shanghai

Thousand year eggs are a special sensory treat, the delicate silken texture of the tofu against the slipperyness and luscious gooeyness of the thousand year egg is a taste and texture sensation.

Thousand Year Egg and Tofu 皮蛋豆腐

Thousand year eggs

block silken tofu

cilantro

soy sauce

tbsp sesame oil

Boiling water over tofu to cover, let sit for 10 mins.

Slice tofu into 1 inch squares.  Let sit to allow water to exude.

 Scrap off clay that covers the thousand year eggs and rinse the egg clean.  Crack and remove shell.  Slice each thousand year egg into 8 wedges. 

Arrange tofu and thousand year egg on plate, sprinkle cilantro over, pour soy sauce and sesame oil around tofu.

You can substitute ground pork for any ground meat.  You can also use vegetable you’d like.  Shanghai style wontons typically use Shanghai bok choy, but it is also common to use napa cabbage, celery, carrots, watercress or a combination of vegetables.  Shitake mushrooms and shrimp are also commonly added.Serve it in a broth or just soy sauce, sesame oil, chilis and green onions.  I also like making a spicy peanut sauce for them.  The sky’s the limit!  Please share some of your ideas with me as I’m always looking for ways to change it up!

Shanghai Style Wontons 上海菜肉雲吞

pork

1200 g Bok choy

Green onions

tbsp Light soy sauce

tbsp Oyster sauce

Salt

White pepper powder

Sugar

tsp Cornstarch

tbsp Shaoxing wine

Sesame oil

Shanghai wonton wrappers

In a mixing bowl, add 600 g ground pork, 1 ½ tsp salt, 1 ½ tsp sugar, 2 tsp cornstarch, ½ tsp white pepper powder, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce and 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine.  Mix well and set aside

Wash bok choy, blanche in boiling water for 1 minute and strain

Once the bok choy has cooled, wring out some of the water and chop into small pieces

Take a handful of the chopped bok choy and squeeze out excess water.  Put into the mixing bowl

Chop up green onions and add to the mixing bowl

Mix the filling together.  Using your hands to mix will increase adhesion of the filling.

Add 2 tsp of sesame oil and mix well again

Instructions for filling:

Prepare a small bowl of water for sealing the wonton wrappers and take your filling out of the fridge

Prepare a large plate with 1 tsp cornstarch rubbed on it so that the wontons will not stick to the plate If you’re freezing the wontons, use a plastic container that can go into the freezer.  Just be sure that the wontons don’t touch each other when freezing.  After they are frozen solid, you can store them in a freezer bag.  They should be good for a couple of months

Lay one piece of the wonton wrapper on a flat surface

Use your finger to wet 3 edges of the wrapper, avoiding the edge furthest away from you

Put some filling at around the off-centre position, leaving approx. 1 cm space between the edge closest to you

Bring the edge closest to you over the filling and paste it to the space just past the filling leaving a gap on the opposite edge

Fold the opposite edge towards you.  It will rest loosely on top of the wonton

Flip the wonton over so that the loose edge is now on the bottom

Wet corners “A” and “B”

Now wet the 2 folded corners “A” and “B”, bring them together and stick them to one another

Now you should have a gold bullion looking wonton (yuan bao)

Repeat until you finish using all the filling or the wrappers  Unused filling tastes great in a fried rice!

Instructions for wrapping:

Bring water to a boil in a pot.  For reference, use 4 litres of water to cook 30 wontons that are at room temperature.  If you’re cooking frozen wontons, 4 litres of water for 20 wontons.  If there is not enough water, the temperature of the water will get too low, resulting in longer boiling time, resulting in a soft or mushy wrapper and over-cooked filling.

Add wontons to the pot, stir for 1 minute and  cover with a lid Stirring it for the first minute will prevent the wontons from sticking to the bottom of the pot

When the water starts to boil, add 1/8th more water(room temperature) to the pot.  So, if you used 4 litres of water, then add 2 cups more water.  Cover with lid

If your wontons were frozen, repeat step 3 one more time.   Otherwise, you’re wontons should be floating and should be done.  However, check for doneness before consuming

Serve with any of your favorite sauces or in a broth

Instructions for cooking:

Chinese Drunken Soy Chicken is a lovely recipe, cooked in a rice wine and soy broth, keeping it juicy and full of flavor. Also recipe for ginger &amp; scallion dipping sauce.

Chinese Drunken Soy Chicken

lbs Whole Chicken

Cup Shaoxing wine

cinnamon stick

star anise

ginger, powder

water chicken

ginger

onions

white pepper

salt

peanut oil

scallions/spring onions.

Using a pan large enough to hold the...

Using a pan large enough to hold the chicken, add all the ingredients for the broth and bring to a gentle simmer.

Then add the chicken, breast side down.

Cover and allow to gently simmer for 30...

Cover and allow to gently simmer for 30 minutes, then turn the chicken over and continue to simmer for a further 30 minutes.

Check the juices run clear between the thigh...

Check the juices run clear between the thigh and main body, then you know it is fully cooked.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set...

Remove the chicken from the pan and set on a plate. Allow to cool enough so you can handle it. I usually wait around 30 minutes then it is cool enough for me.

Take a meat cleaver and cut off the...

Take a meat cleaver and cut off the wings and legs, set aside. Then cut the main part of the chicken by separating the breast part from the underside.

Lay the underside flat on your chopping board...

Lay the underside flat on your chopping board and cut 1 inch slices apart. Then cut down the centre. The pieces should be small enough to pick up with chopsticks. Do the same for the breast side of the chicken.

Place these pieces on a plate, laying the...

Place these pieces on a plate, laying the underside pieces first then the breast pieces on top.

Take the wings and cut in half, and...

Take the wings and cut in half, and the legs, cut at the joints and then cut each joint in half again. Arrange these on the plate on either side of the breast meat.

Take 2 scallions and slice them in a...

Take 2 scallions and slice them in a slant and sprinkle over the top of the chicken.

To make the ginger dipping sauce, peel and...

To make the ginger dipping sauce, peel and finely chop the ginger and place in a small bowl. Finely chop the scallions and add to the bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients for the dipping sauce...

Add the remaining ingredients for the dipping sauce and give it a good stir. Transfer to little serving bowls.

Top 3 shanghai recipes from across the web

The most viewed shanghai recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Thousand Year Egg and Tofu 皮蛋豆腐

Shanghai Style Wontons 上海菜肉雲吞

Chinese Drunken Soy Chicken

Top 3 shanghai recipes from across the web

The most viewed shanghai recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Thousand Year Egg and Tofu 皮蛋豆腐

Shanghai Style Wontons 上海菜肉雲吞

Chinese Drunken Soy Chicken

The most viewed shanghai recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine