Almost Uncle Dan's: Vegetable Dip

D2 left for the east coast on Thursday.  I have no idea how her packing went because I wasn't part of the process.  She assured me that she packed everything she needed.  I sure hope so, and it's too late now anyway.  I know what I forgot to be sure she took, but I'll save the whine for another post.

D2 will be home in a few days, and I'm certain she will want to eat white sticky rice (she stuffed herself with rice the few days she was home between trips).  Once she returns, I will need to go back to cooking food she likes:  beef teriyaki, chicken katsu, beef tomato, edamame rice, and anything made with oyster sauce.  Sigh.

When it's just me and The Help, we eat whatevers.  Maybe that's why we've had Jack In The Box multiple times in the past 2 weeks.  I am addicted to their monster tacos.  The Help cannot understand what the draw is, and I can't explain it either.  But I keep ordering the same thing.  Oh, and I MUST get an order of curly fries with the taco.  With D2, the only fast food establishment she recognizes is McD.  Nothing else, and that's why going to Jack In The Box when she isn't around seems equivalent to sneaking around behind her [her=the parents] back.  Maybe that's why the taco tastes even better.

Another naughty thing we've been doing is not eating "real" food for dinner.  We've eaten sweets and appetizers in the late afternoon and called it dinner.  Luckily, we stocked up on an assortment of chips just before D2 left on her first trip.  I like the kettle chips from Costco or the 40% reduced-fat Cape Cod chips (sometimes found at Costco).  Both go great with dip, and this copycat dip is what we've been having.  

Back in the 80s, I remember having a dip made with a supermarket seasoning packet.  It was called Uncle Dan's Southern Dip Mix, and you mixed the dry packet's contents with sour cream and mayonnaise for a totally awesome cold dip for chips or vegetables.  Its been years since I had that dip, and I haven't seen Uncle Dan's anywhere in the local supermarkets, but this is a dip which comes close to the flavor (at least what I remember about the flavor).

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Almost Uncle Dan's Southern Dip

     2/3 c sour cream

     2/3 c mayonnaise

     1/2 tsp dry dill

     1/2 tsp Beau Monde seasoning (Spice Islands)

     1 tbsp chopped green onions

     3 tsp minced fresh parsley

Combine all ingredients.  Chill to blend flavors.  Serve with chips or vegetable sticks.

Crisp Won Ton

Kung Hee Fat Choy!

Happy new year!

I was fortunate enough to go to Honolulu last month, so I managed to get my lucky gao.  I always feel good when I can get gao in January.  Of course, I could always make my own, but its so much easier when made by someone else...at least I think so.  In an effort to spread good fortune and cheer, I brought home a few extra gao for sharing.  If Homegirl had let me know ahead of time, I would even have brought back the half-dozen she wanted.

Over the years, around this time of year, I've shared some of my favorite Chinese recipes:

• gao
• almond cookies
• ginger-green onion crab
• rice noodles with crispy tofu and vegetables

This year I'm sharing my recipe for my favorite appetizer, crisp won ton.  I used to have trouble getting the seasoning just right.  It was often hit-or-miss; sometimes it was too salty and sometimes it was bland.  I must be onto something because several times a year, Mr. Dependable calls me for the recipe.  Perhaps it is also HIS favorite appetizer.

I don't usually do this, but The Help was playing with a new toy, so he took some sequence pictures of won ton wrapping.  There are tons of different variations in wrapping, but this is how I wrap it for special occasions.  If we are eating it at home (not for a party), I will fold it into a simple rectangle shape.  This makes it easy to reheat leftovers (toaster oven, 300 degrees, for about 10 minutes).

center 1 tsp filling on wrapper

moisten edges with water

press edges to seal (rectangle shape)

place a drop of water on lower left corner of rectangle; bring upper left over lower left corner; press to seal

place folded won tons in a single layer

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Crisp Won Ton

     1 lb ground pork

     1 can water chestnuts, chopped

     2-4 tbsp chopped green onions

     2 eggs

     2 tbsp shoyu

     1 tsp salt

     2 tsp sugar

     1 tsp sesame oil

     2 pkgs Twin Dragon brand won ton wrappers or 3 pkgs Chun Wah Kam won ton wrappers

     vegetable oil for frying

Combine all ingredients, except won ton wrappers and vegetable oil.  Fill wrappers with 1 tsp of pork mixture.  Deep fry until golden brown.  Oil should be 350-375 degrees. 

Food Processor Food: Kamaboko Dip

kamaboko=Japanese pink and white steamed fishcake on a wooden board which is normally sold in plastic shrinkwrap

This past week of work went a lot better than the previous week.  Perhaps my body clock got used to waking up early.  Or perhaps my brain knew it would be a short week for the kids.

We had a student-free day on Friday.  While that might sound dandy, I'll take a day with students any day over a "planning & collaboration day" with adults.  Kids rock.

In spite of my reluctance to even try to enjoy Friday, it actually turned out well.  We got a lot done and I was pleasantly surprised at how well everyone present was so task-oriented.

Since there was hardly any traffic that morning (several other teachers were being tortured the same way), I made a small detour and picked up lunch from Asamis Kitchen.  I nonchalantly asked the counter person to add a wonton to my order.  When I bit into the wonton, I was shocked to find it was filled with some type of kamaboko dip.  I've eaten wonton with imitation crabmeat filling before, but the kamaboko dip in the wonton was a novel taste.  Kamaboko dip wonton is something I need to try on my own someday, maybe when D1 returns, since she says she likes kamaboko dip.  I have never seen D1 eat kamaboko dip.  Ever.  But she says she likes it.  Whatevers.

Anyway, while D1 was home for the holidays, she attended a party at a friend's house.  She took a container of kamaboko dip for sharing.  I had made a triple recipe of kamaboko dip since I knew my cousins would be over so there was more than enough for D1 to take to her party.  When I asked her if she liked the dip, she said she didn't have any.  She said she left the container on the patio with some intoxicated boys, and by the time she made her way back to the patio, the dip was gone.

So while I cannot verify that this dip recipe will work well as a wonton filling, I can attest that it is enjoyed as an accompaniment for chips, crackers, and/or vegetables.  I normally just serve it in a dish, but The Help thought it would be cute to pack it onto a clean kamaboko board in the shape of a kamaboko.  If you decide his idea is worth replicating, shape the kamaboko on the board, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill until ready to serve.  Remove plastic wrap just before serving.

Now you might today might be a good time to try making some kamaboko dip wonton, today being a holiday and all, but I'm a little busy today.  I'm spending the day at work, prepping for tomorrow.  I thought I would be able to get some prep done on Friday, but my time was consumed with other things.  When I thought I might have a moment of breathing room, I had to call the help desk to ask them to fix a mistake created by a colleague.  Apparently the help desk could use some help too.  The person who answered the phone was incompetent and sent me over to the wrong side for help.  When I said, "next time, make it a policy to ask which side I'm calling about before handing me off," the person who took my call said, "please be understanding because we are short staffed."  Dumbass.  My call had nothing to do with staffing!  It took over 30 minutes to get my issue resolves, 25 minutes of which were spent holding for the wrong person. 

 click on recipe title for printable recipe

Kamaboko Dip

     1 block kamaboko, cut into chunks
     2 tbsp celery, minced
     1 tbsp onion, minced
     3/4 c mayonnaise
     1/2 tsp garlic salt

Place kamaboko, celery, and onion, into work bowl of food processor.  Process until kamaboko is chopped fine.  Empty into small mixing bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Missing D1: Soft Wontons with Spicy Sauce

It's been nearly two weeks since D1 has been gone.  I could say I'm so excited about her beginning her college career, and I wouldn't be lying.  But that's only half true.  The other part of the story is that I'm missing her dearly.  It's not the same as the two times she went to Japan or the time she went to California.  This is different.

This makes me think back a thousand years or so to when I left for college.  I can even remember what I had on when I boarded the plane out of Hilo!  Now that I'm the parent, I relive that time through my mom's eyes.  Who gives a shit about what I was wearing...my mother must've been so sad when I left, but she kept her game face on and told me to do my best.

Since I'm missing D1 so much, I'm posting a recipe for a dish I know she'd want to eat.  Don't let the benign looks of this dish fool you.  The sauce is packed with flavor and the soft wontons don't disappoint either.  This reminds me of a dish I had at Din Tai Fung in Bellevue, WA.  I finally found a similar recipe on Diana Kuan's Appetite for China blog.  I didn't have Sichuan pepper, and I wanted my sauce to have a little kick of ginger so I made a few changes to her recipe.  It's been too long since my trip to Din Tai Fung to know how close the sauce is to theirs, but if it's not similar, it's certainly equally tasty.  Unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to mastering their xiao long bao yet.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Soft Wontons

     1 lb ground pork

     1 can water chestnuts, chopped

     1/4 c green onion, minced

     2 eggs

     2 tbsp shoyu

     1 tsp salt

     2 tsp sugar

     1 tsp sesame oil

     won ton wrappers (3 trays of Chun Wah Kam or 2 pkgs of Twin Dragon brand)

Combine all ingredients except for wrappers.  Wrap 2 tsp of filling in each wrapper by encasing filling in a rectangle shape (wet edges of wrapper) then overlap lower left and right corners, forming a diamond shape.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add 6 wonton and cook for 4 minutes.  Wonton will float when cooked.  Remove with a slotted spoon (shake off excess water) and place in large serving dish.

Spicy Sauce

     

     1 tbsp minced garlic

     1 tsp minced ginger

     2 tbsp shoyu

     1/2 tbsp sugar

     1 tbsp chili oil

     2 tsp black vinegar (original recipe said may substitute with balsamic)

     green onion, minced

Combine all ingredients except for green onion.  Pour evenly over cooked wonton.  Sprinkle green onion before serving.

I am relieved D1 seems to be enjoying her new digs and adapting well to life in the desert.  Perhaps it's her reptilian brain kicking in.

FEAR THE FORK!

    

Boiled Peanuts

I barely survived the long weekend (for those of you not familiar with Hawaii history, this past Friday was Statehood Day/Admission Day).  While county and state government employees get the day off, not everyone is pleased with the day.  Many native Hawaiians are still angry at the overthrow of the monarchy and being made the 50th state, so the day is also a day for demonstrations.  While I'm glad to have the day off, I do respect the opinion of others and am sensitive to the fact that not everyone sees this day as a cause for celebration.

The long holiday allowed D2 to host a sleepover for her birthday.  This was the first sleepover party D2 ever hosted...she had friends over for the night before, but 2 girls are a lot different from 8!  I must've been intoxicated when she asked me for permission to have a sleepover.

The party began with a pizza dinner, followed by the showing of Rise of the Guardians dvd with popcorn & kakimochi.  I went to bed before 11 pm, and I was awakened by laughter at 4:00 am.  I fed the kids blueberry muffins and apple strudels for breakfast.  I was planning on making li hing mui lollipops with them, but some kids were already in the pool.  At that point, I decided to forgo the lollipops.  While the kids were playing, The Help went to pick up the birthday cake and enough bentos to feed us all.  Kids had lunch, cake, ice cream, and pinata treats.  Then it was time to go home.

I barely had time to rest before it was time to watch D1 cheering at the 1st football game of the school year...a pre-season duel with the cross-town rival.  It was a great game, especially for my school because we won handily.  I hope this is a sign of a great season for the Viks.  I also got to flash my employee ID to get into the game at a major discount!

In honor of D2's birthday, this week's recipe is something she really enjoys. . .boiled peanuts.  I totally get why she loves this.  Boiled peanuts were one of my favorite snacks when I was younger.  I still can't resist buying a bag when I see it in the stores (supermarkets in Hawaii sell boiled peanuts near the produce department).

I've seen boiled peanuts for sale in the Smithfield Marketplace catalog, and GP, my former coworker, would tell me that boiled peanuts were a popular snack in parts of the south.  But I was taken by surprise one day when he asked me why the peanuts on my plate were so dark.  I told him they were boiled, and it was like he had never seen a boiled goober before.  So now I'm curious about what southern boiled peanuts are like.  The ones I see in Hawaii are all dark.

My buddy Tyson swears that the best peanuts in Hilo are sold at George's Meat Market.  I've had theirs, and he is right.  The salt is just right, and the peanuts are cooked just right.  George's Meat Market has some oddball hours, so if you find yourself jonesing for some good nuts and can't get to George's, you can always make your own.  It only takes a few hours to make, and if you are like me and D2 and have an affinity for flavor of anise, you can throw in a couple of stars for the "Chinese" taste.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Local Style Boiled Peanuts

     2 lbs fresh peanuts
     1/4 c rock salt
     2 star anise
     2 qts water

Place peanuts into large pot.  Cover with water.  Add salt and star anise.  Bring to a rolling boil.  Start timer (25 minutes) when water is at a rolling boil.  Remove pot from heat, but leave peanuts in pot until they all sink to the bottom.  Drain.

6/2014 update:  KTA sells raw peanuts with their signature "1916" label.  These peanuts are huge!  If using these special 1916 peanuts, boil peanuts much longer than 25 minutes.  Begin checking after 45 minutes of boiling.  You will also need to add water during the boiling process.

Toaster Oven Food: Thyme Roasted Almonds

This summer has been anything but quiet.  I have been busy trying to develop my pacing guides.  Luckily, of the three classes I'll be teaching, two of them are also taught by someone else.  I was glad that she was willing to collaborate on the pacing guides with me.  I was even more astounded that she trusted my judgment.  It will be difficult for me to ever turn my back on her, as she helped me without promise of any gain.  I have gained a deep respect for her, and she has gained my trust and loyalty.

I've also spent tons of time (and money) on my classroom.  I managed to secure the use of an lcd projector, and thanks to Kikukat Mom, I have 2 laptops and a desktop for my classroom.  The former DH gave me a new (still-in-box) desktop computer for me to use, and he even found a monitor for me (all 15" of it).  I may need to swap out my monitor from home because the last time I used a 15" monitor I was under 30!

I brought in my own swivel chair from home, and I took advantage of a great sale (and free shipping) at OfficeMax.com.  I'm $200 poorer, but I have a cart for my lcd projector and a locking file cabinet.  $230 got me a nice fridge/freezer which is made by a brand that normal people buy.  And for about that same price, I indulged in a document camera by HoverCam.  Now I normally wouldn't be so quick to shell out my own $, but given that it was immensely difficult to get the custodians to remove the unwanted (junk) furniture I inherited and to have the school provide me with an lcd projector, I decided it would be best if I took care of myself (and not wait for the school to kick in the $).  The only thing I'm missing now are students!

I'm realizing that although I've been complaining about the pacing guides taking up a lot of my time, the outfitting of my room has taken up a lot of my time as well.  While I feel I've been terribly busy, I think D1 has been even busier.  Last week she attended a student leadership conference at UH-Manoa.  A few days after she returned, she participated in two-and-a-half days of intense jumping, kicking, and screaming at cheer camp.  And although she fulfilled all her required time for her internship, she has continued to volunteer her time at the lab, extracting DNA from various fly species.

D1s internship this summer has been a totally different experience from her internship last summer.  Last summer she was at Gemini Telescope in the HR department.  She was too young to go up to the mountain, so HR was the only option.  She enjoyed Auntie Carolyn, but the experience convinced her that HR was not something she wanted to pursue as a career.  In spite of the disgusting media (flies in all stages of the life cycle), D1 loves the work in the lab.  Without flinching, she talks about handling fly larvae and pupae.  Early on, I got to look around at the lab, and I was led into a room full of fly cages.  The room reeked.  I cannot even describe the smell, but I was told it was fly pheromones.  I can say with certainty that I am NOT attracted to the smell of horny flies who want to get it on! 

D2 hasn't been as busy as D1 or myself, but I've been cracking the whip about her keeping her room tidy.  My efforts have produced very little results, but soon I'll just give up and stop yelling.  The Japanese guests who will be here in two weeks will need to tiptoe and stay on the narrow path through the mess in order to get to the futon.  She has been keeping tabs on all the school supplies we've purchased so far.  I'm glad to see her at least taking an interest in that.  It tells me that she is looking forward to school, and that IS a good thing.

Earlier this summer, when D2 was in summer school, her class maintained a small garden.  She brought home a beet and a small tomato.  She must've enjoyed gardening because she has been bugging me to start a garden.  I guess she didn't realize that I attempted to start a garden too, but it didn't work out the way I wanted it.  I tried growing lettuce hydroponically.  I did it before with success, but this time, the lettuce just didn't grow.  The seeds sprouted, but the plants never got big.  When work starts up, I'll ask my colleague how he does it.  He always posts pics on Facebook of huge mustard cabbages and cucumbers.

I also tried planting kale and basil (twice), and that didn't work out well either.  The bugs loved it!  They completely overlooked the sage, tarragon and thyme which I had growing in the same area.  All three of these herbs can be chopped up alone or solo and mixed into softened butter.  A pat of herb butter on a grilled steak does wonders.  I love to use sage when I roast poultry.  It also tastes great in a grilled cheese sandwich (honest!).  I use tarragon in a chicken salad and also in hunter-style chicken.  Thyme is one of my most favorite herbs because it is so versatile.  Turkey brine needs thyme, and I'll throw a sprig of it in soups.  And I love it as a seasoning for roasted marcona almonds!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Thyme-Roasted Almonds

     1 lb marcona almonds, roasted and lightly salted
     2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, minced
     2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
     1/2 tsp salt

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.  In a flat pan with a low rim, toss ingredients together.  Roast for 10 minutes, stirring twice.  Remove from oven, and place almonds in another pan.  Toss for 1 minute.  Cool.  Store in an airtight container until ready to serve.

In two weeks, my vacation will be over.  I feel like I haven't even started my vacation.  A little break would be nice.

Never Enough: Hijiki

Before I launch into the normal chit chat of my post, I'd like to give a big ALOHA to SN and the Ono Kine Recipes page on Facebook for sharing recipes from my blog.  The first 2 recipes shared were Korean Long Rice Salad and Warabi-Kamaboko Salad.  My buddy Dee messaged me and told me Ono Kine Recipes had posted two of my recipes.  I HAD to "like" the page after that!  If you have a facebook account, meander over to the Ono Kine Recipes page.  They have lots of recipes, including lots of yummy desserts. Prior to summer getting underway, I made a list of foods I wanted to try making.  So far, I made only 1 thing from the list:  Zoku pops.  I have not managed to make anything more because I keep getting sidetracked.  The market hasn't been on my side either.  Gravlax was way up high on my list, but I can't seem to find fresh wild salmon.  Another item high on that list was sponge drops, soft vanilla cookies with a creamy filling sandwiched between two cookies.  The cleanup for that will be hell. There was a holiday this past week. . .Kamehameha Day, and since I was already on vacation, the only difference was that D2 was home with me.  Doing an internship at a federal jobsite, D1 did not get Kamehameha Day off.  There were celebrations going on in Hilo and in Kohala, but I had no part of that.  Instead, I stayed home and cooked (and cleaned too). What I ended up cooking were a bunch of snacks and side dishes.  The 8-pound brisket The Help smoked on Sunday lasted us well into the week, so I put my effort into snacks for the family as well as other things we could eat with the brisket.  And even though we stopped eating the brisket, a huge chunk of it lives on in the freezer.  I'm gonna need to work up a lot of nerve to tackle it for round 2.  Harumphffff. One of the side dishes I made, which has absolutely no coherence with smoked brisket, is hijiki (seaweed).  I knew there was no chance of D2 touching smoked brisket so I figured I'd make her something to have along with microwaved frozen rice.  D2 loves hijiki, and I am certain many people have enjoyed hijiki at a sit-down Japanese restaurant at some point in their lives.  Even Japanese restaurants in small town Hilo serve it regularly.  Hijiki is often presented as one of the small morsels diners are served as a complimentary appetizer.  And no matter which Japanese restaurant you go to, the tidbit-sized portion is never enough.  During spring break, I took the Ds and D2's friend KN to Restaurant Miwa for lunch.  At the end of the meal, after D2 finished her udon and my hijiki, she announced that the next time we ate there, she would just order a bowl of hijiki and some rice.  And that's exactly the reason why making hijiki at home is such a good idea. . .you can eat all you want!  Restaurant hijiki usually just contains seasoned seaweed.  When you make it at home, you can add in other stuff.  Hijiki is not difficult to make, and it takes just a little forethought.  Aside from soaking the hijiki, the most time-consuming part is chopping the aburage and konnyaku.  Because everything gets cooked in one pan, clean up is also minimal.  click on recipe title for printable recipe Hijiki      1 pkg (2 oz) hijiki (wash and soak in water for 30 minutes or according to package directions)      1 tbsp oil      2 aburage, finely chopped      1 piece konnyaku, sliced thin      3 tbsp sugar      1/4 c mirin      1/4 c shoyu      2 tbsp sesame seeds Heat oil in pan.  Fry aburage till crispy.  Squeeze out water from hijiki.  Add hijiki, konnyaku, sugar, mirin, and shoyu to aburage.  Cook until liquid is absorbed.  Mix in sesame seeds.