culinary experiments and explorations

Yesterday for the Superbowl, I wanted something out of the ordinary... so I went back to my old favorite, homemade Chinese. I considered homemade dumplings for a while, but in the end passed on that to make something old, and something new.

( Something old: Kung Pao Chicken )

( ... and something new: Szechuan Braised Meatballs )

Both were extremely tasty, and went perfectly with the white rice I had steamed up earlier.

Kung pao chicken is an old favorite of mine, something I grew to love back when I lived in California and couldn't find a satisfactory take-out version of on the East Coast -- which was, among other things, what prompted me to start experimenting with cooking my own Chinese food. Too often in the East, what seems to pass for "kung pao chicken" is just diced chicken with peanuts drenched in hot oil -- yuck! My recipe has a great deal more going for it, though it's still spicy enough to raise sweat on your brow.

Szechuan braised meatballs was a new recipe for me, and I didn't quite have an image in mind when I began making it. Regardless, it turned out delicious -- the five-spice powder and Szechuan sauce combined with the beef broth to make a tasty, well-spiced side dish. The only complaint I have about it was that it seems like there aren't enough meatballs! Next time I might up the amount of ground beef to 1.5 lbs., because the broth (and my skillet) are definitely enough to contain another 6 - 8 meatballs.

Adapted from another one of the discovered trove of Chinese recipes, I kind of threw this one together from a couple of different sources. I tinkered with some of the quantities on the ingredients, because parts of it seemed far out of proportion to what else was up there. Nonetheless, I ended up with a surprisingly tasty result -- pleasantly comparable, I must argue, to the kinds of Chinese dumplings (potstickers, specifically) I've eaten in restaurants or bought in frozen packs at the market.

( Juicy Fried Dumplings )

( Hoisin Dipping Sauce )

Overall, I was very pleased with the way these came out. For cooking the potstickers, I do recommend edging towards a 7-minute cook time rather than 6 minutes -- it makes them a bit crisper without being overcooked. Your mileage may vary, of course.