Prep List
Infuse & Gel Soup (Sounds super fancy, really is super easy)
Peel & De-Vein Shrimp (again, you can buy these pre-cleaned and raw if you want to make your life easier
Prep Vegetables for Potstickers
Infuse & Gel Soup
This is literally adding ham and a few other ingredients to chicken stock, boiling it, adding gelatin, and putting in in the fridge.
In a pot, add 1 1/3 cups of chicken stock, the green onion (white and light green part only), 1 large tablespoon of salt pork/bacon/ham/whatever pork product you’re using, and 1 slice of ginger. Bring to a boil.
*A quick word about aromatics (in this case, we’re talking about ginger and green onion). When Infusing a liquid, it’s often useful to smash or very finely chop aromatics so that more surface area is exposed, and their flavor is more easily absorbed. I recommend doing this with the side of your knife and your hand, just as you would in peeling a clove of garlic.
Boil the stock and aromatics until it has reduced by half (meaning you have half as much liquid as when you started, which in this case is 2/3 of a cup). Remove the pot from the heat, and let stand for 15 minutes. Strain the soup, discard the solids, and whisk in 1.5 teaspoons of gelatin powder.
Return the pot to the heat, and stir until the gelatin dissolves. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, and pour into the metal or glass baking pan. Place in the fridge to set (setting will only take an hour max, however this can be done overnight, covered once it’s set, and held until the next day).
Peel & Devein Shrimps
Remove the shell and tail from shrimp, remembering to keep the shrimp as cold as possible while you work. To de-vein, make a shallow cut along the back of the shrimp to expose the digestive tract. Remove with a paring knife or toothpick.
Prep Potsticker Vegetables
I refuse to spend a lot of time outline how to cut up vegetables, but I will tell you to slice you shiitakes about 1/2 of an inch thick (we’re going to cook these before we mince them), and to make sure you remove the root from your cabbage. To do this, split the cabbage in half from the top, and then cut away the stem with a wedge-shaped cut. Please also feel free to add more veggies in there - carrots are nice for some sweetness and crunch, for example.