Pretend & Real Chinese Foods

I've had a thing for felt food ever since I made these cupcakes.

Then, Let's go fly a kite posted Chinese foods made of felt here and I immediately fell in love and knew I needed to make some for Josie's cooking adventures.

She also posted a dramatic play area featured in her sister's preschool to honor Chinese New Year here. I especially loved how they used yarn and Chinese take-out containers with chopsticks in their preschool cooking area, so of course I had to make some for Josie too.

PS. You can get take-out style containers at the Dollar Tree right now and I printed off the Chinese take-out graphic online and glued it to the box. In case you are wondering, felt is roughly .29 cents per square at Michael's (regular price). I used hot glue instead of thread & needle to construct my foods.

Let's go fly a kite has quickly become one of my favorite blogs. She has so many inspirational crafting ideas.

When you are ready for some real Chinese food, here are a few of our favorite dishes/recipes at our house: egg drop soup, steamed dumplings and lettuce wraps.

EGG DROP SOUP

Ingredients

4 cups chicken broth, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh scallions
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

Directions

1. Reserve 3/4 cup of chicken broth, and pour the rest into a large saucepan. Stir the salt and chives into the saucepan, and bring to a rolling boil. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the remaining broth and cornstarch until smooth. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk together using a fork. Drizzle egg a little at a time from the fork into the boiling broth mixture. Egg should cook immediately. Once the eggs have been dropped, stir in the cornstarch mixture gradually until the soup is the desired consistency.

STEAMED DUMPLINGS

During the Chinese New Year this month, families in China will feast on jiaozi, yummy meat-filled dumplings.

3 stalks Chinese cabbage
2 scallions
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 lb. lean ground pork
1 10-oz. package prepared
dumpling wrappers

Finely chop the Chinese cabbage and scallions and put them in a mixing bowl. Add the soy sauce, salt, cornstarch, and pork. Mix well with a spoon.

Place 1 teaspoon of filling on each wrapper. Fold the wrappers into half circles. Moisten the inside edges with water, and press them together to seal.

We use a steamer that I purchased at World Market, but you can also use a large pot. In a large pot, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Drop in the dumplings and cover. When the water resumes boiling, add 1 cup of cold water. Repeat this step twice. When the water boils for the third time, the dumplings will be done. Serve with 1/4 cup soy sauce mixed with 2 tablespoons white vinegar. Makes 4 dozen dumplings.

LETTUCE WRAPS

Lettuce leaves, washed and separated
2 scallions chopped
broccoli coleslaw mix (I saute my coleslaw mix in a skillet for just a few minutes with a splash of white wine vinegar)
Chicken cooked and shredded
Almonds (toasted) or chopped cashews

Lay out a lettuce leaf and spoon a heaping teaspoon of the shredded chicken and broccoli coleslaw mixture into the middle. The lettuce wraps are designed to be eaten "taco-style," with the lettuce/chicken mixture folded into a package. Continue with the remainder of the chicken and lettuce leaves. Serve with toasted almonds and peanut sauce.

Peanut Sauce
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons sesame oil
2 Tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice

In a medium bowl, whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey and lemon juice. Use the peanut butter sauce for dipping. You can also pour the peanut sauce over the mixture before you put into the lettuce wraps.

Happy Cooking!
Happy Crafting!
XOXO