Day 13 of PCA II – Dim Sum

What a fun night! The only thing I was familiar with was the pot stickers so everything was fun, fresh and new. But I jump ahead. The menu for tonight was –

Pot Stickers, Shu Mai, Har Gau and Cha Shao Bao

For those who don’t know what these things are

Pot Stickers – Won Ton wrappers filled with a mixture of meat and veggies and sauce. Ours was chicken, Chinese cabbage and scallions. These are then folded like a taco and crimped on the edges. They are browned in peanut oil on the bottom and then steamed to cook thru. Very yummy and served with a spicy soy mixture.

Shu Mai – Using the Won Ton wrappers again they are crimp to form small bowls. They are then filled with a pork and shrimp mixture. These are steamed only. I couldn’t eat enough of these.

Har Gau – Very pretty looking. The dough is made from wheat starch and looks a lot like fondant. A shrimp filling is then added and they are folded to resemble a purse. They are then steamed until the dough becomes translucent and you can see the beautiful pink shrimp inside.

Cha Shao Bao – First you make a bread dough. This is then formed into small rounds that you flatten out a bit. You then add a chopped pork mixture that has a wonderful sweet and spicy glaze. A small amount of this is added to the center and the dough is then closed over the top and sealed to form a round ball. These are placed into the steamer till the dough becomes firm. We then took some of the glaze and brushed it over the top and put them in the oven for a couple of minutes to finish them off. Holy cow these were delicious!

This night we did a groups of 5. Everyone in our group did so well. We had 4 dishes and then all the sauces. So Emma made all the sauces, I was in charge of pot stickers, Carrie did the Shu Mai, Abbie the Har Gau, Lynndy the Cha Shao Bao. So we all made our fillings and got them chilled and then we all help assemble each item.

Our creative sides all came out. Abbie made some fruit and onion garnishes. I sliced up some won ton wrappers and put them in the fryer for something crunchy and I also took the extra ginger, sliced it thin, put it in boiling sugar water for 30 minutes then covered them in sugar and finished them in the oven for candied ginger.

Next it was time to put everything on a platter and present. We did such an awesome job!! Our platter was beautiful and very nicely arranged. I hope to have a picture of it soon.

One of the groups had a melt down. I don’t have all the details but one of the people of that group was in tears. I don’t think it was because of the stress but rather something(s) that was said during the course of the evening by one of her team-mates to the other members. It really amazes me how as the class goes on the true personalities of people show. You can only hide yourself for so long and act the part you wish others to believe. But as you get tired, worn down and the days/nights go on your guard slips and the real you peeks out. I would love to be the quiet one, just here to learn type of person but I know I couldn’t hold that for more than an hour. I am who I am. But some came in with one persona when they started and now I start to see another persona. Not everyone is like this. But I would say there are at least 4 who put on airs so people will think of them in a certain way. Maybe it’s my age, maybe it’s my parents raising me to like who I am that I have never felt the need to be someone I’m not.

They were not kidding when they said this is the portion of the program that will make or break you.

But the best part for now is – Tomorrow is Friday! We’re making curry and we’re going to have a tailgate party and enjoy our food and look forward to the weekend.

Until Tomorrow!...