[Molly] My aunt Lucy's in town,
and we're having a Chinese-inspired dinner,
showcasing some of our family's favorite dishes.
We would not be Yeh's
if we didn't save room for buns.
I agree.
[Molly] With my mouthwatering mapo tofu with pork,
silky egg drop soup,...
Yeah, baby.
...fresh chili crisp vinaigrette salad
covered with crunchy ramen noodles.
So fun.
And for dessert,
the tastiest pastries on the planet,
my pineapple buns.
Look at these beauties.
Hey! This is me, Molly Yeh.
This is my husband, Nick.
This is our growing family.
And this is our farm on the North Dakota, Minnesota border,
the place where I eat, sleep and breathe food.
My aunt Lucy is visiting the farm.
So we are celebrating
with some of my family's favorite Chinese dishes.
For a Chinese bakery classic,
I'm baking up my pineapple buns,
which are so pillowy soft.
They've got rich custard bellies,
and sweet, crunchy cookie halves.
To get started on the dough,
I'm gonna make something called a tangzhong,
which is a starter that's commonly used in Asian breads.
And essentially,
I'm just gonna be cooking some of my liquid
with a little bit of flour.
It allows way more moisture to get into the dough,
leading to a more moist bun that is just ethereally soft.
I'm combining three quarters of a cup of coconut milk
with a quarter cup of flour.
And I'm heating it over low heat
until it forms a thick paste.
Pineapple buns are a staple in Chinese bakeries.
It's confusing,
[chuckles softly] because they don't actually contain pineapples,
they just resemble a pineapple on top
with their craggly cookie crust.
You don't always find them with custard in the bellies,
but custard is so good.
So I'm definitely adding it to there.
Okay, this is thick and pasty.
I'll remove it from the heat and allow it to cool slightly,
while I mix up my remaining ingredients.
I've got four and a quarter cups of all-purpose flour here,
and I'll combine it with a quarter of a cup of sugar.
One thing I love about sweets from the Chinese bakery
is that they're rarely overly sweet.
Two and a quarter teaspoons of yeast,
and one and a half teaspoons of kosher salt.
I'll whisk this to combine,
and then add in my remaining coconut milk.
A couple of tablespoons of coconut oil,
which will add additional richness and fat.
A couple of eggs,
and the tangzhong.
So now that this is cooled,
I don't have to worry about it being too hot,
and cooking those eggs.
I'll mix this up into a shaggy dough.
I'm so excited to see my aunt Lucy.
She flew in from LA.
Most of my dad's side of the family lives in LA.
My dad grew up there.
My grandparents came over from China
as teenagers,
and they both went to college here.
And I have all of these memories
growing up, of going to visit them,
and always eating Chinese food.
My grandpa would always wanna go out to Chinese restaurants,
and then my grandma would stock the freezer
with tons of Chinese buns.
Okay, I've got a thick, shaggy dough.
I'll knead this with the dough hook now
for seven to ten minutes
until the dough is smooth and still slightly sticky.
[whirring]
That coconut smells good.
This is looking smooth.
And it's still a little bit sticky,
which is what I'm going for.
Okay.
I'll ball it up.
I wanna get a smooth, hot surface
so that it rises evenly.
And my bowl here is coated with oil,
so the dough doesn't stick and dry out.
I'll cover it up
and let it rise until it's doubled,
while I make the cookie topping.
This is what makes these pineapple buns.
It's this crunchy, sweet cookie shell
on top of the pillowy soft bun,
that just creates the best textural adventure.
I've got a quarter cup of sugar in my stand mixer,
and I'll combine it with a quarter cup of coconut oil.
Coconut oil might be my favorite baking fat.
Don't tell butter.
I'll mix until it's combined and creamy.
[whirring]
It's a cookie that bakes on top of a bun.
I'm really proud of my people.
I'll pour in an egg.
I'll splash in some almond extracts.
-So good. -[whirring stops]
I'll add three quarters of a cup of all-purpose flour,
half a teaspoon of baking powder,
and a good pinch of salt,
and I'll mix this into a dough.
[whirring]
-All right. -[whirring stops]
I'll scrape it right on out to the parchment.
I'll fold the parchment over,
and then use a bench scraper
to just press it right underneath,
and that'll even out the log.
We'll roll it up.
And then I'll stick it in to the refrigerator to firm up
about one to two hours,
which conveniently, is how much longer my dough has to rise.
[whooshes]
I've got my double dough ready to go,
and a coconut custard here,
that I made super simply.
I combined coconut milk, custard powder and sugar
together in a sauce pan.
Cook it over gentle heat for one to two minutes
until it's thick and pudding-like.
Then whisk in some almond extract and a pinch of salt.
Transfer it to a bowl
with plastic wrap touching the top,
so you don't get a skin.
And chill.
Now to shape,
I'll get my dough out onto my counter.
And then I'll pat it out into a rectangle.
This is the softest dough.
And then, I'll use my bench scraper
to divide it into 12 equal-sized squares.
I'll get a scoop.
And now onto this first square,
I'll scoop my custard right into the center,
and then pinch the edges up around to seal it shut.
I wanna lock this custard in well,
so that it doesn't leak out while these buns are baking.
And I'll place it onto my baking sheet
that's lined with some parchment.
Seam side down.
And now I'll form the rest of my buns,
and then let them rise
until they're puffy and jiggly.
Cookie dough's firm.
All righty.
Look at that jiggle fest.
To top, I'll take a slice of my cookie dough,
and use my fingers just to flatten it out into a circle.
that's about an eighth of an inch thick.
I'll gently lay this on top.
I don't wanna press it and deflate the buns.
And then brush with egg wash,
so that the buns are extra golden,
and pineapple-like. [chuckles softly]
Great, just like that
I'll keep on topping.
And it doesn't need to be perfect,
because it's gonna crackle anyway
once it bakes on top of the puffing up bun.
Yay. Oh!
I'll get these in the oven now at 350 degrees for 16 minutes,
until they're golden.
Oh, yeah.
Those are some hot buns.
Oh, man, they look incredible.
Just like a craggly pineapple.
I earned that one. [chuckles softly]
Mmm, look at how soft and fluffy they are.
Mmm.
Perfectly sweet, perfectly coconutty.
The little bit of crunch on top is so great.
Dang, these are even better than Ira's buns. [chuckles]
Coming up,
the secret to Grandpa Yeh's favorite Chinese dish.
For our Chinese's dinner's main dish,
I am making
Grandpa Yeh's all-time favorite,
mapo tofu.
It is saucy, salty, tingly, sweet spicy pork and tofu,
together in one majorly satisfying dish.
To start, I'm prepping my tofu.
I've got a block of it here
that I'm chopping into little cubes.
I season this first,
make a tingly pork sauce
and then fold everything together.
Anytime we would go out to restaurants with my grandpa,
he would insist on ordering mapo tofu.
It's got heat, sweetness.
It's very, very comforting.
I'll transfer my tofu to a bowl.
I'll cover this with boiling water,
and season the water liberally with salt,
so the tofu can get seasoned from the inside out.
Just like seasoning pasta water.
I'll let this sit while I make my sauce.
I'll combine three quarters of a cup of chicken stock.
This sauce has so much flavor, it's kind of insane.
Add one tablespoon of light brown sugar,
and then a tablespoon of cornstarch,
which will help thicken it.
A tablespoon and a half of soy sauce,
a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil.
Most of the ingredients in this sauce
are super common,
really easy for me to find in town.
But some of the more traditional ingredients in mapo tofu
are kind of hard for me to find in town.
So I've made a couple of substitutions
but the flavor is still there.
One of those ingredients is black bean garlic sauce.
More traditionally,
you would see it made with just fermented black beans,
that's super salty and sweet
and it has loads and loads of depth
from fermented black beans.
And then, I'm using gochujang,
which is a Korean ingredient,
but it adds a very similar quality of heat
that you would typically find in a mapo tofu.
I'll add between two and three tablespoons.
Three will be quite spicy,
two is kind of on the milder side.
I think I'll go for it.
I have some sinuses that need clearing up. [laughs]
Now, I'll whisk this together.
Oh. [sniffs]
It's smelling nostalgic already.
And then, I'll just set this aside,
while I cook up my pork.
Really, mapo tofu isn't just tofu.
It's actually mostly pork.
I've got a drizzle of neutral oil in my pot here.
-I'll add a pound of ground pork, -[sizzling]
and then season it with a good pinch of salt.
Even though the sauce is fairly salty,
whenever you're cooking something like this with ground meat,
you wanna make sure
that the salt is making contact with the meat,
so that it can bring out all of its natural flavor.
I'll cook this over medium high
until it's brown for a few minutes.
As I already break it up with my spoon,
it's already smelling good.
I love this dish
because it comes together so quickly and easily.
You don't have to do that much planning ahead.
Sometimes if I'm making this and I don't have tofu,
I sub in noodles,
and toss the noodles in with this meat sauce.
And that's delicious.
Okay, this is just about finished browning.
I've got some finely chopped ginger, garlic and scallions.
The flavor trifecta, [chuckles] in Chinese cooking.
I'll just add the white parts of the scallions now,
so that they can soften,
and then add the green parts at the end.
And then two teaspoons of cracked schezwan peppercorns,
which create a tingly sensation in this dish.
It's so unique.
You could side it with loads of black pepper with little coriander.
I'll stir this around,
just let the garlic and the ginger and the scallion soften.
This is smelling heavenly.
I wanna be careful not to burn the garlic.
So once I can start smelling it,
I'll mix it in with the rest of the pork,
and then pour in the sauce,
which will stop the cooking of the garlic
and prevent it from burning.
Yum.
I'll allow the cornstarch to thicken up the sauce.
It's almost done, it's gonna be good.
Drain the tofu,
and then gently fold this in.
Tofu is a great canvas for flavor,
and this sauce has so much flavor.
So it all makes sense.
I'll finish with my reserve scallion greens.
Going in.
Mmm.
So flavorful.
I'm getting that tingly sensation. [chuckles]
And that tofu just adds that perfect creamy element.
Grandpa Yeh would totally be proud.
Next,
a Chinese restaurant staple
that'll make you feel like a food magician.
For a comforting, cozy start to our Chinese meal,
I am making my egg drop soup.
It's a rich ginger chicken broth
with fluffy ribbons of egg swimming about.
This is so nostalgic for me.
And when you make it,
you kind of feel like an egg magician. [chuckles]
I'll start by making my stock.
So I've got two pounds of chicken parts here.
We've got wings and backs.
And I just like using wings,
because there's a great ratio of meat to cartilage.
So you're just getting a lot of rich flavor there.
I'll add these right to my pot.
I'll toss in some ginger for brightness,
and some celery, carrots and scallions.
And then, a whole honkin' head of garlic.
To add it,
I'll just slice it open horizontally,
so that the cloves are exposed.
And the cloves will infuse the stock with so much flavor.
All right, lastly, a couple of teaspoons of peppercorns.
And homemade stock is always gonna be the best.
But if you wanna shortcut it with store-bought stock,
that's totally okay, too.
That's actually how I first learned to make egg drop soup.
I made it with my mom,
and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world,
that scrambled eggs cook directly in the hot soup.
You could see them cook before your very eyes.
It's awesome.
I'm filling up the pot with water now.
I'll bring this to a boil now,
and then reduce it to a simmer
and simmer it uncovered for two hours,
so all the flavors can come to life.
And I want the broth to slightly reduce,
so that I can get that concentrated flavor.
My broth is strained,
-and it's just about ready to egg-nite. -[drum stings]
I'll season it with some soy sauce.
And just like any soup, this really is to taste.
A drizzle of sesame oil,
which enriches the soup
and adds those great nutty sesame notes.
And some white pepper,
which is super common in Chinese cooking.
It's slightly funkier than black pepper,
and it's pretty strong.
So, I'll just add a little bit.
Give it a good stir.
I made this a lot in college,
because it was so easy and cheap.
Mmm. [sniffs]
The ginger and the sesame oil together smell so good.
While this comes to a boil,
I'll pour in my slurry gradually as I whisk.
It's just cornstarch mixed with cold water,
which will thicken the soup slightly.
And for the star of the show, I'll add six eggs.
I'll whisk these up with a pinch of salt.
My aunt Lucy just flew in from LA.
I'm excited to catch up with her
and show her the farm.
The moment I've been waiting for.
I'll drizzle the egg in gradually,
as I stir it gently,
and just watch the egg come alive.
Yeah, baby.
So fun.
So it just instantly floats to the top,
and gets fluffy.
That's what I'm talking about.
This is my childhood.
Okay, done-zo.
The eggs are cooked already, so fast.
I'll get a bowl.
Mmm, mmm, mmm.
In some restaurants,
they call this egg flower soup.
And I can see why.
It's like a bouquet of egg flowers.
I'll finish with a drizzle of chili oil,
which I think looks really pretty,
and adds a nice heat.
Some sliced scallions.
And I think these are really fun.
Some wonton strips.
Tan-ta-ta-da.
Going in.
Mmm.
Oh, I feel like a kid again.
It's so soft,
and that broth has flavor for days.
Aunt Lucy is gonna love this.
Mmm.
Still to come.
Ramen, but not like you think.
For a fresh colorful side to our Chinese dinner,
I am making a big, green salad
with chili crisp vinaigrette and crunchy ramen noodles.
It's bright, a little spicy, and a whole lot of fun.
Just like me. [chuckles]
To start,
I've just cut a block of ramen noodles
that I am breaking up,
that are ultimately gonna be the croutons on my salad.
I'm ripping a page out of the 90s potluck playbook,
because the inspiration for this was the salad my mom made
for every singly potluck in the 90s.
And she'd get a packet of ramen noodles,
toast them up,
and then use the seasoning packet for the dressing.
I'm leaving some slightly bigger bits,
and a bunch of little bits.
I'll toast these at 350 degrees
for 11 or 12 minutes until they're golden.
And meanwhile, I'll make my dressing.
So this is a chili crisp vinaigrette.
The star of the show is chili crisp,
which is the most delicious chili oil.
It transforms any bland meal
into something worth singing about.
Any time you use chili crisp,
you've gotta dig to the bottom of the jar
to get all the good stuff.
I'm starting with about a tablespoon.
I'll balance the heat of the chili crisp
with one tablespoon of honey.
Add a little bit of Chinese mustard
to add some nice stinginess,
and also help emulsify the vinaigrette.
And for the vinegar element in my vinaigrette,
I'm using Chinese black vinegar,
which is dark and caramelly,
has a whole lot of depth.
I find it at my Asian grocery store.
If you can't find it,
you could replace it with rice vinegar.
Some salt.
I'll whisk this up,
as I drizzle in a third of a cup of neutral oil,
so that it can emulsify and thicken.
Okay.
Mmm.
That's it for my dressing.
I've got some romaine, cabbage, carrots and onions here.
This combination will be a great contrast
and refreshing point in our meal,
next to the hearty tofu.
I'll sprinkle in some slivered toasted almonds here
for more crunch,
and mandarin oranges.
They're just like sweet, juicy bursts of citrus.
I'll get my noodles out.
They look crunchy to me.
I'll pour most of them onto the salad.
I'll drizzle on the dressing.
Give it a good toss.
Mmm, that chili crisp smells delightful.
I'll get a serving bowl.
Pile this in.
That's a whole lot of veggies.
And then make it pretty with some more almonds on top,
my remaining mandarins,
and the last of the noodles.
Oh, yeah.
Looks like a salad party to me.
All right, let's eat.
I'm so happy you're here.
-I'm so glad to be here. -This is so fun.
Thank you for making all this.
[Molly] Do you think we'll have enough food?
-[Lucy] Oh yeah, yeah, not sure. -[both laugh]
I remember Grandpa requiring that we order mapo tofu
-every time we went out to eat. -Absolutely.
Grandpa would've been so proud of your mapo.
Seriously, like, it has a lot of meat, which he would've loved.
[Lucy laughs]
[Molly] Did you save room for buns?
[Lucy] Yes, I did.
We would not be Yeh's
if we didn't save room for buns.
I agree.
-[Lucy] Looks so good. -[Molly] Mmm-hmm, it's yum.
[chuckles]
-[Molly] Mmm, mmm, mmm. -[Lucy] Mmm.
-[Molly chuckles] -Oh, my God.
Five-year-old Molly would approve.
-[both laugh] -[Lucy] Mmm.