Some Serious Concerns and Some Fun With Storage Foods

I have heard so many Preppers say that they are buying food to store for long term that they don't intend to use until they need to. Many people are choosing "a year's supply" of food processed, packaged foods and calling their food storage a done deed. It is understandable to want to make sure there is a good supply of food on hand and having it all picked out for you, packaged up and send to your door, no muss no fuss, is tempting. But as with most convenience foods, they are not very good for you, they lack some very important nutrients and really don't taste very good. The portions are small and the calories, sugar and salt are high for what nutritional value there is. But they do serve a purpose, so I am not saying don't have some of them on hand. For the first few weeks of a crisis, they can be very useful since there are so many aspects of life in flux and no time for food preps. The family will be grateful for them. They are just not a good candidate for a long term situation due to their limited contribution to the nutritional needs of a body in a stressful situation.

When I realized how many people are doing their emergency food storage this way, I started designing an educational presentation on storage foods for our local PrepperNet city group. The presentation sheds light on nutritional concerns that are not being talked about in most Prepper circles, it also shares information on how to store foods for long term storage and some ideas on how to use the foods that are stored and with some tasty samples of the recipes I present. To reach a broader audience and to multiply my efforts, I am also fleshing out this presentation to be a series of tutorials on our website, which will be up and running in the next few months as well as in a book I am writing on storage foods.

Since I have been working on recipes for this presentation and also for the cookbook, I thought I would share one of the recipes with you. This particular recipe targets some very important nutritional needs and is lots of fun to do. Best of all it really tastes good!

 Jiaozi *

(aka Pot-Stickers)

Who doesn't like finger foods? They are fun, comforting and almost always come with some kind of delicious dipping sauce.

This recipe can be done more than one way, as fresh ingredients made up and immediately turned into a meal, made up from fresh ingredients and frozen for future meals or as I am illustrating today made into dehydrated ingredient and stored for long term to be used at a much later date.There is really very little difference in taste and texture between the different preparations. They are all good, so choose one way or try them all, I think in any form you are gonna love them!

The first step in making Jiaozi from long term stored food is to have prepared the ingredients and stored them. So we will start there.

There are many possibilities for the filling of Jiaozi. In this recipe I chose ingredients that are easy to dehydrate and store and have specific nutritional assets that are important to a body under stress. The main ingredient is fresh shiitake mushrooms (I get mine at an Asian supermarket that carries an astounding variety of fresh and dried mushrooms), but if you can't get fresh you can use dried shiitake (there are lots of online sources for dried shiitake if you don't have aa Asian market nearby).Be sure to coarsely chop in a food processor before beginning the recipe; in the dried state they are too tough to cut with a knife. There is also Napa cabbage, green onions, red bell peppers, water chestnuts, wakame seaweed, garlic, ginger and tree ears (a tree lichen that gives a wonderful tooth to the Jiaozi but can be omitted if you can't find them).


Chop the ingredients individually into small uniform pieces, and keep them separated from other ingredients.  Do not cut them so small that when they are dried they fall through the drying screens. Each ingredient should be placed on a different screen because they all dry at different rates. Check each ingredient to make sure it is completely dry before removing from the dehydrator. It may take a little practice to get good at knowing when things are dry so when in doubt leave them longer, it won't hurt them.

I use what I call the "Rice  Krispie" test. Some will snap easily in half when dry others are crispy, crackly and crush easily and some will pop apart and turn to dust when pressed between the fingers. In the case of the ingredients in this recipe, the shiitake snap in half cleanly when dry, the Napa cabbage is crispy and falls to fine crumbs if rubbed between thumb and forefinger, the water chestnuts dry very hard and can't be snapped, crackled or popped, but cannot be dented with a fingernail and are not pliable when dry. Ginger and garlic fall into the same category as water chestnut only not as hard when dry. The bell pepper took the longest time to dry because the skins curl around the soft flesh as they dry; keeping the air from reaching the insides.They probably took twice as long as everything else. They felt tough but not crackly. To be sure they were dry I took one of the largest pieces and tried turned it inside out to feel for moisture. if it was easy to turn inside out then it was pliable and there was still too must moisture inside. If it felt tough and was difficult to turn then I touched the inside to feel for moisture just to be sure. I purchased the wakame and the tree ears already dehydrated from the Asian market so all I had to do was add them to the mix when everything else was dry. This all seems complicated and time consuming but it isn't really, I just want anyone who doesn't have a lot of experience with a dehydrator to be able to tell what dry looks like.

This is what all the ingredients look like when dry.

At this point, the ingredients can be mixed and packaged for storage.  If the food is going to be rotated into your family's diet in eight months to a year, then using a Food Saver to vacuum seal them in a bag is fine, using a Food Saver to vacuum seal them in a Mason Jar will give you 2-3 years, both packaging methods should kept in total darkness . If you think it will be stored longer than that, it would be advisable to use small mylar bags and oxygen absorbers. This will give you possibly 3-5 years. Since packaging is just part of the food storage equation; your individual storage environment is a factor in the actual shelf life of your storage foods, so times may vary. We rotate our food storage routinely, so most things go on the table within a year or so. I still use mylar for most things because the bags are impermeable. They are air, light and moisture proof. My second choice is to use a Food Saver to vacuum seal Mason jars for items that I know will get used within the year, I just keep those jars in the dark since light rapidly deteriorates food.

When ready to put the Jiaozi vegetables to use,  put 2 cups of the mixed dried ingredients (for 36 dumplings or 1 cup for half that many) in a bowl and cover with warm water. Let soak while you assemble the Jiaozi dough.

For a batch of Jiaozi dough that makes 36 dumplings (cut recipe in half if you don't want to make that many) you will need:

2 1/2 cups organic all purpose flour (more for dusting rolling surface as needed)
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2/3 cup boiling water
1/3 cup ice water
A couple tbsp. sesame oil in a small bowl

Put the dry ingredients in a bowl and give a good swirl or two with a metal whisk to blend. Pour in the boiling water and whisk rapidly until crumbly in texture.

The add cold water and mix with hands to work in the water. Once cold water is incorporated, knead in the bowl with the palm of the hand until it forms a soft ball.

At this point, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 minute or so until the ball is smooth and elastic. It will not rise since there is no leavening agent, but the kneading will stimulate the gluten and cause it to be stretchy and easy to roll. To further make a pliable dough, let rest covered with a damp towel to relax the gluten fibers. If you don't let it rest then rolling the dough out will prove challenging. You roll it out and it shrinks back by half, roll repeat... it is maddening. But if you allow the dough to rest you should not have this issue.

Once the dough has rested, decide how many Jiaozi you want to make. The recipe will make 36 dumplings, if you don't need that many then you can cut all the ingredients by half or make it all and freeze half of the dough for later if that is an option. To freeze the dough, form a ball and flatten into a slightly round topped disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and them put in a zip seam quart sized freezer bag. Label with date and freeze for up to 3 months.

To make dumpling wrappers, form half of the dough into a domed disk, cover the remaining half with the damp cloth or follow the freezing directions.

 Put the thumb into the center of the disk and gently pull, stretch and turn until the hole in the center widens, much like forming bagels.

Keep stretching and turning, careful to keep the dough the same thickness all the way around, until the ring is about 10-12 inches in diameter.

 Cut the circle into equal parts, lay them side by side and cut in half again, then repeat twice more, until you have 16 equally sized pieces. Cover pieces with a damp cloth.

At this point drain the soaking veggies well and gently squeeze out any excess liquid. Set aside while you roll out the dumplings.

Next take two of the cut pieces and give each a gentle squash on the counter with the palm of a hand. Then dip one side of one of the two pieces in the sesame oil and lightly draw across the edge of the bowl to remove extra oil. Stack the 2 pieces together with the oiled side in the middle and using a small thin rolling pin or an piece of 1 1/2-2" diameter by 8" long dowel to roll the dough out. roll from the edge to the center, turn and repeat until the circle is 2 1/2 -3" round.

Then gently pull apart by finding an edge and working the pieces apart. The individual pieces will need to be rolled again just to return them to a circle, but you will have 2 pieces of very thin dough this way. I have found it much easier to get them the right thickness this way, but you can roll them out individually if it works better for you!

Once the dough piece is rolled out, cup your hand and place the dough circle in it so that it forms a little pocket.

 Put a tsp. of filling in the pocket (do not over fill!!) and pull the top of the circle over the filling to create an envelope pinch one corner closed.

With your free hand draw up a pleat in the top half of the dough and then press the pleat to the bottom half of the dough.

 Repeat to have 4 or 5 pleats and then pinch the other corner. Pinch pleats to bottom of dumpling again if it looks like the edges didn't seal. Gently shape into a half moon and repeat with the rest of the dumplings.

It takes practice to get the uniform pleats so don't stress if your pleats are willy nilly as long as they hold together while being cooked. I guarantee they will taste good no matter what they look like!

To cook: in a well seasoned cast iron skillet, or a non stick skillet, place a small amount of coconut oil (1/2 tsp. or so) and heat on medium. Swirl melted oil around to coat the pan and then place as many  dumplings as will fit comfortably with no crowding, pocket end down in the skillet with pleats pointing up.

 Lower heat to medium low and cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes. Peek under a dumpling to see if it is it is golden and just beginning to show tiny brown in spots, then pour in 1/4 cup of water and cover immediately.

Cook 3-5 minutes more, swirling the pan occasionally to keep the dumplings from sticking. When most of the water has cooked away, uncover the skillet and watch for all the water to disappear. Once all the water is gone the dumplings are done. Turn one up to make sure that the bottom is beautifully browned, then place them in a covered dish in a 180 degree oven to keep them warm while you cook the rest.

When all are done, place on a plate with a bowl of dipping sauce in the center and serve. Dipping sauce recipe below.

Steam fried Jiaozi served with dipping sauce and Oi Sobagi.
Oi Sobagi is a fermented Cucumber Kimchi. To learn how to make Oi Sobagi
go to my blog post here for a step by step tutorial.

                                                                  
Dipping Sauce                                                                           

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar or black vinegar if a richer sauce is desired (1/2 balsamic and 1/2 rice wine vinegar is a good sub for the black vinegar)
1/4 cup soy sauce or Nama Shoyu (wheat free fermented soy sauce)
1 tsp. sesame oil (or if spicy sauce is desired, hot chili sesame oil)
1 heaping tsp. honey or 1 tsp. agave
2-3 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tsp. minced ginger (I use ginger slices that I ferment myself and mince them)
Healthy pinch of sesame seed and sprinkle of green onions or garlic chives (this is optional but it looks really pretty and tastes nice.)
 Blend all together and leave to meld flavors for awhile before using. I keep a jar premade in the fridge. 

Why on earth would I include a recipe like this in a Prepper's Cookbook? Well, that is a good question! Most importantly it is because the filling ingredients target some very important nutrients: the shiitake have over a dozen minerals and vitamins including some hard to get trace minerals like copper and zinc, plus selenium and folate as well as some important b vitamins. The cookbook will have a breakout of nutrients and an explanation for why each is important for survival, but this post is getting long already so I won't go into all that here. The cabbage has vitamins A and C as well as folate, manganese, copper and more. The wakame contains the vital fat soluble vitamin A and K, also some other important nutrients. It is also source of iodine, which may be in short supply from other sources. The other ingredients will be broken out in the book but not here; I will say that each contributes something important to the diet.

Another reason Jiaozi will appear in a prepping book is because once the ingredients are dehydrated, the entire process can be done outside; cooked over coals on an open fire, or on a camp stove. It is a one pot deal and with a little practice can be accomplished in short order (it took me less than 1/2 hour from dry ingredients to steam fried dumplings. While this post has taken almost a whole day...) 

Finally, it is a morale boosting food, a special treat to take the edge off trying times. **Note the dumpling part is not necessary, it is just appealing and fun. If pressed for time, the filling can be served over rice or included in a salad or eaten out of hand. The important part is to get the nutritional value from the ingredients.

So why don't you try your hand at them with fresh ingredients and cook them immediately to see how the family loves them. If they are a winner, why don't you consider trying the storage food version.  If you try them please tell me what you think!

*How to pronounce Jiaozi: Jow (said like ow in how) tzah (Like in matzah) jow-tzah