Vietnamese Dumplings

The feast of Vietnamese food continues!  This is the last recipe Mai taught me before she went back to her country.  I have to say that this recipe is my favorite!  I love dumplings and I love learning how each country makes their own version of dumplings unique.

Here are the ingredients for Vietnamese dumplings:

1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deviened
1 1/2 teaspoon MSG
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 shallot
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup chopped bamboo shoots
Handful of cilantro - chopped
1 tablespoon chopped ginger, fresh
Won Ton wrappers

To the pork add 1 teaspoon MSG, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon cornstarch.  Mix well.  Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 tablespoon sesame oil.  Mix again.

To the shrimp add 1/2 teaspoon MSG, salt, pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch. Mix well.

Put the pork in your food processor.  Pulse several times before adding the shrimp mixture.  Pulse several more times until the mixture resembles tuna salad-more like a paste with small hunks.

Remove from the food processor and put ingredients into a bowl.  Add chopped bamboo shoots, chopped cilantro, and ginger.  Mix by hand.

Add the ingredients to the Won Ton wrappers and pinch together into a dumpling.  Mai didn't have a set way to do this so we just had fun with it!

Steam the dumplings for several minutes.  Use soy sauce for dipping.

Mai mentioned that her family does not use the pre-made wrappers.  They use Ha Cao Flour to make their own dough.  I wish we had taken the time to do this-one more thing I could have learned from her!

Enjoy!

Chicken and Dumplings

One of my favorite meals is a big bowl of chicken and dumplings.  Over the years, I've adapted how I make it.  Here is the latest and greatest.

For the broth:

Several pieces of chicken, with bones
2 carrots cut into large chunks
2 celery stalks cut into large chunks
2 onions, quartered
2 lemons, quartered
Palm full of peppercorns
Bunch of parsley, thyme
2 bay leaves
Salt - 2 tablespoons
Pepper - 2 tablespoons
2 teaspoons chicken base (or more to taste)

Cover these ingredients with water - about 4 quarts.  Let that simmer for several hours. Drain and save the broth.  Take the chicken pieces and pick out the meat.  Add the meat back into the broth. Discard the solids - some of which would be great in your compost!

I really like white meat so at this point I add a few boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Poach the chicken breast until done.  Remove from the broth, shred and add back into the broth.

For the dumplings:

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons shortening
1/2 pint of buttermilk

In your mixer (with the dough hook) add the flour, baking powder, salt and shortening.  Let that mix until you have a mealy consistency.  Add the buttermilk and let that form into a dough ball - knead about 5 minutes.

Take the dough and put it on a floured surface.  Roll the dough into thin pieces, keeping the dough well floured.  When the dough is thin, about 1/4 inch thick, use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into pieces.  Flour the dough pieces again.  The flour will thicken your broth.

Happy Hubby Helping!

 

Note:  If you don't want to take the time to make dough dumplings, my mom always used the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box.  These dumplings are great also!  They poof up and are very "doughy" - which I like!  I've also heard of people using canned biscuits - breaking the biscuits into small pieces and dropping them into the broth.

 

Bring the broth to a rolling boil.  Shake the dough pieces into the broth.  Cook on a full boil, stirring gently.  After 5 minutes, turn down the heat to low and put the lid on.  The broth will thicken as it cooks.  The dumplings are ready to serve after 20 minutes.

 

 



Enjoy!