sizzling hot steak but make it gyoza
night market style, flooded by black pepper sauce on top of spaghetti and a sunny side up egg
When people think of Taiwanese night market foods, the first things that come to mind might be popcorn chicken, oyster omelette, stinky tofu or boba tea, nobody talks about the steak that is sizzling in our core memory.
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The night market steaks are not the thick expensive cuts, the whole point of the night market is that food is affordable.
These steaks(or chicken, pork chops) are served on a burning hot cast iron plate often shaped like a cow on fold-up tables on the side of the street where you sit on red plastic stools.
You can hear the steaks coming before they hit the table.
SSSSSSsssssssSSSSSSSSSssssssSSSSSSSssssSSSSSSSS
That sound, the smell, the visual, the smoke itās a food theater at itās finest. Especially for a 10-year-old whoās never seen nor experienced anything like this.
The owner would drop off the hot iron plate loaded with spaghetti(sometimes udon or Taiwanese flat noodles), three colored peas(corn, carrots, peas), steak, a sunny side up egg and flooded with your choice of mushroom or black pepper sauce that continues to bubble rapidly around the edges, splattering everywhere.
Everyone knows the drill. There are napkins on the table, you open them before the food arrives and lift it up when the steak hits the table to create a barrier between your clean clothes and the steak until the sizzle fades out.
I took Sean to a Taiwanese āsteak houseā for the first time and had to teach him the procedure.
The night market steaks are humble and āfancyā at the same time. Itās also loud, messy, sweet, peppery, and so much fun.
The steak sauce of Taiwan
You get to pick between two sauces- mushroom or black pepper. Most kids choose the mushroom sauce because itās sweeter, a little tomato-y and doesnāt pack the heat like the black pepper sauce does. Then we slowly graduate to the heaty black pepper sauce as we grow older or for those in-the-know, orders half-and-halfā the best of both worlds.
Along with the sauce that comes on top of the sizzling plate, extra condiments include: A1 steak sauce(I was obsessed with this sauce as a kid), āWorcestershireā that is labeled as āspicy soy sauceā in Chinese(ę¢ ęč¾£é¬ę²¹ļ¼ and B.B. brand hot sauce.
Oh and ketchup. My friend Naura would cringe. She hates ketchup.
Iām actually super curious about how these sauces became a steakhouse staple in Taiwan but Iāll save that for another day.
Turning the Night Market steak into a dumpling
One of the things about writing a dumpling cookbook is that Iām constantly trying to turn things into dumplings. However, I donāt want to just put anything into dumplings, I want them to be packed with childhood nostalgia.
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Ever since Iāve moved to the USA, Iāve been thinking about what it actually means to be Taiwanese. What is it that makes my upbringing different and the food I grew up eating āTaiwaneseā? All the things that were just everyday life I took for granted become something truly unique.
So how do I recreate the steak to include all the essential flavors but in a dumpling form?
I started listing out all the keynote flavors:
buttery, black pepper, garlicky, sweet onion, umami rich, mushrooms, juicy
Oh, and it has to be pan-fried and sizzling. Obviously.
Food memory is strange
Iāve eaten at so many fancy restaurants around the world but itās often the everyday items or night market foods that I crave the most. I was talking to some other chef friends recently and I started to realize that while weāre all creating new food and dishes, we are all chasing the nostalgia of our childhood, something that reminded us of home, the warmth and the good simple times.
Take us back to the feeling and memory weāre not ready to let go of yet.
Thatās why I keep cooking, hosting dumpling classes and sharing these recipes with youā maybe theyāll help you create new memories or be reminded of one that is buried deep in the everyday hustle.
[RECIPE]
Taiwanese Night Market Steak Gyoza é»č”ę¤ēęē
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Makes about 48 dumplings
Inspired by the sizzling night market steaks I grew up eating on tiny red plastic stools in Taiwanāloaded with rich black pepper sauce, mushroom sauce, garlic, onions, and big, unapologetic flavors.
This filling recreates that nostalgic éé¬ ādouble sauceā flavor inside a crispy pan-fried gyoza. Aromatic garlic, sweet onions, buttery caramelized notes, earthy mushrooms, and a little heat all come together with the ultra umami depth of Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauceāthe only oyster sauce brand my parents ever bought growing up.
The smell alone instantly takes me back to Taiwanese night markets.
Pan-frying gives these dumplings an extra crispy char and smokiness that tastes ridiculously close to the real thingā¦ just in dumpling form.
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Ingredients:
