Asian Dumpling Tips

Almost Meatless Pork and Vegetable Pot Stickers Recipe

Asian dumplings are generally not meaty affairs. Even when a dumpling is filled with pork and Chinese/garlic chives (a classic northern Chinese approach), the quantity of pork used is stretched over a lot of dumplings. Eating eight of such kinds of jiaozi dumplings would never be like eating a steak! Because of limited resources and large populations, the Asian diet is one built on consuming little meat. There just isn’t much to go around. Without doubt, things are different nowadays in urban centers in Asia and in countries such as the United States where we have a relatively plentiful supply of food. In well-off countries like America, there’s a growing movement to cut back on meat consumption for health and ecological reasons. In the long run, it’s better for our bodies and planet if we consume less meat.

But just because you’re trying to cut back on eating meat, it doesn’t mean that you have to suffer through eating bland food. These pot stickers filled with a savory vegetable-and-bit-of-meat filling prove just that. The recipe comes from Almost Meatless, a terrific new cookbook by Tara Desmond and Joy Manning. Tara and Joy held a virtual potluck party today and as a guest, I brought these dumplings, prepared from recipe in their cookbook. They named their preparation “Pork Pot stickers” but it’s the vegetable combination that steals the show. The dumplings are scrumptious and I have to admit that there wasn't much left before I 'officially' go to the potluck by publishing this post! To graze on all the contributions, visit their sites: Crumbsonmykeyboard.com and Whatiweightoday.com

Vietnamese Rice and Pork Pyramid Dumplings Recipe (Banh Gio)

 If you’re enamored by dumplings at all, you probably have a list of comforting favorites. I’m partial to this Vietnamese dumpling wrapped in banana leaf as it was part of my childhood. My mother prepared dozens of these northern Vietnamese bánh giò (“baan zaw”) for our family to enjoy for breakfast or an afternoon snack. Commonly found at Vietnamese delis and sandwich shops, these dumplings are best when made at home and eaten fresh from the steamer, when they are soft and redolent of the tealike fragrance of the banana leaf wrapper. Inside, the firmish-soft rice dough encases a savory pork, shallot, and wood ear mushroom.

After my siblings and I left home for college, my mother stopped making them on a regular basis. I missed them dearly and last month, I put in a request for a batch and a lesson. She obliged and the recipe and video below showcase her nifty Viet-American technique that involves banana leaf (traditional) with aluminum foil (New World). It’s totally simple to master, even for novices. 

Publisher's Weekly Review of Asian Dumplings

My Asian Dumplings cookbook won't be officially released until August 25, but Publisher's Weekly just issued a review today. Here's what they said: 

Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, Spring Rolls, Samosas, and More
Andrea Nguyen. Ten Speed, $30 (240p) ISBN 978-1-580-08975-3

Nguyen, author of Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, celebrates a wide array of dough-wrapped treats from China, Vietnam, Japan, Philippines, India and Korea in this lavishly photographed homage to the not-so-humble dumpling. She divides her treasure trove of recipes by dough type, including filled pastas, thin skins, stuffed buns, rich pastries and more. Japanese pork and shrimp pot stickers, Filipino chicken and egg buns, and spicy potato samosas whet the appetite and show the diversity of the offerings she provides. Line drawings highlight shaping techniques to make half-moons, pea pods, crescents and footballs. Nguyen includes recipes for making dough and wrappers from scratch, including rice sheet batter, wheat starch dough and basic dough, among others. She also showcases dessert dumplings such as fried banana spring rolls, and milk dumplings in cardamom and saffron syrup. Sections on sauces, seasoning and stocks, key ingredients and essential equipment round out a superb collection. This alluring and attractive book will appeal to a wide audience of home cooks and trained chefs. 75 full-color photos.

What is Publisher's Weekly? A weekly trade news magazine whose audience includes publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents.  Publisher's Weekly has been in existence for 137 years -- since 1872.

I'm particularly jazzed about the Publisher's Weekly comment that the book is for both home cooks and trained chefs. Last week, Pim of Chezpim.com and internationally acclaimed Chef David Kinch of Manresa Restaurant came over for dinner and we made onde onde, a Southeast Asian sticky rice dumpling filled with oozy palm sugar. They had lots of fun and got a sneak peek of the book too, peppering me with questions. Pim was delighted to see Thai dumplings in the recipe collection. At one point, David said to Pim, "We're going to use this at the restaurant. Do you have this book yet?" Their enthusiasm was music to my ears. What more can a cookbook author ask for?

Banana Leaf Basics

Just like many other foods, Asian dumplings cooked in banana leaves are extra heavenly. Open one up and inhale the leaf’s grassy perfume, then marvel at the dumpling’s dough which will be stained pale green. Finally bite into the dumpling and you’ll savor the mild tealike flavor that the banana leaf imparts during cooking. Many Southeast Asian dumplings rely on banana leaf for their trademark taste, fragrance, and appearance. Prime examples include banana-leaf packets of Indonesian sticky rice and spiced chicken (lemper ayam), Thai banana and coconut sticky rice (kao tom padt), and Vietnamese rice, pork and mushroom pyramids (banh gio).

Aside from contributing culinary aesthetics, banana leaf is also a practical kitchen tool. As a food wrapper, it functions like plastic wrap, parchment paper, and aluminum foil to prevent drying and sticking and retaining heat. You can lay banana leaf down and serve food on it like a plate or placemat, and fold it into various shapes as to-go containers. It's also a great for lining steamer trays to prevent sticking. It's biodegradable too. That’s ancient green living.

Indian Rice and Lentil Dumplings with Coconut Cilantro Chutney Recipe (Kuzhi Paniyaram)

You don’t have to have all the proper, culturally specific equipment to make authentic Asian dumplings. For example, I use a Mexican tortilla press as a shortcut to preparing many dumpling wrappers. One late night while watching TV, an infomercial for a cast iron pancake puff pan (round baseball-like pancakes similar to Danish abelskiver/ebelskiver) caught my eye. “That pan is perfect for Indian kuzhi paniyaram, Japanese takoyaki, and Vietnamese banh khot,” I said to myself. The pan’s semi-spherical wells were bout 2 inches wide at the top, so not too big and not too small, versatile enough for many kinds of Asian dumplings. I bought one from Bed Bath and Beyond (one of the “As Seen on TV” pancake puff pans) but later noticed that they’re available online and at shops such as Williams Sonoma, Sur La Table, etc.

My friend Shiyam Sundar, a chef from South India, introduced me to these kuzhi paniyaram -- light, crisp dumplings made from a rice and lentil batter studded with spices and aromatics. Shiyam was sous chef at Amber India in San Jose, CA, but was unable to renew his visa and thus forced to return to India last month. I was feeling sad as he very much wanted to remain in America and cook Indian food with fresh California ingredients. Thinking of him, I took out the pancake puff pan and made kuzhi paniyaram.

Indian Coconut and Cilantro Green Chutney Recipe (Lili Chatni)

There are many variations of green chutney as there are Indian households. This is my version of a Parsi (part Persian, part Indian) rendition from one of my favorite cookbooks, My Bombay Kitchen by Niloufer Inchaporia King. The coconut adds a slight richness that softens the bracing qualities of the herbs.

Green chutneys made with cilantro and mint lose their color within hours but this one, because it contains coconut, retains its verdant color for days. It tastes too good to keep around for that long, however. Grate your own coconut (use a hairy brown one), or purchase frozen grated coconut from Indian and Southeast Asian markets. This is a great accompaniment to Southern Indian fare such as kuzhi paniyaram rice and lentil dumplings.

Makes 1 generous cup

2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 green Thai or 2 serrano chiles, stemmed and chopped
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup grated fresh or thawed, frozen coconut
1 cup lightly packed coarsely chopped cilantro, leaves and stems
12 to 14 fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped
Generous 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds, pounded with a mortar and pestle
About 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
About 1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon sugar, optional

1. Put the garlic, chiles and salt in a mini food processor and process to a fine texture.

2. Add the coconut, cilantro, mint, cumin, lime juice and water. Process to a thick, fine texture, pausing as needed to scrape down the sides. Aim for a texture that can stand up on a plate. Taste and add sugar if the flavor is too tart. Adjust the flavors as needed for tart, hot, salty, herby finish. Transfer to a jar or plastic container and set aside for a few hours for the flavors to blend. This chutney tastes better the next day to me, and it will keep for a week.

Quick Wonton and Barbecue Pork Noodle Soup Recipe

My Trader Joe’s Asian food product adventure continued. There were leftover frozen dumplings and Chinese-style barbecued seasoned pork and so I’ve been getting creative. Among the Trader Joe’s frozen Asian dumplings that I recently reviewed, the chicken and cilantro mini wontons were among my favorites. I wondered if I could pair the frozen wontons up with my shortcut  Cantonese char siu pork. The result was this quick and fairly decent bowl of wonton noodle soup with char siu pork.

One caveat is that I had some homemade chicken stock and fresh Chinese egg noodles in the fridge, but you can use the shortcut Asian chicken stock from the Viet World Kitchen (my other site) and even top-ramen noodles. Don’t be shocked. Instant ramen noodles are a staple in many Asian kitchens, including mine. If you use ramen noodles, I suppose you could use their broth flavoring packet and water for the stock.