A Food Blog

I've been reading blog posts for a while now, and have noticed that there is an awful lot of them. So I decided to join the masses.

I love food - both eating and cooking it. It is often wondered whether I have hollow legs, and so became the name of this blog.

This blog doesn't really have a theme (aside from food), it'll be just general musings, ramblings, and some recipes. My photography skills leave a lot to be desired but hopefully this will improve. Oriental cuisine is probably the food I cook the most. I lived in Hong Kong from birth till the age of 12 and this has influenced my preference a lot, so I thought I'd start this with some dim sum I made over the weekend.

Potsticker Dumplings (War Tip)

This is one of my favourite dim sum dishes. They're steamed and then fried, so that the bottoms go all crispy while the pleated parts stay soft from the steaming. When I was a kid we often went to a cafe in Wan Chai in Hong Kong, where they served great potsticker dumplings. It was almost ritual that we'd go there, have a huge plate of these and then follow with a cold dessert, called in Cantonese 'dau foo fah', literally 'tofu flower'. It was a block of sweet, silken tofu in a thin sugary syrup, delicious.

Anyway - I digress. The recipe was given to me by a lady on a food forum, named 'Sunflower'.

Makes 15 - 18 dumplings

To make the dough -

100gr plain flour

50ml water

Mix to form a dough and leave for half an hour.

Meanwhile, mix together:

125gr minced pork

2 tbsp spring onion, finely chopped

1 tsp finely chopped ginger

1 tbsp egg white

1 tsp cornflour

Pinch of white pepper

And leave for 30 mins.

Next, knead the dough for a couple of minutes and roll out into a sausage shape. You should be able to cut it into 15 - 18 pieces. Roll out into a circle, then add 1tsp of the pork mince to the centre. Fold in half, pinching the top where the two meet. Carefully fold the pleats, and put it on a floured plate.

To cook, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan and add the dumplings, making sure they sit flat. Add 100mls water, put the lid on to steam for at least 7 mins, topping up with a splash of water if needed. Take the lid off, and fry till the water has evaporated and the bottoms are crispy. Serve with black vinegar with matchsticks of ginger in it and/or chilli sauce.