Red Bean Paste Steamed Bun (Dao Sar Pau)

The participants of the Gilmore Church Park Community Kitchen were very excited when they knew that Grace will be demonstrating to us how to make Chinese Steamed Buns from scratch. Grace has recently coming back to the kitchen after she quit her job in the T&T kitchen. She had been working in the T&T kitchen, the Chinese Buns section for more than six months. She learned her trade of making Chinese Buns there. According to Grace, working in the T&T kitchen is very back breaking and the staff have to work for long hours. We are so fortunate to have Grace showing us what she took more than 6 months of hard work to learn.

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The Red Bean Paste Steamed Bun is fluffy and lightly chewy, which the Chinese said has a good bite to it, (ko garn).

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Nothing beats some freshly made steamed buns from a bamboo steamer in your own kitchen.

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Vegetarian Dumpling

Ming made this Vegetarian Dumpling in the South Arm Community Kitchen. She made it based on Vanessa’s description of the dish which Vanessa had in a restaurant. Since Ming came from Beijing, she is good at making dumpling and noodle which are the staple food of Northern China.

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The dumpling is steamed and the vegetarian filing tasted pretty good.

Ingredients

For the dumpling skin:

  • self rising flour
  • warm water

For the filing:

  • vermicelli
  • cloud ear
  • fried tofu puff
  • shiitake mushroom

For seasoning:

  • salt
  • soy sauce
  • sesame oil
  • chicken powder

Ming made her dish by eyeball and filing, often, she cant give me the exact amount of the ingredients.

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Richmond Sharing Farm Field Trip

Minoo organized a field trip to the Richmond Sharing Farm for the community kitchens for a change. Three of the community kitchens participated in this field trip, i.e. the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen, the South Arm Community Kitchen and the Caring Place Community Kitchen. We met at the South Arm Community Centre and boarded a school bus for the trip.

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This field trip is to introduce us to the Richmond Fruit Tree Project located at the end of Gilbert Road and at the Terra Nova Rural Park. The Sharing Farm Project was initiated in 2001 by a group of volunteers. In six years, over 90,000 pounds of food has been harvested and donated to the Richmond Food Bank. Every week, the food bank feed over 800 people in which 40% of them are kids. Volunteers are always welcome to lend a helping hand in the farm. For those interested in volunteering, the farm is opened from Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 4pm.

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You can rent a plot from the city which is three meters by seven meters for $40 a year. For those who are interested to have a little farm, the number to call for the waiting list is (604) 244-1208.
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The individual plot of land is planted with all sorts of plants including vegetables and flowers. Here are some beautiful garlic chives and …

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Country Harvest Spaghetti

Heidi partnered with Tanni in this week’s demonstration in the Gilmore Park Community Kitchen. Heidi made a Country Harvest Spaghetti and a jello dessert.

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The Country Harvest Spaghetti is full of goodness of colourful vegetables and the sauce is flavoured with white wine. The slice apples add some crunchiness to the dish.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb spaghetti
  • 1 sweet bell pepper, sliced
  • 1/2 lb asparagus, sliced
  • 1/2 lb white mushroom, sliced
  • 1/2 lb onion, sliced
  • 1 medium size apple, slice
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons dried cranberries

For the sauce

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

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Vietnamese Chicken Chop

Jean would like to learn how to use lemon grass. Being a Canadian, Jean is fascinated with the stuff she finds in Asian groceries stores. The only problem is she does not how to use them. So, Tanni demonstrated a Vietnamese Chicken Chop recipe in the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen which uses lemon grass. Tanni got the recipe from a friend who married a Vietnamese. The marinates in this recipe can be used on chicken or pork chop.

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Ingredients

  • 4 pieces of chicken thighs

Marinate:

  • 1 tablespoon chopped shallot
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • 2 tablespoons chopped lemon grass
  • 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce

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Almond and Honey Cookies

Minoo made these Almond and Honey Cookies in the Caring Place Community Kitchen upon Ada’s request. Most of the time, it’s a challenge to get the members of the community kitchen to volunteer to demonstrate. Most of them are very shy. So, instead of asking for volunteer to demonstrate, Minoo will ask what we would like to learn. It’s not easy being a leader of the community kitchen.

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This Almond and Honey Cookie is the puff up type, light and yet you can get the crunch from the crushed almonds.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup almonds, crushed or blended (not too fine)

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Apple Banana Muffin

Stella made this Apple Banana Muffin for last year’s Caring Place Potluck. She demonstrated this recipe in the Caring Place Community Kitchen upon Minoo’s request.

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The Apple Banana Muffin is moist and the walnuts give it the crunch. This muffin is good for after school snack or breakfast. It can also be made into a loaf.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/3 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup oil or melted margarine
  • 1 cup brown sugar (less if bananas are very ripe)
  • 2 to 3 bananas
  • 1 large apple
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted

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Sweet Peanut Butter Pancake

With the remainder of the dough, Ming made some Sweet Peanut Butter Pancake. This will be a hit with kids who like peanut butter.

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The Sweet Peanut Butter Pancake is nutty and sweet, my kind of dessert.

Ingredients

  • All purpose flour
  • Water
  • Peanut butter
  • Brown sugar
  • Oil for pan frying

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Green Onion Pancake version 2

I had blogged about Green Onion Pancake before. But unfortunately for that time, the photos were a disaster. I’m glad that Ming is making Green Onion Pancake in the South Arm Community Kitchen. This time I made sure I had right camera with me. Even though Ming’s method is slightly different, the end result is still the same.

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The Green Onion Pancake is crispy and fragrant. Nanzaro simply loves this. He just gobbled down the piece I took home from the community kitchen.

Ingredients

  • All purpose flour
  • Warm water
  • Green onion, finely chopped
  • Vegetable oil
  • Salt

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