Vegetable Dumplings

There is a Chinese takeout restaurant a few blocks from our apartment. It's called Yummy Wok. It opened when Hayden and I were still in high school, and although we initially giggled at the name, we realized when we took our first bites that Yummy Wok had the best vegetarian Chinese options in the city. We are completely addicted and eat something from there at least once a week. I would actually tattoo a piece of tofu on my chest to represent my ardor.

Anyway, we decided to give it our best shot and make our own fried dumplings. We made these on a lazy, sunny Saturday. Around 11 in the morning I prepared the dough. By noon, we were frying the dumplings. This recipe is quicker to put together than you might guess, and if you have a dumpling press it requires almost no skill to put together, which is pretty great for me.


We would add mushrooms next time. Shiitake. And we used lettuce because that's what we had to use up, but any greens will do. Get creative with dumplings. Once Hayden made a samosa-type filling and that was as fantastic as you'd imagine it being. I'd like to try a super savory, mushroom-heavy version next.

Dough:
. 3 cups flour
. 2 tsp kosher salt
. 1 tsp canola or vegetable oil
. Up to 1 1/4 cup cold water

Filling:
. 1/2 large red onion or one medium yellow onion, finely diced
. 1 cup romaine lettuce, thinly sliced
. 1/2 cup carrots, finely diced
. 2 tbsp peanut oil
. 1 tbsp soy sauce
. 2 tsp rice vinegar
. 1/2 tsp sugar
. 1 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
. 2 Thai chiles, or to taste
. 3/4 cup texturized vegetable protein, hydrated and pressed dry
. 2 tbsp flaxseed meal
. Salt, to taste


To make the dough:Using a fork, combine flour and salt in a large bowl until well-mixed. Add oil and stir. Next, add a little water and stir until the flour gets sticky. Knead the dough in a circular motion with heel of your hand, adding small amounts of water as you knead.  It should be very smooth, pliable, and soft. It's better to add slightly more water than you think you might need, as this will make forming the wrappers easier.
When the dough is smooth (I once heard it should feel as soft and smooth as your earlobe), wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 10 minutes. Letting it rest makes it easier to work with.

Filling: In a large pan, warm the peanut oil over medium-high heat. Add half the amount of onion, a handful of lettuce, and the carrots. Saute for about a minute, then add the red pepper flakes and chiles. Continue to saute for about 2 more minutes, then add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and the sugar. Then add the rest of the onion, lettuce, and the hydrated TVP and cook until things are looking nice and saturated-- about ten minutes. Remove from heat and add flaxseed meal and salt to taste.

To make the dumpling wrappers:Divide the dough in half until you have lots of little dough-pieces that are about an inch around. In a circular motion, press the dough pieces until you have a circle-shaped wrapper about 3 and a half to 4 inches wide.  It's important to remember to shape the wrappers so the the middle of each circle is slightly thicker than the edges. This will keep all that filling safe when we fry these things. 

To assemble, we used a dumpling press. I've made dumplings without one before, and to do that you need to keep your fingertips slightly wet and cup the wrapper in the palm of your hand while you spoon just a little more than a tablespoon of the filling in the center. Gently crimp the edges together using a pinching motion. And go ahead and watch this video. I pressed our formed dumplings into a mix of back

To cook the dumplings, heat either peanut oil or canola oil in a large pan (that has a good lid) over medium-high heat. Pan-fry the dumplings for about 5 minutes, then add a little water to the pan and cover it. Steam the dumplings for about 5-6 minutes. Uncover the pan, and continue to cook another 1-2 minutes. Serve and enjoy while hot.