Hummus

250g dried Chickpeas soaked in water overnight
1/2tsp  Baking Soda
3–5 cloves of Garlic
Juice of 2 Lemons
1 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
3 tbs Tahini
2 tbs olive oil
125ml Ice cold water

INSTRUCTIONS

Soak Your Chickpeas in water for 12-24 hours, then drain and rinse them.

Cook The Chick peas with 3-5 cloves of raw Garlic and the Baking Soda.

Instant Method: Cover the Chickpeas, Garlic, and Baking Soda with water until it is 2-3″ above the beans. Stir, seal, and cook on Manual HIGH pressure for 10 minutes.  let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes before breaking the seal.

Stove Top Method: Add the Chickpeas, Garlic, and Baking Soda to a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 40 – 120 minutes, until the beans are tender and the skins are coming off the pea.

Set the cooked cloves of Garlic aside and peel the Chickpeas. The skins should slide off quite easily when you gently pinch each bean. Discard the Chickpea skins once finished.

Make a Chickpea Puree by adding  f the peeled Chickpeas and cooked Garlic to the Food Processor, then seal it shut. Blitz for a few pulses then process till they make a smooth puree.

Add Tahini and Water. Add in 1/4 cup of Tahini to the Food Processor. Pulse for a couple of pulses to combine.

Add in the lemon juice and salt.  Pulse again.

Let the Food Processor run for 2 minutes, to help make the hummus fluffy and smooth. Whilst its running stream in the olive oil till incorporated. Then the ice cold water and continue to processes for about 2 more minuted till light and fluffy.

Serve with flat breads

Flat Bread

125g Plain flour
125g Bread flour
90g yogurt
85g warm water
7g dry yeast
5g  salt
5g sugar
1tbs olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Disolve sugar and yeast in the warm water set aside till the yeast starts to sponge.  You are looking for a thick layer of foam on in the water to show that the yeast is alive.

In a large bowl mix the flour and salt.

Once the yeast is alive. Add the yogurt and  yeast mixture to the flour. Mix the ingredients by hand using a circular motion starting in the middle of the bowl. With every circular motion moving flour from the outside into the wet mix so you get a shaggy dough.

on a lighly floured surface knead into an elastic dough for a couple of minutes  and shape into a ball

Put the dough in an oil greased bowl and put about 1 tablespoon oil on the dough

Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 1 hour. Sprinkle the ball of dough and a cutting board with flour. Take the dough out of the bowl and form it into a it into a log

Divide the doigh into 75g portions.  Roll the portions into balls and let the dough balls rest for 10 minutes covered by a clean kitchen towel

Take a dough ball and press down. Roll into a circle with a rolling pin about 5 inches wide. Let it rest on a cutting board for 2 minutes and repeat for the other flatbreads

Pre-heat a skillet or griddle until hot. When the skillet is hot add bazlama flatbread dough circle in the pan (no oil or butter required)

Turn the flatbread after 30 seconds and heat the other side also for 30 seconds. Turn again and slowly you will see the dough rise like a balloon

Do not press down just turn the flatbread when it is brown so the other side can brown as well. Take out of the pan and set aside

Bake the remaining flatbreads at described above

Gyoza from Scratch

Wrappers

240g plain Flour
½ teaspoon sea salt
125ml freshly boiled water
Cornstarch (for dusting)

INSTRUCTIONS

Put the flour into a medium bowl. Add salt to just-boiled water and stir with chopsticks until completely dissolved.

Add the just-boiled water into the flour little by little, stirring with chopsticks in a circular motion till a dough ball forms around the chopsticks.  If the flour is still separated, add 1/2 Tbsp. water at a time till you can form the the shaggy dough  into a ball.

Transfer the dough to the work surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, Cut the dough in half. Shape each half into a long log, Wrap each log with plastic wrap. Let it sit for at minimum of 30 minutes in the fridge.

Unwrap the dough. Sprinkle a corn flour on the work surface and cut each log in half.  Cover the portion you are not using.

Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out as thin as possible.  You want it to be almost translucent.  Trick here is to keep the surface lightly floured.  Once you have it rolled out  press down the 3-inch (8 cm) cookie cutter and remove excess dough.  If the dough rolls back, leave it for a few seconds, and cut out. Cover the scraps with the damp towel. Later combine all the scraps as long as they still squish together and haven’t dried out too much. Re-roll the scraps and repeat the process.

Sprinkle each wrapper with corn flour and stack the gyoza wrappers. Make sure to the wrappers covered with damp kitchen towel. Once all the dough is used, wrap the gyoza wrappers with plastic wrap and freeze or refrigerate until you’re ready to use. You can keep gyoza wrappers for about 3-4 days in the refrigerator and up to a month in freezer. Defrost in the refrigerator prior to use.

Filling:

500g minced/ground pork
4 spring onion/scallion finely chopped
1 clove garlic (minced) (I used powdered in the video)
2 thumb of ginger (fresh, grated)
50ml oyster sauce
50ml soy sauce
2tbs of cold water

Dipping Sauce:

1 Tbsp yuzu
1 Tbsp soy sauce

Combine the all the ingredients except the water for the dumplings in a bowl

Mix well.  Then add the water in one table spoon at a time incorporating it after each tablespoon

Fill Your Gyoza

Take a wrapper and place it in the palm of your hand. Use a teaspoon to take a small amount of filling and put it in the center of the wrapper. Dip one finger in a bowl of water and draw a circle around the outer ¼” of the wrapper with your wet finger until it’s wet all around.

Fold the wrapper in half over the filling and pinch it in the center with your fingers (but don’t seal yet!). Using your thumb and index finger, start making a pleat about once every ¼“ on the top part of the wrapper from the center toward the right. As you fold each pleat, press the folded pleat tightly against the back part of wrapper using your other thumb and index finger. Make 3-4 pleats.

Continue with the left side of the gyoza. Start making a pleat from the center to the left.

Cook Gyoza

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, place the gyoza in a single layer, flat side down (in two rows or in a circular shape).

Cook until the bottom of the gyoza turns golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Add ¼ cup of water to the pan. Immediately cover with a lid and steam the gyoza for about 3 minutes or until most of the water evaporates.

Remove the lid to evaporate any remaining water. And recrisp the bottoms of the gyoza

Transfer to a plate and serve with dipping sauce. For the dipping sauce, combine the sauce ingredients in a small plate and mix all together.

Tortilla

420g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
125g lard, or fat of choice
250ml hot water

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large mixing bowl add the flour and salt. Whisk together to combine.

Boil the water in a kettle then let rest till just a steam.

Measure the water into a heat safe jug and add the lard and stir, allow the lard to completely melt.

Pour the melted lard and water into the mixing bowl with the flour mixture.

Knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured surface for 10-15 minutes. Once the dough is no longer sticky and you have no dough sticking to your hands, the dough has a smooth appearance, then it’s ready.

Divide the dough into 25g mounds for taco sized tortillas  Roll and pinch each portion of dough to form a small ball. Place the dough portions on a lightly floured tray and  cover with cling film and let rest for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Lightly sprinkle flour on a clean counter top and lightly sprinkle a rolling pin.

Using your fingers, gently flatten out one tortilla, then roll into a round disc. The tortilla should be rolled thin and be slightly transparent.

If there is resistance or its shrinking , let the dough rest for another 30 minutes to get more chill.

Roll out all the balls of dough, lightly flour each disc and stack.

Once they are all rolled out heat a skillet.

Place the tortilla on the hot skillet, allow to cook for about 60 seconds, you will notice bubbles forming, don’t press them down. After 60 seconds, take a peek at the bottom to check the colour of the tortilla, brown spots should have formed, i

Flip the tortilla and continue to cook the other side for another 30-45 seconds, bubbles will still form and brown spots will appear.

Remove the tortilla from the skillet and place on a plate  on a clean towel. Cover with the bowl after each tortilla is cooked to help retain heat

Continue this process until all tortillas are cooked.

Tortillas are best served warm. But you can freeze once they are cooled and then reheat when you need the,

Homemade (English) Muffins

300 ml milk (warm like a bath)
7g dried yeast
30g white caster sugar
50g Butter (melted)
425g plain flour
20g polenta or semolina

Warm the milk in the microwave till its about body temp or the tea of a warm bath.

Add the yeast and sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside for a few minutes until the mixture is creamy and starting to froth.

In a large bowl mix the flour and salt. Then mix in the yeast mixture and melted butter to make a soft dough.

Knead to bring the dough together (about 3 minutes)\

Transfer to a buttered bowl, cover with clingfilm and set aside in a warm place to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Knock back the dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 2cm thick. Using a round cutter or thin drinking glass, cut out circles of 5 to 8cm.

Lightly sprinkle a tray with polenta or semolina . Transfer the muffins to the tray and sprinkle over a little more semolina or polenta. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 hour to rise.

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas 3 and heat a heavy non-stick pan over a medium heat.

Brown the muffins in the pan, in batches, for a few minutes each side, then turn the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Transfer to a baking tray and finish with 5 minutes in the oven, or until cooked through.

It’s safe to say that I love kimchi. If I see something with kimchi on a menu I’m drawn to it. I always have a jar of it in the fridge. So its a pretty natural thing for me to make. ⁠
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