photo by izumiflowers

I just had to cancel a trip to Malaysia.  While I can't say I am going to miss the unbelievably long plane ride, I will most definitely miss the street food.  Street food is built into the fabric of life in Singapore and Malaysia, so the choices and quality are astounding.  If America could convince all those folks parading through drive-throughs to get out of the car and eat at a trailer, I'm sure the results would be just as amazing.

There are simply too many varieties and tactics in Malaysia to narrow the focus on one dish, but noodles rarely disappoint.  There are plenty of Thai and Chinese influenced noodle bowls to mix with the local favorites.

This is a very simple recipe that finds its depth in two ingredients - the sausage and the noodles.  If at all possible I use fresh made egg noodles.  You can buy fresh pasta, but its remarkably easy to make and the little machine is great fun to use.

The sausage is trickier - choose wisely.  I am lucky enough to have access to some truly fantastic sausage from Whole Foods and some stunning smoked sausage from a few of the BBQ joints nearby.  Either works well, but the preparation changes based on the sausage content.

Hakka Noodles

Handful of bean sprouts

Handful of fresh egg noodles

1 pork sausage, casing removed and diced

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp fish sauce

1/4 cup chicken stock

Directions

1. Bring the stock to a boil and let simmer.Boil  water for the noodles. 
   


2. Blanch the bean sprouts, then add some salt. 


3. Prepare noodles.


4. Cook the pork, dicing as it cooks.


5. Add soy and fish sauces to the bean sprouts, put noodles on top and pork on top of the noodles.


6. Serve warm broth on the side.

photo by Darwin Bell

While I am no huge fan of Apple products, I do like my iPhone.  It’s a mostly useful device with some entirely useless applications.  Some time back I picked up an interesting app - Distant Shore.  I liked the company's other app, Koi Pond.  Distant Shore is a simple concept - you walk along a beach picking up shells.  Along the way you might find bottles with messages in them.  When you've collected 5 shells you get an empty bottle you can fill with any message you like.  Other users reply to your messages and you to theirs.  Simple idea.  Distant Shore is the kind of game a four-year-old can enjoy.  I know one and he loves picking up bottles and shells.

I send the same message every time; "what's the best street food where you are?"  Not everyone replies, and not every reply makes sense.  But in the replies come, from all over the world.  Its was from Distant Shore that I learned about "garbage plates".  Thanks - now I know how bad American food can get if you really try.

By far, the most enthusiastic responses, besides "hot dogs!", are about Xiao Long Bao.  The incredibly small number of users out there collecting virtual shells simply love soup dumplings.  I can't really blame them - they truly are amazing.

Thinking about soup dumplings got me thinking about an obvious fusion that would be wonderful - Gumbo Dumplings.  I make gumbo on a regular basis, so I know what happens to leftovers.  When chilled the gumbo becomes fairly gelatinous.  A perfect fit for these fantastic little packages.

Unless you have a dinner party that you're working on, I would recommend only making enough gumbo aspic to make the number of dumplings you plan in one sitting.  That said, these would be a huge hit at any dinner party, assuming you have the time and energy to make the gumbo.

Gumbo dumplings

2 cups gumbo

Frozen dumpling skins (get these at your local asian market)

Directions

1. Strain the solids out of the gumbo and put the liquid in a glass bowl.  Put in the refrigerator, in the crisper drawer, and allow to gel over night.


2. Dice the solids from the gumbo to a small/fine dice.  Store in the refrigerator overnight.


3. When ready to make the dumplings, put the skins out on a board.  Run a wet finger around the edge, making sure the entire skin has water on the edge.  Form the skin into a bowl (see picture above).


4. Into each skin, drop a bit of the sausage/chicken and a bit of the gumbo  liquid.  Don’t overfill.


5. Seal each dumpling with a little twist.  Make sure each dumpling is sealed tight.


6. Finish as you would Xiao Long Bao, but cook for just 8 minutes.

photo by wallyg

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival happens each year in the spring.   The event is at the Fairgrounds Race Track, near a large city park.  It's multiple days of excellent music and food.  I'm sure some big names have played Jazzfest, but my visits have focused on gospel and food.

The Jazz & Heritage Festival has roots in Southern gospel music, and it shows with the quality of bands that play each year.  Maybe the acoustics aren't the same as a small church, but the music makes up for it.

The other highlight is the food.  Its one of the best ways to try different cajun and creole dishes, some that aren't very common outside the fairgrounds.  The list is long, and I hope to eventually cover most, if not all of them here:

• Crawfish bread


• Crawfish balls


• Natchitoches meat pie


• Crawfish pie


• Muffuletta

I have never found a crawfish bread that comes even close to what you can find at Jazz Fest…

Prejean's Restaurant serves an excellent gumbo at the Jazz & Heritage Festival.  This is not their gumbo, but it’s a good one.  Its simple and it never fails.  The only trick to this recipe is that you'll need a whole smoked chicken - easy where I live, perhaps not everywhere.  There are ways to smoke a chicken yourself, but when I realized how fantastic the local version was, I quit doing it myself.

I serve large bowls of gumbo with a lump of packed rice dropped on top.  The heat of this gumbo is heavily dependent on the sausage, so pay attention to what you decide to use.

Smoked Chicken Gumbo

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

2 cups white onions, minced

1 cup green bell peppers, minced

1 cup celery, chopped

10 cups chicken stock

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

1 pound andouille sausage

1 whole smoked chicken

To make the gumbo:

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Don't let it smoked.  Add the flour a little at a time.


2. Let the flour cook, stirring almost constantly, until it is a dark roux, the color of good coffee.


3. Add half the onions, peppers and celery and cook about 5 minutes.  Add the seasonings and cook another 5 minutes.


4. Add 8 cups of stock to the roux, bring to a boil and cook 30 minutes.


5. Add the rest of the vegetables, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, sausage and remaining stock.  Simmer another 30 minutes.


6. Remove the sausage from the gumbo and slice into 1/4 in slices.  Return to the gumbo and cook for another 30 minutes.


7. While the gumbo is finishing, remove all the meat from the chicken and dice.  Set aside.


8. Add the chicken and let the gumbo cool for 10 minutes.  Spoon into bowls with rice.