Homemade Lox

My brother and I drove up to Washington last weekend. One of our friends' dad served us some lox. Then we found out that he made it himself. He taught us how he did it. Thanks, tito Del!

Ingredients 

• salmon fillet
• dill
• 2 cups sea salt
• ½ cup sugar
• fresh cracked black pepper 

Ingredients: salmon fillet, dill, 2 cups sea salt, ½ cup sugar	Remove dill from stems then finely chop. Mix salt, sugar and dill in a bowl.
Place plastic wrap on flat surface such as cutting board. Put a layer of the salt/sugar mixture on the plastic in the approx size and shape of the salmon fillet.	Make sure to remove all bones from the salmon. Run your fingers along the fillet to detect small bones. Use long nose pliers or tweezers to take them out. Please the salmon on top of the layer of salt/sugar mixture.
Crack some black pepper on top...	Cover the salmon with the remaining salt/sugar mixture. Put a thicker layer on the thicker part of the fillet.
Wrap the plastic over the fillet...	Leave the tail end of the plastic unsealed, this will let the liquid that is pulled from the salmon drain out.
Place the place plastic wrapper on a pan with a lip. The lip will catch liquid that is pulled from the salmon.	Place another pan on top...
Place some weight on top of the pan. The weight will assist in drawing liquid out. I used foil wrapped bricks.	Place the pan in the fridge. Place the pan at an angle so the liquid will drain downwards. I place a towel beneath the pan since the lip of the pan is not very high. Let the salmon cure for 24-48 hours. I cured this one for 32 hours.
This is after 32 hours of curing...	Brush away the salt and wash it off with water. Do not let it soak, just quickly wash the salt off. Use a towel to dry the salmon.
Cut pieces of at an angle.	I cut mine in thin slices. In my research, it said that you can tell if you've cured it enough if you're able to cut thin slices. It said that if it's not cured enough, the salmon will smear instead of cutting.
Lox, all ready to eat. Try it on a bagel with cream cheese.

Shrimp and Ginger Siu Mai Dumplings

One of the dishes we has on New Year's Eve. Yummm!

Ingredients 

• 1 lbs shrimp
• ½ lbs ground pork
• 2 egg whites
• 2" grated fresh ginger
• 2 tablespsoon sesame oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt & ¼ black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 chopped green onions
• round wonton wrappers
• soy sauce, sesame oil and mirin vinegar for dipping sauce

Ingredients: 1 lbs shrimp, 2 egg whites, ½ lbs ground pork, 2 inch grated fresh ginger, 2 tablespoon sesame oil, ¼ teaspoon salt & ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 3 cloves minced garlic, 2 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 chopped green onions	To make the filling, put all the ingredients in a food processor. Run the processor until the meat is chopped and smooth but still have texture.
We use round wonton wrappers	Place a wonton wrapper on top of your hand
Dip a small spoon in ice water. Having a cold spoon will make the filling slip off the spoon easily.	Take a spoon full of filling
Place the filling at the center of the wonton wrapper	Squeeze the sides of the wrapper onto the filling
Fold the edges of the wrapper onto the side of the siu mai. Then tap the siu mai on a flat surface. This will flatten the bottom so that the siu mai can stand	Continue to wrap filling and create additonal siu mai. Steam them in any steaming device, we used a rice cooker/steamer. Whatever device you use, line it with parchment paper and place the siu mai in it without touching each other.
All ready to eat... serve with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, sesame oil and mirin vinegar. You have a fresh tasting shrimp siu mai with a great ginger flavor!

This was adapted from recipe from www.foodnetwork.com

Shrimp-n-Prawn Stuffed Salmon Roll

This was dinner tonight. I've been in a "rolling" mood lately and have been making dinner with different items and rolling them up, such as pressed chicken breast. Tonight it was salmon, stuffed with prawn and cilantro garlic shrimp

Ingredients:

• salmon fillets, skin removed and cut into thin strips (each fillet will should make two rolls)
• prawns (size 21-25 or bigger)
• small shrimp (shrimp meat from your local supermarket seafood section)
• cilantro
• garlic
• salt and pepper as desired

After cutting the skin off the salmon, cut the fillet into thin strips, roll the salmon and tie with twine.	Place a prawn at the base of the roll...
Create a pesto with cilantro and garlic, mix with shrimp and stuff into the roll	Over stuff the roll...
Three rolls ready to cook...	Cooking... steaming on stove top...
Plated, almost done, just need to remove the twine	Ready to eat, salmon stuffed with  prawn and cilantro garlic shrimp