Rei’s procrasti-cooking (we really didn’t need a 3 lb pork shoulder)
Rei decided to make pork dumplings and char siu bao (steamed barbecue pork filled bun). The kitchen was a disaster and I had to stay away. I can only handle so much chaos. How do you think I felt by the time we were done?
Rei marinated the pork shoulder starting the day before and then went to make the filling for the char siu bao and realized that we needed about a tenth of what Rei purchased and marinated. Oops! That turned into dinner and it was really good. More about that in a minute. It was more like a fifth, not a tenth, but I’m not complaining because at least it ended up tasty.
Rei enlisted the aid of Adam and his girlfriend Sophia (who is staying with us for a month) to help with the dumplings. Rei is going to write a separate post on the dumplings because I haven’t been a part of making them either time. We had these for lunch and dinner. Okay so the thing is, I may or may not have forgotten to take pictures again,,,,,
oops
Since we had leftover pork, pork buns, and dumplings, I decided to add in some veggies and rice and have an Asian themed dinner. We already had broccoli, rice, garlic, ginger, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil and all we needed was some bok choy. Adam picked some up from our local market when he turned in his application for a job as a bagger and had a mini interview. He started today at 11 AM.
Adam’s laptop had been resting in a pile of rice since he pulled it from his backpack on Sunday (we moved him home from SDSU on Saturday). There appears to be some minor screen damage but it now boots up and will hold a charge…mom FTW). Zeke simply transferred the rice from the cookie sheet to the pan and made a batch for dinner.
I chopped up some garlic and ginger and set it aside as I chopped up a head of broccoli. I added some oil to the wok and added half the garlic and ginger to the oil to flavor it. I removed the garlic and ginger and set it aside to be added back later. I wasn’t here for this part, so I have no idea what’s going on either right now.
I added the broccoli and realized very quickly that there wasn’t enough liquid. I added some more olive oil and sesame oil and cooked it for a bit. I took a note from another recipe and added some water (1–2 TBS) and covered the pan to finish by steaming.
I tasted it and decided it needed some more ginger and then some soy sauce. It ended up being pretty good. I can comment on this part, because I ate it. It was yummy, and was nice the day after (I had some with my lunch today).
I cut the bok choy in half and sauteed in the wok with some garlic and ginger. After a few minutes, I added some water, covered, and let it steam. I overcooked it but the flavor was really nice. I cooked 3 bulbs of bok choy but we would have eaten at least one more.
Rei cooked up all of the pork shoulder and we will be eating it for a few days. I sliced up a few pieces, reheated in the microwave, and served alongside the rice, bok choi, broccoli, dumplings, and pork buns.
The dumplings were so good, especially in the dipping sauce Rei whipped up. It was soy sauce, rice vinegar, and ??? Rei is going to have to fill in the rest. I added soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and grated garlic.
The pork buns were good but maybe a little doughy. They were amazing for Rei’s inaugural pork bun production effort. I did my best. I need to work on my assembly, though, because they were rather misshapen, and then cook it longer than I did. At least I’ll know for next time, I guess.
This is absolutely not a good midweek meal. If you leave out the dumplings and the pork buns and marinate the meat the night before, it would work out quite well. We haven’t explored Chinese cuisine much in our cooking adventure but I think that’s going to change. The pork did take about an hour to roast, which could be slightly inconvenient.
My mom gave us some bamboo steamers many many years ago and Rei dusted them off on Saturday and has put them to good use. I am thinking that we can create our own dim sum favorites, especially with the extra time at home. Note: I don’t have any more time than before and am less productive with more people in the house and my own anxiety about the current situation.
Rei, are you done with your distance learning work for the time being? Any chance you can wrap this up? This definitely needs some of your snark to spice it up.
Yeah, I finished the work I set for today earlier this morning, so I can either spend the rest of my day productively and do some legitimately engaging and constructive things, or I could waste my life away on the internet. I wonder what I’ll do today…
I’ll probably make ice cream later, but I’ve got no clue what flavor. Mint chocolate chip? Cookie dough? Boring vanilla? Chocolatey chocolate with chocolate bits and chocolate sauce with a side of chocolate?
Mom is suggesting mango. I’m not sure what I feel about it but the harder part would be figuring out how to get the mango flavor into the ice cream. I have some ideas, though.
Anyways, Mom is yelling at me to finish up and singing songs to make me go faster. I don’t know if you knew this, Mom, but that’s not particularly helpful. Just a pointer.
Alright, until next time, ciao, and have a lerturentgrif day!
Rei and not Terri :P
❤
