Have you had a chance to see Kung Fu Panda yet? We did the first week the movie was out, and I was very impressed. Not only did my children enjoy it, but I loved the characters, the story and the animation. It’s the best thing DreamWorks has done in years.

All the noodle and bun eating made me hungry and gave me a great idea for a Kung Fu Panda inspired meal – dim sum!

Eat In, Take Out, or Make It At Home

We like to drive into Denver on the weekends for dim sum at the Empress Seafood Restaurant. We were going to stop by on Father’s Day, but we woke up too late and my husband wanted to watch the US  Open on TV. So we headed over to our nearest Asian Market to pick up lobster for dinner, and noticed they had dim sum take out. We got sticky rice in lotus leaves, shrimp balls, and sesame seed dumplings with sweet bean paste.

We also picked up half a roasted duck since Lucie wanted to try it. Delicious, but greasy as to be expected. (Lucie is eating a sesame seed dumpling in the picture, and has pieces of duck on her plate.)

When we got home we also steamed up some Chinese beef buns that we had in the freezer. What a feast!

If you don’t have an Asian grocery with take out dim sum, try making your own at home. It isn’t as hard as you think thanks to Sunset magazine.

In their April 2008 issue, Sunset featured an article on Delicious Dim Sum with recipes for homemade potstickers, dumplings, and egg tarts. You can buy potstickers at Costco and other grocery stores. Instead, start off with something easy like Spicy Rice Balls.

Spicy Rice Balls

Sunset also calls these “porcupine balls.” I haven’t seen these at our local dim sum places, but they’re an easy, child friendly way to experiment with making and eating dim sum.

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup short-grain, sweet, or sticky rice
2. 1/2 pound ground pork
3. 1 egg
4. 2 tablespoons soy sauce
5. 1/2 teaspoon sugar
6. 5 green onions, finely chopped
7. One 1-in. piece ginger, peeled and finely shredded (about 1 tbsp.)
8. 1 bird’s eye or serrano chile, seeded and minced

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, soak rice in 2 cups water for 2 hours. Drain; put on a plate. (Since you want rice to be sticky, try using sushi rice, which should be available in the Asian section of most grocery stores.)
2. In a medium bowl, combine pork, egg, soy sauce, sugar, green onions, ginger, and chile. Cover and chill until rice is ready.
3. Divide pork mixture into 32 pieces. Roll into balls, then roll balls in rice. Put balls in parchment-lined steamers (see “How to Steam Dim Sum” below). Cook until rice is tender and pork is cooked, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

How to Steam Dim Sum:

1. Measure your steamer basket and choose a pot with a diameter at least 2 in. wider. (If you have a steamer insert for a large stock pot, you can use that instead of buying a bamboo steamer basket.)
2. To keep dumplings from sticking, cut a circle of parchment paper 1 in. smaller in diameter than the basket (so steam can flow up around the edges) and fit it in. Don’t use paper towels – they’ll stick to the food!
3. Pour enough water into pot to come 1 in. up side and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat but keep water at a rolling boil.
4. Fill basket with dim sum first, then set it in the pot.  Cover and cook, adding hot water as needed.

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