Savory Shrimp Cakes

With the Chinese and Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festivals happening this weekend (September 30), it seems fitting to serve a meal with some Asian twists.  The recipe below makes enough shrimp cakes to be a main dish for our family of five.  This would also be a tasty appetizer when we have guests.

Savory shrimp cakes have a flavor that is delightfully reminiscent of Chinese potstickers (fried jiaozi).  But mixing all of the ingredients into a thick batter means they are far simpler to make than potstickers or moon cakes.  These shrimp cakes have entered my permanent rotation of recipes that allow a little seafood to be stretched into a filling meal.


Recipe for Savory Shrimp Cakes

2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup water
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tbsp. lime or lemon juice
1/2 pound raw shrimp, chopped
1 cup finely chopped Napa cabbage
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup onions, diced
1/4 cup corn kernels, cooked
cooking oil, such as safflower or canola

Directions:

1. Mix together eggs, water, flour, salt, and lime juice to form a batter.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  
2. Into a large skillet, pour oil to a depth of one-half inch.  Heat to oil to about 375 degrees F (medium heat).  Drop spoonfuls of batter into heated oil and fry for about 3 minutes on each side, until batter turns golden brown and shrimp pieces are cooked.  Remove hot shrimp cakes with a slotted spoon and keep warm until ready to serve.  

Makes about a dozen medium shrimp cakes.  Serve with rice and/or lime-soy infused mayonnaise.

Ham Musubis: A Healthier Lunch Option

I was first introduced to authentic Spam musubis by a Hawaiian classmate during my college years.  They have recently become a welcome change of pace for lunches in our household (since I like to eat things other than sandwiches).  Not only do ham musubis taste better than a peanut butter sandwich, they are also dairy and gluten free.

I haven't eaten actual Spam for a very long time.  I still remember exactly how it tastes, and I don't miss it at all.   Thankfully uncured ham works as a healthier stand-in for canned ham.  If you are curious and want to see a more authentic Hawaiian Spam musubi tutorial, head over to Serious Eats.

My simplified version has just three basic ingredients--no tinned meat or MSG required.

Ingredients for Ham Musubis

• cooked sushi rice, warm
• nori sheets (I used pre-cut snack-sized sheets--about 5 cm by 8 cm)
• uncured ham, sliced and cut to fit nori
• avocado slices, optional
• sea salt to taste, optional (mix into the rice)

Directions

In a small skillet, lightly fry the ham on both sides.  To assemble the musubis, place one sheet of nori seaweed on a plate, and layer cooked rice, then ham (and avocado, if using), then another layer of cooked rice.  Top with another sheet of nori.  Press layers together and eat musubis warm or at room temperature.

Note: The rice will dry out quickly, so keep the musubis tightly wrapped or in a sealed container until ready to serve.

I'm sharing this recipe at Pennywise Platter, Your Green Resource, 
Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop 
and This Week's Cravings.

10 Things I Miss from the U.S.A.

Summer 2012: We set up a lemonade stand and yard sale in the blazing heat.

Our impossibly difficult summer move from Nebraska to Canada was not a triumphant experience.   Yet we slogged through the shedding, packing, and painting and made it north somehow.  We are resolved to never again allow the forces of chaos overwhelm us to such an extent.  By necessity, much of the extra clutter we I had amassed and stuffed in closets is gone from our lives, and I am glad.

Such a complicated summertime transition has meant less time for other pursuits, like kitchen experiments, crafts, and social media.  Hopefully as we settle in we can have space to breathe and live at a sustainable pace.

As we adjust to life in a small college town on the prairie, I am missing some of the blessings we had to leave behind, such as:

1. Extended family being a day's drive away

2. The friends we made in Nebraska

3. Delving deep into the Bible with other women at BSF

4. Lower cost of living

5. Eligibility for recipe contests

6. Nebraska farmers markets

7. Bike paths and the various wild foraging opportunities we had along them

8. Grocery stores in our neighborhood

9. Owning a house

10. Relatively mild winters (I've heard former Canadians talk of "summer coats" up here!)

That being said, we are happy about the Canadian approach to health care and education.  I am looking forward to finding a solid church this fall and going berry picking eventually.   Very soon I intend to connect with one of the local "mom and tots" groups.

After living in Vietnam, Chicago, and Nebraska as a growing family, we get to adjust once more to living in this semi-foreign part of the world known as Saskatchewan.  We've enjoyed a very warm welcome here; now it is time to expand and deepen the connections that have begun.

Saskatoon berry tart from a local bakery

What We Are Not Sorry to Leave: No Child Left Behind

My daughter entering her new school in Canada

When educational policy turns teachers into taskmasters, no one wins.  Not the students, who are forced to spend most of their time on practicing what is going to be on the test.  Nor is teaching under the current policy in the U.S. that fulfilling for teachers, who are constrained to improve student test performance, rather than trusted to find ways to tailor their time in the classroom to engage the minds of their students.

So we are thankful to be away from those constraints, and have hopes for greater educational freedom in our new elementary school.  Children are eager to learn new things.   Most teachers genuinely want to help their students learn.  Our kids were blessed to have some excellent teachers in the U.S.  However, No Child Left Behind still seemed to hinder a love of learning among students, and it has driven many teachers to leave their profession after a few years or retire early.  While we wish that policy makers would GET A CLUE AND REPEAL NCLB, in the mean time our children and their teachers have been losing out on the best parts of education.  So our family is not sorry at all to be rebooting our children's school experience in Canada.

Every school has some shortcomings, but fewer top-down constraints means more room for learning and growth. And learning, not test scores, is what truly counts, right?  Meanwhile, K-12 education in the U.S. is pushing a generation of children to jump through hoops rather than fostering children's natural ability to learn and discover.  What our world needs are young adults who are truly educated, with the ability to think critically and continue to learn and innovate on their own.  We as parents are committed to working with our children and their teachers to make that more possible.  And without the shackles of NCLB up here, we believe our prospects are much better.

For families who are still in the U.S., the best thing to do is to urge policymakers to make real changes. Especially in an election year, let politicians know loudly and clearly that dissatisfied parents, teachers and children should not have to endure NCLB any longer.