From the Food Editor: Try Chinese steamed dumplings at home
Don't be afraid of dim sum.
That was my message to readers with my dim sum primer in Feb. 13's Time out! as the Chinese New Year approaches.
Chinese cooking expert and author and Gurnee resident Ying Stoller admitted that it's tough to pull off a dim sum brunch at home since one of the appeals of the experience is the ability to try a number of items. Yet that shouldn't stop you from trying steamed dumplings — a staple of the dim sum cart — in your own kitchen.
So she today she shares her recipe for shao mai. “It's one of the easier ones to make in the dim sum category,” Stoller says.
Many restaurants make shao mai with pork, but Stoller says you could use chicken too. And since we're heading into the Year of the Goat, I suppose if you could find ground goat you could use that as well.
Anyway, Chinese New Year celebrations run 15 days (culminating in the Lantern Festival), so that gives you plenty of time to try a few batches with pork, chicken and goat.
For more of Stoller's recipes for celebrating the Chinese New Year, including chicken lo mein and General Tso's shrimp, head to www.yingskitchen.com
Cookbook corner: Meet Bill Staley and Hayley Mason, the couple behind three best-selling paleo cookbooks and founders of PrimalPalate.com, an online meal planning a blog site.
From 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Staley and Mason will in Skokie at the Barnes & Noble at Old Orchard Center for a Q&A about the paleo lifestyle. From 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, meet them at the Naperville Costco, 1320 Route 59. Books will be available for purchase and signing at both events.
• Contact Food Editor Deborah Pankey at dpankey@dailyherald.com or (847) 427-4524. Be her friend at Facebook.com/DebPankey.DailyHerald or follow her on Pinterest, Instagram or Twitter @PankeysPlate.