Din Tai Fung Dumpling House

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food." ~George Bernard Shaw

Choosing a good restaurant can be an adventure by itself but when in doubt, out of options and the poor stomach is calling for some true food I invariably end up in Bellevue’s super popular Din Tai Fung Dumpling House. I have been to this place several times and I love the freshness of the hot steamed dumplings that arrive in bamboo steamers.

Reservations are not taken and there’s usually a long queue that waits not less than forty five minutes to get a table. The famous dumpling house with roots in Taiwan and with franchises throughout Asia is highly praised by the media including being selected as one of the top ten restaurants in the world by the "New York Times". Foodies who are constantly in search of the next best thing for their palate just love the Xiao long bao - the ethereal soup dumplings that some say have no equal.

And while you are on your wait, dumpling lovers like me get a firsthand look at the fleet-fingered process in dumpling-making station when those "dumpling chefs" put their intricate and delicate culinary craft on display behind a glass storefront in the restaurant. A couple of people are cutting and weighing the dumpling dough, while many others roll them out, shape, pleat and fill them to perfection. I also watch dumplings being loaded into bamboo baskets amidst hot clouds of steam. It’s a fascinating production process. This time I carry my camera along with me to capture the making of these plump beauties while we wait and whet our appetites.

Dumpling Chef deftly making dumplings with nimble fingers and expert hands.

 Dough shaped by hands, filled in with the filling and pleated...

Dumpling chefs in the dumpling-making station filling the dumpling dough.

Rows and rows of freshly handmade dumplings sit ready for orders.

Tray of dumplings ready for steaming...

Dumplings being loaded into bamboo baskets ready for steaming.

Fresh dumplings laid out in the bamboo basket ready for steaming.

Steamed dumplings neatly spread out on top of a cheese cloth in a little bamboo basket.

The lady at the reception also hands us a menu so we can pre-select our dishes ahead of being seated. After reviewing the options we make our selections on the order form. The time just flies and we are then called to be seated. Our server then retrieves the form and places the order. We prepare our small dishes with the dipping sauce adding one part of soy sauce to three parts of vinegar and fresh ginger slivers in anticipation of the plump beauties soon to arrive. The dishes arrive in random dim sum-style and are checked off the list, so there’s constant activity of new plates being delivered while finished items are cleared away.

Here are some snapshots from the den of dumplingfied deliciousness…

We savor the whole dumpling in one mouthful enjoying the tang of vinegar, the salt of the soy sauce and the bite of shredded fresh ginger. The dumplings hold all the delicious flavor of the moist chicken filling inside and have just the right amount of softness and chew. It just feels perfect in the mouth!

Get your chopsticks on the delicious chicken dumplings steamed to perfection and dipped in a sauce made of soy sauce and vinegar topped with fresh ginger slivers.

Some other dishes on the menu...

 

The bustle never stops in the Dumpling Mecca as tables are cleared, wiped down and reset like clockwork, ready for the next wave of hungry diners who are already waiting in line outside. We come out satisfied and satiated having devoured the best dumplings ever!

~ Manasi

Peanut Laddus

Food for me is a connecting link to my grandmother, then to my mother, to my childhood… to my past. Food is what connects us to our roots, to our past in different ways. It gives you identity, it gives you a profile of who you are, where you come from and what you become over the years.

The sweetened and scrumptious aroma of roasted peanuts, sesame, cardamom and dry ginger that fills my kitchen as I recognize, is so similar and as intoxicating to the ardent aroma coming from my mom’s kitchen whenever she prepared these ‘Peanut Laddus’ and the mind brings back to me the signs of recognition, old memories and old connection. Her love infused creations of all the traditional delightful sweets always unfailingly filled my heart, and later my tummy, with joy. I miss her a lot and her sweetmeats a big time. As kids, we would tip toe and quietly sneak into the kitchen and gobble up these Laddus. They would vanish in a single day after my mom made them.

Years have passed since, and my fascination with these traditional home made sweets continues the same way, the differences being that I now make them myself!

When you are looking for something to satisfy that sweet tooth and a quick burst of energy, the Peanut Laddus are sure to satisfy that craving. They are tasty snacks and super-easy to assemble, require practically no cooking and are so simple to make. The wholesome goodness of jaggery and the protein rich peanuts pack in quite a powerful punch!!

Laddu comes from the Sanskrit word transliterated as ‘ladduka ‘or ‘lattika’ meaning a small ball. In India, Laddus come in many varieties. A delicious Indian sweet common in every household, ‘Laddu’ is made of flour and sugar with other ingredients that vary by recipe.  Laddus are often part of the traditional recipes prepared for festivals like Sankranti, Naga Panchami, Rakhi, Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali et al. or family events and celebrations such as weddings and births, or given as offering to the deities during worship in the temples.

Common flours used for Laddu include Besan (chickpea flour), Rava (wheat semolina). They can also be prepared with ground coconut, peanuts, sesame seeds, dry fruits. These are combined with sugar and other spice flavorings, cooked in ghee (clarified butter) and molded into a ball shape.

Peanut Laddu Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups Roasted Unsalted Peanuts

2 tablespoons Sesame Seeds

¾ cup Jaggery (Jaggery is a traditional unrefined non-centrifugal whole cane sugar consumed in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. It is a concentrated product of cane juice without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in color)

½ teaspoon Cardamom Powder

½ teaspoon Dry Ginger Powder

Method:

1.    Arrange the peanuts on large, flat baking tray and roast the whole unsalted peanuts in the oven at 350ºF for 15 minutes until they turn golden brown and then cool.

2.     In a pan dry roast the sesame seeds till the color slightly changes to pale brown.

3.     Skin them. (An easy way to skin: Take peanuts in a large plate and gently rub the nuts with both hands. The skins would come away very easily. Now blow away the skins into the sink.)

4.     Grind the whole, roasted, unsalted peanuts without skin in a food processor Long with cardamon powder and dry ginger powder. Work in short pulses and give the peanuts a few seconds to cool between each pulse or else you’ll end up with a sticky mass.

5.      Now add jaggery and grind it coarsely (5 - 10 sec).

6.      Transfer the mixture into a bowl and add the sesame seeds.

7.      Shape the mixture into small round balls.

Makes about 24 delicious bite sized Laddus.

Enjoy them!

Delicious Strawberry Almond Coffee Cake - A Guilt Free Indulgence!!

I have a sweet tooth and this is the reason why I am constantly and consciously looking for some healthy fun dessert recipes to try at home. I have come with a healthy coffee cake recipe of mine. This very easy and fun cake made from scratch is a moist, light cake good as a dessert, breakfast or brunch. A berrylicious delight which can satisfy a baker's ache to bake! Your home will just smell wonderful while it is baking and cooling.

Prep Time:20 min      Cook Time:45 min      Ready In:1 hr 15 min

Ingredients:

                    1 cup fresh strawberries

                    3 tablespoons brown sugar for the strawberries
                    11/2 cup all-purpose flour
                    1/3 cup brown sugar
                    1/2 teaspoon baking powder
                    1/4 teaspoon baking soda
                    1/8 teaspoon salt
                    1/2 cup vanilla honey yogurt
                    3 tablespoons butter, melted
                    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
                    1 egg
                    1/4 cup chopped/sliced almonds
                    2 tablespoons of milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees). Grease and flour an 8 inch round cake pan.
2. Mix strawberries and brown sugar in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl combine the yogurt, butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and egg, and add to flour mixture. Stir just until moist by adding the milk. Spoon 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan. Spread strawberry mixture evenly over the batter. Spoon remaining batter over strawberry mixture. Top with almonds.
4. Bake for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.
5. Run a knife around the edge of pan before transferring the cake onto a serving platter.
6. This simple berrylicious cake just tastes wonderful with your coffee.