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

Monkfish cheeks, 300g

Corn flour, 1 tbsp

Red chili (chopped) or dried chili flakes, 1-2 tsp

Soya sauce, 1 tbsp

Sugar, 1 tsp

Coriander (chopped), 1 stalk

Chicken stock, 10ml

Garlic, 3 cloves

Oil, enough for shallow-frying and reserve some for stir-frying

Method:

1. Lightly coat monkfish cheeks with corn flour.

2. Then, shallow-fry the monkfish cheeks in hot oil until slightly brown. Drain and set aside.

3. Chop the garlic and coriander together.

4. Stir-fry the chopped garlic and coriander until slightly brown, and add together the chopped chili or chili flakes and all remaining ingredients.

5. Lastly, put in monkfish cheeks and mix well. Garnish with some coriander and  serve warm.

I am glad that my site has been nominated for Appletiser Blog Awards in the UK sponsored by Appletiser. Do you remember Green Tea Soba Noodles with Seared Tuna recipe that I posted not too long ago? This article has been shortlisted amongst all others on my site to join other stories under Glam for the mentioned award.

This campaign will be run for the next 6 months. So, if you like this article and the scrumptious recipe Green Tea Soba Noodles with Seared Tuna, please, all you need to do is to vote for me by clicking on the link below, and look for Green Tea Soba Noodles with Seared Tuna recipe! Thank you very much in advance!

Even though I had pretty busy schedule last week, that didn’t deter me from spending time in the kitchen to prepare simple and healthy dinner. I never bought prepared meals from the supermarket, except for pizza, Korean/Japanese instant noodles(from time to time when I really can’t be bothered!) and fresh pastas. If I could, I always like to cook from scratch!

I didn’t expect late summer sunshine at this time of the year. So, it was quite a good idea to have salad even for dinner. I don’t know about you, but when I am too busy, I lose my appetite to eat. More often than not, I try to eat more vegetables and fruits to boost my appetite.

My visit to Greece is a great culinary experience in search for authentic Greek food. Before I went there, I had very little knowledge about Greek food – probably just bits and pieces that I finally managed to put all the puzzles together.

As I bought a packet of mixed herbs (oregano, thyme, and spearmints) from Greece, I thought I would make Greek salad, which is one of my favourite salads! In Greece, as I mentioned in my previous post, Greek salad was served with a generous slab of feta cheese, which really surprised me when I tried my first ever Greek salad!

I remember the second time I had Greek salad in Naxos, there was a group of people sitting just next to our table. One of the girls was ordering her food, she decided to go for Greek salad. So far so normal. But, what surprised me was, I heard her saying “Can I please have Greek salad without Feta cheese.” Ohh… well, is it still Greek salad? For me, I thought one of the most important ingredients for this wonderful salad is the big piece of feta cheese, which completes the overall flavours.

Anyway, I guess it’s probably more interesting to the recipe written out than dragging on with my story…. haha.

Recipe: Greek Salad (Salade Grecque)

Ingredients:

Tomatoes, 4

Cucumber, half

Green pepper, half

Red onions, quarter/half

Black olives, 16

Feta cheese, 1 (or more)

Olive oil, 4-5 tbsp

Black pepper, to taste

Mixed herbs (for Greek salad), 1-2 tbsp

Salt, to taste

Lemon juice, 1-2 tbsp

Method:

1. Cut tomatoes into wedges. Slice the cucumber and green pepper. Then, cut red onion into rings. Put all these into a salad bowl.

2. Prepare the dressing by mixing olive oil, black pepper, salt, lemon, and mixed herbs in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Divide the salad in bowls, garnish with black olives. Drizzle the dressings over the salad. Sprinkle some extra mixed herbs if desired.

Soba has enjoyed widespread popularity for more than 400 years in Japan. Its popularity then spread around the world. The fact of the light texture, energy giving and well-balanced nutrition of soba make it as the perfect food at all seasons.

Previously, I made Soba Noodles with Five-Spice Pork Salad and Soba Noodles in Kombu Dashi with Teriyaki Salmon; both are tasty and simple recipes. This time, I wanted to try something different. Instead of using plain soba noodles, I opted for green tea soba or also known as chya soba. Green tea soba have a subtle green tinge and are mixed with matcha (green tea).

I have read on the internet on how to cook perfect soba. So, I thought this would be a great topic to share:

1) Boil a large amount of water.

2) The boiling time depends on the thickness of the noodles. To cook the regular thickness of soba, you’ll need about one and a half minutes. And if the soba is thicker then you’ll need to cook longer.

3) Make sure the noodles are cooked completely. If the noodles aren’t boiled long enough, they will be hard to eat.

4) Scoop up the cooked soba with a strainer, and set the noodles down briefly in a bowl of cold water.

With green tea soba, I was inspired to serve seared tuna with. Again, this dish doesn’t require a lot of fancy ingredients, keep it to the simplest is the best.

Recipe: Green Tea Soba Noodles With Seared Tuna

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Tuna steaks, 4, about 125g each

Sesame oil, 4 tbsp

Black or white sesame seeds, 4 tbsp

Green tea soba noodles, 250g

Courgette (cut into cubes), 1 small

Spring onions or chives (finely chopped), 4

Sauce:

Lemon juice, 4 tbsp

Soya sauce, 3 tbsp

Root ginger (chopped), 3cm

Mirin, 3 tbsp

Sugar, 1 tbsp

Method:

1) Boil the noodles in salted water until al dente. Drain. As we are not going to use the noodles straightaway, leave in a bowl of cold water.

2) Drizzle the tuna with 1 tbsp sesame oil and season. Roll in the sesame seeds until coated. Heat a non-stick frying pan to very hot. Sear the tuna on both sides. Keep warm.

3) In a saucepan, saute the courgette until soft. Then, put in ginger, mix well. Followed by lemon juice, soya sauce, mirin and sugar. Stir and mix well. Add in a bit of water if necessary.

4) Drain soba noodles and add in to the saucepan. Mix and make sure the sauce is well coated.

5) Slice the tuna.

6) Divide the noodles into 4 shallow bowls, serve slices of tuna on top. Drizzle extra sauce from the saucepan.