Vegan pot-sticker dumplings

I love this type of dumplings, for the filling I use what I have at hand really, but generally the base is tofu, Chinese dried mushrooms, soaked and boiled first (keep the broth for later) and fresh coriander. For flavouring I used sesame oil, soy sauce and a little fresh ginger. Blend everything into a smooth paste.

The folding is easy if you are doing it with friends. The fact is that after the first ten I got tired and bored, and I had 50 more to do! So I didn't make some particularly pretty ones to look at! My son loves them, and I wanted to make him fold a few ("so that you can learn darling!"), but he politely declined saying that he was going to take some photos of me making them instead (he is so good at finding explanations!).  One of the things I do when folding the ready bought dumpling disks is to wet the borders with water so that they stick well. And then I dip (lightly) the bottom of each dumpling in a plate lined with vegetable oil. In this way the dumplings don't stick to the tray, and then to the pot (even if they are supposed to be 'pot-stickers'!) 

Easy step by step images (this time by Arantxa, they are from this post)

These can also be simmered in broth (I always make a little broth for a just a few, just simmer them until they come to the surface and then they are ready!) or steamed in dumpling baskets. I learned the  pot-sticker method in Japan, where these are called gyoza (but have meat inside). 

Cook the dumpling in a very hot pan, and as soon as the bottom has started to brown turn them and brown both side as well. Then cover with a lid and let the steam finish the cooking for a minute or so. At this stage I do add a spoon or two of water or, even better, the stock left over from cooking the mushrooms.  

Serve them hot! They can be eaten with chopsticks or fingers, dipped in sweet chilli sauce or soy sauce,  Max had about 25!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini and Max and Arantxa Zecchini Dowling©

Mushroom, Tofu and Coriander Dumplings (or Vegan Gyoza)

After making a stock with lots of dried mixed Asian mushrooms I had quite a few cooked mushrooms leftover, so I made some dumplings.

The ingredients are:

Cooked Asian mushrooms (about a cup)

Dumpling pastry (50 pieces, round)

Tofu, 1 block

Coriander (a few leaves and stalks)

Soy sauce, to taste (I always use Japanese soy sauce)

There are two more ingredients which I didn't photograph, one is

Sesame oil, 1 tsp

(I didn't take a photo because my bottle is too greasy and you cannot read the label)

and the second is

Bread crumbs, 1 or 2 tbsp

(I didn't take a photo because I was to busy mixing the filling)

Place the mushrooms, tofu, coriander, soy sauce and sesame oil in a food processor and pulse until you get a fine texture. Add the bread crumbs a little at the time to reach a workable thickness (the other ingredients have high liquid content). I add bread crumbs also because they give the filling a nice and balanced taste, bringing out the Umami in the other ingredients.

I didn't add salt: the mushrooms were cooked in a light vegetable stock, and the soy sauce is salted. But you can do what you like :-)

Here my daughter took over the camera for the first step by step pics.

Place a little filling on each pastry circle

Lightly wet the borders with water

Gently fold the pastry

Pinch the ends well and make sure that there are no air bubbles inside

If you can, try to make them look pretty!

Done!

Now Arantxa has a go! We had 50 dumplings to make, so it is good to do it with someone, or it gets boring!

To cook them:

Personally I really like steamed dumplings, or cooked in a soup, but we had soup the night before, and my family really liked them fried... but I didn't want to fry all those dumplings (too greasy) so I opted for a half-way. In Japan they make Gyosa, also called potstickers, you cook them quickly in a hot pot with very little oil.

Place them in the hot pot standing up so that the bottom get golden and lightly crunchy, then turn them on both sides (I did 25 at the time and it was hard work!!!). At the end you are supposed to put a lid on and let them simmer in their own steam for a few seconds, but because I had so many dumplings I pan fried them in two batches, then put them all back in the pot and added just a little water to create more steam. Lid on for a minute and they were ready and piping hot. We ate them with sweet chilli sauce and soy sauce, very filling, 50 between 4 people and our bellies were round, and satisfied!

Recipe by Alessandra Zecchini and Photos by Alessandra Zecchini and Arantxa Zecchini Dowling ©

Chicken Soup for Vegans: Tofu Dumplings in Vegetable Broth

It was a sunny and warm day, but I woke up with a terrible cold, I could not breathe nor smell or taste anything. I rarely get a cold like this, and it is quite funny to notice how some people come up to me and say that I have a cold because I am a vegetarian (??).

Of course suggestions follow.

Some non vegetarians would say that this is time for chicken soup, but for a vegetarian the idea of drinking the water where a carcass has been simmering is enough for making you feel even sicker.

A vegetable stock is good enough for me, but I needed something more, comfort food... and protein. So, since I had bought some Chinese dumpling wrappers, I decided to make some tofu dumplings to go with the soup. Before leaving home to go to the Ukulele Festival I cut one block of organic tofu into small pieces, put it in a bowl and added three tbsp of Japanese soy sauce and one of black toasted sesame seeds. I left the tofu to marinate for half a day. Upon my return I added 1 tbsp of sesame oil, half a grated carrot and an handful of parsley leaves (I didn't chop the parsley, once cooked the dumpling parcels becomes quite transparent and it is lovely to see the different colours of the whole leaves and carrots strips running through). At this stage you can also add some chinese mushrooms, but I didn't have any.

I filled the round dumpling pastries with a little tofu, making sure to push all the air out when closing them. I used a little water to seal the dumplings.

This dose makes about 50 dumpling, feeding 5-6 people, or even more if it is just a first course.

These dumpling can be steamed and eaten by themselves with a little tamari or chili sauce on the side, but I like them in soup. I just used some vegetable stock from Rapunzel, and when I had my simmering bowl under my nose I added plenty of freshly grated ginger. Not only I could finally taste something, it was really comforting, healing and the perfect dinner for a bad cold.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©