Make wishtv.com your home page

Exploring the tastes of China

You don’t have to visit China to sample an authentic Chinese dish, just stay right here in Indy! Ruimei Liu, owner of Lucky Lou, makes us some pork and cabbage dumplings and four types of dim sum. Here’s a quick history lesson of the tasty dish!

Dumpling, is one of the most unique cuisine of Chinese food culture. According to records, dumpling originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty more than 1800 years ago, and invented by a famous physician with the purpose of healing ear frostbite in winter. Today, hot and fresh homemade dumplings not only warm up ears, but also warm up hearts when eating at the time of family reunion. The main ingredients to make dumplings are flour, water, meat, veggies and seasoning. Common condiments are soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil etc. Dumplings can be water boiled, pan fried, deep fried or steamed.

In the southern part of China, dim sum is more common. It’s a style of Cantonese cuisine prepared as small bite-sized portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates. Dim sum is usually linked with the older tradition from yum cha (drinking tea), which has its roots in travelers on the ancient Silk Road needing a place to rest. In Southern China, many restaurants start serving dim sum as early as five in the morning. More traditional dim sum restaurants typically serve dim sum until mid-afternoon.

Here is today’s recipe:

Pork w/ Cabbage Dumplings:DOUGH

2 cups all-purpose flour

3⁄4 cup warm water

FILLING

2 cups finely chopped cabbage

2/3 lb ground pork

1/3 cup minced Shiitake mushrooms

1⁄2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp grated ginger

1⁄3 cup chopped Chinese chives

1 egg

2 cloves garlic, minced

1⁄4 tsp black pepper

1 1⁄2 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 Tbsp oil

1 1⁄2 Tbsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp rice wine

Lucky Lou is a Southern Chinese style restaurant located in the Lafayette Square area. It offers Authentic Cantonese Dim Sum, Cantonese Cuisine, Szechuan and Hunan Cuisine. To learn more, visit www.imcoalition.org.