The Daily Dumpling

The pierogi of Poland.  The manti of Turkey. The pantruca of Chile. A dumpling by any other name tastes just as great!

At Moksa there’s a new dumpling in town.

The momo hails from Nepal and gets its name from a Chinese loanword meaning “steamed bread.” Probably brought over by traders from nearby Tibet, they were originally filled with water buffalo meat. Moksa’s take is stuffed with cabbage, carrots, scallions, sesame, cilantro, potato, garlic, ginger, and curry. They get steamed to perfection, and are served with a tangy tomato chutney.

The momo joins our dumpling lineup, where many Asian varieties are represented.

Shumai comes from the term for “on the side.” But with its beautiful garnish of fish roe, these gorgeous shrimp dumplings can certainly be the star of a meal! And if you have some leftover, you can enjoy them like they do in Huhhot, Mongolia: for breakfast!

Japanese pork and vegetable gyoza are great with miso soup. These pot stickers get their browned bottoms and complex taste from the magic of a Malliard reaction. Then water gets added to the pan, steaming the little packets of deliciousness.

We also get creative in the kitchen. Check out these green dumplings, filled with edamame!

In China, dumplings are eaten to celebrate the New Year because they symbolize wealth (since they’re shaped like gold ingots). But whenever you eat them, you’ll agree that they’re rich in flavor!

How to Speak Sushi

Sushi. It’s what’s for dinner. And lunch. And your next catering order, if you know what’s good for you.

“Don’t be afraid…It’s like a taco of seaweed and rice.” -Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto

A sushi menu can literally and figuratively be a foreign language. But as Iron Chef Morimoto said, sushi is nothing to be scared of. You don’t need a textbook, just some chopsticks.

Tuna, salmon, yellowtail, and eel.

In sushi, rice seasoned with sweet vinegar and any number of fresh ingredients all get wrapped up in a seaweed sheet called nori. And the options go far beyond raw or cooked fish. Creative examples include our NomNomRoll: sweet potato, cream cheese, cucumber, mango, avocado, and Sriracha sauce.

The NomNom Roll was recently
BostInno’s Dish of the Week.

Or maybe you’re low-carbing it. The true carnivore can enjoy sashimi, which is thinly sliced meat that ranges from tuna to eel to yellowtail. Traditionally, sashimi is served as a first course, great paired with our pickled vegetables or miso soup.

Yellowtail sashimi, topped with garlic and chives and garnished with seaweed.

Here’s some more vocab:

Maki: rolled with seasoned rice

Uramaki: inside-out rolls

Temaki-Sushi – Hand rolled cones containing rice and toppings

Inari: soy poached tofu

Oshinko: pickled daikon radish

Tobiko:  flying fish roe

(it gives great texture to our popular Spider Roll and Shrimp Tempura Roll)

Tempura: fried in batter

Yasai: fresh vegetables

Gari: Sweet, pickled and sliced ginger

Yaki: grilled item

Unagi: freshwater eel

Ebi – shrimp

Hamachi: young yellowtail

Hotate-Gai: scallops

Kani – crab

Otemoto: chopsticks

Bento: box with small compartments to hold parts of a meal

 

Sushi art.

Congrats, you’ve graduated from sushi school! Command respect at the table when you confidently go beyond the classic (and delicious) California roll.

Thrifty Amiga

Highlights from Monday night. Creative Mex-Asian bites from Chef Suzu included tuna-nori tacos, curried beans, and kimchee tamales. Enthusiastic movie goers dug in. Loving the hiking backpack full of blankets and pillows!

This Saturday, I thought small. Specifically, I patted myself on the back for all the local purchases I made in the spirit of Small Business Saturday. Instead of firing off my go to two-shot one-pump vanilla latte at Starbucks, for instance, I exchanged pleasantries with my baristo atToscanini’s.  This is a kinder kind of capitalism.

I also hit up Boomerangs in Cambridge in preparation for the screening of the 3 Amigos last night. I had a mustache contest to win, and I really slacked off this Movember.

This song was stuck in my head the whole time at Boomerangs.

The first rule of thrifting is to never expect to find the thing you’re specifically thrifting for. If I had been looking for a fall coat and pleated scarf, for instance, I definitely would have discovered the sombrero and poncho I was seeking. Alas, no mariachi bands had broken up recently.

I made out like a bandit while thrifting. Speaking of: Brian from Angels Envy, Curtis from William Grant Portfolio, and our very own Bar Manager Tyler were dressed the part.

I hadn’t seen the cult classic The Three Amigos. So I dutifully researched beforehand. And couldn’t stop laughing.

You won’t be able to replicate our big screen experience, with Tyler’s creative cocktail (called Son of a Motherless Goat) in hand. At least do yourself the service of renting the movie now. You might even be able to find it in the bargain bin of your neighborhood thrift shop. Get a blanket from Boomerangs, where all proceeds from your fashionable purchases go to the AIDS Action Committee of MA, Inc; the nonprofit is dedicated to providing resources and  preventing the spread of the epidemic. 

Central ‘Raqs’ On with Belly Dancers

Last’s night’s demo of raqs sharqai highlighted a dance scene with rich cultural heritage. Our glamorous friends at Erzulie Dancer, an assembly of teachers and industry professionals led by Judith, showcased their talents.

Highlights from the group’s press and performances at our neighbor The Middle East

The troupe kicked off with some captivating solos, then opened the floor for a group dance.

The night only got better with drinks and specialty tapas. The real multitaskers among us shimmied while snacking on our shumai (pork dumplings).

From popular culture, you might have the impression that belly dancing is all about mysterious sensuality. But that’s just the icing on the cake -or the pistachios on the baklava. Belly dancing is great low impact exercise, working isolated muscle groups and toning you all over quickly. A trained dancer has to hold her arms at shoulder level for hours at a time, develops great hip strength, and enters into a kind of moving meditation.

No promises that you’ll get Shakira’s post-baby body, unless you’re also willing to only eat fish, spinach, and tofu. But then you’ll have to lay off from drinking the next creation Noon dreams up for our movie and cocktail pairing series…. You’ve got to ask yourself: are those abs really worth it?