China

Wonton Soup, Fried Wontons, and Sweet and Sour Pork

I made this meal on Friday September 10. It was really tasty! I just ate leftovers for lunch, so the flavors are still on my tongue and that gives me joy. It was rather difficult to choose what to cook for this country, as it is so big and so varied. There are five different regions, all with their own national dish, and there are eight different cuisines within which they cook. I decided to just cook Cantonese style, which is what is most common in America. I contemplated trying all of them, but decided against it.

Making the wontons was simple, but tedious. They were really delicious. I could really taste the sesame oil and the soy sauce, two flavors that I love! The same wontons were used in both the soup and the fried wontons. They were just cooked differently.

The sweet and sour pork had similar flavors to that at Chinese restaurants here in MN, but the sauce wasn't as gummy and the pork wasn't deep-fried, so it was much lighter. I liked it, especially the pork pieces, a lot.

Making Wontons
Ingredients:
-1/2 lb. ground pork
-1 T. scallions, minced
-1 egg, beaten
-1 tsp. salt
-1 T. soy sauce
-1 T. sugar
-1 tsp. sesame oil
-1 T. water
-60 wonton skins (I find these in the produce section of the grocery store)

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a bowl.

2. Place 1 tsp. meat mixture in the center of a wonton skin.

Using a pastry brush, moisten the edges of the wonton skin with water.

Fold to form a triangle. Press edges together to seal.

Repeat over and over and over again (the recipe I used said it would make 48, I made 60).

Wonton Soup

Ingredients:

-36 wontons

-6 c. chicken broth

-4 scallions, sliced

-a few drops of sesame oil

Directions:

1) Bring a large pot of water to boil.

2) In another pot, heat the chicken broth.

3) Add wontons a few at a time to the boiling water, giving them room to float freely. Cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes.

4) Add boiled wontons to the broth. Add scallions and sesame oil to taste.

Fried Wontons

Ingredients:

-wontons (I had 24)

-peanut oil

Directions:

1) Heat about 1/8"-1/4" of oil in the bottom of a frying pan.

2) Add a batch wontons in a single layer. Allow to fry for 1 minute, then flip for about 45 seconds on the other side. Drain on paper towels.

3) Repeat with remaining wontons.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Ingredients:

-1/2 c. flour

-1 tsp. salt

-1 tsp. pepper

-1 lb. lean pork loin, cut into bite-sized pieces

-3 T. peanut oil

-2 green peppers, cut into large pieces

-1 onion, sliced

-1 carrot, peeled and sliced

-1/2 c. pineapple chunks

-1/2 c. pineapple juice

-1/4 c. white vinegar

-2 T. soy sauce

-1/4 c. brown sugar

-2 T. cornstarch

- a few drops of red food coloring

-Boiled rice, warm

Directions:

1) Prepare rice and keep warm.

2) Mix flour, salt and pepper in a large Ziploc bag. Add pork; seal and shake to coat each piece.

3) Heat oil in a large frying pan. Brown pork. Lower heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 mintues.

4) Add peppers, onion and carrot. Cook for 5 minutes.

5) Stir in pineapple, pineapple juice, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch and food coloring.

6) Serve over cooked rice.

Chile

Pastel de Choclo

I made this delicious dish on Saturday, September 4. Andy, Mully and I all enjoyed it immensely, each taking seconds and relishing every bite. The flavors reminded me of Bolivia's Salteñas, which is not surprising given many of the similar ingredients. The meat mixture was savory and cumin-y, the olives added a nice metallic-y, salty surprise and the corn and basil topping was refreshingly sweet. I really, really enjoyed this meal and would definitely recommend it.

I used a combinations of this recipe and this one.



Ingredients:
-2 T. oil (I used olive)
-1 onion, finely chopped
-2-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 lb. ground beef
-1 T. paprika
-1 tsp. cumin
-1 tsp. oregano
-1 c. water
-1 T. flour
-2 pieces cooked chicken, cut into cubes or strips
-1/4 c. black olives, sliced
-1/4 c. raisins
-1 lb. frozen corn, thawed
-1/4 c. cornmeal
-1-2 T. cornstarch
-1/4 c. fresh basil
-milk
-1 T. powdered sugar
-salt and pepper
-1 T. butter
-2-3 T. powdered sugar

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium flame. Add onion and sauté until translucent. Stir in garlic and sauté for another 1-2 minutes. Add beef, paprika, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper; sauté, breaking up the meat, until beef is just cooked through, 6-8 minutes.
2) Pour in water and bring to a simmer. Sprinkle flour over all and stir in well. Simmer for another 5-8 minutes until lightly thickened. Adjust seasoning, remove from hear and set aside.
3) Place the corn, cornmeal, cornstarch, basil and 1 T, powdered sugar in a food processor and process until well-pureed. With the blade running, add milk a little at a time until the corn forms a thick batter. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4) Melt the butter over medium low heat in a large saucepan. Add corn puree and cook, stirring constantly, until well-thickened, 5-8 minutes. Set aside.
4) Spread the beef mixture in a greased casserole dish. Arrange olives and raisins on top. Place chicken pieces over top. Top with the cooked corn puree and spread out evenly over the dish. Sprinkle the sugar over the corn topping.

Prior to baking; you can see the layering

Right before going in the oven

6) Set the dish in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbling and golden brown on top.

Chad

Squash with Peanuts
I made this dish on Tuesday, August 24 for Andy and myself. I am so over African cuisine. The dish was exactly as it sounds: squash with peanuts. It wasn't gross, it was just rich and boring. Plus, it is incredibly high in calories; an about 3/4 c. serving has 368 calories. That seems true of a lot of the African cuisine; it is very calorie dense and simple. I'm just sick of it. Maybe I'm missing something, and there is some really good African cuisine out there (Algeria was good, I guess!). But, in my opinion, this Chadian dish was not worth the small amount of time and money it cost to make it.

Ingredients:

-1 T. peanut oil
-2-3 lbs. summer squash and/or zucchini
-3 c. shelled, roasted peanuts; crushed or coarsely chopped
-salt to taste (I used about a teaspoon)
-1 tsp. brown or white sugar (I used brown)

Directions:
1) Heat oil in a large skillet. Cook squash until it begins to become tender, stirring often, 5-10 minutes.
2) Add peanuts, salt and sugar. Reduce heat. Simmer until squash is tender and flavors have mingled, about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Central African Republic

Kanda ti Nyma
(Beef Meatballs in a Peanut and Okra Sauce)

I made this dish on Thursday, August 19. This is not the national dish of Central African Republic; their national dish is cassava, but in looking for cassava recipes, I ran into some issues... First of all, in all of the recipes I found, the first instruction was to soak the cassava in a stream for at least three days. I thought this was odd, but then figured I could just soak it in a pot. Then, upon further research, I learned that the reason why it needs to be soaked for so long is because, if prepared incorrectly, cassava is poisonous. According to this recipe, it contains a cyanide compound. Um, no thanks.

So, I decided to look through various recipes and find one that sounded tasty. I chose kanda ti nyma, and I liked the dish. I would make a couple of changes if I made it again: I used 97% lean beef in the meatballs, which made them a little dry and chewy. I'm sure meat with a higher fat content would yield different results. I would also chop the onions smaller than I did for the meatballs; they were a bit crunchy, and smaller chunks might soften more in the cooking time. Otherwise, it was good!

Kanda ti Nyma

Ingredients:
-1 lb. ground beef
-2 lg. onions, finely chopped
-2 eggs, beaten
-1 habanero, finely chopped (I seeded it to lessen the spice)
-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
-2 T. peanut oil
-12 okra, sliced into rings
-1/2 c. peanut butter
-1 c. warm water



Directions:
1) Mix the beef, half an onion, habanero, garlic and eggs together. Shape into small balls and place in the refrigerator to set.
2) Fry the remaining onions in the oil until browned. Add the okra and fry for a few minutes.
3) Mix the peanut butter and water together and blend to a smooth paste.
4) Add peanut butter mixture to onion mixture and bring to a simmer.
5) Add the meatballs and cook for 25 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through and okra is tender.
6) Serve with rice.

Cayman Islands

Cayman Style "Conch" Chowder

I made this dish on Thursday, August 12 for Andy and me. It was simple and fantastic! It tasted very much like clam chowder. I will most definitely make this one again. I had to make some substitutions from the original recipe because I couldn't find conch or fish stock. Also, we were out of nutmeg, so I had to leave that out. Below is the recipe as I made it.

Cayman Style Crab Chowder

Ingredients:
-2 T. butter
-1/2 leek, finely chopped
-1 carrot, finely diced
-1 onion, minced
-2 potatoes, peeled and diced
-5 cloves garlic, minced
-1 c. heavy cream
-2 c. vegetable stock (fish stock)
-2 c. water
-1/2 c. dry white wine
-1 lb. finely chopped lump crab (or conch or lobster)
-1/2 tsp. cornstarch, dissolved in a little cold water
-marjoram, cumin
-1 bay leaf
-salt, pepper(, nutmeg)
-(Tabasco)

Directions:
1) Heat butter. Sauté leeks, carrots, onion and garlic or 2-3 minutes, until softened, but not browned.
2) Add wine, cream, water and vegetable stock. Stir.
3) Add potatoes, crab and all seasonings. Stir.
4) Simmer until potatoes are cooked, about 20-30 minutes.

Cape Verde

Cape Verde - Cachupa

I made this dish on Monday, August 2. It was unlike any of the other African dishes I have made. In fact, it reminded me of Brazil's Fejioada. It is a meat (pork products and chicken), bean and vegetable stew that is served over rice. It was delicious. It was salty and savory. I really enjoyed the meat chunks. Andy loved all of the different beans. This is definitely a dish I'd recommend and would make again.

My recipe is a little modified from the original, as I couldn't find precise meat weights, and didn't want a hodgepodge of leftover meat bits.

Cachupa

Ingredients:
-2 c. white hominy
-12 oz. salt pork, diced
-1 c. dry kidney beans
-1 c. dry pinto beans
-1 c. dry small lima beans
-3 qts. chicken broth
-2 bay leaves
-2 T. olive oil
-1 whole chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
-19.5 oz. Chorizo sausages
-1 lb. pork shoulder roast, cut into chunks
-large can peeled whole tomatoes, sliced into chunks
-6 cloves garlic, minced
-2 large onions, diced
-2 T. vegetable oil
-2 small heads cabbage, cut into chunks
-salt and pepper
-1 c. cilantro, chopped
-white rice

Directions:
1) Rinse the hominy and cover with water in a medium saucepan. Heat to a boil, and boil 10 minutes, skimming off foam as you go. Add 1/2 of the salt pork and simmer 4 more minutes.
2) Rinse the beans and cover with water in a saucepan. Heat to a boil, and boil 5 minutes. Add remaining salt pork. Boil 4 more minutes.
3) Combine contents of both saucepans to a large 20 quart stock pot. Add chicken broth, bay leaves and olive oil. Set to high heat and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and let simmer, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours.
4) Add meats to the pot.
5) Sauté tomatoes, garlic and onion in vegetable oil until softened.
6) Add vegetable mixture to the stock pot and stir. Add water or broth at this point (if needed) until the mixture is completely covered with plenty of liquid. Simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
7) Add cabbage to the pot. Simmer for 30 minutes.
8) Season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn off heat and allow to sit for 20 minutes to let flavors meld.
9) Meanwhile, follow package directions to make the rice.
10) To serve, top rice with cachupa, then garnish with cilantro.



This makes a big ass pot of food.

Canada

Canadian Poutine

O Canada! With this delectable meal, you have most certainly won a place in our hearts (or recipe box) forever. Andy and I have been excited for Canada's national dish for weeks. I mean, what's not to like? Cheese curds? GOOD. French fries? GOOD. Gravy? GOOD. All three elements homemade? AWESOME (albeit quite time consuming). I made this dish on Friday, July 23. I started the process of making the homemade cheese curds at 1:45pm, and because they have to cool and then hang dry, we didn't end up eating until 8:30. So, if I had to pick two adjectives to describe this dish, I would have to say delicious and involved. If I could choose five more (and I can, for this is my blog), I would say savory, salty, addictive, mouthwatering and scrumptious.

Of the three components of the dish, I was most wary of the homemade cheese curds. Who knew that you could simply mix together 2% milk and vinegar and you'd get curds and whey? I really think that my curds could have used even more drying, maybe even overnight, but we were so hungry, we couldn't wait anymore. I did buy some backup curds in case mine didn't work out. We ended up putting both the homemade and the store bought curds on the poutine.

The fries were simple to make, but do require attention. The recipe I used for this poutine had a slightly different technique of making the fries than did Belgium's pommes frites recipe. I like the Canadian recipe's technique better.

The gravy was, in my opinion, what made the dish. I made a chicken gravy, which I have read is the more traditional way, but some poutines use beef gravy as well. I'm not sure if the inclusion of garlic is traditional, but it sure tasted amazing. The gravy was kind of thin, but was too impatient to let it thicken more. It still tasted great.

If you're interested in trying this, it would be really easy to make a simpler version: put store bought french fries on a plate, top with store bought cheese curds and smother in store bought gravy. YUM.

Canadian Poutine
Cheese Curds

Ingredients:
-1 gallon 2% milk
-1/2 c. white vinegar
-1 tsp. salt

Cheese Curds Directions:
1) Heat milk to 190 degrees (turn off heat just before boiling if you don't have a thermometer)
2) Add vinegar and allow mixture to cool. (The curds should now separate from the whey.)

3) When cool, pour the mixture into a colander lined with a cheesecloth. Drain off the whey through the cheesecloth. Tie the cheesecloth into a ball, compressing the cheese in order to squeeze out the excess whey. Allow to hang for about 3 hours to drain and dry.

4) Cut open the cheesecloth and break the cheese into pieces. Pour the curds into a bowl, sprinkle with salt, and mix well.

Or, use these:

Fries
Fries Ingredients:
-4 medium potatoes, washed and sliced into lengths about 1/8" in diameter and 2-4" in length
-2 qts. vegetable oil
-salt

Fries Directions:
1) Cut potatoes and soak in cold water for 30 minutes.
2) Heat the oil in a Dutch oven to 350-375 degrees.
3) Remove fries from water and pat dry with paper towels.

4) Add half the fries to the hot oil and fry for 8-12 minutes until the float and become golden brown.
5) Remove to a paper towel-lined baking sheet, salt to taste, and place in a warm over while cooking the subsequent batch.
6) Add second half of fries to oil and repeat the process.

Gravy
Gravy Ingredients:
-4 T. flour
-1 stick butter
-1 liter chicken stock
-3 garlic cloves, minced

Gravy Directions:
1) In a saucepan, melt butter. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
2) In a small mixing bowl, combine flour with 1 c. stock. Whisk until smooth.
3) Slowly combine flour mixture with simmering butter and garlic. Whish to remove lumps. Cook 3-4 minutes to darken roux.

4) Add the remaining stock slowly while whisking until you have about 4 c. gravy.
5) Simmer for 10 minutes (or more, depending on how thick you like it), removing the "skin" with a spoon and whisking regularly.

POUTINE
Place the fries on a plate. Top with cheese curds. Ladle gravy over top. Let sit 2-3 minutes to let flavors meld. Relish.

Cameroon

Cameroonian Kondre

Still leery from the unappealing Burundi meal, I reluctantly made another African meal, this time a Cameroonian one, on Thursday, July 15 for Andy and my parents. In researching what to make, I was disappointed to find that wikipedia is in the process of taking down their list of national dishes because it does "not meet the relevant criteria for content of the encyclopedia." I will have to find another list. Anyway, there are two dishes that are named as national dishes: ndolé and kondre. As ndolé is meat and bitter greens in a peanut sauce, and I detested the similar Burundi meal, I opted to make kondre, which is a beef and plantain stew. The result was a thick, hearty, sweet, peppery and hot stew. We enjoyed it, especially after adding some salt.

The recipe I followed was not specific on how to deal with the plantains. Having never cooked with them before, I learned a couple of things by trial and error. First of all, to peel them, cut off both ends, and make two vertical slits through the peel on opposite sides of the plantain. Then, cut the plantain in half. This makes getting the reedy peel off much easier. Also, the recipe did not say to cut up the plantains, so, dutifully, I did not. However, I believe that the plantains were meant to break down completely as they simmered; this is what thickens the stew. Mine broke down somewhat, but there remained chunks. If I were to make this recipe again, I would slice the plantains before cooking.

Kondre


Ingredients:
-1 lb. beef
-1/2 lb. tomatoes
-3 T. chopped, fresh basil (I might use more than this)
-1/2 c. chopped celery
-wild peppercorns
-4 cloves garlic
-2 T. grated ginger
-1/3 c. parsley
-2 habañeros, or other spicy pepper, seeded
-2 onions
-1 T. palm oil (or peanut oil, seasoned with 1 tsp. paprika and a pinch of turmeric)
-5-6 lbs. plantains
-2" fresh ginger, sliced into thin sheets

Directions:
1) Puree tomatoes, parsley, basil, celery, peppers, garlic, ginger, one onion and peppercorns in a food processor.
2) Peel the plantains, slice and place in a large water basin.
3) Cut the meat in small cubes, then wash and drain.
4) Chop remaining onion and sauté in palm oil in a large pot. Season to taste.
5) Add all ingredients, cover with water, and let simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
6) Serve hot.

Cambodia

Cambodian Amok Trei (Coconut Fish Curry Parcels)

I made this dish for Andy, my mom and me on Thursday, July 8. Amok trei is the national dish of Cambodia. It was quite tasty; the sauce was really flavorful. It was fairly easy to prepare. The hardest part was making the parcels because the cabbage leaves kept tearing. I couldn't find banana leaves, and I suspect that they would have been better to work with.

Amok Trei

Ingredients:
-1 garlic clove, chopped
-1 red onion, chopped
-1/2 tsp. ground ginger (or galangal, if you can find it)
-2 T. chopped lemon grass
-1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
-1 tsp. paprika
-2 T. fish sauce
-1 T. sugar
-1/2 tsp. salt
-14 oz. coconut milk
-1 lb. catfish
-8 large dark green cabbage leaves (or banana leaves, if you can find them)

Directions:
1) Place garlic, onion, ginger, lemon grass, turmeric, paprika, fish sauce and sugar in a food processor and process until well blended.
2) Add the coconut milk and process again until mixed thoroughly.
3) Transfer to a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring. Cook gently for 10 minutes until thickened.

4) If using cabbage, cover with boiling water and set aside to soften. If using banana leaves, cut into 8x8" squares.
5) Place fish in a bowl, season with salt and pour 2/3 of the hot coconut sauce over it and mix well. Set remaining sauce aside.
6) Place 1/8 of fish mixture in the center of each leaf. Fold edges over to form secure parcels.
7) Steam for one hour.
8) Five minutes before the end of cooking, reheat remaining sauce
9) To serve, make a small opening down the center of each parcel and spoon the remaining coconut sauce into the opening. Serve immediately with rice.

Burundi

Burundian Beef and Greens in Peanut Sauce and Mealie-Meal Porridge

Well, let's just start by saying that it is a good thing it was dollar hot dog night at Canterbury Park, where we went after dinner.

The last of the "B" countries' meal was not good. I made this dish on Thursday, July 1. I chose the mealie-meal porridge because it is the national dish of Burundi. I decided to make the beef and greens in peanut sauce because it sounded good. I was wrong.

Mealie-meal porridge is very similar to many other dishes I have made throughout this project. We once again had a cornmeal and water mixture. In previous dishes for previous countries, this has been called fungi, fungee and fufu. It is not bad tasted, just bland. No surprises here.

What was surprising was how ishy the beef and greens in peanut sauce was. It smelled awesome, and we were all excited to eat it. Then, it turned out to have a really icky texture; it coated your mouth in a most unappealing way. It was surprisingly bland, even with added cayenne. I would describe it as watery, which was not what I expected. We each had a few bites and the rest ended up in the trash.

Beef and Greens in Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:
-2 T. peanut oil, sprinkled with paprika for coloring (This is the substitute I used for palm oil.)
- 1 lb. beef stew meat
-1 bunch of greens, cleaned and trimmed (I used turnip greens)
-1 c. natural peanut butter
-cayenne pepper
-salt

Directions:
1) Bring greens to a boil.
2) In a separate stew pot, sauté the meat in peanut oil until brown.
3) Add greens and water to the meat. Simmer for one hour
4) Pour out most of the water. Add the peanut butter and spices. Stir.
5) Serve over mealie-meal porridge

Mealie-Meal Porridge

Ingredients:
-1 c. milk
-9 oz. cornmeal
-1 c. water

Directions:
1) Bring water to a boil in a saucepan.
2) Mix half of the cornmeal with milk. Mix vigorously until it forms a smooth paste.
3) Add the mixture to the boiling water and stir. Gradually add the remaining cornmeal and allow to cook 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.
4) Serve with meat or stew.