meditating on twentynine dumps

[not pictured] two more dumplings to make it 29. What a missed opportunity.

But first. Breakfast in bed. The number of unfortunately colored chocolate and coffee stains on my bed is shocking. I would be more ashamed but we all know no one is gonna see my sheets any time soon. Anyways, this is the scraps tart from yesterday ungracefully drizzled with coffee syrup.

For lunch, I found that the plantain I got on a whim was quite ripe. Not quite over ripe, but definitely well within I-should-really-eat-this-now range. So I sliced and fried and smushed and fried them again while wracking my brain for a dipping sauce to go with it... when AHA I remembered I got these chimichurri mixes from a cute little speciality foods shop in Santiago.

Went with Argento after some minimal Spanish practice by reading the ingredients label and picked the more simple sounding one. It helpfully instructs you to mix 2 parts of spices with 1 part water, 1 part vinegar, and 3 parts oil, and it turned out to be 100 parts perfect with sweet fried plantains.

Ran a few of these sweet starchy babies down to Joyce in exchange for her kimchi stew with a side of tofu and had to make a bowl of wild rice after one sip because her spice tolerance is dramatically more mature than mine.

Also, yes, I do garnish everything with broccoli flowers now.

The project of the day though was dumplings. My favorite classic (pork + chive) gets a remix.

step 1: toast star anise, cloves, sichuan peppercorns, 4 garlic cloves in neutral oil until garlic is all browned and crisped on the outside, pick out star anise and cloves

step 2: mince thicc piece of ginger, roughly chop some dried shrimpies and rehydrated shiitakes and blend it all together with a couple shakes oyster sauce + fragrant oil + toasted garlic + peppercorns, add 1 heaping 1/2 tsp coriander and about 1/4 tsp cumin

step 3: chop ENTIRE bundle of chives (the grocery stores sell them perfectly portioned) and put in bowl with 1lb ground pork [note: if it looks like a crazy amount of chives, let me assure you it is not, you'll need every speck of that chive bundle, this is KEY]

step 4: dump in saucy spice blend, which will honestly smell like the most heavenly savory heaven (this is not an exaggeration), add 1 heaping tsp white pepper, a couple more shakes of oyster sauce, 3 capfuls of shaoxin wine

step 5: crack in one egg

step 6: mix vigorously until you've basically beaten the pork into a meat paste... and didn't I tell you the chive to pork ratio is just right?

step 7: make the wrappers with 2c AP flour, 1/4t salt, 2/3c warm water and whatever coloring agents your heart and imagination desire

step 8: knead it into a supple dough ball, wrap, and let sit at least half an hour

I did one golden tumeric ball and one speckled sumac/strawberry powder ball. And proceeded to go crazy with rolling them out. By the way, Imperia, my beloved pasta maker, is the best addition to my inanimate family. I don't know how I convinced myself I didn't need her for so long, but I have seen the light, and the light is incredibly soothing and endlessly satisfying.

Lookit that two-toned split. How is this not satisfying to look at? 

Pan-fried and simply garnished with scallion scapes, simply dipped in balsamic vinegar, and simply eaten in quick succession like my life depended on it.

Oh but not before shredding and cooking the remaining odds'n ends skins for easy balsamic noods.