Green Papaya

One of my favorite restaurants is Green Papaya, a Thai restaurant located in Hyde Park, Cincinnati, Ohio.

I can start with the good as it far outweighs the bad with this hidden gem. The main room of the restaurant has a sushi bar with a fantastically colorful array of rolls. The decor is very fascinating and everywhere you look you will see a piece of art, a fountain, or a hidden Koi fish statue tucked away. The second you receive your menu, you will recognize the long list of fantastic options, each sounding more flavorful than the last. You will find the "lunch box" will allow you to get an affordable set of options (think "Pick 2 from Panera").

The sushi is fantastic, fresh, and unique - it is hard to be disappointed with anything at this restaurant. If you are a soup lover, or frankly even if you are not, try the Green Papaya soup. This soup, loaded with Holy Basil, prawns, mushrooms, coconut milk, and lemongrass is not only sweet and spicy, but fantastically flavorful and will touch taste buds you didn't know existed.

I will share my review of two of my favorite dishes on the menu, Crispy Pad Thai and the Panang Curry. The pad thai is a crispy mix of your favorite dish full of green onions, crunchy noodles, and loaded with sauce. I have attempted to made this dish numerous times and it's difficult to replicate the perfect amount of crisp without under or overcooking the noodles.

The Panang Curry is full of vegetables, rice, and an amazing coconut based sauce that is extremely sweet. It is very different from Indian curry so do not get confused however Panang is a must try for sure.

As this restaurant is affordable, local, and has fantastic service I can say few negative things about Green Papaya but I will try as to create a balance in the amazing experience I have described. The lot for Green Papaya is small so parking can often be an issue however the walk back to your car will help you burn the very few calories consumed in your meal. When the restaurant is full there may be very little elbow room at your table as without a booth seat you will find yourself in close quarters with your neighbor. Look on the brightside, for eavesdroppers it will make it easy to listen in on the couple next to you chatting about their date night plans! Finally you will find that the single bathrooms are in a narrow hallway and it may be a cramped wait.

All in all Green Papaya is an amazing choice for a night out, a sweet date, or a lone munch for lunch.

Shanghai Soup Dumplings

In my family, March is the busiest month of the year and also the most fun! My grandmother, sister and mother all were born in March and as our circle has grown, my boyfriend and my sister's boyfriend also have March birthdays!

A friend of mine kept mentioning Shanghai Soup Dumplings. He explained to me that it's not any ordinary dumpling, the soup broth that you might think Soup Dumplings sit in, is actually INSIDE the dumpling.

Now I will tell you the truth, I was terrible at Chemistry and meidiocre in Physics in high school but I was pretty sure this wasn't possible to contain a liquid inside a dumpling long enough to cook it without a huge mess on your hands.

Readers, prepare for a culinary magic trick that when unveiled to your friends  will truly delight. He told me that my soup dumplings tasted exactly like the ones in China. This is one dish that I attempted expecting failure as I have never heard of, seen, or tasted this dish but I must say - even I was impressed.

Enjoy!

I suggest you purchase a bamboo steamer before attempting this dish. It's perfect for steaming veggies and dumplings and they only cost about $14 on amazon. Trust me, you'll love this thing and it looks cool!

Ingredients

1 package of dumpling wrappers (or these can be made from scratch with flour and water)

Napa Cabbage

Sauce

Soy Sauce

Hot Chili Oil

Dumpling Filling1lb ground pork

1/2 cup of green onions (mostly the white is used)

1 tablespoon finely minced or grated ginger

1 garlic clove minced

1 cup diced ham

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon rice wine or rice vinegar

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

Soup

1-2 lbs of pork cut into strips or cubes (I actually used boneless pork and just cut it, you can get creative here!)

1 & 1/2 cups of cubed ham (you can also use fresh if you'd like)

4 slices of ginger (you can purchase any piece of ginger & cut off 4 pencil width and inch long slivers)

2 cloves of garlic sliced

1 cup of geen onions chopped (white parts only)

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of rice wine or rice vinegar

10 cups of water

***To be used after soup is cooked - 2 or 3 envelopes of unflavored gelatin

1. Begin by combining the dumpling filling then covering with saran wrap and refrigerating. I left mine overnight to absorb flavors

2. Combine soup ingredients excluding the gelatin and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce soup to a simmer. I allowed to cook for about an hour. Disregard "overcooking" the pork because all solids will be discarded. Strain the soup.

This is where I disagree with some recipes. They sail to boil the broth until it is reduced however I found it to be so flavorful that honestly it could be a soup on its own. I had about 4 - 5 cups of broth and decided to double my recipe instead. Trust me, this is a good idea.

3. Combine gelatin in a seperate bowl with 3 tablespoons of water. Add the broth then place in a glass dish and refrigerate overnight. To speed up the process you can place in the freezer for a little bit and then transfer to the fridge.

4. Cut your gelatinous soup mixture into very tiny cubes, the smaller the better as you will need small ones!

5. Boil water and place bamboo steamer on top.

6.. Now place a small amount of filling in the center of the dumpling and places 2-5 cubes of broth (depending on how yours are sliced) into center.

7. Moisten your fingers and fold the dumpling up then pinch or pleat the edges into a dumpling. If dumpling gets too moist, use flour to dry. Twist the top a little bit to make sure it is sealed.

8. After getting about 10 dumplings ready, place cabbage leaves in steamer and place dumplings on top.

Cooking time varies depending on dumpling size but about 7 minutes is a good rule of thumb. Your dumplings will be a golden color and you'll see the broth is liquid again.

Grab chopsticks, dip them in your sauce and poke a small hole in the dumpling to suck the soup out then eat! Personally I like popping the whole thing in my mouth but my friend insisted I try it the authentic way.

You can freeze the dumplings and simply steam them in the future when you have a craving. Trust me - you'll crave these soon enough.