Asian Dumpling Tips

Giant Fried Jiaozi Dumplings Recipe

Chinese cooks excel at making interesting and tasty vegan dumplings. Here is a recipe that I made today from Beyond the Great Wall by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. Filled with cellophane noodles, napa cabbage, shiitake and wood ear mushroom and pressed tofu, the Hunanese dumplings are deep fried to a crisp. (I tried shallow-frying them too!) They are enormous for dumplings as each one is about 7 to 8 inches long. You can make them smaller, if you like.

For details on these supersized Chinese dumplings, see the post on Viet World Kitchen.

Corn Husks and Banana Leaves Make Perfect Parcels

  

For lunch today, I enjoyed a seemingly unusual combination plate of Mexican chicken tamale and Indonesian lemper ayam (sticky rice and spicy chicken wrapped in banana leaf). I had both in the freezer and without much thought, I thawed and steamed them together. The tamale came from Mr. Cruz, a family friend who has up until the recent past gifted my parents his family’s homemade tamales for Christmas. The lemper ayam were leftover from recipe developing that I did a long time back; I actually can’t recall when I made them (maybe – gulp – a year ago) but can safely report that they refreshed to 85% of their original selves. It was a sensational lunch that delivered me to warmer climes, and I forgot, for a short while, that it was around 40 degrees outside.

If you’re a Saveur magazine reader, you may have read a short story in the December 2009 issue about Mr. Cruz’s tamales. They were what got me making Asian leaf-wrapped parcels for our Christmas gatherings. (Both are leaf-wrapped, have carby insides and spicy fillings, and cooked by steam. They’re members of the global dumpling family.) When Mr. Cruz learned that I was writing about him for Saveur, he was so touched that he made a special batch of tamales on Thanksgiving Day and brought them over to my parents’ house. Tamales are part of the Nochebuena (Chrismas Eve) tradition but since Mr. Cruz plans to spend that holiday in Mexico, he created a new tradition of tamales for El Dia de Gracias. Below is a photo of Mr. Cruz that my Dad snapped for the artist rendering in the magazine piece:

Before I left my folk’s house, I packed half a dozen of Mr. Cruz’s tamales in a plastic bag. Back in Santa Cruz, I tucked them away in the freezer for days like today, when it’s cold outside and I want to savor something steamy and satisfying. Dumplings surely fit the bill. So go crazy this holiday season and throw some Asian dumplings into your gifting routine. The recipients will love your generosity.

For more information:

• Try the sweet  Thai banana and sticky rice packets recipe (kao tom padt) from the article. Note that it’s different from the one in Asian Dumplings as the editors decided to omit the black beans.
• Enter Saveur’s Asian Dumplings Contest to win a FREE copy of my cookbook.
• Tips on how to use banana leaves

Chinese Steamed Rolls Recipe

Chinese yeast dough is extremely versatile and easy to prepare. In fact, I usually let the food processor do the work so that the dough comes together in minutes. With the dough, I make filled buns to create steamed or pan-fried bao. Or I form the dough into little rolls that can be served alongside rich meats, such as Cantonese roasted pork, roasted duck, deep-fried duck or braised pork belly. You may have seen these types of rolls at Asian weddings, celebrations and the frozen food aisle at  Chinese markets. They're also the ones at places like Momofuku Ssam Bar and Noodle Bar in New York City. No Ancient Chinese secret here. Just an easy yeast dough made from grocery store ingredients. As a bonus, you can freeze the steamed rolls for up to 3 months. Just thaw and resteam to refresh and reheat.

Vegetarian Daikon Rice Cakes a la Slanted Door Recipe (Luo Bo Gao)

 

To test drive Wai Chu’s recipe for Chinese daikon radish cakes, I bought a lot of daikon radish. You never know how much you’ll need and I didn’t want to keep running back to the store. Wai’s luóbo gāo (lok bok gow in Cantonese,  蘿蔔糕) from The Dumpling cookbook worked out like a charm on the first run-through so I had several pounds of leftover radish, some of which were used for Vietnamese daikon and radish pickles (do chua) that I’ll be stuffing into banh mi sandwiches.

Watching Charles Phan compete against Cat Cora on Iron Chef America's battle almond got me thinking about Slanted Door’s vegetarian version of the daikon radish cakes. I recalled Phan proudly telling me in an interview how he infused a lot of umami into the cakes so that people wouldn’t miss the traditional dried shrimp and Chinese sausage. The Vietnamese cooks at Slanted Door who are in charge of the radish cakes said that it’s a perennial favorite; they should know as they’ve worked with Phan for many years. In tribute to Phan and his hardworking staff,  I decided to take Wai's recipe and make it vegetarian.

Slanted Door's Hue Rice Dumplings Recipe (Banh Xep Chay)

I know you’ll think me crazy, but to mark the release of Asian Dumplings  this week, I made a new dumpling. It’s one that I can’t get out of my mind. Every time I've ordered the Hue rice dumplings at Charles Phan’s Slanted Door restaurant in San Francisco, I’m tickled by their dainty appearance and rich mung bean and caramelized shallot flavor. The garnish of rich scallion oil and spicy soy sauce imparts extra plush and savory qualities. The dumplings are slightly chewy and soft and a bit translucent, a result of the wrapper being made from rice flour and tapioca starch. Slanted Door names these morsels Hue rice dumplings as they are similar to a tapioca-based Hue dumpling called banh bot loc, a classic dumpling from the central region of Vietnam, which many associate with the former imperial city of Hue. (For a banh bot loc recipe, see Asian Dumplings, page 147).

But the restaurant’s dumpling is actually more akin to a rice and tapioca starch dumpling called banh xep ("baan sehp"), which literally means “folded dumpling,” or turnover. Semantics aside, the Slanted Door’s rice dumpling is a delicious Vietnamese and vegan snack. Meat lovers won't feel shorted whatsoever.

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.

Modern Indian Chile Pea Puffs Recipe

The other day I made a batch of kumquat and mango chutney to go with these chile pea puffs. Both recipes are from Monica Bhide's new cookbook, Modern Indian. Monica’s recipe intrigued me because the filling is a simplified version of matar paneer – peas and cheese, one of my favorite Indian preparations. Remember to season the filling a little stronger than usual because it needs to stand up to the sweet-tart-pungent chutney. Go for a salty, spicy and sweet finish.

Wonton skins are not traditionally used for Indian dumplings, but neither is puff pastry, which I’ve seen people use. If you want to be hard-core, make a simple flaky pastry (the same kind as you’d use for samosas) and fry them as little half moons. But these are a modern take on traditional Indian foodways so go ahead, use wonton skins. Select thin ones (often labeled Hong Kong Style) for the best, most delicate flavor and texture.

You can bake these puffs as Monica prescribed in her recipe, but she also suggested deep frying them. For me, wonton skins shine when poached, steamed or deep-fried. Since neither of the first two cooking options would work here, I pulled out the oil. The result was heavenly.

Monica Bhide's Kumquat and Mango Chutney with Onion Seeds Recipe

 

I love Indian chutneys and keep a stash of classic tamarind date chutney in the freezer and make a fast batch of fiery green (cilantro and/or mint) chutney for samosas, fried mung bean vada fritters, and bondas (spicy potato dumplings in chickpea batter). In Monica Bhide’s new cookbook, Modern Spice, I discovered this new one to add to my repertoire. Its tart-sweetness results from combining fresh kumquats with sweet canned mango puree (more on this below); a little sugar and vinegar makes things pop more.

The chutney receives lilting notes from sweet fennel seeds and pungent onion seeds. You can find both of these spices at Indian markets and well stocked health food stores and specialty markets. Onion seeds (also called nigella and kalonji seeds) look like black sesame seeds but have an uncommon peppery pungency and slight butterscotch-like flavor. They are not related to onions. Below is a photo for your reference.

Nigella, kalonji, onion seeds. It's all the same!