The story of making dumplings

The ingredients for this 'lumpy' thing:  200gm plain flour (shifted); 150ml boiling water; 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp cold water (if necessary).  Put the shifted 200gm flour into a mixing bowl or any bowl you can find in the kitchen, make a hole in the center, pour in the 150ml hot boiling water and mix quickly using a wooden spoon.  This part of the process was done by my son who suddenly showed an interest in making dumplings.  After this lump is created, cover the bowl with a cloth and let it rests for 20 minutes.  There's a 20-minute wait for this 'thingy' to rest so everybody dispersed and we all agreed to gather for the kneading of the dough.  You can easily get the plain flour at the DIY Bakery shop - 1kg at RM2.70.  You need to buy more than 200gm because you need extra plain flour for kneading and when you want to divide them into smaller portions.

I prepared the filling which is shown in the bowl on the left side of the photo.  The filling includes 300gm minced pork; a small sweet cabbage (discard the veins, shred the leaves, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and let it rest for maybe 20 minutes, then squeeze out the water from the cabbage); 1 tbsp light soya sauce, some salt, 1 tbsp sesame oil, some pepper, a pinch of sugar, 1 tbsp corn flour.  Mix them all together and put the bowl into the fridge while waiting for the dough to rest.  Did I say everybody dispersed because we wanted to wait for the dough to rest for 20 minutes?  So when my son and I came back for the lumpy dough, I discovered the dough is round and smooth (as shown in the plate on the right side of the photo).  My first thought was, wow, miracle, that lumpy thing can rest and turn into something so smooth.  Then I realised that lumpy thingy was no more in a bowl but on a plate.  I asked who disturbed the lumpy thingy and way back in the kitchen, somebody answered "I kneaded it already".   People can be so 'busybodies'.  The recipe says when kneading the dough, there's a need to add 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp water if necessary so that means the busybody did not add this two crucial ingredients.  After kneading into a smooth dough, rest the dough for 10 minutes before using.

Roll the smooth rested dough into a roll (using some plain flour because it's very sticky), then divide them into round portions of 20gm each.  Then roll them into thin rounds.  Remember to sprinkle plain flour everywhere so the dough won't be so sticky.

Once you have the thin rounds, you can spoon the filling into the middle and close the edges.  You can just close the edges or you can fold and close them which will look better as dumplings are more rounded not like curry puffs which look more flat.

200gm plain flour for the skin and 300gm minced pork can make about 30 dumplings.  I smear the plate with olive oil before putting the dumplings on it.

This is the first batch of pan-fried dumplings.  There are three ways of cooking the dumplings.  You can steam them which is the most healthy way of eating them.  You can fry them in hot oil which is the most delicious way of eating them.  You can pan-fry them by heating the cooking pan, pour in some oil (not too much but just enough to brown them), lay the dumplings on the side and once they are browned, pour in enough water to submerge them but do not over-submerge them and cover the cooking pan.  Let it cook and boil.  Once the water is reduced, you can take them out.  They are ready for eating.  What I did was to put that little bit more oil to brown both sides, then before I pour in the water, I pour out the oil first so it's not so oily.

Barbeque

Suckling pig over fire.  I saw this behind the Hap Chen shop.

Pork belly undergoing seasoning.

3-layered pork, chicken wings, fish for barbeque.

Cooked.

Chicken cooked in bamboo

That's chicken cut into pieces with ingredients such as lemon grass, chilli, garlic, onion, ginger, salt, pepper, some sugar.

Chicken and ingredients well mixed.

Put chicken into the bamboo.

Prepare the barbeque pit.

Block the entrance of the bamboo to retain steam and heat.

Turn them once in a while so that all sides are evenly cooked.

Bamboos look charred after cooking but as long as the juice from the food inside do not ooze out, then it's  alright.

Pour out the cooked chicken into a bowl.

Chicken cooked in bamboo!

Fish cooked in bamboo

Prepare the fish.

Chop into pieces.

Put in ingredients such as lemon grass, garlic, onion, ginger, chilli, salt, pepper, sesame oil.

Mix them well.

That's how it looks like inside the bamboo.

Put the well-mixed and seasoned fish into the bamboo.

3 bamboos ready for cooking.  Can buy these at the jungle produce market.  Price range from RM0.50 (small) to RM2 (big) per piece.

Prepare the barbeque pit.

Block the entrance of the bamboos with tapioca leaves or banana leaves or can use kangkong leaves together with stems.  This is done to retain the steam inside the bamboo.  It works like a high pressure cooker.

After cooking, the bamboo will get charred but it's ok.

After it is cooked, pour out the fish into a bowl.  

That's fish cooked in bamboo.

A good mother!

I read the following article this morning and I was so impressed with it, I'll like to share it with you.

DEAR ABBY: I'm a 15-year-old girl who has never been in trouble, but my mom treats me like I'm a criminal. She makes me go to church every Sunday. She makes me go to Catholic school, and I have to wear an ugly uniform. She won't help with my homework. She says, "I already did 10th grade." I can't wear halter tops, short shorts, a bikini or much makeup. If I tell her it's the style, she says, "Modesty is always in style."

When I go out with my friends, she wants to know where I'm going, who I'll be with, what we'll be doing, when we'll be back and their phone numbers. If I have a date with a new boy, she makes him come into the house and tell her what school he goes to. Then she makes him show her his driver's license and car registration.

I can't keep my computer in my room. When I'm using it in the den, she looks over my shoulder and won't let me go to chat rooms. I have to set the table even if we don't have company and sit down and have dinner with her every night.

If I can't afford something, she tells me to save up or budget better. She won't let me drive until I can pay for my own insurance. It's not like my mom's poor. We go to Hawaii and Lake Tahoe, and we've been to Europe and on cruises. But she won't even pay for cable TV. She says it's an idiot box and I should read a book instead.

She also makes me do my own laundry and keep my room and bathroom clean. She makes me do unfair chores like clean the guest bathroom even though I never ever use it. She wants to teach me to sew and cook, but I have no interest in those things.

She makes me visit Dad every week, and if I complain about anything, she says (very calmly and quietly, which I hate more than if she'd yell), "You can always choose to live with your dad."

She told me as long as I live under her roof, I have to abide by her rules even if I'm over 18. And I have to go to college, and if I don't, I'll have to get a job and support myself.

I could go on and on. Have you ever heard of a mother so unreasonable? I'm afraid to run away, but I don't know how much more of this I can take. -- EMOTIONALLY ABUSED IN CALIFORNIA

DEAR EMOTIONALLY ABUSED: Wow! Your letter should be posted on every refrigerator in the country. Rarely do I hear about a parent who tries as hard as your mother does to do a diligent job. One day you will look back and thank her.

PS. And if by chance this letter was written by your mother -- congratulations for a job well-done. I would like to nominate you for Mother of the Year.