I’m making a mini Chinese feast for Mark and myself tonight. On the menu is Xiaolongbao (Shanghai soup dumplings), chicken fried rice, and Chinese cabbage braised in a cream sauce (a dish I had once at a high end Chinese restaurant in Osaka that I’m trying to re-create). While the components of each dish have been made ahead, every dish needs to finished at the same time, and none really lend themselves to the “set aside and warm before serving” routine.
Filling and shaping the dumplings will take some time, as I’m a rank novice, but I think I can do that ahead and pop ‘em in the fridge before I steam them. They steam for 8 to 10 minutes. I suppose I could start the cabbage on the stove and finish it in the oven, but I don’t want the cabbage to totally go limp. And of course, the fried rice must be cooked and served quickly.
You can hand me a recipe with 25 ingredients and two pages of directions, and I’ll be thrilled! But timing is my downfall! I do my very best to do a thorough mise en place, I really do! Is my downfall in the actual menu planning?
Filling and shaping the dumplings will take some time, as I’m a rank novice, but I think I can do that ahead and pop ‘em in the fridge before I steam them. They steam for 8 to 10 minutes. I suppose I could start the cabbage on the stove and finish it in the oven, but I don’t want the cabbage to totally go limp. And of course, the fried rice must be cooked and served quickly.
You can hand me a recipe with 25 ingredients and two pages of directions, and I’ll be thrilled! But timing is my downfall! I do my very best to do a thorough mise en place, I really do! Is my downfall in the actual menu planning?