The Gift of Food: Anhui Bing

My in-laws have always gifted us with food. Whenever we fly out to visit them in Colorado, we can be sure that a steaming bowl of noodles and an assortment of side dishes will be waiting for us, no matter how late we arrive. When they fly out to see us, we can count on enjoying a long vacation from cooking while being fed homemade spring rolls, dumplings, stir-fried dishes too numerous to mention.

My in-laws’ gift of food does not end there. When we were first married, they hand packed bags laden with tightly packaged stir-fries, sticky rice, and other treats for us to carry on the plane. After several years of dragging ten-pound bags of Chinese food through airports, we lovingly convinced them that their homemade Chinese treats were best enjoyed while in their company. 

Several years later, we again made the trip out to see them, this time with two little ones in tow. My father-in-law discovered that the kids’ car seat bag was an excellent place to store his specialty, Anhui bing.

My father-in-law describes bing as “Chinese pizza,” though the only similarity they share with this favorite food of Americans (in my opinion) is their round shape.  

Anhui bing are more like meat pies, about eight inches in diameter, with finely diced bits of stir-fried pork and pickled vegetables spread between very thin layers of dough (think Croissant pastry layers). 




The meat and dough layers alternate and the whole pie is then wrapped in a final layer of dough, which turns a lovely crispy brown when pan-fried with a dash of oil. 

Bing are addicting and vanish remarkably fast, which is too bad, because from what I've understood from my father-in-law, they are very time consuming to make.

Back to our trip from our in-laws: Imagine our surprise when we opened the car seat bag and found bing plastered to our daughter’s car seat! (Disclosure: we travelled domestically; we know better than to bring food back from our international trips!)

My in-laws spent Christmas with us this year, and as usual, my father-in-law brought stacks of freshly made bing. One night, as he watched my daughter quietly eat, licking her fingers after the last bite, he joked, “I should send Lulu (her pet name) her own private supply of bing every month.”  We laughed, but I saw a twinkle in his eye that hinted at a "Eureka!" moment.

Sure enough, one week after he and my mother-in-law flew back home, a heavy package arrived at our door. Inside were stacks of freshly made bing! My daughter was thrilled, my husband was giddy, and my dog--well, it turns out that he likes bing just as much as the rest of us. A few days ago, he swiped a lone bing off the counter and delicately nibbled his way through half of it.

I don’t know how to make Anhui bing--yet. This recipe was handed down from my husband’s paternal grandmother (who grew up in Anhui province) to my father-in-law. I hope that one day soon, my father-in-law will share his recipe with the next generation so this family treat may live on!

What gifts of food does your family share with you?  

Cinnamon Mooncake Cookies (Holiday Recap)

After a luxuriously long holiday break with the fam, I'm back to blogging! I didn't do as much baking this year, opting instead for rest (after a long virus--yuck!) and spending time with my in-laws and kiddos. 

One recipe my daughter and I did try this year was Cinnamon Buddha Cookies (seen here at Spoon and Chair) using the mooncake molds my husband brought back from China earlier this year.






Spoon and Chair's recipe (which is based on Dorie Greenspan's Sweet Tart Dough Recipe) calls for Mooncake cookie molds, not mooncake molds--which I think are deeper--but we improvised and used the smaller of my mooncake molds (approx. 3 in. in height). They worked out just fine.

The dough is a breeze to make. The recipe calls for mixing flour, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and then butter and 1 egg yolk in a food processor (see recipe for exact measurements). 

This is then chilled in the fridge for two or more hours. We'll probably reduce the chill time next time we make these; two hours of chilling made for a pretty tough dough. We really had to work it into the mold with our fingers. We then used a knife to scrape off the extra dough in the mold (to make cookie prettier!). 

 Making these cookies is a great way to relieve holiday stress. The recipe notes that you have to "whack" the molds against the counter to pop the cookies out.  With our molds, "whack" was an understatement. We had to "ka-whack" the dang things for the cookies to pop out.  We followed Carolyn Phillips' suggestion at Out to Lunch with @MadameHuang to flour the molds each time before adding new dough. Without the flour, we would have had to literally dig the dough out with our fingers.  

Mooncake cookies are a great all-around cookie for holidays---Christmas, New Years, and Chinese New Year (which is next on our family holiday countdown. Put it on your calendar: February 10!). They taste wonderful--like slightly sweet, cinnamon-y shortbread. Plus, when they're baking, the cookies make your house smell like Christmas, due to their 3 tsp of cinnamon.  And did I mention how pretty these cookies are? 

Bakers note: We followed the recipe's instructions and baked for 20 min. Our oven might be too hot, but this left the cookies a little overdone. We'll reduce baking time next go around. Also, with our molds, the recipe only made eleven cookies--which means that they disappeared in a matter of hours. They are that good. 

Holiday Reading: Starry River of the Sky

My daughter (age 7) and I just finished reading Grace Lin's newest novel Starry River of the Sky (Little and Brown, 2012). This magical story is about a young boy, Rendi, and the people he meets--both human and mystical--in the small, remote Village of Clear Sky. Who is Rendi? Who are these people he meets? And where did the moon go? These are some of the questions that you will ask yourself as you read this mysterious tale.

Lin's book is considered a companion book to her 2010 Newberry Honor novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Like her earlier book, Starry River of the Sky is full of Chinese legends, which have been adapted by Lin and told as stories by the main characters. Lin seamlessly alternates between Chinese legends and the plot unfolding at Village of Clear Sky. The effect is spellbinding and also gives the story a timeless quality--as if the story takes place in a time long past, but resisting to be tied down to a particular era (or dynasty).

Colorful, jewel-tone illustrations, which bring to mind traditional Chinese papercuts, mark the beginning of each chapter. And six full-color illustrations, resembling Chinese wood block prints, intersperse the story text.  The warm, vibrant illustrations are beautiful works of art by themselves. They bring to life in the reader's imagination a magical world the reader will be reluctant to leave.

My daughter was enchanted with the main characters in this story--Rendi, Peiyi, Madame Chang, Master Chao, and Mr. Shan. When we reached the last page, she asked me, with concern in her voice, "Is that it?" As a side note, she asks me this every time we reach the last page of one of Grace Lin's novels--I think this is a sign of an excellent book!

Starry River of the Sky would be a wonderful book to read with your child or grandchild over the upcoming holidays. Not only is it a page-turner, the magical story will be sure to provoke much conversation afterward.

Be sure to check out Grace Lin's website where you can view her mini-documentary "Behind the Story" and related activities--including instructions on how to make a toad lantern!

Celebrating Togetherness with Dumplings

The hustle and bustle that precedes Christmas has already begun, and if I'm not careful, I find myself lost in the busyness and missing out on the joy and thankfulness that marks this season.

Last year, I actually sacrificed treasured traditions (making gingerbread houses with friends and family, attending Christmas concerts) because I was too overwhelmed with unrealistic demands I was making on myself (homemade gifts and cookies for everyone!)

"This year will be different," I vowed to myself. I will prioritize time spent with family and friends, or tuántuán yuán yuán (团团圆圆)--which is a Chinese phrase often translated as "the family is happy and together," but I like to understand it as "togetherness."  

One of my "go to" togetherness activities is cooking.  Before Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law taught my daughter how to wrap dumplings (jiǎozi, 饺子).  It was a "win-win" activity for the two of them: they spent quality time together, my mother-in-law shared a Chinese tradition with her granddaughter, and my daughter gained confidence by learning a new skill.

Some things to keep in mind when you want to try this "togetherness" activity at home:

1. If you are working with pre-made wrappers (found in the freezer section of your local Chinese supermarket), choose your wrappers carefully. We found that using pre-made dumpling wrappers worked best when cooked by boiling, but we preferred wonton wrappers (they are thinner) for dumplings that are fried.

2. There are many different techniques for wrapping dumplings. My mother-in-law taught my daughter the pleat method (right). In this technique, each side of the outer wrapper is pleated toward the center. Pleats are then pressed firmly to the bottom wrapper. (See my blog post from last year, Jiaozi-making Party, for folding methods we created at our dumpling party last year, and also don't miss Beijing Gourmand's explanation of the "one fold" and "crimp and fold" techniques.)

3. No matter how you fold your dumplings, each method seems to require a little extra moisture for a tight seal (this seems especially true with frozen wrappers). Dip your index finger into a small bowl of water, and run your finger along the edge before starting to pleat the wrappers. 

*Chinese dumplings do not need to be eaten right away. They freeze wonderfully (in freezer bags, for at least a month). Make sure to date and label the bag! 

How will you celebrate "togetherness" with family and friends this holiday season?

No Turkey? No Worries!

Not having turkey for Thanksgiving? Don't worry! Going sans turkey is nothing to be ashamed of.

This is the message of Duck for Turkey Day by Jacqueline Jules. Tuyet, a young Vietnamese American girl, is upset when she learns that her family will be having duck for Thanksgiving instead of turkey, which she believes is the "rule" for the holiday. Tuyet's disappointment continues on the holiday, despite actually enjoying the duck with spicy sauce with her family. When she returns to school, though, she discovers that she is not alone, and that many of her classmates also did not eat turkey on Thanksgiving.

My daughter pointed out that this book would have come in handy last year when we ate Chinese food with my in-laws last Thanksgiving (see A Stir-fried Thanksgiving). Not being a turkey eater, I was thrilled to eat stir-fries and crab on Thanksgiving, but at the time, my rule-abiding daughter, was not as convinced that it was okay.

Now, my daughter is one year older, and she is not worried about whether or not we'll have turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy.  We'll have a feast, that's for sure--a spring greens salad with cranberries, toasted pine nuts, and goat cheese; a pancetta, kale, and acorn squash risotto; a roasted-to-perfection chicken; an assortment of roasted root vegetables; and a simple yet always delicious apple crumble--but the focus will be on enjoying our time together.   

The message of Duck for Turkey Day resonates with wise words spoken by Marcie on the beloved Thanksgiving animated classic A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving after Peppermint Patty criticizes the Thanksgiving feast (a piece of toast, pretzel sticks, and popcorn) Charlie Brown has prepared, "Thanksgiving is more than eating...We should just be thankful for being together." 


Here's to togetherness and popcorn, toast, duck, or whatever you will be eating on Thursday. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Books for Babies and Toddlers about Chinese Culture

            

As I perused my local library for new books to read my kids, I stumbled upon Round as a Mooncake: a book of shapes (Chronicle Books, 2000) and Red Is a Dragon: a book of colors (Chronicle Books, 2001), written by Roseanne Thong and illustrated by Grace Lin.  Here's a quick review in case you are searching for a good book with themes of Chinese culture for your baby or toddler.

They are two books of a three-part series that introduces basic concepts (shapes, colors, and numbers) to young children in a multi-cultural (Asian and Western) context. I was bummed that my library didn't have the third in this series is One is a Drummer: a book of numbers (Chronicle Books 2003).

With their beautiful illustrations and lilting text, I would have loved to have read these books to my children when they were little.  According to her website, Thong's inspiration for these books was her own daughter, Maya. She wanted to read books about shapes they found in Hong Kong but could find none that fit this description so she wrote Round as a Mooncake. This was followed by Red Is a Dragon, a story about colors, and One is a Drummer, a book about numbers. 

What I love about these books:

• Grace Lin's illustrations. I can't help it. I adore Grace Lin's illustrations; they are a feast for the eyes with vibrant colors, beautiful patterns and scenes full of charming details.
• Basic colors, shapes, and numbers are introduced using things commonly found in Hong Kong, China, or even a Chinese American family: a yellow incense stick, a round rice bowl, one dragon boat.
• The rhyming text is sing-songy (in a good way) and decorated with fun phrases like "crunchy kale" and "a bowl of goldfish."
• At the end of each book is an author's note where Chinese items mentioned in the story are defined and explained, making these books accessible for non-Chinese families as well. 

 Which multi-cultural books do you enjoy reading to your baby or toddler?

Coping...when a parent is abroad

"How do you help young children cope when a parent is abroad?"

This is what I found myself googling two weeks ago when my husband was away on a ten-day trip to China (see my previous post on his trip).  This was a trip to visit family: his mom and dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins, and to also do some genealogy research with some distant relations whom he met for the first time.

This was the first time since we were married ten years ago that he made this trip by himself.  The last time we went to China, all four of us travelled together. Our daughter was four, our son was one, and the trip was more difficult than we had imagined (with the twelve-hour time difference, unexpected illnesses, traveling hardships, etc...). This time, my husband would go by himself so he could cover more ground and see more relatives in a shorter period of time. It would be easier...

...or so we thought.

The day my husband left, I witnessed a huge change in my three-year-old son's behavior.  My normally happy, goofy boy became defiant and angry, ready to throw a major temper tantrum at the mere suggestion of a purely normal activity (such as getting into the car). 

This behavior continued non-stop for four days, when during his longest, angriest tantrum he began screaming, "I want to go to China with Daddy" and "Why didn't Daddy take me to China too?" 

Gulp. I suddenly realized that this wasn't a normal tantrum phase as previously thought. My son was experiencing real anger and sadness because his daddy was in China and he was not. 

How could I help him? My mind frantically searched for something that might bring him comfort. After drying our tears (seeing my son cry for his daddy broke my heart), I suggested that we go home and that he draw a picture of how he felt. 






To my surprise, he willingly got in the car, and after we got home, spent about 20 minutes drawing his picture (right).

Later that evening he was able to share his picture with his daddy on Skype. He explained how he was sad but all of the people in China were happy.  
My poor little guy!



The next day he told me that he was going to write a letter to his daddy explaining how he felt sad and angry.  After finishing his "writing," I had him "read" his letter to me and I wrote down what he said (he's just learning to write the alphabet so his letter required adult interpretation).  Again, we turned to Skype as a means to share these words "face-to-face."

From this point on,  I began to see gradual improvements in my son's mood. He still  felt angry or sad at times, but instead of immediately throwing a tantrum, he was able to tell me that he was angry and sad that Daddy was in China. By the time my husband returned on the tenth day, my son had returned to his happy, silly self, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Both my husband and I had thought that this trip would be easier than those in the past because he would be making the trip alone. We had never anticipated that this actually might be harder for our kids and could lead to complex feelings of sadness and anger because they were left behind. 

This trip was an eye-opener for me, and will certainly give us something to think about when we plan our next trip. It wouldn't surprise me if we make the next trip together!