Thursday, January 20, 2011

A-Z Project: E is for EDAMAME

As in: Edamame Dumplings in Miso Broth

Note: I originally was going to do an English Pea puree, ala the one stolen by Alex from Top Chef, but I forgot that peas aren't in season right now and I wasn't down with using frozen peas. So, we had a change of direction. I'll probably make the dish when peas are in season and post it up here just cuz I really think someone should steal the dish from Alex. Ya know: quid pro quo, douchebag.

Welcome back...

OK, I'm back. No excuses, no explanations, let's just pick up where we left off with this project, shall we? Good. Glad to be back...here we go...

I probably lost money trading you 6 months ago, ya little bastards

I'm a trader. I typically trade commodity futures, namely what are classified as the "grains." This includes corn, wheat, oats and soybeans. Don't ask: I don't know why soybeans are a grain either. So, I thought "if I'm trading them all day...why not cook them at night?" Brilliant! (Wait'll I pull this stunt with frozen concentrated OJ, pork bellies or live cattle) Granted, it's a little bit of a stretch to classify soybeans under "E" but we're using the Japanese name "edamame" which is how most people refer to them anyway so I'm OK with it, especially considering my affinity for Asian foods as of late.

I wanted to use them in as pure a form as possible so I chose a recipe for edamame dumplings inspired by the famous Buddakan in New York (it's on my list to try). Take a gyoza wrapper and stuff it with an edamame filling, steam and you're done. Simple, tasty, perfect way to showcase an otherwise plain ingredient.

The ingredients and recipe are fairly simple:
Edamame
Butter
Cream
Sriracha

Throw everything in the Cuisinart, puree, chill and the filling is done.

Q: what would I be without butter? A: about 170 pounds

The biggest pain was creating the dumplings. This is the 1st time I've tried making a dumpling to be steamed and I guess they didn't turn out badly, but watching me make the first few was a bit like watching a deer try and take it's first steps: awkward, but oh so adorable cuz he's trying so hard. After they were steamed, the edamame filling was bright green beneath the translucent gyoza skins and the photos really don't do the color justice; they were beautiful, if not maybe a bit of a grade school art project in terms of quality control and consistency.

I swear, I'll get the white balance right one of these days

How were they? Awesome. I served them in a simple miso broth and the results were great. Creamy texture, rich from all the butter and cream (maybe a bit overkill but still damn good) and a lovely edamame flavor with just a hint of heat and sweetness from the Sriracha. I will certainly be using this recipe in the future and maybe creating the dumplings won't be quite as clumsy. They're really more of an appetizer or dim sum sort of dish and making a main course out of them isn't advisable but with the miso broth you've got one hell of a 1st course to get you going.

 A wonderful soup course or dim sum item all the way

Next up: F. I have no clue what I'm doing yet but doing this dish got me jazzed to get back into this project so expect more frequent updates.

No comments: