Malaysian Joong

My grandfather used to make joong – tamale-like packets of glutinous rice, meat, and other goodies wrapped in bamboo leaves – that I loved to eat. They are available in Chinese supermarkets, but they never quite have the wonderful fillings that my grandpa included in his. So I was delighted when Angela Liu’s mother, Wan, offered to teach Katie Chio and me how to make them. Wan’s family came from the same area of China as my grandpa, but her joong were Malaysian style, made in a different shape and with different fillings from the traditional Cantonese joong. Still, I was eager to learn so I could later include the fillings I remembered when I made my own.

The Malaysian joong are tetrahedral in shape – with 4 equal triangular sides – instead of the elongated pillow shape of the Cantonese versions, and they are filled with a mixture of  diced pork belly, shrimp, Chinese mushrooms, and ground coriander. The tricky part about making these joong is the wrapping of the bamboo bundles. Katie was a star student, picking up the technique quickly, but the one lesson wasn’t enough for me to perfect my wrapping technique; it will take more practice for me to replicate the tightly wrapped bundles that Wan created. Still, they turned out quite deliciously and despite the different filling ingredients, brought back fond memories of my grandpa’s joong.

Malaysian Joong

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 packet bamboo leaves

kitchen twine

5 pounds long-grain sweet rice

5 shallots, sliced

1/2 cup oil

5 1/2 teaspoons salt

Filling:

1 3/4 pounds pork belly, with skin removed, diced

8 ounces dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in hot water, and diced

dried shrimp (optional)

2 teaspoons ground coriander

3 teaspoons white pepper

salt, pepper, and sugar to taste

PREPARATION:

Wash and soak the rice for two hours.

Take about 75 dried bamboo leaves and boil them in a large pot of water for 30 minutes to soften them. Cut off the tough stem ends of the leaves. Wash the leaves. Soak them again in cool water to keep them soft.

Sauté the shallots in oil until brown. Drain the rice. Stir in salt and shallot cooking oil.

Prepare string to tie joong by making a bundle of five strings, each 2 feet long, tied together with a loop at the end. Make 8 bundles. Place the loop of one bundle around a supporting hook, with space below it to place and tie a joong.

Now the tricky part: wrapping. Probably best understood by watching the process in the following videos. I’ve provided 3 videos of Wan making 4 joong to provide different perspectives and clarify points of the wrapping process.

Place two bamboo leaves together, overlapping by about two thirds, with the smooth side of the leaves facing up. Fold the leaves to the side and up, about 1/3 way up, to form a pointed pocket, cradled in your left hand. Put 2 heaping tablespoons rice into the pocket, then 3 heaping tablespoons filling, then top with 2 heaping tablespoons rice, filing the pocket.

Fold the top down across the rice packet. Tuck down the left, then right edges of the top leaves, cradling the outside of the packet. Bring the sides of the top leaves together and wrap around to the right of the packet.

Take one strand of string and wrap it around the joong twice. Make a square knot, tightening the tie by pulling against the string supported by the hook.

Continue wrapping joong with the remaining leaves, rice, and filling.

Boil a large kettle of water. Place the joong into the water and return water to a boil. Lower the heat and gently simmer the joong for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on the size and density of the joong.

Cut string, unwrap joong, and discard the leaves & string. Serve.

Cooked joong may be refrigerated or frozen. Thaw, steam to reheat and serve.

Warm joong can also be sliced, flattened, coated with a beaten egg, and browned in a fry pan.

May be served drizzled with oyster sauce.

Thank you, Wan, for the wonderful lesson!

Fried Sesame Balls (Jin Deui 煎堆)

Angela Liu’s mom, Wan, came over from her home in Malaysia to help with Angela’s baby delivery and care. As a bonus, Wan instructed Angela and a few friends how to prepare various Cantonese dishes.

The first dish was fried sesame balls. I was especially excited to take her lesson on this, as sesame balls straight out of the fryer are a real treat. Like fresh bagels, sesame balls, once cooled, just aren’t the same.

FRIED SESAME BALLS / GLUTINOUS RICE BALLS

INGREDIENTS

Red Bean Paste:

1 pound red beans

8 cups water

Glutinous Rice Balls:

1 3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup oil

1 pound glutinous rice flour

1 cup sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water

1 cup white sesame seeds

Peanut oil for frying

PREPARATION

Soak the red beans in cold water for two hours. Drain and discard the water. Add the cups water to the beans and bring the water to a boil. Cook the beans over low heat for about 1 1/2 hours, until they are tender.  Purée the cooked beans in a blender. Heat the puréed beans in a hot wok with the sugar and oil to make a paste. Let cool.

Mix the water slowly until the flour forms a ball, adding water as needed, to create a dough of thick pie dough consistency.

Pull off about a 1/2 inch marble of dough. Flatten into a concave disk about 2 inches in diameter.

Make a small marble of red bean paste. Place it in the center of the dough disk. Seal the dough to make a ball and roll it between your hands to make it round.

Roll the ball in the sesame seeds and coat it thoroughly. Roll the ball between your hands to press the seeds lightly into the dough. Place on a plate and continue to make additional balls.

Heat the oil in a wok to a low frying temperature (about 325°). Lower heat to medium-low (warning: higher heat will cause the sesame seeds to burn). Put a batch of five balls into the hot oil and roll them around in the oil periodically for about the first two minutes of cooking. They will start to brown.

Press each ball down with a flat spatula against the bottom of the wok for about 10 seconds until it begins to puff, then release it and move on to the next ball. When done with all the balls, return to the first one and press it down against its edge, shaping it back into a ball, for another 10 seconds until it begins to puff again. Release and proceed with the other balls. Continue this pressing for about eight minutes, until the balls have become golden brown. drain on paper towels.

Here’s a secret: The more you press them, the larger the ball will puff and the thinner the shell of the ball will become! So if you like the balls thin and delicate, press away!

Serve and eat while warm and crispy.

Makes about 4 dozen sesame balls.

NOTE: Glutinous rice flour can be found in any Asian market. Here is a photo of the brand we used.

Sous Vide Corned Beef

Every St. Patrick’s Day, supermarkets run sales on their corned beef and I hunger for that old familiar taste. This year, as I did last year, I bought some corned beef and tried cooking it sous vide again. I think I perfected my recipe this year.

I tried a couple of different recipes last year (cooking at 135° for 24 to 48 hours, with the spice packet sprinkled around the beef), but the recipes didn’t quite give me the familiar texture I recalled from my youth, and the spices clung to the beef. I searched again for recipes online, combined ideas from different ones – this one, cooking at 178° for 10 hours  – and I ended up with what I had been searching for.

As with all other preparations, the cooked corned beef lost 40% of its weight by throwing off juices. Wrapping the spices in cheesecloth kept the meat clean, while still flavoring it.

The meat was perfectly cooked, fork tender yet not flaky, and retaining its luscious fat.

SOUS VIDE CORNED BEEF

INGREDIENTS:

3 pounds corned beef (from supermarket, vacuum packed with spice packet)

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces

4 medium Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and halved or quartered (depending on size)

1 head cabbage, washed and cut into six or eight wedges

PREPARATION:

Heat water in sous vide cooker to 178°.

Remove beef and spice packet from vacuum pack. Wash beef well and place in a gallon Ziploc freezer bag. Wrap the spices a piece of cheesecloth (several layers thick) and tie with string into a bag.  Place atop beef in the freezer bag. Suck air account and seal.

Place beef flat in the sous vide covered in 178° water, weight down with the rack, and cook for 10 hours.

Heat 8 cups of water in a large cooking pot and until almost boiling (best, below 178°). Turn off heat.

Drain the cooking liquid from the cooking bag into a container, with the wrapped spice ball.

Place the beef from sous vide bag into the hot water in the cooking pot, and let it sit for about 30 minutes. This will remove the excess saltiness from the beef and flavor the cooking water. Put the beef back into the Ziploc bag, suck the air out, and reheat in the sous vide cooker at 178°.

Pour cooking juices and spice ball into the cooking pot, with the vegetables. Bring to a boil and cook for about 45 minutes.

Remove the corned beef from the sous vide bag and slice across the grain into 1/2 inch slices. (Because the beef is so tender, it doesn’t need to be sliced thinner.) Serve with the boiled vegetables and ketchup, if desired (I find the ketchup adds a nice sweet and sour element to the salty beef).

The corned beef slices and vegetables reheat well in the microwave, but be sure not to overnuke the meat!

Homemade Soy Milk

I was elated that a new local Chinese restaurant had freshly made Chinese crullers – “fried devils” (You Zha Gui or You Tiao) and salty soy milk soup (Xian Dou Jiang). The You Tiao were wonderful, but the Xian Dou Jiang was curdled; it tasted fine, but I like it in a creamy/custardy style. I looked up recipes for Xian Dou Jiang online and tried making it with supermarket plain soy milk, but was dismayed with the flavor. The recipes warned of the need to use unflavored soy milk, but even the boxed soy milks I tried labeled “plain” has been sweetened, completely ruining the taste of the Dou Jiang.

So I looked up how to make soy milk. I found various recipes (for example, the one from Chowhound) and many recommendations for a $100 machine to make it. Not wanting to wait or spend the money until I could find if I could make Dou Jiang as I remembered it, I experimented with a few of the recipes and have come down to this one that works for me.

Dried Soy Beans

First the soybeans. I went to my local Asian supermarkets and looked for dried soybeans in the dried beans section. No luck. I found they’re so popular that they’re kept with the fresh produce. A manageable sized bag of about 3 pounds of beans sold for under $3. Note that dried soybeans are round; they don’t look like edamame.

I also needed a way to squeeze the milk from the blended soybeans. I didn’t think that regular cheesecloth would be fine or strong enough to stand up to the pressure of being squeezed hard, so I tried “Ultra Fine Cheesecloth” that I found at Sur La Table.

Here’s the recipe I ended up with. It produces about 10 cups (1/2 gallon and 1 pint) of soy milk, which works out to about 80₵ per half gallon.

2 c dried soybeans (about 13 oz)
1 slice ginger

Dried and soaked soybeans

Soak 2 cups dried soybeans overnight – at least 12 hours. Drain, rinse, and pick over the beans to remove any pebbles or other debris (I’ve never found any, but you wouldn’t want to put rocks into your blender!) The beans will have swelled to about 5 cups and regained their bean shape.

Blend the beans in batches: 1 cup of beans with 2 cups of fresh cold water. I run my blender on Chop for 30 seconds and then Puree for about 1 minute, to make a smooth paste. It comes out with a layer of foam.

Pour the pureed beans into a strainer lined with 4 thicknesses of the cheesecloth, set over a pot to catch the milk. Let it drain while preparing the next batch in the blender.

Take up the corners of the cheesecloth and twist, squeezing out at much of the remaining milk from the beans as you can. Dump the dregs into a bowl; reserve for use in other cooking (it’s a good protein source – I stir fry mine with leftover rice and vegetables to make fried rice). Repeat with the remaining beans, producing about 10 cups of raw soy milk.

Put the soy milk and ginger slice into a large pot and bring it to a boil over high heat, stirring periodically, scraping the bottom of the pot with a flat nylon turner and watching it to ensure it doesn’t boil over. As it starts to steam, watch very closely since it will quickly foam up and boil over! As the foam rises, quickly remove the pot from the hot burner and stir, letting the soy milk cool in the pot. Strain the milk to remove the ginger and store in containers.

Refrigerate and use as soy milk, for Dou Jiang or Dou Fu Fa. It should keep for about 3 days. Freeze the soy dregs in a freezer bag for later use.

There will be a skin stuck firmly on the bottom and sides of the pot – scrape off as much as you can with a nylon turner. Soak and wash the pot with a nylon scrub pad to remove the remaining soy coating.

The Grove Buffet at Scioto Downs Racino

A new buffet in town: The Grove Buffet at Scioto Downs racetrack video slot machine casino, about 10 miles south of downtown Columbus, opened on August 3, 2012, the casino having opened on June 1st. Having just taken my Mom to her local slot machine casino at Yonkers Raceway in NY plus Foxwoods Casino in CT, I wanted to see how this new casino would fare in comparison. I’m not much of a gambler (I’m too much of a mathematician, so I know what the odds are against my winning), but I wanted to check out the food and the place, expecting my Mom to come visit soon.

The entry is new, bright, and airy – much nicer than Yonkers’ Empire Casino. Everything is new. This photo (that I borrow from the Columbus Dispatch, since taking photos in most casinos is illegal), gives the feeling of the place. The slot machines are spaced out nicely, with wide aisles, and the ceiling is high and bright and the entire casino is non-smoking. I got my free “IN” Club player’s card, walked around, and made my way to The Grove Buffet for lunch.

I was given a nice seat with a view of the buffet in front and the slot machines behind me. My waitress was very cheerful, attentive, andl helpful. Off to get my first plate …

The 7 serving stations are set along the wall, with cooks preparing and slicing food for the steam table trays. Large dinner plates available under the counters.

Here are my first plates. My main dish with: Kung-Po bay scallops with eggplant & peanuts; barbecued ribs;  Brussels sprouts with bacon; roast chicken (I asked the cook to cut me the dark meat quarter from the roasted chicken halves); asparagus with cream sauce; gyoza, shrimp with wilted spinach; baby carrots & sugar snap peas; fried chicken; matzoh cracker. From the salad bar: mixed greens; baby shrimp; chicken; mushrooms.

Just about every dish was well prepared and not overcooked. The chicken was juicy, the vegetables crisp and colorful. The spare ribs were the drier Chinese style: the meat didn’t fall off the bone, but was tasty and tender. Only the Chinese dishes looked overcooked and tired (perhaps because they weren’t in demand and so had been sitting for awhile).

I went for a second plate, focusing on the Italian station: manicotti; pizza (several types were offered); more shrimp and spinach; pot roast; more Brussels sprouts; baked ziti with meat sauce; more asparagus. The Italian dishes were competently prepared. The pot roast   looks stringy – like the type offered at Der Dutchman’s, but is much more tender & tasty. The shrimp were as crisp as their translucent appearance indicated. The veggies were also crisp and tender.

The dessert offerings are beautifully presented. So tempting! I took a slice of blueberry pie, and a taste of the blueberry-lemon bread pudding and apple crisp.

I introduced myself to Executive Chef Craig Terrell, who I had seen throughout my lunch checking out each of the serving stations, carving and serving, and circulating among the diners asking if they were enjoying their lunch. I asked if I could take his photo – and he went back to get his toque for it.

I complimented Chef Terrell on his restaurant. It’s the best American-style commercial restaurant buffet I’ve had around Columbus. At $13.99 for lunch ($9.99 for seniors over 55 on Wednesdays), it’s a few dollars more than the likes of Home Town Buffet, Golden Corral, and the Amish buffets, but the offerings are so much better! Brussels sprouts, asparagus, shrimp, scallops – items I’ve haven’t seen on buffets. (To be honest, the new Sunday buffet at New Albany Country Club is extraordinary in its offerings and quality, but it’s priced at $25.95.)

Chef Terrell and his staff clearly care about providing a good dining experience and quality for money. Gamers can earn “IN” Club points for free lunches or $10 off dinner.

Speaking of gaming, after I walked around a bit after my big lunch, I played for a couple of hours on the free $25 I was given with my new “IN” Club membership. Many of the slots were new to me, despite the thousands I’ve seen at Empire City and Foxwoods.

I had a good time playing machines I hadn’t see before and hit a $38.45 bonus on a 25 cent bet. I worked up to over $50 in winnings on my free $25 voucher, but managed to lose it all back to the casino trying out other machines, breaking even for the day (not counting the cost of my lunch).

So I’m happy to report that when my mother comes to visit, I can take her to Scioto Downs where she’ll be happy to find new machines to play and I’ll be happy to go eat my fill at The Grove Buffet. She doesn’t even have to wait for the new Hollywood Casino to open on October 8th. While together, Scioto Downs and Hollywood Casino will have fewer slot machines than Empire City, the variety of machines, the clean, bright, airy feel of the casino, and its non-smoking environment will please her. And with the money I’ll save by not playing the slots with her, I can easily pay for good buffet meals!

UPDATE: Given a couple of negative comments about the food, I went back to try it again in November. I went on a Wednesday where they give a “Senior Lunch or Dinner Discount” of 1/2 off for lunch or dinner. The long line moved quickly – basically as fast as the cashiers could process; getting a seat wasn’t a problem. The waitstaff was as diligent and courteous as my first visit.

The food was as good as I had remembered. Only the Chinese offerings looked a little tired, since the diners apparently bypassed them to ensure they had enough room on their plates for other offerings.

Moving the food line was more of a problem this visit. Despite the different serving stations, everyone lined up to the far right and waited patiently to get through all the choices – except for the Italian food section on the left, which is a little separate (and, of course, for the separate dessert section).

I re-introduced myself to Chef Terrell, who, as on my last visit, was checking on the food and service, and talking with diners. I complemented him on his restaurant. I told him I had also tried the buffet at the new Hollywood Casino, but thought their food was mediocre. He admitted that he had also visited there and told his staff that if he served food like that, he’d fire them. I urged him to keep up the good work and told him I’d be back.

Columbus Food Adventures: Meat Lover’s Tour – 2. Thurn’s Specialty Meats

I’ve swooned over their Double Smoked Bacon, but had never shopped at Thurn’s Specialty Meats. So when I saw a visit to Thurn’s was on the Columbus Food Adventures Meat Lover’s Tour, I signed up immediately. And what a visit it was!

On entering Thurn’s we were greeted by a long row of glass-faced meat cases displaying a tantalizing array of meats and cheeses as well as an alluring smell of smoke.

Behind the cases, Albert Thurn – a 4th generation of the family operating the store since its founding in 1886 – greeted us. Albert told us about the history of the business and their products. (The Columbus Food Adventures blog on Thurn’s recaps this story nicely, so I won’t repeat it here.)

Albert then took us on a behind-the-counter tour of his business. First, the curing room – a cool, but not cold room where various cuts of meats and sausages were hanging and marinating to cure before and after smoking.

Behind that, we were shown the room where meats were prepared. Albert showed us an array of locally-sourced meat cuts and different casings (intestines) from which sausages were made. Around the large room were big meat choppers and grinders, mixers, double-bowl heated kettles, ovens, and other food preparation equipment – some that have been in use for over 80 years.

He showed us various types and sizes of casings used to make different sausages, with extruders that can shoot 30 foot lengths of sausage down the long prep table.

At the far side of the room. Albert opened the doors of one of the two walk-in size smokers.

Out poured a cloud of sweet smelling smoke, enveloping us. We had been warned that we would leave smelling a little smoky; many of us wanted to find a cologne that would let us smell like that regularly!

Through the smoke, we could see racks of meats and sausages that were being smoked. Some of the meats take more than a day to smoke. Albert was, of course, a fount of knowledge about the business he had been raised in and clearly loved.

We came back out into the retail shop with a great appreciation of the love and care that goes behind a week’s work to prepare the offerings that Thurn’s sells only from Thursday until early Saturday afternoon, by which time they’ve usually run out of what they had produced that week.

As we were touring in the back, Albert’s colleague had been preparing canapés and platters for us to taste!

It was a beautiful array of Thurn’s smoked meats and cheeses, along with assorted canapés they had prepared for our group. And they tasted even better than they looked! As I tasted, I recalled the nice selection of meats and sausages I had bought in my years living in NYC’s Yorkville section of Manhattan, with the German sausage shops like Schaller & Weber.

As we tasted, we made note of what items we wanted to take home with us. Bethea and Andy had a cooler in their van which would keep our purchases cold until the end of our tour.

I took home a bag of cold cuts, smoked chicken wings, and smoked trout. controlling myself knowing I could be back next week for a new purchase. Albert said he sells as little as one slice, so I had quite an assortment for small fraction of the price I’ve paid in NYC.

Old fashioned passion about the food they carefully prepare and offer to their customers: That’s part of what’s so wonderful about living in a place where people have such pride in the food they prepare. Thank you, Albert and Thurn’s, for being such shining gems of the Columbus food scene! I’ve added you as a regular stop on my shopping route!

Columbus Food Adventures: Meat Lover’s Tour – 1. Skillet

I grabbed a spot in Columbus Food Adventures‘ inaugural Meat Lover’s Tour on June 14, 2012. I took so many photos that I’m splitting my write-up into pieces – one for each stop.

Our first stop was Skillet in German Village, one of Columbus’ meccas for locavore cuisine.

I had eaten at Skillet a few times before and have always been excited by the ever-changing menu, based on what’s available by its local growers.

We took our seats as Bethia Woolf told us of the restaurant and menu.

Chef/owner Kevin Caskey came out of his kitchen to greet us and explain the dish he had prepared for us on this “Meat Lovers Tour”: Cincinnati Style Tripe Chili.

A strange concoction, regular Cincinnati-style chili is served on a bed of spaghetti, with chili serving as a sauce. Skillet’s interpretation is far more intriguing: “Oven baked spaghetti pie with fried King’s Farm duck egg and Kokoborrego Owl Creek Tomme sheepsmilk cheese.” Visually spectacular with the fried egg capping its surprise.

The egg yolk formed an extra layer of luscious sauce to meld with the chili-infused tripe (instead of the strips of beef in the usual formulation). The noodles added a textural contrast instead of the main focus of everyday Cincinnati-style chili preparations, as did the spinach leaves. I knew the rest of the tour would be good, since all of my tour members “oohed” and “ahhed” and none “yucked.”

Chef Kevin clearly takes great pride and joy in his food – and rightly so! I’m glad to have friended him on Facebook after this visit – and then to have run into him at Thurn’s shopping for himself, as I was. But that’s another story.

The blackboard says it well – much to the pleasure of its fortunate diners! Thanks Kevin!