Father's Day Feasting

Dad and I were discussing Chinese pot stickers a couple of weeks back and he expressed his displeasure in dumplings that have overly-thick wrappers. A mouthful of dough isn't nearly as pleasant as a mouthful of filling! I concur, so I suggested that we have some dumplings for Father's Day. I briefly toyed with making them from scratch, but then decided it was easier to buy a couple of bags of different varieties from Asia Foods.

Pork and leek, pork and veg, and pork mini buns. I made a dipping sauce of soy, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, and scallions to go with.

As the meal was starting off with an Asian theme, Mr Minx suggested that we do teriyaki meats to follow (Father's Day meals must always contain meat and lots of it, preferably grilled). Minx Bro suggested an accompaniment of stir fried vegetables like the kind one would get at a teppanyaki joint or those Japanese stir fry places in the mall (mushrooms, onions, bean sprouts), and also some grilled zucchini. And of course all of that needed rice.

Here's the meat selection. Top, from left to right: shrimp, pork, chicken. Bottom: beef and duh, zucchini. I marinated the shrimp and beef in a mixture of soy, brown sugar, and garlic. The pork got a bath of soy, brown sugar, and ginger. And the chicken spent some time in a few tablespoons of Thai chili basil paste.

And here it all is on a platter. I'm happy to say that the meal was a success - Dad enjoyed it very much. The only thing I would have changed would be to use chicken breasts rather than thighs next time, as breasts would have cooked more quickly.

The shrimp were my favorite, with the beef being next. Both came from the Belvedere Market (Ceriello's and Ikan, respectively).

Glad you had a good day - I love you, Dad!