In the last column, we were still making decisions about meals to serve during the holidays. Our children arrived for a visit the day after Christmas and we wanted to have something for dinner that would be both unusual and entertaining. Mizutaki is a great dish for a small group of people who are willing to eat dinner over a period of time. The dish is cooked by one person and then served, a little at a time, to the entire group. One nice thing about Mizutaki is that the both the cook and the participants have some decision about the actual ingredients. We prefer to have a wide range of ingredients and then allow people to choose which of the cooked items they will be served. Since the cooking process is lengthy, we chose to serve the Oriental-style ribs as a side dish for snacking during the meal. The meal was a big success but we would suggest preparing it without the two diversionary trips that occurred at our house. The first, for stitches following a cut finger during the rib preparation was a little more serious than the emergency trip to the grocery store for the green onions which had been forgotten. (The person chosen for the green onion "run" didn't realize how popular they would be when cooked this way and returned with only one bunch. We recommend that you purchase several bunches.) This deficiency, however, certainly gave the onion lovers at the table something to search for in each batch of Mizutaki! As a side note, the use of chopsticks is highly recommended with this meal.
Ingredients:
Combine first six ingredients in a small bowl and marinate for 30 minutes. Combine the chopped cabbage and pork mixture and place 3/4 tsp in the center of each wonton wrapper. Moisten the edges of the wrapper with water. Fold two opposite corners together over filling to make a triangle. Fold the two opposite corners together, moisten and seal tightly.
In a large saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil over high heat; drop in wontons, stirring gently. Cover and reduce heat to medium. When the broth comes to a second boil and the wontons are floating, remove from heat. Carefully place the wontons in serving bowls and pour in the broth. Sprinkle with a dash of sesame oil. 6-8 servings.
Ingredients for Sauce:
Ingredients:
Vegetable Options - cut into appropriate size to be eaten with chopsticks:
Combine sauce ingredients and refrigerate. Place the sauce in small bowls for use by each person. In a fondue pot, heat the beef broth until it reaches a low boil. Carefully add a portion of the ingredients (but not enough to crowd the pot) in the order of time required for cooking (i.e., chicken, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli at the beginning with other ingredients added during the cooking process). With a slotted spoon, remove the meat and vegetables, serving each individual plate with a mixture of ingredients. The meat and vegetables are dipped into the sauce and eaten with the rice. Number of servings determined by the amount of ingredients prepared and the appetite of the guests.
Ingredients:
Sauce Ingredients:
Ingredients:
Clean the ribs and cut them apart into individual pieces. Place the ribs in a pot with the sauce ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the boiling water and bring the sauce to a boil. Adjust heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, turning occasionally. Drain the sauce into a bowl and set ribs aside. (The dish can be done ahead to this point with both the sauce and ribs being refrigerated.)
Measure 1/4 cup of sauce and combine it with 2 TBS soy sauce and 2 TBS of sherry. In a large skillet, heat the oil until hot, add the garlic and 1 1/2 TBS sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved (adding a bit of the sauce liquid if necessary). Add the remaining sauce a little at a time (this splatters) and stir until it "puffs" into thick bubbles. Add the ribs to the sauce mixture and stir vigorously until they are coated with the sauce. There should be no liquid remaining in the pan at this point. Immediately arrange the ribs on a platter and serve. 4 servings.
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