Recipe | Pan-fried Dumplings

Since moving into my new home I've tried to make Sunday evenings a night for friends (who I consider my family) and good food. A few weeks ago Tara, Ruby and myself made these scrumptious little dumplings and my freezer is still aplenty with them for late night noshes. I'm no master at making these and so I won't go into great detail with ingredients as I usually do (also it was pretty experimental so I can't remember exact measurements either). It will also depend on how many you want to make; I made about 120 in the end (in three different flavours) and still had a tiny bit of left over mixture. 

Ingredients

dumpling/wonton wrappers

vegetable oil for pan-frying 

a selection of ingredients for fillings

        e.g. pork/chicken mince, tofu, chopped leek/shallots/carrot etc

crushed or grated ginger and garlic

a variety of sauces commonly used in Asian cooking

        e.g. oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, chinese cooking wine etc

So this is going to sound super vague but if you hadn't realised I am no expert. Separate your wonton/dumpling wrappers out and put about a teaspoon of your dumpling mixture in the centre of each one. Now the next part is entirely up to you depending on how you want them to look but I found the easiest way is to fold the wrapper in half and, starting at one end, gather the dough in pleats (see picture). 

Once you've made your dumplings you need to pop them in some boiling water for about three to four minutes to ensure your filling is properly cooked. Then, with a small long-handled strainer (see picture) or slotted spoon, transfer your boiled dumplings into a hot fry-pan with the vegetable oil. Cook your dumplings, turning occasionally, until they are a crispy golden brown and you can't resist picking one up and burning your mouth on their incredibly hot inside (I speak from experience). 

These are served best fresh hot with some asian greens cooked in oyster sauce, soy sauce and chinese cooking wine (portions vary on your preferred serving size). If you made these in bulk, like myself, you can put them in the freezer before cooking them.

Once again, if you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out. I know this wasn't very precise but that is simply a reflection upon the nature of the dish. 

Enjoy!

Erin xx

Vegetable Tempura Lovin'

I've been pretty bored of late, being unemployed and in a city without my friends, and so have been taking to cooking a lot more than usual. I love Japanese food and have never made Tempura before, or deep-fried anything for that matter. So, I gave this a go and thought you'd all like to see how I went. It's a really tasty, grease-crave-fulfilling, yet healthy option. Don't be frightened by deep-frying if you've never done it but definitely proceed with caution. Good luck!

Ingredients

Various chopped vegetables eg. carrot, zucchini, mushrooms, sweet potato, capsicum (see image for ideas and desirable size of mentioned vegetables)

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Tempura Batter

1/2 cup (75g) cornflour (cornstarch), sifted

1/2 cup (75g) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

1 tsp sea salt falkes

1 cup (250ml) cold soda water or beer

1 egg white

Tempura Dipping Sauce

1 cup (250ml) dashi 

1/4 cup (60ml) soy sauce

1/4 cup (60ml) mirin

To get it out of the way, and to ensure time between pan, plate and eating is as quick as possible, its best to make the dipping sauce first. Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, remove it from the heat, let it cool and set aside for use later when serving.

To make the batter combine the flours (cornflour and plain), salt and soda water/beer in a bowl and whisk until just combined. Whisk your egg white in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form (just like when making a pavlova) and fold gently through the batter. 

In a large deep saucepan (I used a wok), heat the oil until you can see it just starting to smoke (approx. 180°C/350°F if you have a cooking thermometer). Dip the vegetables in the batter, shaking to remove any excess, and deep-fry, in batches, for 3-4 minutes or until light golden and the vegetable is at your preferred eating consistency. Drain on absorbent paper and serve immediately with the dipping sauce. 

I served mine with some chicken thighs I had baking in the oven after marinating in honey, soy and sesame - but thats another recipe for another Sunday afternoon. 

Please let me know if you try any of these recipes or if I could write them in a more helpful way. So far I feel they're alright but I would love some feedback.

Erin xx