An Asian Inspired Meal

I was going to label this as a Chinese meal, but the truth be told, I mixed together a few different Asian cultures here.  We wanted to have a meal to thank the couple who helped us out on our recent backpacking adventure.  They hiked about 4 miles at the beginning with us; picked up our vehicle and drove it back to Green River, so we didn't have to do that at the end; and met us half-way so we didn't have to carry all 9 days of food.  Aren't we lucky to have such great friends? We finally found a Friday night that worked for all and Lorna and I made a meal plan.  We both worked on the meal, which is always fun! 

The meal started with an appetizer of spiced nuts and fresh shrimp spring rolls with a peanut sauce.  I love fresh spring rolls because they are loaded with vegetables; their color is bright; and the sauce makes them fun.    But alas, I didn't take a picture of these beautiful rolls.  You'll have to settle for detail on the main meal.

The main meal, came together as follows:

Chinese Short Ribs

Roasted Carrots with Sesame Ponzu Vinaigrette

Baked Shrimp Spring Rolls

Pork Potstickers

Szechuan Marinated Vegetables

Lorna and I started cooking Chinese meals together a couple years ago.  There is so much chopping and last minute cooking, it lends itself to cooking with a friend.  In addition, Lorna had this well worn, great cookbook called Chinese Cookery by Rose Cheng & Michele Morris.  I now also have that cookbook and my copy is becoming well worn!

One, Two, Three Four Five (Mandarin)

These ribs are meant to be baked and made with Spare Ribs.  I made them with Beef Short Ribs and did them in the crock pot. Below is the recipe with my alterations.  The original recipe is found in, Chinese Cookery by Rose Cheng & Michele Morris.

1 lb pork spareribs, cut in half (or ribs of choice)

6-8 green onions, 4-5 inches long

1 T. rice wine or dry sherry

2 T. rice vinegar or white vinegar

3 T. sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

4 T. water

Mix the rice wine, rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, and water together.  Heat a pan over medium high heat with oil as needed and brown the sides of the ribs, putting them into a crock pot, layering the green onions in-between the ribs.  Pour the sauce on top, close tightly and cook 6-8 hours on high.

With a half hour left until dinner, pour the sauce into a saucepan and simmer to condense the flavors.  Pour the sauce over the ribs when serving.

 Roasted Carrots with Sesame Ponzu Vinaigrette (found on the Steamy Kitchen blog, check it out for great recipes!)

I've never had Ponzu sauce, but everyone really enjoyed these carrots.  It's kind of like a soy sauce with some citrus.   Check out the pictures below.  See all those cute little carrots?  Those are from my little garden.  It gets so little light that at the end of 4 months, that is how much they grew!  The whole two rows are in that dish!

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 3/4" thick diagonal pieces
2 teaspoons cooking oil or olive oil
1 Tablespoon ponzu suace
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon chopped green onion
1/2 teaspoon roasted sesame oil

Toss carrots with a bit of oil and roast the carrots until just tend but slightly crunchy at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes.  In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Toss with the cooked carrots.

Baked Spring Rolls
I used this great recipe from allrecipes.com as a base.  The only change I made was to use chopped cooked shrimp in place of the pork.  It was harder to find a baked spring roll recipe, versus fried, but these were crispy and great all baked up.

This meal was especially fun for me because I did a lot of wrapping. While I've made fresh spring rolls before, I had never made the Baked Spring rolls and potstickers from scratch.

 Gyoza Recipe (Japanese Pan Fried Dumplings)
Again, I used a Steamy Kitchen recipe for this and they give the absolute best directions for folding the dumplings, check it out!  These were a huge hit. They were so fun with the proper 6 pleats, three on each side.  Don't be afraid of some of these wrapped items.  They really add fun to an Asian meal and while they may be time consuming, they aren't hard.

Szechuan Pickled Vegetables
This recipe is found in, Chinese Cookery by Rose Cheng & Michele Morris.  Lorna and I both enjoy these pickled vegetables and love to keep them in the fridge.


8 cups boiled water
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons Szechuan peppercorns
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons rice wine or dry sherry
5 slices fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves
5 fresh hot red peppers, halved
1/2 lb. fresh carrots, peeled
1/2 lb. turnips, peeled
1/2 lb. fresh pickling cucumbers, unpeeled
1/2 lb. cabbage

Pour boiling water into a large wide-mouth canning jar or crock.  Combine salt and peppercorns in a small saucepan.  Heat over medium heat 4 minutes.  Let coll and add to water in the jar.  Add sugar through red peppers; mix well.  Let stand 1 to 2 hours until water has cooled to room temperature.  Cut vegetables into 1 1/2" and 3/4" pieces. Dry with a paper towel and add to mixture in the jar.  Tear cabbage leaves into 4"x2" pieces.  Pat dry and add to mixture in jar, pushing pieces under liquid.  Cover with a tight fitting lid.  Refrigerate 3 days before serving.  Serve cold.  Store in refrigerator. 

You can use a variety of vegetables in this, whatever you have in your garden or crisper.  For example, we love cauliflower, kohlrabi, and rutabaga.

I must say dessert was yummy, but no pictures of that either.  We had Coconut Ice Cream with Almond Cookies.  I believe this meal was fully enjoyed by all.  Don't be afraid to go out of your comfort zone and try new foods as you cook and welcome your friends into the kitchen.  It's wonderful to cook and laugh with friends; there can't be a better way to spend an evening.

Thanks for your help Phillip and Kathy!