Gyoza 2 ways..Jo Mama Style!

Gyoza or potstickers are one of the first "weird" things I loved to eat.  When I was in elementary school our babysitter was this little Japanese woman, Toshi.  We would go to her house before school if my mom had to go to work early and after school, for a long long time. She introduced us to the soy rice crackers, yakisoba which she called fried noodles and even seaweed.  I remember going to Yamato Ya's with her and eating these little fried dumplings, they were gyozas.  I ended up traveling to Japan with my Mom when I was in the 6th Grade for 2 weeks. That was a great trip, and little did I know then but I helped to broaden my culinary horizons. We traveled around on the Shinkasnsen train going to places like Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kyushu Island, and Hamamatsu was our base.  Japan is so clean, one memory I have is going we were going to a restaurant or something and I literally ran right in to a glass window because it was so CLEAN!!   Japanese food and culture is something that since that trip and my babysitter I have just been attracted to.  Simple favors that just make your mouth want to do a back flip, like how do they do that? We ate at places that were traditional Japanese fare, like this Ryokan (Inn) in an Onsen (hot spring) in Beppu Kyushu.  I will never forget twelve year old me, first of all being horrified that I saw my fill of naked people, which wasn't itself creepy but me just starting puberty was a little much. Then we sit down to eat and there is a WHOLE fried carp-I hate fish and now there is one just staring at me then there was some little fried chicken wings, strawberries, some kind of custard that had fish in it and the topper of the whole thing, a little bowl with a lid on it...I opened the lid and there were these little teeny fish swimming around in broth and tiny yellow eggs.  OMGaga I was freaked, and the one spoon rule wasn't happening LOL.  Thankfully I was able to convince the adults to give me their chicken, but all in all I am so thankful for that experience.  I could go on and on about that trip and just talk about the food! I will probably be referencing this trip in future posts as well, I have a lot to say about it!  Gyoza was one of the first things I could "cook" with the frozen ones my mom would get at Sagayas.

The twelve year old me

This is a terrible picture of me, but you can see the infamous meal! 

This is Hemiji Castle, the largest and most visited castle in Japan.  Cool Stuff!

So I better get to the recipe for gyoza.  I chose to use turkey meat this time and though I loved the texture of it I think I would have probably doubled the seasoning I added to it. Turkey is bland, you REALLY have to season it well, this was hard because you can't really taste raw turkey so I just went with it.  That's the thing about cooking, well about anything really, try things and figure out how to make it better the next time! I also did a veggie gyoza on request, which I actually liked better than the turkey ones.  These are definitely time consuming for prep to wrapping so I would just make a huge batch and freeze them, I'm talking this from start to finish took just over 3 hours.

Gyoza 2 Ways Jo Mama Style

So this is what I grabbed out of the fridge, didn't use the olives or the lemon but I had planned to

So what you need (this is for both kinds):

1 lb ground turkey

1/2 cabbage thinly sliced

2 carrots finely chopped

1/2 onion finely chopped

1/2 bell pepper finely chopped

2 green onions thinly sliced

3 big handfuls spinach chopped

5 or 6 mushrooms finely chopped

1 egg

garlic

ginger

soy sauce

rice wine vinegar

sesame oil

sesame seeds

hot chili oil

Ponzu (I had some so I threw it in) not a biggie if you don't

1 package gyoza wraps (I should have got 2 because I had to freeze the extra filling)

Turkey Gyoza

1 lb. Turkey

1 egg

1/4 cup onions

1/4 cup bell pepper

1/4 cup carrots

1/2 -2/3 cup cabbage

1 tablespoon garlic

I used my hands, its just easier and made sure the egg was well incorporated.  The key to this is to have one dry hand for adding things too and you're messy hand, or just make sure you are washing your hands a lot.  You could use a spoon but I don't think you mix it as well. 

Then add the carrots, onion, garlic and bell pepper and mix with you hands again

The add your cabbage, if you want it finer than this you certainly could do that, I like the bigger pieces because it tends to stay a little crunchy and I love cabbage.

So for the liquid in this I added 1 tsp ginger

2 tablespoons soy

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon of the Ponzu

1/2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

whisk together

Pour into turkey mixture and mix in well with your hands

For the Veggies:

Since this one was experimental I did a small batch

used the chopped spinach, remaining carrots, remaining onion, green onions, garlic, mushrooms, and ginger

I decided to saute the veg first then I added probably about 1/2 teaspoon ginger, tablespoon soy and 1/2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar then let the liquids reduce a little.

Wrapping the gyoza

This can be challenging, but once you get in the groove it proves to be easy!

What I do is put some of the wrappers on parchment paper

Then I added just a bit of the filling like enough to fit at your fingertips and  place on the gyoza wrapper

Next I am going to post a video of how to do the wrappers.  I did it in one take, no editing and Carty in the background with commentary, so its not the best but gets the point across :)

I will get better at that once I get going LOL!

Cooking the Gyoza

So there is 2 ways you can do this, steaming them in a bamboo steamer, then frying (or just steaming if you want to keep it healthier) or frying then steaming in the same pan.  I prefer to steam first because when you add the water it doesn't necessarily keep that nice crunch on the bottom.  I had issues with mine sticking to my bamboo steamer , tried lining with parchment paper but that didn't work too well either. But again, its all about trying things out and seeing what works best.

Here they are in the bamboo steamer, if you don't have one of these you should!  I let them steam about 15 minutes, to make sure the turkey was cooked almost through and finish in the pan of oil.

Transfer into a pan of hot oil,  cook until browned on the bottom ( I know they're done in this pan when they no longer stick to the bottom of the pan, patience comes in good here :))

Here is the other way to do it:

Place your gyoza in a pan of hot oil and fry until they are browned on the bottom

Like this

Then, add about 1/4 cup water and put a lid on your pan let cook until the water evaporates

Making the dipping sauce

Rice wine vinegar

Soy sauce

Hot chili oil

Red chili flakes

Sesame seeds

Thinly sliced green onion

This is another part where you can play around.  I tend to use a little more rice wine vinegar than soy sauce, and I love the heat from the hot chili oil. I mixed like 2 tablespoons RWV, 1 tablespoon soy, a 1/4 teaspoon hot chili oil, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds and hot chili pepper.

There you have it!  Serve on a bed of thinly sliced cabbage, which also helps to soak up the oil and just looks pretty as a garnish...and I have to admit I usually just pour the left over dipping sauce on the cabbage and enjoy that to :)

Hope this was helpful, and easy to read and follow!



Jo Mama's Alaskan Moose-aman Curry

Moose.  I love me some moose!  I love to watch them and I love to eat them. Here in Alaska they are just a staple of life even here in the city you see them all over the place in random areas.  Like on my back porch! We have had a ton of snow here in Anchorage this winter, around 11 feet so it seems like they are hungrier than ever because a lot of their food sources are covered with snow.  They are pretty resourceful though, using snow berms and even roofs in some places to get at trees they wouldn't normally get at.  I for one have never hunted a day in my life but the more I eat moose that is graciously given to me by my uncle I'd love to go hunting.  I can shoot a gun, I used to have good aim and I have patience. Patience came from fishing with my dad.  Its not called catching and it can be so boring waiting for that bite but you get to enjoy your company and relish in it when you do get a fish! Generally, skunk rule doesn't apply to me and I love to catch the biggest and the most fish, just saying :)   Which is why this summer I am going to embrace the salmon, not just give them away.  I have not fished in Alaska since my dad left.  We fish in Oklahoma just about everyday when I'm there but I need to get back to salmon slaying again!

So lets back get to eating these tasty ungulates.  Moose is a very lean protein and if processed correctly has little gaminess to it. Its also very versatile and you can do virtually anything with it.  I'm sure there will be many more moose related recipes posted in the future. And for the record, I'm sure I could make a person a delicious meal tell them it was beef if they had an opinion just by hearing it was moose and they would never know the difference! 

Here is a link to more detailed information about the nutritional values of moose:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/466820-moose-meat-nutritional-value/
It was surprising that aside from cholesterol its high in potassium and has good amounts of selenium in it as well.  Read the article!!

I also found this while doing my search, if you have time peruse through it!
http://www.aswcd.org/ValueofMoose.pdf

 All of these recipes can be used with beef or pork, well heck, even chicken if you wanted to.

Enjoying my rosebush.

This guy was literally standing on my porch @ 3am...Scared the bejeebus outta me! 

And the guy in the back using his resources

Jo Mama's Alaskan Moose-uman Curry

So I took the moose out a couple of days ago, these were all items I had in my pantry

Ingredients:
1 lb ground moose meat
1/2 onion finely diced (so I can sneak them in) you could cut them as chunky or fine as you'd like
5 mushrooms diced
1/2 yellow pepper diced
1/2 green pepper diced
4 garlic cloves minced
1 heaping tablespoon Masman curry paste
1 can coconut milk (I had a small can I used but ended up opening another large can and using 1/2)
1 8 oz can tomato sauce (an addition that wasn't in the above pic)
a good splash of soy sauce
splash of fish sauce
about a tablespoon of sesame oil
about 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
rice
lettuce leaves

A quick word about Masman curry paste, its not too spicy and you still get the nice curry taste with out the heat.  I like the heat personally but sometimes a girl has to compromise!

Preparation:

So, I have been dying for a cast iron Dutch Oven for forever and I've been watching this one at Wally World for a while, its Better Homes and Gardens and I got it for $54.00!  Someday I'll have a Le Cruset, someday....but until then I'm rocking my Wal-Mart special!!

So turn on your burner to medium and let your Dutch Oven (or whatever pan with a lid) warm up

Once your oil is nearly smoking add your onions and saute for a minute

Then add the peppers and saute them for a minute or two.

Followed by the mushrooms, garlic and green onions

Once the veg is sauteed, about 5 minutes push to the side and add your meat

I let this cook until all the liquid from the moose evaporated and got a bit of a crust on the bottom, this took about 15 minutes

Then I pushed everything to the side and added my curry paste

Jo Mama's Mama taught her to cook the curry paste and open up the flavors within it

Mix in the curry paste after a couple minutes and proceed to add the soy sauce, fish sauce (this is my first time using fish sauce but it wasn't that bad! And there was no extra salt added to the recipe) coconut milk (this is where the little can wasn't enough so I added 1/2 of a big can), and the little can of tomato sauce I thought would be good, then a cup of broth, all I had on hand was chicken so I just used that. Also, I forgot to take pictures of that part but I'm sure you can figure it out!

  Then...

I forgot the potatoes, duh, so I cubed 2 medium potatoes (that I dug up with my bare hands last fall :)) and threw them in as well. 

I covered my dutch oven and put it in the oven @ 350 for a little over an hour...I am going to tell you why next!

Again, I went through my refrigerator and noticed I had some romaine lettuce so I wanted to reduce the sauce and make sure my curry was nice and thick to make lettuce wraps

This is what it looked like when I took it out of the oven, you can see how thick it ended up getting!

This can be served over rice, mixed in with some noodles or like I did

with the lettuce wraps.

I took a tablespoon full of rice and the curry and added a sprig of cilantro.  The only thing missing was a lime wedge to squeeze over the top, but I did take a sampling over to my neighbors yurt (yes, yurt) and brought back an empty plate...and he had limes :)

Even the man, who we all know is a picky eater ate THREE bowls last night!!

So there you have it.  If you do do not have moose, like I said before substitute for what ever else you'd like. You could even do this vegetarian and just cut the veggies up into larger chucks and it wouldn't have to cook as long!

Give grits (and shrimp) a chance!

Shrimp and grits.  This is something that I've heard about my whole life but never actually ate until a year or 2 ago. Its a dish that in the past was a fisherman's breakfast in South Carolina, but is now popular for any meal. My recipe differs from the traditional, but I think its a bit  of lighter fare. Grits are something that I've always shied away from, they were always a big blob of goo to me.  That is until some friends of mine had me over just to try it.  I was SOLD!!  If you make grits correctly they are creamy, yummy goodness.  Add cheese to it and what could better. Grits are an underrated starch that more people should try. I'm using quick grits, which die hards probably frown upon but you can make them just as creamy. They are actually low in fat and not bad for you either! I hope that if you are not a fan of grits that you will give this recipe a chance!

Here is a go at my tutorial:

First off the ingredients:

For the shrimp
I got 1 lb. of the 21-25 count de-headed shrimp ( I am a sucker for sales and these were nice looking and a good deal at $7.99 lb) I only used 1/2 and am freezing the rest for later
1/2 yellow pepper diced
2 green onions sliced thinly
4 or 5 mushrooms sliced
1 lemon zested and save the juice for later
4 cloves garlic, minced (I love garlic and to me there's no such thing as too much, plus its good for your heart)
2 slices bacon diced
1 tablespoon butter (I used a canola/butter blend)

For the Grits:
3 cups Water
3/4 cup quick cooking grits
1 teaspoon salt
about 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, cubed or shredded, more or less depending on how cheesy you want it

Preparation:

If you bought whole shrimp you'll have to de-vein them or you should just because its poo for lack of a better word.  Otherwise just buy them already de-veined.  It does take a awhile to shell them and devein.  There is one vein going down the back of the shrimp, this is the poo one.  Take your pearing knife and just cut a tiny bit into the shrimp in a line down the back, or go farther down and have a butterflied shrimp :).  You can see the vein and just take your finger and run it down and get all the brown stuff out.  I also did the one on the underside of the shrimp as well.

Next, dice your veggies, zest the lemon and slice the bacon and cube or shred the cheese. Make sure you either save the bacon for last or use a different cutting board to avoid cross contamination.

Ok, so for the grits, add 3 cups of water and about a teaspoon salt to a large saucepan and bring to a boil.  Slowly whisk in the grits into the water.  Cover and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes.  Once they are looking creamy add about a tablespoon butter, some pepper and a splash of milk and whisk in.  Then add your cheese and again, whisk until the cheese melts and you get that creamy consistency.  If the grits are too thick just add more butter and milk a little at a time.  If you want them cheesier, add more cheese.  Cover your grits and its time to start the shrimp part of your meal!

 Don't be afraid to make the flavor to your liking!

 You want to render the fat from the bacon but not over cook it.  When the bacon is crisp remove from the pan and place on a paper towel.

Once the bacon is removed, turn down the heat and add a good tablespoon of butter and let melt in the pan. Then add your peppers, mushrooms, lemon zest and garlic and saute' until tender. About 5 minutes.

Once the veg is tender move to the side of the pan and place your shrimp in careful not to over crowd. Cook your shrimp on one side until you just see the pink on the sides.  Then turn over the shrimp with some tongs.  If some of the shrimp cook a little faster just pile on to your veggies.

Once all the shrimp is cooked, add the bacon back to the pan and squeeze the lemon juice over the top of the shrimp and veggies, let saute for just a minute longer.

To serve:

Place a good heaping spoonful of grits into a boat or a nice big plate.  Place a scoop of the veggies on top and add a couple of shrimp to the top of that.  Then just get a bit of the sauce and drizzle it over and around the grits. 

And there you have it!  See not super hard and it just melts in your mouth.  Its tart, and shrimpy and creamy and just plain good!

Give grits a chance.

Please let me know if my directions aren't thorough enough, I'd like more input please!!