Lunch @ H-Mart

H-Mart is this really awesome Asian market in Burlington, MA (they have other locations as well). Besides being your typical Asian food market, they have a food court with meals made fresh to eat, a bakery, and a lot of little sectioned off kiosks selling everything from toys and Kpop merchandise to beauty products.

I've been there to buy snacks before but they have a food court and bakery which I had never been to until yesterday. Walking around the store, it's hard to not want one of everything just to try (I had to resist spending all my money on candy, tea, and ice cream) and it's the same way when you go to the food court. They have Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese food of all types. While I was there I had some unagi sushi and red bean bubble tea. I love bubble tea so much and they make it almost smoothie like, with chunks of ice. I try to get a new flavor every time I try it somewhere and so this time it was red bean. The verdict? Delicious. The boba were the perfect texture as well. I also shared some dumpling noodle soup with my friend Elle since the portions are so large.

Afterwards I got a slice of sweet potato cake, which was really light and fluffy but also super filling at the same time. I think it actually had chunks of sweet potato in the cake, which might be why I couldn't finish it, despite how delicious it was.

Homemade Potstickers and Dipping Sauce

I love Asian food and dumplings of all kinds are definitely in my top five favorite Asian foods. Wontons, dumplings, gyoza— I love them all. Only when I was taking this photo of the ones I made did I realize how weird they must look to people who've never heard of them before. They're so delicious but at the same time look like slimy little skin bags. Now that I've said that, you're probably never going to look at potstickers the same. Sorry.

I used to get the potstickers from the frozen section of the grocery store to snack on, and for a while it was a staple every time I'd have friends over, no matter whose house we went to. All of us had them on hand at all times. I had never made them from scratch and while it seemed like an extremely difficult process, I looked up a few recipes and realized it wasn't as daunting as it sounded. This recipe yielded about 50-60 potstickers, of which I made 20 and froze the rest. 

Pork Potstickers/Chinese Dumplings

• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 2 leaves napa cabbage (finely cut)
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 inches ginger (grated)
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 2 chives, diced
• 1 pack potsticker skins (choose the thickest brand or make your own)
• Oil for pan-frying
• 1/2 cup water

Combine the ground pork, chopped napa cabbage, ginger, carrot, leeks and seasonings together. Set aside.
Place a small spoonful of the filling in the center of the potsticker skin. Dab a little water with your finger and circle around the edge of the skin, and then fold and pleat the potsticker accordingly. Repeat until filling is gone or all skins have been filled. (Here's a video / guide for folding/pleating potstickers)

To pan fry the potstickers, coat a frying pan with a little cooking oil and turn to medium heat. Place the dumplings on the frying pan and then turn the heat to high. Pan fry the potstickers until the bottoms turn golden brown and crisp. Add the water and cover the frying pan with its lid immediately. Cook until water has evaporated and turn the heat to low. Cook the potstickers for another 2 minutes or so, dish out and serve hot with dipping sauce.


Simple Dipping Sauce

• 4 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 pinches brown sugar
• a dab of sesame oil
• a few drops rice wine vinegar
• 2 drops sriracha (depends on how spicy you like it)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl / serving dish. Stir until brown sugar has dissolved.Garnish with sesame seeds or chives. Serve with potstickers.

Chicken Teriyaki

My mother was on a trip and I didn’t have a lot of food left in the house. I had just ran out of milk that morning so cereal for every meal until she got back was no longer an option. I did find some frozen chicken breasts in the freezer thankfully, so all I had to do was let them thaw. Originally I was going to bread them and eat them with pasta, but we had pretty much no cheese in the house and I’m one of those people that grates up about half a wedge of cheese when eating pasta. So I made this up with all the other stuff we had lying around.

Chicken Teriyaki

• 3 boneless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds (optional)
• teriyaki sauce (either store bought or homemade)

for marinade:

• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon honey
• juice and zest of one orange

Combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, oyster sauce, cider vinegar, garlic, honey, orange juice and zest in large ziploc bag and add the chicken. Press out as much air as you can and seal the bag. Let this sit and marinade in the fridge for at least an hour.
After an hour, take chicken out of the fridge and place in skillet over medium heat. Sear until brown, then baste with teriyaki sauce and place in 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Flip chicken over, baste that side and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve over white rice with toasted sesame seeds on top.