Find a good filling recipe! We like the recipe from The Woks of Life Easiest Pork and Cabbage Potsticker Recipe.
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tiny sponge yummy dim sum giveaway - OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. MAKING A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.
1. PROMOTION DESCRIPTION: The tiny sponge yummy dim sum giveaway (\"Sweepstakes\") begins on Thursday 11/12/20 at 12:00 am CST and ends on Sunday 11/15/20 at 11:59 pm PST (the \"Promotion Period\").
The sponsor of this Sweepstakes is tiny sponge ("Sponsor"). By participating in the Sweepstakes, each Entrant unconditionally accepts and agrees to comply with and abide by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor, which shall be final and binding in all respects. Sponsor is responsible for the collection, submission or processing of Entries and the overall administration of the Sweepstakes. Entrants should look solely to Sponsor with any questions, comments or problems related to the Sweepstakes. Sponsor may be reached by email at customerservice@tinysponge.com during the Promotion Period.
2. ELIGIBILITY: Open to legal residents of the United States who are 18 years of age (the \"Entrant\"). Sponsor, and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, distributors, retailers, sales representatives, advertising and promotion agencies and each of their respective officers, directors and employees (the \"Promotion Entities\"), are ineligible to enter the Sweepstakes or win a prize. Household Members and Immediate Family Members of such individuals are also not eligible to enter or win. "Household Members" shall mean those people who share the same residence at least three months a year. "Immediate Family Members" shall mean parents, step-parents, legal guardians, children, step-children, siblings, step-siblings, or spouses. This Sweepstakes is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited or restricted by law.
3. PRIZES:
Grand Prize: 1 winner will receive a Dim Sum Set and an Asian Breakfast Deluxe Wooden Set (approximate total retail value or "ARV": $61)
Prizes cannot be transferred, redeemed for cash or substituted by winner. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole and absolute discretion to award a substitute prize of equal or greater value if a prize described in these Official Rules is unavailable or cannot be awarded, in whole or in part, for any reason. The ARV of the prize represents Sponsor's good faith determination. That determination is final and binding and cannot be appealed. If the actual value of the prize turns out to be less than the stated ARV, the difference will not be awarded in cash. Sponsor makes no representation or warranty concerning the appearance, safety or performance of any prize awarded. Restrictions, conditions, and limitations may apply. Sponsor will not replace any lost or stolen prize items.
This Sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the United States and Prize will only be awarded and/or delivered to addresses within said locations. All federal, state and/or local taxes, fees, and surcharges are the sole responsibility of the prize winner. Failure to comply with the Official Rules will result in forfeiture of the prize.
4. HOW TO ENTER: Enter the Sweepstakes during the Promotion Period by following the Instagram instructions: 1) Like the photo & follow @mytinysponge, 2) Share your favorite dim sum dish & tag a friend OR by entering on Facebook by following the instructions: 1) Like the post & follow @mytinysponge, 2) Share your favorite dim sum dish & tag a friend.
Automated or robotic Entries submitted by individuals or organizations will be disqualified. Entry must be made by the Entrant. Any attempt by Entrant to obtain more than the stated number of Entries by using multiple/different identities, registrations, logins or any other methods, including, but not limited to, commercial contest/sweepstakes subscription notification and/or entering services, will void Entrant's Entries and that Entrant may be disqualified. Final eligibility for the award of any prize is subject to eligibility verification as set forth below. All Entries must be posted by the end of the Promotion Period in order to participate. Sponsor's database clock will be the official timekeeper for this Sweepstakes.
5. WINNER SELECTION: The Winner(s) of the Sweepstakes will be selected in a random drawing from among all eligible Entries received throughout the Promotion Period. The random drawing will be conducted about 2 days after the Promotion Period by Sponsor or its designated representatives, whose decisions are final. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible Entries received.
6. WINNER NOTIFICATION: Winner will be notified via direct message to their Instagram or Facebook account provided during entry 3 days after the random drawing. Potential Winner must accept a prize by confirming via Instagram or Facebook with their U.S residential mailing address as directed by Sponsor within 2 days of notification. Sponsor is not responsible for any delay or failure to receive notification for any reason, including inactive social media account(s), technical difficulties associated therewith, or Winner’s failure to adequately monitor their social media accounts.
Any winner notification not responded to or returned as undeliverable may result in prize forfeiture. The potential prize winner may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility and release of liability, and a Publicity Release (collectively \"the Prize Claim Documents\"). No substitution or transfer of a prize is permitted except by Sponsor.
7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: Sponsor assumes no responsibility or liability for (a) any incorrect or inaccurate entry information, or for any faulty or failed electronic data transmissions; (b) any unauthorized access to, or theft, destruction or alteration of entries at any point in the operation of this Sweepstakes; (c) any technical malfunction, failure, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or communications line failure, regardless of cause, with regard to any equipment, systems, networks, lines, satellites, servers, camera, computers or providers utilized in any aspect of the operation of the Sweepstakes; (d) inaccessibility or unavailability of any network or wireless service, the Internet or website or any combination thereof; (e) suspended or discontinued Internet, wireless or landline phone service; or (f) any injury or damage to participant's or to any other person’s computer or mobile device which may be related to or resulting from any attempt to participate in the Sweepstakes or download of any materials in the Sweepstakes.
If, for any reason, the Sweepstakes is not capable of running as planned for reasons which may include without limitation, infection by computer virus, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which may corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Sweepstakes, the Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Sweepstakes in whole or in part. In such event, Sponsor shall immediately suspend all drawings and prize awards, and Sponsor reserves the right to award any remaining prizes (up to the total ARV as set forth in these Official Rules) in a manner deemed fair and equitable by Sponsor. Sponsor and Released Parties shall not have any further liability to any participant in connection with the Sweepstakes.
8. SOCIAL NETWORK DISCLAIMER
An Instagram or Facebook account may be required to enter. If you don’t already have a Facebook account, visit www.facebook.com or for an Instagram account visit www.instagram.com to create one. It is free to create an account. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook or Instagram. You understand that you are providing your information to the Sponsor and not to Facebook or Instagram. By participating via the Facebook platform, participants are also subject to Facebook’s data policy and terms of use, which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy and https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/update. By participating via the Instagram platform, participants are also subject to Instagram’s data policy and terms of use, which can be found at https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875 and https://help.instagram.com/581066165581870/?helpref=hc_fnav&bc[0]=Instagram%20Help&bc[1]=Privacy%20and%20Safety%20Center.
9. SPONSOR: tiny sponge, customerservice@tinysponge.com
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]]>Steamed bread is light and fluffy and is made by, you guessed it, steaming the bread dough. I am used to baking bread and was surprised by how easy it was to steam bread when we tried a few recipes at home. As usual, the most time-consuming part of making steamed bread is preparing the bread dough. Invest in a steamer if you plan on making steamed bread consistently, it’s worth it.
Some of our favorite ways to eat steamed bread are:
We love scallions and green onions and tried so we tried this recipe for steamed scallion buns and appreciated the step by step pictures. With more practice we’ll get better at the folding technique but the bun taste was delicious.
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]]>Stir Fried Rice Cakes (Nian Gao)
Prep Time: 60 minutes, Cook Time: 20 minutes, Total Time: 1 hr 20 minutes
Serves: 4-6 people
Ingredients
1 lb refrigerated rice cakes (boil for 3 minutes)
3 bunches bok choy or napa cabbage (when chopped should fill a medium sized bowl)
7-10 dried shitake mushrooms
1 to 1.5 lb chicken breast
4 tbsp oil (for cooking)
Chicken Sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tsp sugar
3 tsp shao hsing rice wine
3/4 tsp white pepper
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
3 tsp corn starch
Noodle Sauce
2 1/2 tbsp concentrated chicken stock essence + 1½ cup water
3 tbsp corn starch
Instructions:
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Japchae
Prep Time: 15 minutes, Cook Time: 15 minutes, Total Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4-6 people
Ingredients:
16 oz sweet potato noodles
2 tablespoons oil (for cooking)
8 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz spinach
1 onion, thinly sliced
6 fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
3 small carrots, cut into thin strips
5 green onions stalks, cut into 1-inch sections
1 zucchini, cut into thin strips
Sauce:
8 tablespoons soy sauce
7 tablespoon sesame oil (add more to taste)
5 tablespoons sugar
Instructions:
Prep Steps:
Instructions:
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]]>I am hoping that his love for the lion dance continues and we can get him involved in a group when he’s older since it’s a fun cultural group to be a part of (and you get a lot of great exercise!). I actually participated in our Chinese School’s lion dance troupe during high school and started off as the tail and eventually moved up to navigate the head.
So why lions and dragons? These two animals are thought to bring good luck and fortune and so they are very popular performances during the new year, weddings, business openings and other festivities. It is very common to see the host of the event or spectators giving the lion red pocket money during the performance. The lion dance is performed by two individuals, one person managing the head and the other the tail. Usually the lion is brightly colored and the two performers wear costumes matching their lion. Unlike the dragon dancers, the two performers are usually mostly hidden beneath the lion’s body so that they look and move like the lion. There is a joker who leads the lion around and interacts with it, sometimes throwing a ball, feeding the lion and teasing it. The lion dance performance is complimented by a steady beat created by drums, cymbals and a gong. There are even lion dance competitions around the world with amazing stunts and feats of acrobatics.
The dragon team is much larger and will vary depending on the size of the dragon. There could be 10 or more people required to maneuver the dragon. Each person holds up a different section of the dragon by a rod and together everyone moves to simulate the movements of the dragon. This takes a lot of coordination and is a good arm workout. There is usually a person leading the dragon around holding a ball and there can be a team of musicians as well.
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]]>Check out the entire ezine here! And of course, our tiny sponge spotlight is featured below, written by the talented Van Nguyen.
Tiny Sponge, Adding New Flavors to Your Child’s Next Tea Party
By Van Nguyen
“For many Asian Americans, the portrayal of Asian American identity in the media has been a common focus of conversation. However, cultural representation is not limited to the screen. We also see parts of our identity in everyday objects such as brooms, decor, and cookery. One place we haven’t seen much diversity in is our children’s toys. In the realm of kitchen playsets, in particular, there is no shortage of pizza slices, hamburgers, and roasted chicken.
Tiny Sponge has set out to add new flavors to your child’s next tea party. Rebecca is the creator of this passion project-turned-business, which features an array of different Chinese food sets as well as children’s books.
Like every parent, Rebecca wanted the best for her son. Most importantly, she wanted him to be exposed to his cultural roots. She and her family visited Taiwan regularly, and while abroad, she would pick up unique toys at night markets and local stores. With every new toy or book, she knew that she wanted to see these products back at home.
Her entrepreneurial spirit growing, she began researching different products to feature on her new site. With her son and his cousins acting as toy testers, she came to find what products worked best. After a year of testing and drop shipping (ordering from the producer and shipping directly to the consumer), she finally decided to invest in inventory and made Tiny Sponge her new full-time business.
Rebecca first joined the Asia Society for AsiaFest 2019, displaying a feast of toy sets. She says that when most people see her products they’re amazed not just by the quality and cuteness, but also by the fact that they see themselves in the little har gow dumplings or youtiao breadsticks. She hopes to expand her menu to incorporate more flavors from around the world so that everyone can play with their favorite foods.
Rebecca wanted her son to grow up with the idea that there is more to life than just pizza and hamburgers. Exposing children to new cultures and perspectives at an early age helps build a mentality of acceptance and open-mindedness. With a more connected world, there is a need for global citizens — starting young with children’s toys is a great way to foster that open mindset.”
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]]>Taipei
Near Taipei, Requires driving
For additional math and language practice we slip in these tricks:
Below is a list of some of our favorite games that all of our family has enjoyed playing.
Card Games
Board Games
Interactive Games
Red pocket money (aka hong bao, red envelope or lai see) are always red which is a lucky color in Asian culture. Usually there are crisp new bills enclosed in the envelope. And it is impolite to open the envelope in front of the giver, definitely wait to find out how much is enclosed and always express your thanks.
The good thing about red pocket money is that it is not only distributed during the Lunar New Year time frame but can also be given out in a variety of circumstances.
There are probably even more situations where red pocket money is given out and received. The bottom line is red pocket money is always appreciated. 😊
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]]>Here are some of the things that we’ve done that has helped our family:
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]]>It’s also important to get the right timing for each of the ingredients. Heartier vegetables, shrimp and fish balls, and mushrooms take longer versus thinly sliced meat. You’ll get the hang of it by the end of the meal! Compliment your meat with dipping sauces and don’t forget the wonderful broth and noodles.
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For breakfast you can add in you tiao or fried dough and green onions with your congee. Other toppings include pork fu (pork floss), sausage, chicken, pork, seafood, fish, green onions, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and eggs. When in Hong Kong, we saw entire restaurants dedicated to congee for breakfast and if you are at dim sum you can usually get this dish as well. And it’s nice because a little rice goes a long way when making congee, which is the thought behind the origins of this dish. It is believed that congee was a clever way to feed more people and stretch the food supply—which turned out to be a very delicious idea!
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]]>Dry Noodle Dishes
Broth Noodle Dishes
Cultural Stories
Fairy tales
Stories of Diversity, Acceptance & Life Lessons
Diverse Characters
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]]>The focus on the moon ties back to Chinese folklore story of the couple Chang’e and Houyi. Back then, the earth was blistering hot with 10 suns, making it hard to grow anything. Houyi saved his townspeople by shooting down 9 of the 10 suns that scorched the earth and was rewarded with a special elixir that would make him immortal. Word got out about the elixir and a thief tried to steal it. In an effort to ensure that the elixir wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands, his wife Chang’e drank it and became the moon goddess. Houyi was saddened by the disappearance of his wife and when he realized what had become of her, would offer up her favorite foods during the full moon.
Mooncakes, round and shaped like the full moon, are the signature food of the festival. They can be filled with both sweet and savory fillings-red bean paste, lotus root paste, egg yolk, fruits, meat and nuts. These pastries have with beautiful decorative imprints or lucky sayings on the top which are achieved through mooncake molds. We have yet to try our hand at making mooncakes and usually just purchase them at our local Asian grocery store or bakery!
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]]>And of course, we love our ZoJirushi Rice Cooker which makes cooking rice a breeze. Next up, we’re going to try to make sushi…
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Sweet
Savory
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]]>Shop our Asian Breakfast play food sets!
]]>Steamed
Pan Fried/Deep Fried
Desserts/Baked Items
Misc
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According to legend, Chinese dumplings were created by physician Zhang Zhongjian as a warm meal for his sick patients during the Han Dynasty. He stuffed meat, herbs and peppers into some dough and boiled them, and these dumplings quickly gained popularity and have changed my life ever since.
Growing up our family would make postickers as a family. As quickly as we could fold them, my mom would pan fry them and we would devour them. Our dumpling folding definitely improved as we grew up. They morphed from flat half circles to more traditional dumplings folds, luckily the fold doesn’t influence the taste! We could always tell whose dumplings were who’s based on the folds (my sister’s dumplings were always the most creative looking).
Some dumplings even resemble the shape of gold ingots which makes this a lucky food. I know my stomach feels lucky.
A list of our family favorites:
Dumplings are hands down wonderfully delicious.
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]]>Supplies needed:
It was a huge success and he was able to build most of it on his own. Here are our easy DIY Steps!
Ta da! You've created your very own lion. Put on some music and start your own show.
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Eating sushi, dumplings and all kind of more ethnic foods and having a global mindset is so much more commonplace now-- which I love. Growing up in the Midwest there wasn't a lot of diversity at school and children had a more limited scope to their world. (Everyone thought I was related to the one other Asian kid in my class and the lunch lady). And that is probably why I feel the need to craft a world for my son where he can soak up another language, feel completely comfortable with his own culture and learn and accept other cultures as well.
“An inclusive toy box can promote positive racial/ethnic, gender, and cultural identity development for children. It’s important for children to see themselves reflected in their toys,” Hewitt says. She explains that a lack of representation in a child's toy box can send harmful messages ranging from “people who look like me don’t matter” to concerns that there aren't others who look like them. -- Psychologist Dr. Amber A. Hewitt states in the article "Why you should give kids toys that look like them." I agree! Not having diverse toys growing up didn't hinder my growth but it would have been a great bonus. Luckily, I grew up with supportive parents that sacrificed a lot to give us as many opportunities as possible which I am now trying to translate to my son. We traveled, went to weekend Chinese School, found the best bakeries in the city and made potstickers and onion pancakes at home. They developed our sense of adventure, culture and identity.
]]>Having a conversation with a toddler can be tough but story time always is a winner! It gives them something to talk about on the phone, a way to keep developing their relationship, he learns a little language at the same time and also he gets to practice with two fluent grandparents. win. win, win and win.
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