TOP SECRET: THE ATS RECIPE BOOK!

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Contents 1 APPETIZERS AND DIMSUM-ISH STUFFS 1.1 homemade dumplings 1.2 potstickers 1.3 dan bing 2 MEAT-CONTAINING ENTREES 2.1 pork, bamboo, dou gan 2.2 chicken curry 2.3 pineapple chicken 2.4 肉燥飯 rou zao fan 2.5 牛肉麵 niu rou mian 2.6 Fish Ball Soup 3 VEGETARIAN-FRIENDLY ENTREES 4 Desserts! 4.1 Mochi's mochis 4.2 A guide to awesome boba (and milk tea), by Jenn Huang 5 not exactly asian but EVER SO DELICIOUS 5.1 Jenn’s chicken salad sandwiches 5.2 Jenn's Angel Cake 5.3 Jenn's fruit tarts 5.4 Jenn's banana bread

APPETIZERS AND DIMSUM-ISH STUFFS

homemade dumplings

ingredients

• ground meat, some sort of veggie (Jenn finds that beef doesn’t work too well :/ best is to use chicken with napa (both kind of mild-ish flavors, so neither one overwhelms the other, or jiu cai with pork (both rather strong flavors, but still balanced))

• sesame oil
• soy sauce
• rice wine (optional—use only a little, and usually good for pork, not so much with chicken)
• scallions
• if pork, some ginger might be nice :)

procedures

1. cut everything up into small pieces
2. add all ingredients. DO NOT ADD SALT—veggies tend to release water if you add salt, and that makes for not-so-good dumplings :(
3. Stir all ingredients. Choose one direction (clockwise or counterclockwise), and stick with it.
4. wrap dumplings :)
5. if boiling, just drop the dumplings when the water boils. Be sure to use enough water (err on the side of too much water)—otherwise they might stick together, and that’s sad :( also, be sure to stir the water while you’re dropping them in—this prevents the dumplings from sticking to each other or to the pot.
6. if you’re planning on pan-frying, it’s best to freeze them overnight. Then follow instructions below for potstickers…

potstickers

ingredients

• the only potstickers in Boston that Jenn has liked are the LingLing ones from Costco :P

procedures

1. use a little bit of oil (not too much!) on a non-stick pan
2. arrange frozen dumplings on the pan
3. Add regular water (not boiling) to half of the dumpling’s height.
4. Put on high heat, and COVER.
5. when the water is almost gone, you can take off the lid (if the edges of the…ruffles? are a little translucent), and turn down to medium heat
6. continue to cook—make sure you watch them
7. take off the stove when they’re nicely browned :) don’t leave the potstickers in the pot, the pot is still still hot so it will continue to cook the potstickers, resulting in possibly burned potstickers ☹

dan bing

ingredients

• dan bing skins (either the nice ones that super 88 has, or Jenn uses flour tortillas when those aren’t available, they work just fine)
• scallions
• eggs
• salt

procedures

1. beat the eggs, and add some salt :)
2. add a little oil (Jenn likes a little sesame oil too)
3. add a ladle-full of egg into the pot
4. immediately add chopped scallions
5. immediately put a dan bing skin/tortilla on top (Jenn likes to push the tortilla down a bit with her hands, to make sure the egg sticks to the skin)
6. when the egg seems cooked (Jenn likes a little brown), flip it over!
7. brown the skin a bit (sometimes, esp if the skins are refrigerated or frozen, you can add a little bit of water—lift up one edge of the dan bing, add a teensy bit of water, and this will steam the skin a bit. Then proceed with browning)
8. roll up, and cut into pieces :)

MEAT-CONTAINING ENTREES

pork, bamboo, dou gan

ingredients

• pork (either ground, or thinly sliced—depends on how many people you’re making it for -_- if it’s just a few people, Jenn prefers 肉絲, so Jenn will take the time to cut thin slices of pork…if it’s a lot of people, using ground is much easier)
• dou gan!!!
• bamboo—again if you have lots of people, get the kind that’s already cut into 絲, otherwise Jenn likes the actual bamboo shoots better (the thin ones that are kinda like…asparagus in shape)
• soy sauce
• sugar
• corn starch
• minced garlic
• oil/sesame oil

procedures

1. cut all ingredients into thin strips—you want thin, long strips. For the bamboo, Jenn likes to half shoots
2. marinate the pork a little—add some soy sauce, a little sugar, and a bit of cornstarch, and mix until evenly distributed
3. add oil and sesame oil to the pan, and add the minced garlic—cook for a bit until “xiang”—not brown tho, cuz then by the time everything else cooks it’ll be burnt -_-
4. add the meat! Make sure it’s thoroughly cooked (if you used ground meat, make sure you break apart large chunks, to make sure it’s cooked!)
5. add the dou gan strips and bamboo
6. add a little more soy sauce if necessary
7. cook thoroughly until everything is hot and yummy ^^

chicken curry

ingredients

• chicken (Jenn likes thigh—it’s cheaper, and pretty much impossible to overcook and become tough)
• potatoes (cubed, smaller is good—Jenn likes 1 cm cubes)
• carrots (jenn likes to use baby carrots, they make life easier -_- then you can cut them into little discs)
• onions (diced)
• frozen peas/carrots/corn/beans are sometimes a nice addition :)
• corn starch
• curry cubes

procedures

1. cut chicken into cubes, mix with a little corn starch
2. in a pot, use a tiny bit of oil (Jenn likes a drop of oil, and a drop of sesame oil), and stir fry the onions until “xiang”—not brown
3. add the carrots and potatoes, and fill the pot with some water
4. add the curry cubes (Jenn likes to break them down into smaller cubes, so they dissolve faster)
5. if you want to add frozen veggies, go ahead and add them too
6. when the potatoes/carrots are cooked (the potatoes should be soft, but not too mushy), and the pot is boiling, add the chicken cubes
7. when the whole mixture boils again, it’s done! If it’s a little too watery for your taste, you can add some corn starch to some cold water, mix thoroughly, and pour into the curry to make it thicker)

variation for a semi-massaman curry feel, add some coconut milk, some pineapple chunks, and peanuts :) <--because this involves peanuts, i would recommend this only for exec get togethers, or something smaller where you know that no one's allergic...NOT FOR LUNAR NEW YEAR, etc...

pineapple chicken

ingredients

• chicken thigh
• 1 egg
• flour
• cornstarch
• lots of oil
• onion
• bell peppers
• pineapples
• oyster sauce, vinegar, rice wine

procedure

1. cut chicken into small cubes, salt lightly, mix with egg white (i neglected the egg white, but still turned out ok)
2. put oil in a pan on high heat
3. coat the chicken cubes with a little flour and corn starch (approx 1 to 1 ratio). (i was stingy with this, so the chicken didn’t turn out as crispy as i liked. not bad though, less oily)
4. when the oil gets dimply, (before it starts smoking or sputtering), put the chicken in. the chicken will take at least 10 minutes to cook–watch it to make sure you don’t burn any chicken, and turn the pieces as necessary.
5. when the chicken becomes a nice toasted color, take them out and place them on a bunch of paper towels for oil-soaking
6. in a new pan, add a little oil and sesame oil, and add some chopped onion, until it’s “xiang”
7. add pineapple chunks, and continue stir frying
8. add bell peppers (if you have green ones, not too long, cuz they lose their pretty green color if you cook too long)
9. mix some of the pineapple juice with some oyster sauce, vinegar, and rice wine. it should be till translucent, and light brown. add this to the pan with the veggies
10. mix some cornstarch with COLD water, and add to the mixture, so it thickens
11. after it thickens appropriately, put the chicken back in, and mix

肉燥飯 rou zao fan

ingredients

• eggs
• ground pork
• soy sauce
• water
• garlic
• 油蔥酥

procedures

1. eggs first! boil the eggs (about 10 minutes, make sure you move them so the yolk doesn’t sit kinda sideways in the egg)
2. peel the eggs
3. use some soy sauce (don’t need too too much–as in don’t cover the eggs or anything–my eggs were maybe in 3/4 inch of a combination of soy sauce and water), med/low heat, and allow the eggs to get a pretty color. This takes a lot longer than you think, because you want the color to penetrate, not just on the surface (I didn’t do mine long enough, so the brown color was nice on the outside, but once you open the egg, it’s still white). My mom says this takes several hours–so good to do the eggs much earlier in the day. SAVE THE SOY SAUCE.
4. heat a wok with some oil and sesame oil, and “chao” the ground pork with some soy sauce (from the eggs)
5. add LOTS OF GARLIC, continue pan-frying/stir-frying/sauteeing/whatever the translation is
6. add more soy sauce and water (from the eggs pot), sugar, and 油蔥酥 <–i think that’s the right characters–it’s like fried onions, they’re dried. FRIED GARLIC IS NOT THE SAME THING.
7. boil for awhile, and you’re done :D I like to add tofu triangles too, and some veggies. I put carrots and daikon (because i had them)–daikon was probably not a good idea, it soaked up the soy sauce like crazy, and they were reaaaaaaaally salty. i told my mom later that i added them, and she laughed at me.
8. don’t forget the rice!

pictures

牛肉麵 niu rou mian

ingredients

• beef chuck
• star anise
• 辣豆瓣醬 (chili bean paste)
• tomato
• other veggies
• scallion
• cilantro
• noodles

procedures

1. boil some water–drop in beef chuck, and take the beef back out after 30 secs or so–this is to get rid of the blood
2. in sesame oil, “chao” the star anise and 辣豆瓣醬–it will splatter, so make sure you’re wearing a long sleeve, or use the lid to protect yourself from getting burnt
3. add the beef
4. add soy sauce, water, boil for about an hour on med/low heat (I overcooked mine :/ oh well). Be generous with the water and soy sauce, I didn’t have enough soup. I added a piece of ginger, tho that’s optional.
5. I added some carrots and daikon–added the carrots about 30 minutes in, and daikon about 10 minutes before the hour was up. Also added the tomato–half in at the 30 min mark, and other half at the same time as the daikon. Scallions (the thicker/white part cut into “duan”, about 1.5 inch long pieces) are also added 10 minutes before the hour was up.
6. When the soup part is about to finish, cook the noodles in a separate pot
7. take out the noodles, put them in the serving bowl, add some scallions (I cut these rather thinly), veggie (I used spinach), and cilantro (my mom laughs at me for this too, but i think it tastes good, and i don’t even *like* cilantro). If you choose to use a thicker veggie, like bok choy, then you may need to cook it in the soup pot a bit.
8. Pour the soup over the noodles–the scallions, veggies, and cilantro will cook enough with this hot soup.

[ http://mitmochi.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/img_4039.jpg?w=225&h=300 picture of the soup with the noodle--better to use bowls bigger than the amount you'll eat, fill noodles about halfway, and add a lot more soup. don't pile the stuff on, it looks kind of strange.]

Fish Ball Soup

ingredients

• fish balls (of course!)
• chicken bouillon (powder)
• vermicelli
• bok choi
• white pepper
• 2 separate hot pots

pre-event setup

1. Cut fish balls into halves, and cut bok choi into 1.5-inch-long pieces.

procedure at event

1. Put boiling water in hot pots 1 and 2. Add about 1 spoonful of bouillon per cup water.
2. Add fish balls to hot pot number 1; frozen is fine.
3. Cool until center of fish balls are squishy (use a fork to test).
4. In hot pot number 2, put in veggies and vermicelli; heat until tender.

serving

• around 3 to 4 fish ball halves
• several bok choi pieces
• some vermicelli
• 1 to 2 serving spoonfuls of soup
• a pinch of white pepper :)

VEGETARIAN-FRIENDLY ENTREES

Desserts!

Mochi's mochis

ingredients

• glutinous rice flour
• potato starch
• red bean paste filling

procedures

1. saran wrap a bowl (saran wrap along the inside curve of the bowl--make sure it's covered completely) mix 1 cup glutinous rice flour and 1 cup water in a saran-wrapped microwave safe (aka. porcelain) bowl, stir well!!! make sure it's consistent, and there's no balls of rice flour stuck on the bottom
2. cover with a saran wrapped porcelain plate, and microwave for 4 minutes (will vary by microwave)
3. I like to foil wrap a cutting board for my workspace. foil means it doesn't stick, and easy (er...easier) clean up later. spread some potato starch out
4. when the glutinous rice flour is done, take it out, and pick up the mixture with the saran wrap (careful, it's hot!!!)--usually you can sort of shake it off the saran wrap onto your work space
5. I use two spoons to separate out the mochi globs, cuz it's hot...tho best not to let it sit out for too long, it kinda crusts over a bit.
6. make sure to powder your hands with potato flour!!! :) work with one mochi ball at a time, work it into a larger circle (be careful not to have the center be too thin), add a glob of red bean (and ATS love), and pinch the mochi shut. after your'e sure it's sealed, you can flip it back over and make sure it's in a nice round shape :)

A guide to awesome boba (and milk tea), by Jenn Huang

So boba depends on where you get it--the ones I buy are dried, though you can get the wet ones (they cook faster). I personally only buy them from a certain bakery at home, so I only know how to make it from those ones. However, the instructions are all the same, minus one step.

one more note, i feel like boba doesn't keep too well, when you leave it overnight it either dries out, or gets soggy and not QQ (er...chewy? can't think of the english equivalent). it takes awhile to prepare, around 3 hours or so...but at least you can do the tea early.

Procedure for Boba

1. boil water--lots of it. if you don't use enough, the boba will stick, so if in doubt, use more. i think i use like....1 cup boba to 5 or 6 cups of water...approx.
2. after the water boils, add in the boba, stirring as you do so, so they don't stick
3. after the boba come to a boil, boil for an additional 30 minutes.<--this time varies depending on the boba you buy. when in doubt, test one by eating it, make sure it's done so it's not hard on the inside.
4. turn off the heat, use a strainer (with larger holes, small ones tend to clog)
5. refill with cold (not ice cold, but colder than room temp) water, just enough to cover the boba
6. add a crapload of sugar, stir until even
7. put the pot lid back on, and let it sit for an hour
8. whenever you're ready to serve it, you can scoop this directly into the cup (the syrup with it is fine, it makes it sweet)

procedure for milk tea

1. lipton black tea, or any other black tea bags--take off the tags, and drop into boiling water.
2. watch it, you don't need to boil too long or else it gets bitter...sorry not sure on the exact time for this, but I know i kinda overcooked them at Dartmouth ^^"
3. scoop out all the tea bags
4. add condensed milk until it's about the right color
5. taste it--depending on the tea, sometimes this is fine, and sometimes it's still a little tea-y. if it's not sweet enough, add some sugar. keep in mind it doesn't need to be too too sweet, cuz the boba adds to the sweetness too.

not exactly asian but EVER SO DELICIOUS

Jenn’s chicken salad sandwiches

ingredients

• Jenn uses canned chicken
• mayo
• celery
• apple
• eggs
• bread

procedures

1. boil the eggs, and peel
2. chop up celery, apple, eggs finely
3. mix everything together, add mayo, salt/pepper to taste
4. serve on toast

Jenn's Angel Cake

ingredients

• 10 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups of sugar
• 1 tsp Cream of Tartar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups of Cake flour (no this is not the same as all-purpose flour)

procedures

1. Preheat 325
2. Bowl A:
   1. in a clean, DRY bowl, separate out the 10 egg whites (put the egg yolks in bowl B)<--make sure this is really clean, and no egg yolks in this mixture--they won't fluff right otherwise :( best recommendation is to do what they do on the cooking shows--crack the egg and separate out the white in a small bowl, once you're sure it's ok, dump the yellow in Bowl B, and dump the egg white in the small dish into bowl A.
   2. add sugar, and cream of tartar
   3. with an electric beater, beat this mixture until it becomes foamy. This should take maybe 15 minutes ish. My mom’s test for it’s readiness: if you (turn off the mixer and) lift up the mixer, the foam will “stand up”
3. Bowl B:
   1. with a reguar whisk (not electric), mix the egg yolks. for all the following directions–you don’t need to whisk furiously, it’s just to prevent stuff from clumping. also, don’t add any of the following ingredients all at once–add a little bit at a time. takes patience.
   2. add the oil, whisk
   3. add water, whisk
   4. add flour, whisk
4. add half the contents of bowl A to bowl B, and whisk…then add the other half and whisk again.
5. oil+flour, or pam your cake pan, (don’t be stingy on the flour)
6. pour the batter into the pan–don’t overfill it, 3/4 full is fine–it’ll rise like crazy.
7. pop it in the oven–-takes between 20 an 40 minutes, depending on the oven. just check on it…when you think it’s done, stick a toothpick just to check
8. let it cool on a cooling rack–it’ll shrink a little (hopefully not as much as mine did…*sigh*) when it’s cooler, you can sorta scrape the sides of the pan to make it easier for the cake to come out. put a plate on top of the pan, and flip it over–hopefully your cake comes out.

Jenn's fruit tarts

An experiment from Thanksgiving 2007 that turned out AMAZING.

ingredients

• puff pastry sheets
• cool whip
• vanilla pudding
• vanilla extract (maybe a little almond)
• cinnamon
• strawberries
• blueberries
• kiwi
• almonds?

procedures

1. Make the filling:
   1. add coolwhip to vanilla pudding cups in a separate bowl (Jenn uses approx 1/3 small case of cool whip to 2 cups of pudding--approx 1 to 1), add vanilla extract and cinnamon to taste (Jenn wants to experiment with almond extract)
   2. mix well, refrigerate
2. Making the shells:
   1. defrost and prepare puff pastry as instructed on the box
   2. Jenn likes to roll out the puff pastry sheet a bit, so it's enough to make 12 pastries at a time...cut into smaller squares (approx 3 in squares
   3. place squares in cupcake pan, pushing down a little on the center
   4. bake the puff pastries as directed
   5. when done, you can use a fork or spoon to make a niche for the filling
3. Putting it all together:
   1. slice up the strawberries and kiwis
   2. add a glop of filling to each pastry shell, then decorate with fruits
   3. add nuts (almonds), if you want :D

Jenn's banana bread

Jenn is guilty of plagarism: http://www.joyofbaking.com/breakfast/BananaBread.html I leave out the nuts, and it tastes wonderful with a little added splash of almond extract :)