I take going home for granted, but at the end of the day, I do relish being able to drive through those spacious suburban streets as muscle memory takes me through the Thrill as I remember all the places that raised me. I forget it's one of the few times I also get to see the friends that raised me too. Most of the time I cross paths with one of them when they come through the Bay or when I'm visiting some large East Coast city, but I can't remember the last time I caught up with Lyd, who lives life 10 years ahead of me with pup and fiance and house. So I was thankful to be able to catch her for a stroll [when it wasn't raining]. Lydia identifies as Taiwanese American, and I met her freshman year of high school. Not entirely sure who introduced us, but I do remember we had a long FB convo bonding over Foster's.
So Lydia's dumplings are actually a take on 馅饼 (xian bing) or Chinese meat pies. It had already been a fantasy of mine to make a laminated wrapper of some sort - I knew the time would come, and it was time. I cycled through a lot of ideas in real time as Lyd's stream of consciousness blew up my phone, but in the end I took her mom's Taiwanese lu rou fan and her dad's scallion pancakes and mushed it together to make one dumpling baby that I hoped could be quintessential Lydia.
The challenge here was translating the oily scallion pancake into a flakey wrapper and then cooking it. If you don't know what a scallion pancake is, it's time to get on that.
What makes it great are the flakey and tender layers, a characteristic of most if not all laminated treats. Think croissants, biscuits, phyllo... and scallion pancakes. What these guys all have in common are layers of dough separated by layers of fat, my favorite thing. You can build these layers one by one (like phyllo.... hey, does a crepe cake count as a laminated treat?) or you can take advantage of math and multiple the layers in a few quick turns (like croissants), but also like scallion pancakes! Which are made by literally turning it... into... rolls... rolling it...
So I spent a quiet evening rolling and turning, and flattening mini scallion pancakes to force around a braised pork belly and shiitake filling.
Also made with half a salted egg yolk in the center as a tribute to the best kinds of moon cakes, and a spoonful of chopped pineapple as an homage to Taiwanese pineapple cakes. Garnished with scallions and fried garlic.
The tricky thing about working with an oily wrapper was sealing it, so I settled for pinching it all together and holding it seal-side-down. Once fried, it basically held together enough to finish cooking in the oven. Although you do get some leakage as a result...
Things I would do differently: figure out how to close it better, maybe dice filling, layers could've been flakier.
Lyd's complete list:
beef chow fun
salt n pepper squid
dried beancurd/pork/pepper stir fry from china palace in durham
mom's radish cakes
mom's ham, egg, and mayo rolls
fried shrimp chips for cny
bday layer sponge cake with whipped cream and strawberries
domino's pineapple and ham pizza
mom's taiwanese lu rou fan (pork rice bowl)
taiwanese liang mian (cold noodles)
dad's pesto
dad's potstickers
dad's scallion pancakes with beef floss and furikake
seaweed paper and rice crackers
ciabatta from weaver street market
liang mian huang and milk bread from grand asia market food court
pineapple mooncakes//mooncakes with double salted yolks
frozen yakult
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