lioness in japan

On Saturday, I’ll be having about 10 friends over for dinner — it’s the eve of Chinese New Year.

We should be having the reunion dinner (for non-Chinese folks out there, it’s the name of the family dinner on the eve of the new year) on the eve itself but Sunday is always iffy for lingering over an evening meal so my Singaporean gal pal suggested that Saturday would be a better day.

Chinese dumplings and ma po tofu (minced pork and tofu in a spicy Szechuan sauce) were two requests made by our Japanese friends so I agreed enthusiastically (but I had a few shouchus in my system by then).

When I came back from Sydney, I felt a little nervous because a sit-down dinner for 10 is a big job and I wasn’t sure I was going to pull it off.

Cooking for two is easy but 10 is on a different scale. What if my measurements get all screwed up for 10 because I’m so used to throwing herbs and spices together on meat and fish for two portions?

I’ve made food for 15 people for my housewarming party but that was more like a finger-food spread with two plates of noodles and rice. In contrast, this dinner would have dishes that need more thought and care put into their preparation.

Since I promised, I decided a trial run (or two) would be necessary for the dumplings, especially since I’ve never ever made them in my life.

I got my mum’s recipe — she makes awesome tasty ones! — and went shopping.

I had to go to two supermarkets to get all the ingredients but it was worth the trip because it made my Sunday so fun. I know, I’m such a geek.

Tips gleaned from this first attempt:

*Boil dumplings separately from the actual soup you are going to pair it with
*Put lots if diced sweet turnip. I put 1:4 parts to the minced pork but I think 1:2 would be better.
*I splashed a dash of soy sauce so the dumplings came out tasting too light. Two splashes would be ideal plus a sprinkle of salt.
*Fresh shiitake mushrooms are not as tasty as dried ones so I will try to get some later in the week..
*Two pieces of shrimp with less minced pork is better than more mince and one piece of shrimp.

Phew, that’s all for now. I will definitely blog about the upcoming dinner.

Related posts:

1. Chinese New Year Eve
2. Operation CNY dinner
3. Quick weekend getaway

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