Tag: Dumplings

Wild Garlic and Prawn Dumplings

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I’m not sure it would truly count as Spring if I didn’t make something glorious and green with wild garlic!

If you can’t get wild garlic, or it’s out of season, you can use garlic chives as an alternative and still get that lovely allium flavour through the dumplings. If you can’t get these either you can replace with spinach, and then add a minced garlic clove to the prawn filling – you will still get a gorgeous green hue in the dumpling wrappers, and the addition of a garlic clove to the mixture will add all the flavour you need.

Makes 12 dumplings

Ingredients

For the dumpling skins

  • 50g wild garlic or spinach leaves
  • 108g plain flour
  • 12g corn flour

For the filling

  • 150g raw prawns, minced
  • 50g bamboo shoots, roughly chopped
  • 5g fresh ginger, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp corn flour
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil, plus extra for cooking
  • White pepper to taste
  • (1 garlic clove, minced if using spinach)
  • 1 tsp rapeseed oil

Method

  • To make the dumpling skins start by blending the wild garlic leaves to a paste. Strain the liquid off, weighing it as you do.
  • In a bowl, add the plain and corn flour, mixing together.
  • Take the strained liquid and top up with boiling water to make a total of 62g of liquid. Add this hot mixture to the flour and stir to a shaggy mixture. Cover and leave for 10-30 minutes.
  • Knead the dough till it is smooth and elastic. Cover and rest for 30-60 minutes.
  • Meanwhile prepare your filling by mixing all the ingredients together, except for the rapeseed oil.
  • Roll the dough into a long sausage shape and divide into 12 equal rounds.
  • Take one round, and cover the reaming pieces of dough, and press down with the palm of your hand on the cut surface to create a flat disk. Using a rolling pin, roll from the centre out, turn a quarter and repeat till you have created a round flat disk with a thin edge.
  • If not using immediately, cover to prevent it from drying it out as you continue to roll out the remaining dough.
  • Take one dumpling skin and fill it with a heaped teaspoon of the mixture. Using a little water over one half of the inside of the dough, start from one end and gently pinch with an overlap to seal each dumpling in a crescent shape. Repeat with the rest of the dough and mixture.
  • Add the rapeseed oil to a frying pan and heat gently. Arrange the dumplings so they have at least 1cm between each dumpling – you may need to cook them in batches depending on the size of your pan.
  • Cook for 2-3 minutes on a medium heat till the bottom turns golden on the bottom.
  • Boil the kettle and add water directly into the pan so it come up to the bottom third of the dumpling. Immediately cover with a lid to steam the dumplings.
  • After 5 minutes, remove the lid and allow any remaining liquid to evaporate off, add a dash of sesame oil to finish and crisp the bottom for 1 minute.
  • Remove from the pan and enjoy hot.
Wild Garlic & Prawn Dumplings

Per 4 dumplings: 232kcal/ 5.3g fat/ 0.8g saturated fat/ 32g carbohydrates/ 2.7g fibre/ 13g protein

Vegetable and Tofu Gyoza

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These easy to make dumplings look rather impressive. They also happen to be vegan, but if you wish you can add other flavours to the mix such as oyster sauce, fish sauce, or replace the tofu with an alternative source of protein.

If you want, you can also make a large batch of dumplings and freeze them. Simply line a baking tray with baking parchment and arrange the dumplings so they don’t touch. Freeze and then place into bags for up to 3 months. You can cook them straight from frozen, just add an extra few minutes onto the steaming time to make sure they are piping hot in the centre.

These little dumplings are delicious served with a simple dipping sauce made from soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar. You can also add other flavours such as chilli, spring onion or sesame seeds. Alternatively, they are amazing dipped in some shop bought hoisin sauce!

Serves 3 as a starter

Ingredients

  • 1 portion of dumpling skins
  • 2 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and finely diced. Reserve the soaking liquid
  • 100g firm tofu
  • 30g cabbage, finely sliced
  • 30g carrot, finely diced
  • 30g bamboo shoots, finely sliced
  • 1 spring onion, finely chopped
  • 10g coriander, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, very finely diced
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
  • 2 tsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp cornflour
  • 1/2 tsp rapeseed oil

Method

  • Mix all of the ingredients, except the rapeseed oil, and 2 tablespoons of the reserved shiitake mushroom liquid together. Gently heat in a pan or wok till the cabbage has softened and the liquid has become slightly thick so it coats all the ingredients, about 2-3 minutes. Add extra mushroom liquid if needed.
  • Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
  • Take 1 dumpling skin and fill it with a heaped teaspoon of the mixture. Pinch the end and then pleat the top half of the skin onto the bottom half of the skin to create a slight crescent shape.
  • Add the rapeseed oil to your frying pan to stop the dumplings from sticking, and arrange them so they have at least 1 cm between each dumpling. You may need to cook them in batches depending on the size of your pan.
  • Cook for 2-3 minutes over a low-medium heat so they are golden on the bottom. Then add hot water to cover the bottom third of the dumpling and immediately cover with a lid to steam the dumplings.
  • After 5 minutes, remove the lid and allow any remaining liquid to evaporate off, allowing the bottoms to crisp for 1 minute.
  • Remove the dumplings onto a plate and enjoy hot with a dipping sauce of your choice.

Per serving: 230kcal/ 5.8g fat/ 1.3g saturated fat/ 33.2g carbohydrates/ 3.6g fibre/ 9.7g protein

Turkey and Shiitake Mushroom Dumplings

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An adaptation to the bao recipe my mum taught me for when you are shorter on time but still want something delicious!

While Chinese recipes often call for pork, specifically fattier cuts such as belly of pork, I use minced turkey thigh in many of my dumpling recipes. Turkey is a leaner mince in comparison to standard pork mince (5.5g fat versus 11.6g fat per 100g respectively) yet still doesn’t dry out when cooked. This is partially due to the use of thigh meat rather than breast, which is usually much juicer, as well as the use of a tiny amount of bicarbonate of soda. The bicarbonate of soda, once mixed in with the mince, helps it stay soft and juicy, as well as give a little “bounce” which higher fat meats tend to have.

This is perfectly adaptable to whatever ingredients you wish to use. You can use firm tofu, which I also press to prevent excess water inside the dumpling. Swap weight for weight, although it can be a little more difficult to pleat the dumplings as the mixture is much more crumbly and does not stick together in the same way as meat does.

I also love to use fish and shellfish in dumplings. You could also do a mixture, one we often use in our family recipes is prawn and turkey, again traditionally it would have been pork and prawn, but we have added this little healthy swap which tastes absolutely delicious!

Folding the dumplings can be a little tricky. If you struggle the simplest shape you could make would be either a half-moon where you literally fold the skin on itself to make a semicircle shape, or you could gather all the pastry around to the top and squeeze to make a “money purse” shape. As you get more adventurous there are so many different shapes you can try.

Dumpling filling ingredients

Makes 12 dumplings

Ingredients

  • 1 quantity of dumpling skins
  • 100g turkey mince, preferably thigh
  • 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tsp corn flour
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 3 shiitake mushrooms, fresh, or if dried soaked in water till soft, finely diced
  • 35g bamboo shoots, finely sliced
  • 15g coriander, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cm ginger slice, finely diced
  • Pinch of white pepper
  • Oil for cooking

Method

  • Mix the turkey mince with the bicarbonate of soda thoroughly. Then add all the remaining ingredients, except the oil for frying, and mix well.
  • Take 1 dumpling skin and fill it with a heaped teaspoon of the mixture. Pinch the end and then pleat the top half of the skin onto the bottom half of the skin to create a slight crescent shape.
  • Add a dash of oil to your frying pan to stop the dumplings from sticking, and arrange them so they have at least 1 cm between each dumpling. You may need to cook them in batches depending on the size of your pan.
  • Cook for 2-3 minutes over a low-medium heat so they are golden on the bottom. Then add hot water to cover the bottom third of the dumpling and immediately cover with a lid to steam the dumplings.
  • After 5 minutes, remove the lid and allow any remaining liquid to evaporate off, add a dash of sesame oil to finish and crisp the bottoms for 1 minute.
  • Remove the dumplings onto a plate and enjoy hot with a dipping sauce of your choice.

Per dumpling: 66kcal/ 1.9g fat/ 0.4g saturated fat/ 8.7g carbohydrates/ 0.7g fibre/ 3.3g protein

Easy Dumpling Skins

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Easy dumpling skins which the whole family can enjoy rolling out and filling.

If you don’t have plain flour, use strong white bread flour and increase the ratio of corn flour in the recipe by up to 25%. Corn flour adds a silkiness to the skins, even with normal plain flour, while the high gluten content of bread flour could make the skins tough.

Makes 12 skins.

Ingredients

  • 108g plain flour
  • 12g corn flour
  • 62g hot water, boiled and cooled for 5-10 minutes

Method

  • Mix the two flours together.
  • Add the hot water and stir to a shaggy mixture. Cover and leave for 10-30 minutes.
  • Knead the dough till it is smooth and elastic. Cover and leave for 30-60 minutes.
  • Roll a fat sausage shape and cut 12 equal cylinders.
  • Take 1 cylinder, and cover the remaining 11, press down with the palm of your hand on the cut surface of the dough to create a flat disk. Using a rolling pin, roll from the centre of the disk outwards, then turn clockwise and keep repeating around the dough to create a round flat disk with a thin edge.
  • If not using immediately, cover to prevent it from drying out as you continue to roll out the remaining dough.
  • If you wish to freeze the skins, rub a little corn flour on each side to stop them from sticking together. Freeze for up to 1 month.

Per skin 39kcal/ 0.2g fat/ 0.1g saturated fat/ 8.0g carbohydrates/ 0.3g fibre/ 1.1g protein