Icy Flame

1/2 lb Lean pork, chopped
1 1/2 c Bean sprouts, chopped
1 1/2 c Cabbage, chopped
1/2 c Bamboo shoots, thinly sliced
1/2 c Grated carrot
3 Mushrooms, chopped
3 Green onions, thin slice
1 Garlic clove, minced
2 Slices ginger, minced
1 ts Soy sauce
1 ts Suar
1 tb Sesame oil
Dash pepper
8 Egg roll wrappersInstructions

Mix all ingredients together. Fill eggroll wrappers. Fold in sides, roll, seal with water or egg white. Deep fry in HOT oil until brown. Remove and drain. This will make 6 to 12 depending on how much filling you use.Barbecued Pork Buns Ingredients (16 servings)

1/3 c Warm water

1/2 ts Sugar
1 pk Dry yeast
2 1/2 c Flour
2 1/2 c Cake flour
4 tb Sugar
1/2 ts Salt
2 tb Shortening
1 1/4 c Low fat milk
16 Pieces white paper 2 inches square

FILLING:
6 oz Chinese BBQ pork, diced
1 tb Oil
2 ts Water
1/2 ts Salt
1/2 ts Sugar
1/2 ts Thin soy sauce
1 ts Oyster sauce
1 ts Hoisin sauce
2 ts Cornstarch
4 ts Cold water (For thickening)Instructions

Mix together the warm water, 1/2 tsp. sugar and yeast in an 8 oz. measuring cup. Let stand until it rises to the 8 oz. level (about 20 minutes).

Sift flour, cake flour, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Add shortening, yeast mixture and mil,.
Knead mixture 5 minutes to form a dough. Cover with a damp cloth and set dough in a warm place. Allow the dough to rise for 3 hours.
Heat wok, add oil and stir-fry pork for 2 minutes.
Add 2 tablespoons water, salt, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and hoisin sauce. Bring it to a boil.
Prepare thickening by mixing the cornstarch and 4 tablespoons cold water. Stir into the mixture and cook for 1 minute. Let cool before using.
After 3 hours, when the dough has risen, shape into rolls about 2 inches in diameter. Cut each roll into 1-1/2 inch pieces.
Shape each piece into a shallow bowl shape.
Put 1 tablespoon filling in the center, close ans twist dough to form a bun. Put the bun on a 2 inch square of white paper. (This prevents the bun from becoming soggy while steaming.) Place 8 buns in a pie pan and allow them to set and rist for 15 minutes in a warm place.
Steam for 25 minutes.

1 pk Round dumpling skins *
1/2 lb Prawns
12 Chinese mushrooms, small or use canned but squeeze dry
1/2 lb Ground pork
2 Green onion, finely chopped
1 sm Egg

SEASONING:
1/2 ts Salt
1 ts Sugar
1 tb Sesame oi
2 ts Thin soy sauce
1 ts Oyster sauce
1 tb CornstarchInstructions

Shell, devein, wash, and drain prawns. Dice into bits.

Boil mushrooms in water for 10 minutes, rinse, squeeze dry, cut off and discard stems; then chop into very small pieces.
Combine the pork, mushrooms, prawns, and onion. Put mixture on chopping board and chop 10 to 15 strokes with cleaver. (Use a sharp knife if you don't have a cleaver.) Texture, when you're finished, should be slightly finer than hamburger.
Add "seasoning" and the egg to the pork mixture. Mix well.
To make dumpling, place 1 Tb filling in the center of a dumpling skin. Then bring all sides of the skin up to cover the meat as much as possible, without closing. The top of the dumpling is left open.
Cook dumplings by steaming for 30 minutes. Use as many as you need, with the rest, cool, wrap, freeze. Reheat after thawing by steaming 10 minutes.
Serve with soy sauce, hot sauce, or mustard.
* Dumpling skins are similar to won ton skins, except that they are round and slightly thinner. You may substitute won ton skins by merely cutting off the corners to round off the skin.
SOURCE: Chopstick, Cleaver and Wok.

Chopsticks are the main table utensils in China. Chinese children start with a spoon but will adapt to chopsticks as early as when they turn one. As a gift, chopsticks symbolize straightforwardness because of their shape. Chinese chopsticks don't have pointed tips, unlike the Japanese style that is refined to pick out the bones of their main diet, fish. Most Chinese chopsticks are made of bamboo, though today, you see more and more wooden and plastic ones.
Foreigners are not expected to use chopsticks proficiently, but if they do, they will give a mighty impression. Therefore, before you go to China, go to a local Chinese restaurant, if not to find authentic Chinese food, at least you can practice using chopsticks. Its all right if, in your first meal in China, you can't use chopsticks. If you still can't handle the two sticks to pick up a big shrimp in your tenth meal, you show your incompetence in learning and the willingness to learn.