Chinese Food - Chinese Dumplings - How to Make Them

The lowly dumpling. In Western-style cooking it is a simple staple, a source of carbohydrates and a great comfort food. However, made in the Chinese way, it is an artistic creation from the kitchen. Chinese Dumplings (Jiao Zi or Gow Gee, in the Mandarin dialect) are a mixture made of dough filled with meat, chicken and/or vegetables. It is frequently dished up as part of dim sum. The correct preparation calls for plenty of time, patience and effort but the end result, when done properly, are definitely worth it.

Ingredients

Dough:

360 g white flour
240 - 350 ml water
1 tsp salt

You will need to buy the right variety of Chinese flour, which can be either rice flour or wheat flour. Normal plain white flour has a completely different consistency when mixed with water and cooked.

Make sure that the water is extremely cold, in fact nearly freezing. Mix the salt and flour together and add 240ml of the water. Blend well into a smooth dough adding extra water if the consistency is too dry. Knead well and make sure that the end result is a smooth ball. If you inadvertently add too much water, just balance it with a little more flour. Cover the dough and let it rest for at least half an hour.

Filling:

1 lb lean minced meat (beef, pork or chicken)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brandy
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp white pepper

Mix all the filling ingredients carefully to make sure that the meat doesn't end up as a mush.

This recipe should make 60 Chinese dumplings, so divide the dough into 60 pieces and roll each piece until it is about 7.5 cm (3 inches) in diameter.

Put about a tablespoonful of the meat mixture onto one disc and fold in half, sealing with a little water and pinching the edges together until you have a half moon shape. If you have one of those gadgets which does this for you, wet the edges of the dough disc, place it on the dumpling maker, spoon in the filling and press the edges of the dumpling maker together.

Chinese dumplings can be boiled or fried

To boil, bring a large pan of water to the boil and add half the dumplings. When the water boils again add 120 ml cold water and bring back to the boil. At this point add the other half of the dumplings and another 120ml cold water. Stir the dumplings very carefully to stop them from sticking together. Bring to the boil for a third time and the dumplings should be ready.

At this point you can fry the dumplings in a wok with hot oil. You will need to keep them on the move to prevent them from sticking and to make sure that both sides take a little colour.

To Serve

Serve the dumplings with a dipping sauce of equal amounts of soy sauce and dark vinegar, to which you can add a little chopped red chilli if you like a bit of spice.

Chinese dumplings are often served at New Year banquet as they are a symbol of wealth and good luck for the coming year but as part of a dim sum selection, you can eat them with pleasure whenever you want to.

Liz Canham

As well as a love of Asian Food and Cookery, Liz seeks to help newcomers to the world of internet marketing with tools, tips and training from her Liz-e-Biz.com website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_Canham

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Roasted Beef Ribs in Maple-Barbeque Sauce

You can use "Texas beef ribs" in this recipe. Plan on letting the ribs marinate for 48 hours and serve with coleslaw, corn bread, and plenty of ice-cold beer. But the ribs will still be delicious if they marinate for only 8 hours.

This barbecue sauce can be as mild or as spicy as you like; add hot pepper sauce accordingly. It also works well with pork, chicken, or shrimp.

The Barbecue Sauce:
1¾ cups ketchup
½ cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ cup chopped scallions or fresh chives
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
Dash hot pepper sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
The Ribs:
3½ to 4 pounds beef ribs, cut into individual ribs

Method :
Prepare the barbecue sauce: In a medium-size bowl, mix all the ingredients for the barbecue sauce and taste for seasoning. The sauce could have a good balance of sweet and savory, with the flavor of the spice present. Adjust as needed.

Place the ribs in a large bowl and coat the top, bottom, an sides with the sauce. Cover and refrigerate, turning the ribs and basting every few hours or so, for 8 or up to 48 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Remove the ribs from the sauce, reserving the sauce, and place them in a large shallow roasting pan, bone-side down. Brush the ribs with a bit of the sauce.

Roast the rib for 30 minutes. Turn the ribs over, baste with additional sauce, and roast another 30 minutes. Turn the ribs again, baste with the remaining sauce, and roast, basting every 15 minutes or so, until tender, another 45 minutes to 1 hour. If the sauce begins to dry out in the bottom of the roasting pan, add ¼ to ½ cup water to dilute the sauce and keep it from burning. Most of the sauce will caramelize directly to the ribs. Serve hot or at room temperature, makes 4 servings.

By Lok Wai Siang

Lok Wai Siang is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about online recipes, visit http://www.asianfood-recipe.com for current articles and discussions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lok_Wai_Siang

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Juice Recipes For Weight Loss - Recipe and 7 Tips For Juicing the Weight Right Off!

Trying to lose and keep off weight is no easy challenge. In fact it's quite the commitment. That being said, often times it is the right decision to the start of a healthy way of life. It's not something that can be forced on you though. Losing weight is something that you have to want in order to make change a reality. In other words, you can't just try to lose weight without the real heart behind it. Juicing isn't the sort of diet that goes in and out of popularity. The reason is because it's not a fad diet. It's an important part of a healthy lifestyle.

Luckily trying a juice diet is a great way to start shedding quick pounds to help motivate you to take it to the next level. In fact, once you start, juicing for weight loss will become a part of your daily routine. All it requires is the small investment of a juicing machine and a book full of delicious recipes. You'll never need to stop at the smoothie stand or drink store bought juice which has a fraction of the nutrients you need on a daily basis.

For example, look at this delicious recipe you can try out:

This is known as the Bahama Sunset:

4 Servings

1 c. strawberries, slice in half
1½ c. orange juice
1 whole mango, peeled, seeded, and chopped into small chunks
2 kiwi, peeled and cut into chunks
1 to 2 tablespoons honey
½ c. seltzer

With a blender on the puree setting, puree all, except the seltzer, until creamy and smooth. Pour into four glasses and stir in the seltzer Serve over ice if you'd like to make it a cold treat.

Doesn't that look delicious? Juice recipes for weight loss are getting more and more popular each and every day and that's because of the nutrients and vitamins each drink contains not to mention how filling they are!

Here are 7 tips that will get you on your way to juicing for weight loss.

1. Buy a Terrific Juicer. Remember just because it costs more doesn't mean it's better!

2. Try substituting an entire meal with a glass of fresh juice. Even one meal like this a day will decrease your calorie count greatly and help your weight melt away.

3. Fresh Juice is higher in carbohydrates because of all of the natural sugars so when on a low carb diet, you might want to reduce the number of fresh juice drinks you're consuming daily.

4. Stay away from appetite stimulants when using juice recipes for weight loss since they will make your body chemistry unbalanced and make juicing less effective.

5. If you want to get rid of food cravings try a fresh juice with parsley and carrot juice since these are natural appetite suppressants and will leave you satisfied.

6. If you are experiencing water retention try increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables such as watermelon juice, cucumber juice, cranberry juice, celery asparagus which are natural diuretics.

7. Leftover pulp is extremely good for you.In fact it is a great source of fiber and vitamins. Try putting it in the juice as well or if you like your juice strained, incorporate it into a soup or type of baked good.

Remember juice recipes for weight loss are a great and simple way to get healthier and feel good doing it. It's one of the easiest ways to change your diet for the better without trying a fad diet that will only yield temporary results!

By Eric Baglio

For more juice recipes for weight loss and tips on juicing for weight loss, visit our website at http://www.juicerecipesforweightloss.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eric_Baglio

note : You can visit http://your-health-solution.blogspot.com/search/label/weight%20loss

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