Kristy Esporo's Attic: Gluten-free Cooking

Thursday, November 21, 2012

The more I'm told I can't eat something, the more I want it!

As each week passes, I'm getting more and more sensitive to the smallest amount of gluten present in my foods. Booooooo. This sucks... but cramping up and feeling like my abdomen is the remnants of a punching bag is so much worse! No more soft stretchy bread. No more regular soy sauce. No more easy fast food. No more walking by a plate of snacks and stuffing it in my mouth. No more wontons, potstickers and green onion pancakes!

I refuse! I absolutely refuse to limit myself. Not like my food choices are the most healthy, but I LIKE eating them. *wide grin*

First step, learn what gluten-free cooking is like. I need to use the basic gluten-free ingredients available to understand the groundwork of my new diet... then springboard out from there and modify my cooking techniques to match. Sounds good right?

Yeah... like I'm that patient.

Forget the simple cooking with spices, veggies and meat. I want potstickers and green onion pancakes! The classic Chinese foods that I grew up making and eating. Today, with the help of my sister, mom and dad, we'll embark on this new adventure together!

Okay. Basic of the basics, store-bought gluten-free flour... no self-mixing, not yet. Pouring the entire package into a metal bowl, I stare at the contents. Growing up, my family and I have _always_ made huge patches of everything. Planning for left-overs to eat later is our standard. However, this little portion of flour, barely even two cups, sat in all its expensive splendor, looking even smaller for sitting in a large bowl. Ah well, next and only ingredient my family uses with the flour.... warm water. Why warm water you ask? The partially "cooked" dough works great with the green onion pancakes so the middle is never undercooked.

Warm water, warm water... in it goes! Pour a little water, mix to combine with the flour. Add a little more water and stir until the entire mixture is even and just barely wet so that no dry flour is visible. Nice! This looks like normal dough... what was I worrying about? Reading all the information online, I expected the gluten-free dough mixture to have issues. What issues?

Scooping out a handful, I plop my dough onto the pre-floured table. Rolling pin ready? Squish! Roll.... ummmm.... roll? The mixture isn't rolling! In fact, I stare in horror as the mixture sticks to everything it touches! Within half a minute, my dough goes from a round ball to a sleek-looking and shiny... puddle. There's no other way to describe it. My mixture is puddling right in front of my eyes!

Forget my dream of potstickers... this stuff's not going to keep it's shape at all! I know this flour is based primarily on brown rice flour... but I didn't expect the results to look just like when I play with glutinous rice flour to make mochi. =S

I'm sad, but I'm stubborn too! I've already got a whole bowl of thinly chopped green onions... there's no way I'm wasting food! So fine, if a rolling pin doesn't work, I'll use a butter knife! Calmly, quietly, stubbornly, I use my butter knife to spread, chop, push the amorphorous mixture into the largest, thinnest, single-piece of dough I could create.

Besides me, my mom rolls her dough in the palm of her hands. She stops. Drip. Drip. Drip. The mixture dribbles through her fingers and plop, lands on the table. In bemusement, I watch as my mom scoops up her ball of dough and repeats the process with the exact same results.

"Hey Mom... are you going to try and roll your dough out?"

"This dough won't roll. It's already too wet so I won't add the oil. Why don't we just mix in the green onions and salt?"

"But Mom, it won't be the same! The purpose of rolling the dough out so flat and thin is to add oil and create multiple layers!"

"There's no way you can add oil. This thing won't roll. You can't make the layers."

"Okay... how about this... you try your way and I try the traditional way you taught me. Let see what works and how things taste. Sound good?"

Glancing to my left, I watch my mom scoop a pinch of salt and some green onions. Dough dribbling left and right, she mashes the whole mixture together. Rolling it into a ball, she places her finished product on the side, ready to cook. Oops... her mix is visibly flattening and the edges are running!

"Dad! We need your help! Mom's green onion pancake is running away! Can you pour some oil, heat up the pan and fry this thing?!?"

Grimacing at my dough, I watch it sitting in a puddle in front of me. Where'd my ball of dough disappear to? Large. Shiny. Watery. Goodness... is it even possible to make green onion pancakes? My idea for potstickers is already out the window. *shrug* I'll MAKE this work! Pouring oil onto my wet-looking dough, I smear it over the whole surface. Well, this oil layer is _supposed to_ create layers... ummmmm, this looks like a mess. Well, not just a mess... this looks very, very wrong. Stubbornly, I keep going. I sprinkle an even layer of salt over the oil. Next, spread a generous portion of green onions over the entire surface. Oops, gotta fill the edges too!

Quickly, I attempt to pick-up a corner of my dough to start the rolling process. No luck. This whole thing is literally a soft puddle! What to do? A plastic scrapper would be more efficient, I don't have one. Butter knife to the rescue!

Holding my breath, I scoop one end of my doughy mess and fold a centimeter of one straight edge back on itself. Standing back, I watch it start melting in on itself. Ugh... gotta hurry! Scrape. Fold. Scrape. Fold. Forget rolling this dough into a log or a snake-shape... I'm doing my best to keep this whole thing together so it doesn't puddle in on itself! Fast. Faster. Scrape. Fold. Scrape. Fold. Done! I've got the long snake-shape! Quickly, I grab one end and start rolling. This step looks like I'm making a large snail. Success!

I lift my coiled dough mixture high overhead. I did it! Ugh. Oil is dripping between my fingers. Looking at my nicely coiled snail... well, it's not that anymore. My green onion pancake is dribbling oil and looks nothing like it should. In fact, my whole mixture looks like it's melting! Are the layers even there? I can't tell. The mixture in my hand looks like a wet mess of dough with oil and green onions trying their best to escape. This whole mixture isn't even cohesive enough to maintain any shape!

"Dad... is the pan ready? Is the oil hot enough?"

"Give me a little longer... it's almost hot enough to cook"

A while longer huh? My mixture now _is_ a puddle... there's no way I can even finish the last roll into the proper 3/4 centimeter, supposedly round, classic green onion pancake shape. Instead, as soon as the pan's ready, I intend to dump my mixture into the pan and let it puddle itself into the proper thickness.

Amazing. Thank you, God, that today, we were able to at least have one semi-successful Chinese food type item! Lord, the potsticker filling... well, that's now in the freezer for another day. The green onion pancake... yikes, Lord God, when you created gluten, you created an awesome product that cannot be imitated by anything else! The green onion pancakes, although very difficult to make, still tasted wonderful! I little crunchier on the outside and fewer layers on the inside, but still pretty good!

Sorry Mom... the single piece version just doesn't taste the same without the layering effect. =D

Father God, thank you for my wise sister, Jessica. Not only did she teach me how to use spaghetti squash as noodles, she made a super yummy meat-filled spaghetti sauce that saved us from eating only carbohydrates for lunch!

Lord, thank you for a wonderful, fully supportive family! Thank you for today, filled with laughter, time to experiment with a very different product and most of all, thank you for blessing me and my family with new ideas in how to cook!

Father, I know when I first realized my sensitivity to gluten, dairy, egg, alcohol, some fruits... and who knows what else... I remember being shocked. Numb. I felt totally defeated and hopeless. But Lord, you are so good to me. Beyond the basics of veggies, meat and spices... you provided friends at church we showed me that gluten-free soy sauce exists. You provided multiple friends who also have gluten sensitivities and they helped guide me through this landmines of a gluten-free, veganish, but still meat-eating, world.

In Jesus' name I thank you, Father God, for ideas, for so much support, for this time to learn a new lifestyle... thank you so much for hope and good food!

Monday, November 25, 2013

Did I say that I'm stubborn? I want to make those potstickers and try a gluten-free dough that can be rolled!

This is the mix: 2-1/2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons of xanthum gum, pinch of salt, 2 eggs and water as needed to create the dough... this time, we mixed as dry as possible.

Father God, wow... what wonders the xanthum gum and the egg does in binding this dough. Thank you, Lord, for these options. I know I'm a little sensitive to eggs, but just a little this time okay? I really wanted to see what would happen! Father, even though everything rolled out nicely... the results were a little dry. But that's not the point... it is possible to make potstickers and create proper layers in a green onion pancake! I'm sure with more refinement and practice, I'll eventually be able to make both these dishes to be very close to the original. I'm very excited!

Lord, thank you for friends and family who are willing to be adventurous with me... to venture into the unknown and base their meals on a potentially unsuccessful cooking experiment! Thank you, Father God, for the laughter, the fun, the challenge of living this new dietary lifestyle. Thank you, Lord, for providing so much gluten-free products so that I can fully stock my kitchen at a very reasonable price! Thank you for books and online access to many tips and recipes so I can learn techniques in this new style of cooking.

In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Next step: gluten-free vegan dough! I plan to make green onion pancakes and potstickers using gluten-free flour (brown rice, potato starch and tapioca starch pre-mix)... maybe 2 cups, 1-2 teaspoons xanthum gum, 2 eggs substituted by 2 tablespoon flaxseed meal/flour in 6 tablespoons of cool water (let sit for 2 minutes to thicken), maybe some applesauce for additional moisture and warm water as needed.

Think this'll work? Conceptually, this recipe should be more malleable compared to my first attempt and more moist compared to my second attempt. =D