A trip to the aptly-named Terminal Meats yielded a quarter of a pork shoulder roast, which the butcher ground up for me. At the supermarket I found some semi-frozen shrimp, a dozen I thought would do, fresh ginger root, Serrano chilies, water chestnuts, and a small jar of black bean and garlic paste and a pack of won ton wrappers.
The farmer's market was also yesterday, the Hmong farmers from the Bitterroot had green onions and immature garlic, and some bok choy.
I first made the filling. The pork was coarsely ground, I chopped up the dozen fairly large shrimp, grated the ginger, chopped the green onions, two chilies, mashed the garlic, added some soy sauce and the black bean paste and mixed it all together. The picture is about a quarter of what it yielded.
By this time I was wondering about the amount.....I've never been good at cooking for one; no matter what my intentions it's usually enough for 4 people.
I tried the traditional method of folding the won ton wrappers around the filling, and was unsuccessful. So I just made triangles.
I ended up with 16 largish won tons. And roughly three times as much filling left over unused. I put the rest in the fridge.
The soup was easy, I used chicken stock that I had frozen, added bok choy, some tom gai kai paste that my daughter had given me, chopped up the remaining green garlic shoots and simmered, adding the won tons for the last 10 minutes.
Tonight it'll be lettuce wraps, using hopefully the rest of the filling. Gotta figure out how to cook the paste.
Looks good. Now I'm hungry.
ReplyDeleteActually tonight the leftover filling was better......I added some Hoisin sauce and sauteed it, and put in lettuce leaves, with a dollop of plum sauce.
DeletePerhaps you can't cook for one, but you can cook for a week. Good job.
ReplyDeleteY'know, it's a skill I'd like to aquire.....In our family I was the cook....the wife could cook, had a couple of speciality dishes, but I did the majority of the cooking.
DeleteNow, I'm unable to determine what's an appropriate amount in ingredients.....pound of shrimp? sounds fine. 5 potatos? sure.
Then, a month later I find this container in the back of the fridge, with a suspicious green substance on the top of the substance inside.....
Ah well, problems of the first world, eh?
Oh my I love Chinese. And won ton.... You surely like to cook with all that preparation! But clearly it was worth it left over and all...:
ReplyDeleteAs to Ectachrome slides to digital a buddy of mine found a machine to do the job at a garage sasle and converted hundreds of them for me. I have reason to think they are still being manufactured by somebody and may not be exorbitantly expensive....
The part that took the longest was chopping up the shrimp, and I have to remember to wash my fingers after chopping the chilies before I rub my eyes.
DeleteLooks delicious! And has inspired me to make Tom Ka Gai soup this week. If I can find the time/energy.
ReplyDeleteI think I told you last night on the phone that it was actually much better in lettuce wraps. I added some hoisin sauce to the mix before sautee and then a dollop of plum sauce on each mix in the wrap. I bet Fiona would gobble it up.
DeleteDamn, that looks good!
ReplyDeleteIt was good, I'd add more chiles next time. The next meal, using the altered mix, was even better in lettuce wraps.
DeleteCooking for one is never easy. I've just about perfected cooking for two, but these days it's fine with us both when I make more because that means two meals from the effort of making one.
ReplyDeleteYours looks and sounds delicious.
It's something I've almost struggled with for years...almost because it's never been something I have interest in curing.
DeleteIt's roasts, things like that....larger pieces of meat or fowl, I make a post roast, then look at the leftover 3lb chunk of beast, and toss it in the garbage, a week later.
I'm a fiend for cooking big batches and taking the time to freeze them and then never wondering what's for dinner.
ReplyDeleteI love these wontons - they do freeze well but your recipe is much better than mine.
XO
WWW
I am impressed too
ReplyDeleteAnd hungry
That looks great! Asian food always seems so time consuming to make, but I oove ito much. I fave a friend whose Laotian mother-in-law makes the yummiest spring rolls on he planet!
ReplyDelete