What Are You Eating?

I proposed that to the wife, she turned me down before the words were all the way out of my mouth 🤣
I was thinking on how to do an imu in WA…my friends place is at the border of Issaquah and Preston, and has no neighbors, which is ideal. Rocks wouldn’t be much of a problem…but banana stumps and leaves would be…I was thinking cabbage, just not sure how the meat would taste…
 
I was thinking on how to do an imu in WA…my friends place is at the border of Issaquah and Preston, and has no neighbors, which is ideal. Rocks wouldn’t be much of a problem…but banana stumps and leaves would be…I was thinking cabbage, just not sure how the meat would taste…
Banana leaves are quite cheap at Asian markets but you would need a whole lot of them. Skunk cabbage leaves were used by local tribes for wrapping fish and other meats. The leaves are only edible after being boiled several times due to the high concentration of calcium oxalate crystals. For lining an imu it wouldn’t be a problem though. Probably the northwest’s equivalent to banana leaves IMO. I did it one with a brookie at camp years ago and it came out great.
 
I made a Won ton soup recipe I found on YT. It involves frying diced garlic and onions with some other aromatics. Save the oil to drizzle later, but put the fried garlic and onions in the meat mixture. These had such great flavor. While the broth heated, I pan fried a few won ton rejects (bad folds, broken wrappers). These were so good I cooked 1/3 of them this way. They really stole the show I think.


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I made a Won ton soup recipe I found on YT. It involves frying diced garlic and onions with some other aromatics. Save the oil to drizzle later, but put the fried garlic and onions in the meat mixture. These had such great flavor. While the broth heated, I pan fried a few won ton rejects (bad folds, broken wrappers). These were so good I cooked 1/3 of them this way. They really stole the show I think.


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I have a great wonton recipe I can post if there is interest.. soup or fried.. a great sauce for the fried wontons.. if i could only fold them correctly.. they taste amazing no matter the look.. my chef friend, now in Cambodia, running his pants restaurant for 5 + years laughs at me.. 😄
 
I have a great wonton recipe I can post if there is interest.. soup or fried.. a great sauce for the fried wontons.. if i could only fold them correctly.. they taste amazing no matter the look.. my chef friend, now in Cambodia, running his pants restaurant for 5 + years laughs at me.. 😄
There is interest.
 
There is interest.
This is the recipe I used. I used way less onions than she did since my family don't prefer them. I tried wrapping them her way, but my wrappers were too stiff. I did the nurse hat style I grew up with. I will definitely make this again.
Her accent is entertaining. I've made a few of her recipes including Char shiu bao. The dough came out great.

 
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Banana leaves are quite cheap at Asian markets but you would need a whole lot of them. Skunk cabbage leaves were used by local tribes for wrapping fish and other meats. The leaves are only edible after being boiled several times due to the high concentration of calcium oxalate crystals. For lining an imu it wouldn’t be a problem though. Probably the northwest’s equivalent to banana leaves IMO. I did it one with a brookie at camp years ago and it came out great.
Banana leaves are not the main problem…replacing the moisture from banana stumps is…when I went past a cabbage farm pre harvest before they trimmed them, I thought they might replace the moisture required for a 12 hour overnight cook…but cabbage has a distinctive flavor and odor, whereas banana stumps are 90% water and practically odorless
 
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