The Woks of Life Brunch

Green Onion Pancakes (Store-bought is fine)

With all the other cooking happening for this brunch I went the store-bought is fine path – purchasing the frozen Green Onion Pancakes from Trader Joe’s (not to be confused with their Scallion Pancakes which are quite different).

The pancakes come in packs of 5 and are as simple as cooking in a pan with a bit of oil until puffed and golden.

We cut them into triangles, sprinkled them with a little salt, and served them with The Woks of Life’s Perfect Dipping Sauce.

Everyone loved them – I’ll definitely keep a pack in the freezer for when the craving hits!

Sticky Rice with Chinese Sausage (Recipe)

Sticky rice with Chinese sausage was always one of my favorite dim sum dishes growing up, and The Woks of Life’s version is my go-to for making at home.

I prefer their method of soaking the sticky rice overnight and steaming that way once you’re ready to make the dish everything comes together in minutes!

In my experience, this can be made ahead and reheats very well.

Pork, Mushroom & Cabbage Dumplings with Perfect Dipping Sauce (Recipe not online)

The Woks of Life, page 82

I’ve never made dumplings before, and after watching numerous videos, I naively thought folding would be a piece of cake! After folding approximately 70, I can say my technique still needs a bit of work – but they stay sealed and were so delicious.

Packed with ground pork, shiitake mushrooms, and cabbage, we pan-fried some (how I prefer my dumplings) and boiled others before dipping them in the Perfect Dipping Sauce. Yum!

I loved that these can be fully assembled and frozen – ready-made homemade dumplings whenever our heart desires?! The dream.

Chili Oil Wontons (Version of recipe)

The Woks of Life, page 87

This was my second time making these wantons and they were just as amazing as I remember!

To make the filling, ground pork is combined with cabbage, sesame oil, ginger, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and white pepper. The assembled wontons are boiled for a couple of minutes and served with a spicy, bright red sauce made of Chinese black vinegar, chili oil, soy sauce, sesame paste, and garlic.

These are an absolute keeper! These can also be made ahead and frozen, uncooked.

Pork & Shrimp Siu Mai  (Version of recipe)

The Woks of Life, page 27

It isn’t dim sum without Siu Mai IMHO. To make these, I finally bought steamer baskets (The Wok’s of Life recommended KK Discount in Chinatown).

Once the pork, shiitake mushrooms, and shrimp paste-like mixture is combined, you place a tablespoon of it on Hong Kong-style round dumpling wrappers and squeeze the sides around the filling – another technique I’ll keep working on. Ha! Topped with some finely chopped carrots, they are steamed in the basket until cooked through. These were a restaurant-quality treat!

These can also be made ahead and frozen, uncooked.

Fast-Sizzled Cucumber Salad (Recipe)

The Woks of Life, page 73

With all the meat in the dishes, I wanted to have a lighter, refreshing dish to help cleanse our palates between savory bites and this cucumber salad was the perfect dish!

Stubby fingers of cool cucumber are doused in vinegar, sugar, and spicy oil made with garlic, Sichuan chili flakes, sesame seeds, and Sichuan peppercorns.

It was cool/crunchy combined with spicy/hot and could not have been easier to make

Eggplant with Garlic Sauce (Version of recipe)

The Woks of Life, page 231

Everything we ate for brunch was phenomenal, but I think this dish may have been the crowd favorite!

Tender, silky Japanese eggplant tossed with pork, ginger, red chilies, and scallions in a luscious umami-rich oyster/sesame/soy/Shaoxing wine sauce.

This is definitely getting added to the regular rotation!

Stir-Fried Chinese Green Beans with Pork (Recipe)

Green beans are never my first choice when it comes to veggies, but if they tasted this phenomenal every time they would be! It’s a lot of slicing (especially when you double the recipe) but you’ll be rewarded with a satisfying side with bell peppers, crispy ground pork, and red chilis lightly glazed in a soy/sesame sauce. A new favorite.

Hong Kong Egg Tarts (Version of recipe)

The Woks of Life, page 31

So I may have mentioned that I’m what you might call a “rustic” baker – you’re always going to know my pie crusts are homemade. 😉 While these egg tarts look a little wonky, they were just as a remember from those dim sums in Cleveland when I was younger. A nice, not-too-sweet way to end the meal! Although my favorites were always the sesame balls with sweet bean curd!

These are served warm, but I loved them even more chilled

Ultimate Chili Oil (Version of recipe)

The Woks of Life, page 275

I LOVE having this chili oil on hand as it’s a quick way to turn up the volume on any dinner! I struggled to find sand ginger so I just left that out!