Chinese Dumpling Recipes Archives - Page 3 of 3

Shanghai Dumpling King’s Sugar Egg Puffs Recipe (Bai Tang Sha Weng)

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These deep-fried puffed dumplings are one of the best things I’ve eaten in a long time. I tasted them on Saturday at Shanghai Dumpling King (3319 Balboa Street, between 34th and 35th) in the Outer Richmond in San Francisco. My friend Linda and I went there for the Shanghai soup dumplings, which were stellar, but we came away with this ‘new’ discovery. Sugar egg puffs are an ethereal cross between a cream puff and doughnut. They are deep fried wonders and not greasy whatsoever.

The young waitress paraded the fried sugar egg puffs (misspelled on the menu as “suger egg puff” in the dessert section) around the small restaurant on a tray and we were instantly taken in. We didn’t want them with the savories, but as soon as we finished all the dumplings, Linda asked the waitress, “Can we get those things fresh and hot?” The waitress obliged and Linda nearly burnt her tongue as she bit into the crisp, steamy hot puff.

Almost Meatless Pork and Vegetable Pot Stickers Recipe

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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

Quick Wonton and Barbecue Pork Noodle Soup Recipe

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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.

Parboiling the wontons first before poaching them in the stock prevents them from adding their starchiness to the stock. As the wontons cook in the stock, they absorb from of the stock’s flavor, thereby tasting better.

Serves 2

4 cups chicken stock, home made or shortcut version (on Vietworldkitchen.com)
1/3 pound fresh egg noodles or 2 Top-Ramen type of dried noodle flats
16 frozen Trader Joe’s chicken and cilantro mini wontons
1/4 pound Quick Char Siu Pork from Trader Joe’s
1/4 pound green vegetable, such as asparagus, bok choy, gailan, fresh peas, or broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
Light (regular) soy sauce
Salt
Sesame oil
White pepper or chile oil, optional

1. Bring the stock to a boil in a saucepan, lower the heat and cover to keep hot. Have your soup bowls nearby as you’ll be working fast.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Use a long-handled noodle strainer or mesh strainer to blanch the vegetables. Remove, flush with cold water, and divide among the soup bowls.

3. Return the water to a boil and use the strainer to plunge the noodles into the pot. Let them cook until chewy-firm; the cooking time depends on the noodles. Remove the noodles from water, rinse them under cold water and divide among the soup bowls.

4. Return the water to a boil and add the frozen wontons. Stir gently to separate them. At this point, remove the lid from the stock, then increase the heat on the stock to bring it back to a boil. After the wontons float to the top, scoop them from the water with a slotted spoon and slide them into the stock. Let them poach gently in the stock for about 3 minutes, until done; poke into one with a paring knife to test. (As the wontons cook, doctor up the pork, if you haven’t done so. Or, warm them up in a skillet if you did it in advance.)

5. When the wontons are cooked, scoop them from the stock and divide them among the soup bowls. Taste the stock and make any flavor adjustments with soy sauce and/or salt. Then ladle the stock into the bowls. Drizzle on some sesame oil and then top with the pork. If you like extra heat, sprinkle some white pepper and/or chile oil to finish. Serve immediately.

Stuffed Crab Claw Recipe (Yeung Hai Kim)

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It’s hard to categorize this crisp Cantonese delight. Stuffed crab claws (釀蟹鉗) are a dim sum classic for sure, but is it an Asian dumpling? I’m not quite sure, because for the most part dumplings are doughy, starchy foods. However, in western culinary terms, there are such things as meat dumplings (such as French quenelles) which are poached.

I was at a quandary about including stuffed crab claws in the cookbook. But I’ve loved them since I was a kid and never minded cracking and shelling a bunch of stone crabs for a batch. Don’t worry, I now mostly use frozen crab claws, sold at Chinese markets. They’re pictured below and are smallish, the flesh is about 3/4-inch wide; this size is perfect for this application.

I don’t mean to burst your bubble but stuffed crab claws are not really stuffed. They’re actually a cooked crab claw, cracked to reveal the flesh, is partially encased in shrimp paste, then coated with breadcrumbs and quickly deep-fried. You could describe the result as being drumstick- or lollipop-like but the protruding pincers are reminders of the claws’ crabby nature.

Dipping the claw in some biting hot mustard and/or chile garlic sauce adds wonderful bite. There are sometimes found at dim sum but are more often than not, on many an Asian-American Chinese restaurant wedding banquet menu.

What if you’re allergic to shrimp?

Substitute mild fish filet, such as sole, and make a fish paste instead. See the master shrimp paste recipe for the recipe.

RECIPE

Stuffed Crab Claws
Niàng Xiè Qián / Yeung Hai Kim
釀蟹鉗

Makes 12 claws, serving 6 as a snack

12 cooked crab claws, thawed on paper towels (about 1/3 pound net weight)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup panko or regular dried breadcrumbs
1 cup Basic Dim Sum Shrimp Paste
Canola or peanut oil, for deep-frying
Chinese or Colman’s mustard and/or Chile Garlic Sauce (recipe is on Viet World Kitchen site)

Blot excess moisture from the crab claws to ensure that the paste will stick to them. I often leave them out on several layers of paper towel to air dry for an hour or so. Before you’re ready to move on, blot them one more time for good measure. (If they’re super moist still, very lightly dust them with flour right before encasing them in the paste.)

At your work station, have the claws on a plate. Put the flour and panko on small plates or small dishes. Put the egg in a small bowl. Then have the paste nearby and a shallow bowl of water.

To coat each crab claw, wet one hand, then use the free hand to put 4 teaspoons (1 generous tablespoon) of paste in your hand toward your finger tips, spreading it out into circle about 2 inches wide and a good 1/4 inch thick. Put a crab claw atop the paste so that the protruding flesh on the paste but the pincers are not (see photos below). Then close your hand to make the paste adhere to the claw and encase the fleshy portion. Mold the paste around the claw to resemble a large tootsie roll of sorts. Your wet hand should be able to smooth out the paste surface; moisten your hand in the bowl of water, if needed.

Now roll the paste-coated portion in the flour to lightly coat. Then dip into the egg wash, letting excess egg drip back into the bowl; angle the bowl to make dipping easier. Finally, roll in the panko to coat. Set the coated claw on a plate. Repeat with the remaining claws.

Pour 1 1/4 inches of oil into a saucepan, 5-quart Dutch oven, or wok. Heat over medium-high heat until about 350F on a deep-fry
thermometer. (If you don’t have a thermometer, stick a dry bamboo chopstick into the oil. If bubbles rise immediately to the surface and surround the chopstick with bubbles, the oil is ready.)Fry the claws in batches of 3 or 4, for 2 to 3 minutes, turning frequently, until golden brown. Use a slotted spoon or skimmer to remove from the oil and drain on paper towel. Serve hot with the mustard and/or chile garlic sauce.Related RecipeIt’s been a shrimpy week and I made Vietnamese grilled shrimp on sugar cane (chao tom). The recipe is posted on Viet World Kitchen.

Chinese Steamed Pearl Balls Recipe (Zhenzhu Qiu)

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It has been about 20 years since I made Chinese steamed pearl balls (you may giggle at the name, but it is the literal translation of the Chinese characters: 珍珠球, zhēnzhū qiú) and I had forgotten how deliciously easy these Asian dumplings are. Zhēnzhū qiú hail from Shanghai and are sometimes served as a first course at banquets in Beijing, according to Chinese food expert Eileen Yin-fei Low. But I like to eat them along with Cantonese dim sum favorites. Pearl balls seem to fit in well, and Cantonese dim sum these days includes preparations from many parts of China. When my husband tried the pearl balls, he deemed them the perfect substitute for the typical Swedish meatballs served as cocktail fare. In fact, he was sipping on rose while enjoying zhēnzhū qiú, dipped in soy sauce and chile garlic sauce.

For these Asian dumplings, a fragrant pork mixture is shaped into meatballs, then coated in soaked sticky rice (a.k.a. glutinous/sweet rice) and then steamed. The pork mixture for pearl balls is purposefully made to be very soft to ensure succulence. It’s sticky and to make them easier to work with, I freeze the meatballs to firm them up before coating them in the rice. During cooking, a translucent skin forms as the sticky rice grains expand and cohere. They also absorb the richness and flavor of the pork. As for the pearly resemblance, the entire cooked dumpling glistens with a certain pinkish cast like a giant pearl, and you could say that the rice grains resemble tiny seed pearls. You can’t eat pearls but you can certainly enjoy many of
steamed pearl balls.