Hello hello and welcome to confession time. Today I'd like to own up to a big addiction I've developed in recent months - dumplings.
I'm completely and entirely obsessed with dumplings. I literally cannot stop eating them, like they're just so damn tasty! I could literally eat mountains of them, continuously, for the rest of my life. This addiction definitely came at me from left field - I spent years and years under the false belief that I did not even like dumplings, let alone go weak at the knees at the very thought of them! I honestly don't know where, or how, that false belief came from but for the record, I do not dislike dumplings in the slightest, rather quite the opposite!
However, not all dumplings are created equal. Nay, see the preeminent dumpling variety is a 'potsticker' which is basically a fun way of saying a dumpling that is both fried AND steamed, ergo giving you, the dumpling enthusiast, the best of both worlds, just like Hannah Montana always wanted us to have. To cook a potsticker, you put a little oil in a frypan, cook the dumpling on the bottom only until it'd delightfully golden brown and then you put some water in the frypan, whack a lid on and steam them for a few minutes. The end result is a thing of such great deliciousness, such complete dumpling perfection, that you, like me, will probably lose your mind.
While you can buy pre-made dumplings aplenty from the grocery store, please take it from me, a devoted connoisseur of dumplings, that it is well worth the little bit of extra effort to make them at home. Dumpling wrappers, once a thing exclusively available at your local hole in the wall Asian grocer, are increasingly available in mainstream supermarkets, making it all the more doable to become a dumpling chef in the confines of your own kitchen. You might think dumpling making is a bit tricky, but let me assure you it's shockingly easy and that you too can become a dumpling making maestro just like me (yes this title is self-bestowed, and yes I wear it with great pride anyway). The possibilities for dumpling fillings are almost endless, but I, being the tofu fanatic I am, could not walk past making tofu dumplings. I added in some of my favourite Asian flavours, principally Thai basil, chilli and coriander, along with some finely diced water chestnuts for some extra crunch and all round pizzaz and HOT DAMN did I end up with a culinary creation straight from the heavens above. These potstickers are hands down my favourite savoury recipe I have ever made (big call!) and basically ya'll need them in your life, though more so your mouth, as a matter of great urgency!
Ingredients;
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 generous handful coriander, finely chopped
1 generous handful Thai basil, finely chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced chilli
250gm firm tofu
100gm water chestnuts, finely diced*
2 tbsp hoisin sauce**
2 tbsp reduced salt soy sauce or tamari sauce
30 dumpling wrappers***
Sesame seed oil
The Dipping Sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1. Remove your tofu from the packaging. You need to remove some of the moisture from the tofu - to do this I like to take 2 bread boards and place some paper towel/absorbent paper on top of one. I then finely crumble the tofu with my hands and spread it over the top of that paper towel. I add another layer of paper towel on top, followed by the second bread board and then a hefty stack of law textbooks (the only thing they've ever been useful for is as a tofu press to be entirely honest!). I leave this setup for approx. 10 mins while I prep the other ingredients.
2. While that's going on, take a mixing bowl and add your finely diced onion, water chestnuts, garlic, chilli and finely chopped coriander and Thai basil to it. Mix everything through well.
3. Add your finely crumbled and water drained tofu to the bowl with the other ingredients, again mixing things through till everything is well combined.
4. Add in the hoisin and soy sauces, mixing again then set aside covered in the fridge for at least an hour to marinate.
5. To assemble the dumplings, spoon 1 tbsp of filling onto each wrapper. Brush water around the edge of half the wrapper (I just dip my fingers in a small bowl of water and do this with clean hands, though you could use a brush if you're fancy). Fold the wrapper in half, pinching the edges together to seal. For added pizzaz, when pressing the edges together you can slightly gather some of the wrapper on one side, creating small pleats or folds in the dumpling. This will make you look like a Dumpling Master, however is really purely an aesthetic thing I like to do to make myself feel clever, therefore doing so is entirely optional. Repeat the process with all the remaining wrappers.
6. Heat some sesame seed oil in a large frying pan (one that has a matching lid - this is VERY important!) that's on medium/high heat. Add in the potstickers and cook them till the bottoms, and just the bottoms, are golden brown - this should take just a few minutes. Add 1/4 cup water to the pan and immediately cover with the lid, allowing them to steam cook for a further 4-5 minutes.
7. To make the dipping sauce, simply mix the ingredients for that together in a small bowl. Serve your potstickers along with the bomb diggity dipping sauce and then proceed to eat all 30 potstickers in one sitting because I'd like to see you try exercise even an ounce of self restraint around these DELICIOUS morsels of complete yum! *salivates*
*you can get water chestnuts in the canned vegetable isle of most supermarkets
**not all hoisin sauces are vegan friendly, so be sure to read the label before buying! Authentic ones should be free of animal products
***you can buy dumpling wrappers from most supermarkets (I got mine in the fridge section of my local Woolworths), or alternatively most Asian grocers should also have them
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