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Chinese New Year: Dumplings

"Mom, guess my favorite holiday."

"Christmas."

"Well...yeah. But after Christmas what's my favorite holiday?"

"I don' know. What is it?"

"CHINESE NEW YEAR!"

Well, all right. Let's make some dumplings.

Chinese New Year Dumplings

-adapted from Kenny Lao's Rickshaw Dumplings recipe at The Kitchn

makes about 40 dumplings

1/4 head of cabbage, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 lb ground meat (pork, chicken, turkey, or beef)

3 scallions, minced

1/2 bunch cilantro, minced

2 TBS soy sauce

2 TBS minced fresh ginger root

1 TBS sesame oil

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

Homemade dumpling dough or 1 packet of store-bought dumpling wrappers

canola oil for frying

Combine cabbage and salt. Set aside for 5 minutes.

After the cabbage has set, wring out the moisture with your hands. Place the dry cabbage into a medium bowl and discard the water that you squeezed out (there will be a few bits of cabbage that you just can't get. That's ok).

Mix together: meat, scallions, cilantro, soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil, pepper & egg.

Roll out (or lay out if using store bought) dumpling wrappers into small circles (about 3" diameter) and put 1 tsp (1/2 tsp if using store bought) of filling in the center of each one.

Put 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl. Dip your finger in the water and run your wet finger around the edge of the dumpling so it will be easier to seal. Fold the dough in half (creating a little pocket of meat in the center) and press on the edges to seal. Create little pleats along the edge if you wish. (There are other shapes you can make, esp. if you are using rectangular store-bought wrappers, but this is the easiest way to do it.)

Put about 2 TBS of canola oil in a 12" non-stick skillet. Heat to medium-high. Arrange the dumplings in the pan. Using a piece of foil or the lid to the skillet as a sheild, pour about 1/3 cup water into the skillet (BE CAREFUL! Oil pops!). Cover the pan with the lid or foil and steam the dumplings until all of the water is absorbed.

Dipping Sauce

2 TBS soy sauce

2 TBS rice vinegar

1/2 TBS sesame oil

1/2 tsp (or to your taste) sriracha or hot chile oil (optional)

Mix together and serve with dumplings.

We've made these a couple of times recently. They are wonderfully good and there are plenty of dumplings in this recipe to make a meal for a family of four. I have also used the stuffing in Fragrant Pan-Fried Rice (replace prosciutto & use up to a 1/3 cup) with delicious results.

Filed under // Chinese dumplings rice

The Homemade Fried Rice Smackdown

When it comes to fried rice I am not a purist. In fact, Asian cooking intimidates me a bit and, to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of rice in general. I would, however, like to be able to whip up a hot, fragrant, satisfying dish of fried rice now and again. For some reason, I especially like it on rainy days.

I recently posted this recipe from Mark Bittman's Minimalist column in The New York Times. My friend Stephanie got to the recipe before I did. She liked it, but only one kid out of three gave it the thumbs up. She noted that the crispy garlic and ginger looked appealing, but were not so tasty, especially for the kids.

With Stephanie's feedback in mind I made the dish. I tweaked a couple of things along the way: I added a couple of julienned carrots for color.

I was really careful about browning the garlic and ginger. Still, when I tasted it right out of the pan, I was overwhelmed by that acrid burnt-garlic flavor. Ick! I drained the garlic & ginger on a paper towel anyway and pressed on.

I fried 3 eggs in the ginger and garlic pan and begin frying the rice with the leek and carrot. Instead of putting the fried eggs on top of the finished dish, I broke them up and mixed them into the rice. I also added the sesame oil and soy sauce directly to the pan. Finally, I stirred the toasted garlic and ginger in with the rest of the ingredients.

The reaction: Eh.

We had to add a lot of soy sauce for flavor. The kids didn't love it. They ate it, but reluctantly. Rob added even more soy sauce than the girls and I did. We discovered that once the garlic sits for awhile the acrid flavor dissipates, but so does any discernible garlic flavor or aroma, leaving only the textural crunch.

While I was making Bittman's recipe, I remembered reading about fried rice in John Thorne's most recent book Mouth Wide Open. I couldn't resist. I made his recipe too. I fudged around on a couple things as usual. Thorne says a wok is essential, but I got rid of my wok ages ago, so I had to make-do with my frying pan. He also uses peanut oil and I just used canola oil. He uses day-old rice, I made mine an hour or two ahead of time. I also changed the proportions a bit. Here's my version:

Fragrant Pan-Fried Rice

2 c. cooked rice

2 TBS canola oil

2 scallions, cut in slivers

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 TBS fresh ginger, minced

2 TBS chopped prosciutto

2 eggs, beaten

a pinch of salt

toasted sesame oil

dry sherry

a little bacon fat or lard

soy sauce

red pepper flakes

Heat the bacon fat or lard in a medium skillet. Add a pinch of salt and a drizzle of sesame oil into the beaten eggs, mix. Pour the eggs into the hot skillet and cook quickly as you would an omelette, flipping once. Chop the egg up with a spatula and dump into a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add scallions, garlic, ginger, and prosciutto. Quickly sauté and allow the aromas to release.

Add the rice and stir, flipping the rice over in the pan constantly. Add a generous sprinkle of sherry and a few dashes of soy sauce. When these have absorbed, add red pepper flakes to your taste. Add the scrambled egg and flip the rice around a bit more. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding soy sauce, sesame oil, or red pepper as needed. Eat immediately.

The reaction: Yum.

The whole family devoured this rice without hesitation. It was delicate, aromatic, flavorful, and satisfying. No one needed to add extra soy sauce (there wasn't much added to begin with). It was very easy to prepare, literally ready in minutes.

These two recipes are so very similar. I love the fact that simply changing one or two things can so dramatically alter the character of a dish!

Do you have a favorite fried rice recipe? Share it with us!

Filed under // Chinese can be vegetarian rice

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Chinese New Year: Dumplings

The Homemade Fried Rice Smackdown