recipes
dumplings, three ways
Lunar New Year is a 15-day festival so to wrap the festivities, we bring you much loved pockets of well wishes – dumplings!
Dumplings come in different shapes, forms, fillings across East Asia and we thought we’ll give it ago, taking inspiration from homies across the North Pacific Ocean – China, South Korea and Mongolia.
money bag dumplings
chinese-inspired
What better way to wish wealth and health than some money bag dumplings, adapted from Woks of Life. The colourful variety of 5 ingredients signifies good fortune, radiance and abundance. Here’s to manifesting prosperity!
kimchi mandu
korean inspired
We’re big fans of Maangchi and we created vegetarian spin-offs of these pan-fried korean dumplings typically filled with meat. Happy Seollal to all Korean homies!
buuz
mongolian-inspired
Pronounced “buzz”, these monogolian cuties are often made in batches of thousands by the entire family. These are prepped weeks ahead of Tsagaan Sar (Lunar New Year) and are frozen in the backyards as it’s so cold out in Mongolia. Happy New Year! Шинэ жилийн баярын мэнд хvргэе (Shine jiliin bayariin mend hurgeye!)
the stuff
the wrapper:
yellow wanton wrappers (or any yellow coloured wrappers)
the filling:
100g shitake mushrooms
2 tsp ginger, minced
cabbage, chopped
1-2 carrots, finely diced
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp Shaoxing wine
4 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp scallions
16 cilantro stems
the method
- Stir fry the shitake mushrooms in sesame oil until it wilts
- Add the ginger, carrots and cabbage into the pan
- Stir in the Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce and oyster sauce until they are all well mixed
- Stir in the scallions and remove from the wok and let it cool completely
- Now prep the money bag ties heh. Bring a pot of water to boil and prepare a bowl of cold water.
- Blanch the cilantro stems for 5-10s in boiling water, shock them with cold water and pat them dry
- Fill the middle of a wrapper with some veggies
- Pinch the bundle together leaving the top to fan out and use one of the cilantro stems to tie it to gether
- Steam them in a bamboo steamer for 3 minutes
- Indulge with a soy, vinegar and ginger dipping sauce.
kimchi mandu
the stuff
the wrapper:
dumpling wrappers
the filling:
1 cup shitake mushrooms, diced
1-inch ginger, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp soy sauce
55g dangmyeon (glass noodles), cooked and chopped
1/2 large onion, diced
8-10 chives, diced
250g kimchi, chopped
100g tofu, water squeezed out
1 tsp salt
the method
- Stir fry the mushrooms with ginger and garlic in some sesame oil.
- Season with soy sauce and black pepper
- Cook the dangmyeon according to instructions in the packaging
- Mix the stir fried mushrooms with the cooked and chopped noodles and all the other vegetables
- Put some of the filling mixture into the centre of a dumpling wrapper
- Apply some cold water to one edge of the wrapper – to seal the dumpling when you fold over
- Fold wrapper in half over filling and press edges together to make a ripple shape
- Pan fry the mandu with some vegetable oil at low-medium heat
- Cover the pan with a lid
- Turn over each mandu a few minutes later.
- Add 2-3 tbsp water and put the lid back on
- When the mandu is golden brown and crispy transfer to a plate
- Serve with a dipping sauce of vinegar and soy sauce.
buuz
the stuff
the wrapper:
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup boiling water
the filling:
200g minced beef
1 onion, minced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tsp caraway seeds
salt and pepper, to taste
the method
- Add water to flour slowly and knead until it turns into a rough dough
- Allow the dough to rest for 30 min to 1 hour
- Prep the filling – mix the minced beef, onion, garlic, caraway seeds, salt and pepper and roll them into tiny balls
- When the dough is nice and rested, roll into a long snake and then cut it into 12 pieces.
- Roll each piece into a circle
- Place a tiny ball in the middle and pinch the wrapper in the middle to create a flower-like shape (it’s really up to you!)
- Steam in a steamer basket for 20 minutes
- Enjoy with some milk tea!