Whip It Up Week 3 - An Asian Adventure!

I was in the mood for something different this week, and a package of ground pork spoke to me when I was in the grocery store the other day. Then I remembered there were two recipes over on Shawnda's blog that I had been wanting to try, and both of them used ground pork. Pork fried rice and potstickers it was!

Both recipes were very tasty and easy to follow. The fried rice was very easy to make. The potstickers involved more steps in terms of preparation, and folding the dumplings can be a bit of a challenge, but none of it was too difficult. I didn't pay proper attention to the cooking temperature for the potstickers, so mine didn't turn out quit right - in fact, the bottoms of my potstickers did stick to the pot. They may not have been pretty, but they still tasted great! I think we'll keep both of these recipes.

Shawnda serves her potstickers with an orange sesame dipping sauce. We just dip ours in soy sauce. I made a few modifications to the fried rice recipe. First, I used brown rice instead of white (which worked perfectly). I also added mushrooms to the assortment of vegetables because I really like them in my fried rice. Bryon doesn't eat mushrooms, but he's perfectly capable of picking them out. I also like more egg in my fried rice, so I used 2 eggs instead of the 1 the recipe calls for. Finally, I doubled the amount of soy sauce used in the recipe, and we both ended up putting more soy sauce over the rice on our plates.


Pork Fried Rice

½ lb. ground pork
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
4 cups cooked rice, cold
½ cup green onions, chopped
1/3 cup carrots, chopped
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 cup green peas
1 egg
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 Tablespoon soy sauce

Brown the pork over medium high heat, drain and set aside. Add vegetable oil to skillet over high heat, stir fry onions and rice. Add carrots and peas and stir fry for 2 minutes. Push rice to side. Whisk egg, pepper, and sesame oil and pour into skillet. Stir until egg is cooked and mix into the rice. Add pork and soy sauce, taste, and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride

Excuse my sad little bowl of potsticker pieces

Potstickers

½ lb. ground pork

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1/3 cup chives

2/3 cup green onions

1 cup Napa cabbage, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Wonton wrappers (about 30)

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

Cook the ground pork over medium heat until done. A dd the remaining ingredients (through the garlic) and cook until the greens have wilted nicely. Let the mixture cool just a bit and add it to the bowl of a food processor. Process the filling until it reaches the desired consistency.

Lay a wrapper on a flat, dry surface a put a tablespoon of the mixture in the middle. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, wet the wonton wrapper surrounding the filling and fold the dumpling, pressing the seams together: bring two opposite corners to the center; bring the remaining corners to the center one at a time and press tightly.

Add oil to a clean skillet over medium to medium-high heat and add dumplings. Add 1/3 cup water to the pan and cover tightly. Remove from heat when the dumplings are golden brown on one side (about 4 minutes)

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride