For a long time I was not enthusiastic to eat at a dumpling place. I love dumplings but having strong vegetarian preferences, I rarely found entrees I could enjoy - vegetarian menu options always seemed like an after-thought at dumpling places I visited. But that changed the first time I ate at Din Tai Fung - it's the best dumpling place I have come across and hands-down awesome for vegetarians dumpling fans!
So it was only a natural next-step that I ventured on a quest to make the Din Tai Fung style vegetarian dumpling at home :) I don't think I have gotten 100% there yet, but close enough and it's a version we devour at home so that's good enough for me!
These are steamed dumplings - not pan fried. I prefer the steamed version but you could pan fry and then steam by adding a cup of water to hot pan and put the lid on.
(photo isn't great - we could hardly wait to dig in!)
These are steamed dumplings - not pan fried. I prefer the steamed version but you could pan fry and then steam by adding a cup of water to hot pan and put the lid on.
(photo isn't great - we could hardly wait to dig in!)
Making dumplings can bring the whole family together. Rolling the dough disks, filling them and then locking them into a dumpling is a process ripe for parallelism and more than one pair of hands. To little ones, it's also a time to unleash her creativity and make different shaped dumplings!
And to be sure it is a slow process, takes time, but the results are very rewarding; and if you have good enjoyable company, what's not there to love making dumplings as family bonding cooking activity!
You can make your own dough and wrappers; but to save time you can also buy pre-made gyoza or wonton wrappers from your local supermarket Asian refrigerated section, which is what I do. They are quite cheap - $3 for 52 wrappers or so.
This is how I made the dumpling filling:
Serves very hungry 3, or moderately hungry 4 (made about 32 dumplings)
Ingredients:
- 1 block of extra firm tofu (extra firm is important)
- 1C finely chopped mushrooms (shitake would be great, but I used regular brown mushrooms and they work well too)
- 2 carrots - grated
- 1 bok choy (finely chopped)
- 1Tbsp freshly grated ginger
- 1-2 spring or green onions (finely chopped)
- 1C finely shredded cabbage
- few mint leaves - chopped (optional)
- handful of thin rice noodles
- 1Tbsp soy sauce
- salt to taste (go low as soy sauce has salt)
- 2Tbsp vegetable oil
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| Vegetables - prepped |
Recipe:
- Prep all the ingredients before starting.
- Try to drain as much water from tofu as you can - pressing it between two paper towels. Then break into small pieces.
- Heat oil in a wok or large bottom pan.
- When hot, add ginger and saute a minute until oil is fragrant.
- Then add tofu and mushroom. Add a little salt to release mushroom juices. Saute until mixture looks dry.
- Then add rest of the veggies, mint and saute until mixture looks dry.
- Add say sauce, mix, taste - season more salt if needed.
- Remove from heat. Spread the mixture in a large plate and let it cool completely.
- Meanwhile soak rice noodles in hot water in a covered pan to cook the noodles for 10 minutes. Remove, check for done-ness. Chop into small bites and add to the filling mixture. Mix well.
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| Dumpling vegetarian filling |
Then make a sliding folding pattern on the edge to lock in the edges using your thumb and index finger (optional for that distinguishing decorated dumpling edges). Set them on a plate with seam side up. Steam in a steamer for 10 minutes. It's great if you have the special bamboo steamers - but regular vegetable steamer works well too.
Serve hot with dipping sauce (= soy sauce + very thinly sliced ginger)
Enjoy!