Monday, May 23, 2011

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 ©



9 comments:

  1. These potstickers look delicious. Love the step by step photos. Kudos to your Daughter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, your gyoza looks so beautiful & professional! I have never made my own, but I LOVE dumplings. Yum!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That filling sounds delicious! And these turned out so pretty, sounds like a wonderful meal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with Rose...that filling sounds delicious! I have got to try these. I've never made dumplings like this, but I think it's about time to do so! I could so go for some of these right now! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yuuuum! Though I'm not a coriander person these look lovely. Would be interested in trying it with chopped spring onions...

    ReplyDelete
  6. So 12-13 Dumplings per person. That sounds about right by American portion calculations. Quantity over quality, you know.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Zo, I think Chives or Spring onions would go well too, or even normal parsley.

    ReplyDelete
  8. so ironic- I woke up today at 4 am because of the rain, decided that sleep is futile, came in front of the computer to check how to fold Chinese dumplings on YouTube- and there you are! i was about to look for a vegetarian recipe now, and you seem to have answered my call! you have a great way of doing them indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow- you are a genius!I want to make these NOW :)

    ReplyDelete