Home-made Beef Dumplings

Living in Taiwan, dumplings are all around. We can buy cooked , frozen, and freshly made. Wrappers (dough) are also available. Around the world, I know there are also Asian Store selling dumplings. But there are people prefer to make by themselves.

Out of curiosity, I made dumplings today! It was really a struggle making the dough and shaping it into a circle. In the beginning, I used dish to cut the edges. I think I made too thick, at the end everything stick to each other. I have to repeat the process by making it a little bit smaller and doing it one at a time. The stuffing inside is a little bit dry, but the  taste is good! Next time I know how to do it better!

200g flour
1 cup cold water
1 cup ground beef
2 scallion (chopped)
25g baby ginger
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
drop of spice oil (I used olive oil)
chili powder (optional)
pepper powder

Chop scallion and ginger. In a bowl, combine ground beef, scallion, ginger, and seasoning well.

Combine flour and water, knead into smooth, set aside for 10 minutes. Divide into small pieces, roll each dough into flat.

Place a teaspoonful of stuffing in the middle of the wrapper. Fold it into a dumpling,or put a loophole at both sides.

In a pan, heat 2 tablespoon of oil and fry the beef dumplings for about 4 minutes or until both sides golden brown.

Dumpling has something to do with New Year

(more fortune)

Happy New Year to All!

Food Trip Friday

Food Friday

Spicy Shrimp Wonton Dumplings

Wanton, Wantan, Wonton, or Húntún (餛飩) is a type of dumpling usually boiled or added in a soup. I steamed, and the wrapper is kind of chewy, I like it!

Spicy Wonton Dumplings should be minced meat (specifically pork). In Taiwan, whenever I order seafood or chicken, still  little pork is added. I asked, they said the stuffing will not be juicy if pork is not added. I tried shrimp, I think it's OK!

Ingredients:

12 pieces wonton wrapper

150g shrimp, chopped

2 stalk scallion, chopped

For Seasoning:

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper powder

2 tablespoon water

For the Sauce/Dipping

1 tablespoon chili oil
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of sweet soysauce
1 teaspoon of vinegar (l used lemon)

For the stuffing, combine shrimp, salt, sesame oil, pepper, and water. Mix well until sticky form. Put stuffing in the middle of won ton wrapper. Fold the four corner sides together, press lightly in the middle. Steam in a steamer for about 10 minutes, or until the wrapper becomes transparent. Serve with sauce and sprinkle scallion and chili pepper (optional) on top.

Pan Fried Chinese Chives Dumplings

One of Taiwanese Snacks (台灣小吃) is called Jiu Cai He Zi (韭菜盒子) , literally the meaning is Chinese Leek in a Box  or simply Fried Chinese Leek Dumplings. Today, I did some twist in the ingredients since I don't eat pork, and instead of putting dried small shrimp, in replacement I added chopped shrimp. I added chili powder and soy sauce instead of seasoning. In the recipe, I need 500g of all purpose flour but the one I bought is only 400g. I accidentally added 100 glutinous rice powder (well, am not wearing my glasses when I look at the wrapper, Chinese characters are really hard to read...), but it came out good because the dumplings turned chewy.

Ingredients for Stuffing:
Chinese chives ( I used like 20 sleeks, chopped)
shrimp, chopped (about 10 pieces)
bean curd (tofu- 6 pieces, cubed)
eggs (2 fried and chopped)
mung bean vermicelli (I used 3 small bind, softened and chopped)

For Seasoning:

2 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon white pepper

1 teaspoon salt

(Optional - seasoning powder, but I didn't use, I just season it with light soy sauce)

For the Dough:

500 g all purpose flour (I used 400g flour and 100g glutinous rice flour)

2 tablespoon soy oil (or any oil)

250 cc boiling water and 100 cc cold water

Procedure:

Whip and fried the egg.Chop the Chinese chives, tofu, shrimp, and egg.Soak vermicelli to soften then cut into small section.

Heat pan with 2 tablespoon of oil, saute shrimp and tofu.  Add seasoning and sprinkle water, followed by Chinese chives, vermicelli, and egg, cook until transparent. Remove from heat. Set aside.

Sift flour and combine with boiling water and oil, whisk with chopsticks until half done soft form. Add cold water and knead by hands until the dough is smooth. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside for 10 - 20 minutes for fermentation.

Divide dough into small pieces, roll each into round and flat.

Put some stuffing into the wrapper and fold in half.

Cut off the edges of the wrapper to become round shape, and pinch together.

Put 2 tablespoon oil in the pan, fry the dumplings in a low heat until both sides become golden brown.

Serve with sauce of your choice.

Pan Fried Chinese Chives Dumplings