Is My Blog Burning? #7 – Dumplings

I’ll be honest. I’ve never knowingly and willingly made dumplings for myself or anyone else.

Until now.

I looked through my cook books under “Dumplings” in the index and found a recipe for a potsticker – a stuffed dumpling browned in the wok and then boiled rapidly for about 10 minutes. It sounded like my kind of “dumpling” – more than just a carb, this dumpling was filled with goodies.

The recipe called for tiger prawns, spring onions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar and salt and pepper wrapped in Wonton Wrappers, fried and then cooked in stock. (From “Wok Bible” Hamlyn ISBN 0 600 60990 1 p 58.)

Here is my recipe:

Phyllo Pastry (use 4 sheets cut into quarters.)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil/ groundnut oil.
2 Cups Hot Chicken Stock*
Soy Sauce to serve**

Filling:
1 cups pre cooked, deveined shrimp finely chopped.
½ cup finely chopped turkey sandwich meat
1 tablespoon finely chopped spring onions or to taste
2 – 4 finely chopped pepperoncini or pepperdews or chilies (depending on desired hotness!)
1/3 to ½ cup cooked white rice
½ cup loosely chopped Chinese cabbage/ Bok Choy
Teaspoon finely chopped fresh basil
Pepper

Optional:
Add 2.5cm/ 1 inch piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and sliced
Salt – be careful with adding too much salt as there is a lot of saltiness in the chicken stock

Once rice has cooked and cooled add to ingredients, and stir together. Roll out Phyllo pastry sheets. I used 3 to 4 sheets at a time and cut the sheet into quarters. I used 1 – 2 teaspoons of filling, placing filling in the middle of the cut phyllo pastry square. I dabbed some water around the outside and then folded over. The water helped the pastry stick together. I had about 12 dumplings once I had finished. Tip: make sure filling as been chilled in the fridge for approximately 20 – 30 minutes. Also keep the phyllo pastry in the fridge until needed.

Put olive oil in wok. Heat to high. Place dumplings one side down in wok. I had to cook these in 3 batches – 2 batches of 6 each and the last 2. I browned on both sides. Since my wok heated up very quickly watch so that they don’t burn. When both sides are browned, add half the chicken stock mixture and boil for approximately 10 minutes or until all the stock has been absorbed into the dumpling. When stock has been absorbed, remove and prepare wok for next batch.

Serve hot with dipping sauces, and salad.

Notes:
*For chicken stock- Penzeys Chicken Stock 1 teaspoon of stock to 2 cups of hot water.
**Soy sauce dipping sauce:
Equal quantities soy sauce and white vinegar
Castor sugar
Add Tabasco sauce for an added kick.