The Omnivore's Hundred (I Got A 90)

This is an interesting quiz from the British food blog Very Good Taste. You're supposed to:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
Cyn's answers

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I may, actually, have a 91, as I've had snake wine in Laos. But I've never actually eaten the flesh of snake, so I didn't count it. There are also a number of things on the list that I've eaten but will never touch my lips again ... eel and currywurst (Hi, Ed!) come to mind.

The Ugly Dumpling Begins

This blog, simply, is about food. About procuring and preparing and consuming, whether at a food stall in a crowded soi in Bangkok, Thailand, (where I was until a few months ago) or in a quiet kitchen in Boulder, Colorado (where I am now).

The title of this blog comes from the dumplings I made last week. My friend Xiang Yi Zhang gave me her family recipe and taught me how to make them in Bangkok. We had several alcohol-fueled dumpling parties, and somewhere there are pictures of inebriated expats covered in flour and wearing Hello Kitty aprons.

Here is Xiang Yi's recipe, followed by my elaboration:

Filling:
Pork mince (1lb will feed 4)
Chives (ratio; pork : chives = 2 : 1)
Salt, pepper to taste
Oil – any, but sesame has flavour if you like it, otherwise, any veg oil – 1tblspn
Optional – pounded coriander root, ginger (5 roots, 1 inch cube ginger)
Wrap: Flour and water, stiff dough is best
Dipping sauces – Chinese vinegar with chopped/pounded ginger, coriander root, garlic, chilli, spring onion, coriander (cilantro) leaves – all to taste. Combination of any is OK.
Dip bottom of dumplings in oil then place in medium heat pan. Brown, then add enough water to generate steam for 5-10 minutes. Dumplings take around 20 minutes to cook through.

XYZ says "Chinese chives" are essential to the recipe. These are also known as garlic chives, nira and by other names. I didn't have any, so I used finely diced white onion and some green onion as well. I mixed the onions and pork with minced garlic, salt and pepper, finely chopped fresh ginger and dark sesame oil, and let it marinate for half an hour or so.

Store-bought wrappers are easy to come by, but making them by hand isn't difficult, and it's a lot cheaper. Xiang Yi just eyeballed a mixture of flour and water, but I used this recipe (with room-temperature water) and my food processor.

I cheated with dipping sauce, using a few tablespoons of prepared chilli paste purchased from Xiong Farms at the Boulder Farmer's Market. The paste is just chillis, onion, garlic, fish sauce and sugar. Thinned with some soy sauce and a little sesame oil and topped with some fresh cilantro, it's perfect for quick dip.

Folding and sealing the dumplings was the hard part, and that's where the practice will come in. Mine stayed sealed, but I wanted those pretty little ruched folds of dough, and that didn't happen. And thus The Ugly Dumpling was born.

I'll keep trying. I'll keep writing. And maybe next time, I'll spring for the Dumpling Master 3000.