Momos, as modified by Jay Lake, from Jody Lake, from Fern Wofford, from traditional Tibetan cuisine. Makes about 24 momos, feeds four to six people.
Preparation
Bread Dough
2 tablespoons (1 packet) yeast
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
3 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
Place the yeast into 1/2 cup hot water. Place the oil, sugar and salt into 1-1/2 cup hot water. Mix yeast, water and flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto floured board and knead until very stiff. Set aside and let rise to double (about 1 hour).
Meat Filling
1 pound ground buffalo
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste
3 to 4 green onions, chopped small
small bunch cilantro, chopped fine
Mix meat ingredients together. If using ground beef, consider adding bouillon cube simulate the richer taste of buffalo (or yak meat in the original). Also, consider substituting ground turkey or vegetarian ground beef substitute, with the addition of an egg in either case.
Divide risen dough into quarters. Continue to divide dough until each piece is about the size of a golf ball. (Use wax paper on a plate or tray to hold the balls.) Roll out dough balls into a rectangle.
Place approximately one to two teaspoons of meat filling onto each rectangle. Fold corners inward (like the back of an envelope) and roll flat so there is no open seam. (Don't worry if a little meat is exposed, but it's ideal if that does not occur.)
Cooking Method One (traditional frying)
Heat thin coat of cooking oil with splash of sesame oil in frying pan. Insert momos in hot oil folded side down, fry until golden brown on bottom, then flip once to fry other side. Turn oven on "Warm", stack cooked momos in layers on a baking sheet with paper towels under each layer to keep warm until serving. Do this even with the last batch -- it helps drain the oil.
Cooking Method Two (baked)
Egg Wash
1 large egg
splash milk
splash water
sesame seeds
Prepare an egg wash from above ingredients (except sesame). Drop momos in boiling water, folded side down. Boil sixty to ninety seconds. They should float. Transfer to cookie sheet covered with baking parchment. Brush or coat with egg wash. Liberally shake sesame seeds over egg wash coat.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400, until bottoms are brown. Move to broiler for 3-5 minutes, monitoring carefully, until tops are brown.
If needed, keep warm (or rewarm) per above directions.
Serving
Serve hot with a dipping sauce of equal proportions of soy sauce and vinegar. May be frozen and reheated later if you have leftovers, approximately 20 seconds on medium power in the microwave followed by toaster oven.
Even if you've seen this recipe from me before, if you want to cook them you should make a note of this version, as there are minor changes elsewhere in the recipe other than the cooking method.
| Originally published at jlake.com. |