In celebration of National Dumpling Day, yet another thinly veiled marketing holiday but one that I’m happy to get involved in, the Chai family banded together this week to bring you two delicious vegan dumpling recipes. Chinatown London are celebrating National Dumpling Day by giving away 2,000 free dumplings. Each participating restaurant will be offering one ‘special’ dumpling, from sweet options to classic xiao long bao.
The word dumpling has become a catch-all phrase for all manner of little dim sum-esque food. It’s often used to describe buns (bao; 包) and won ton (雲呑), but the ones I’m referring to are 餃子, served with a dipping sauce.
Here in the Chai household, weekends genuinely, hand-on-heart, look like that scene in Crazy Rich Asians. We make dumplings from scratch in a conveyor belt fashion. Mum lovingly makes the dough from scratch. Dad conjures up the delicious fillings. My sister and I fold, crimp and pinch the dumplings. We freeze trays and trays ready for emergency eating, as an after-work snack or to top up simple rice or ramen dishes. It sounds cliché but it’s certainly one of the more realistic moments from the film.
Like I touched upon in my ‘Veganism in a Chinese Household’ post, my family are really getting there with veganism. Whilst traditionally dumplings are filled with pork or prawn, my parents have nailed a few vegan versions for me and I couldn’t be happier. I tend to eat 5-6 per serving with some spring onions to garnish, and Dad’s homemade vegan sambal chilli sauce stirred into a little soy sauce to dip. Another popular vegan dumpling dipping sauce we like is vinegar with thinly sliced ginger. Delicious.
Without further ado, here are our two absolutely delicious and so moreish vegan dumpling recipes. Let me (and the conveyer belt Chai clan) know if you try these!
Spinach and Tofu Pan-fried Dumplings
Yield: 12 dumplings
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 100g plain flour
- Pinch of salt
- 40ml warm water
For the filling:
- Spinach
- Tofu; we used a firm, dry, pre-seasoned spicy tofu
- Sweetcorn
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Place your flour and pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Make a well in the centre, and slowly add your warm water. Add a little at a time.
- When your mixture starts to come together, knead it gently until it forms a soft but doughy consistency. Leave to one side.
- We’ve left out the measurements for the filling as it really depends on how much you prefer in your dumplings. A handful of each ingredient should be fine.
- Wilt your spinach in a pan. Transfer to a chopping board and press as much water out as you can.
- Chop up your tofu. Dice it somewhat finely and combine with your spinach (chopped), sweetcorn and some salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir the ingredients together.
- Now, return to your dough. Take a ‘ball’ of dough about 3cm in diameter.
- With a rolling pin, roll out the edges of your ball of dough to create a circle. Roll and turn the dough so it forms an even circle of dough. This should be about 8-9cm in diameter. The thinner your dough, the more flavourful your dumpling will be.
- Repeat with your dough mixture until you have lots of little circles!
- Place a little filling in the centre of your dough. As a general rule, a teaspoon amount is enough. Too much and your dumpling will burst when you cook it.
- Fold/crimp the edges. To do this, bring the edges together in a loose half moon. Seal the half moon by overlapping the edges and pressing as you go.
- Once all of your dumplings are folded (make sure there are no holes or your dumpling will burst!), it’s time to pan fry them!
- Add a tablespoon of oil to a hot pan.
- Pop your dumplings in for a minute or so on medium heat to brown the bottom. Turn the heat down, add a tablespoon of water and pop a lid on top to cook through.
- Serve with vinegar and slices of ginger to dip.
Mushroom and Cabbage Water Dumplings
Yield: 12 dumplings
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 100g plain flour
- Pinch of salt
- 40ml cold water
For the filling:
- Wood mushrooms
- Cabbage
- Bamboo shoots
- Soy sauce
- Salt and pepper
Method
- The method for the dough is exactly the same as above, except we’ll be using cold water.
- Finely chop your filling ingredients.
- Roll out the dough. This should be fairly thin, and cut into squares.
- Add a teaspoon of filling to the centre and fold it corner to opposite corner to create a triangle.
- Fold the outer corners so that they meet. Your water dumpling should look like a crown. Fold in the top corner.
- To cook, add to boiling water for 10-12 minutes until the dough/skin is translucent.
- Serve with chilli oil, sesame oil and spring onions on top.
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