How To Dumpling

By Thomas Souness.

Xin Nian Kuai Le – pronounced “sshin-nyen kwhy-luh”. That is the common phrase to wish somebody a happy new year; so now you’ll know exactly what to yell drunkenly across the bar this year (sorry, Stingray staff).

Speaking of this year, a fun fact you may not be aware of is that 2016 heralds the arrival of the year of the monkey! A symbol of the Chinese Zodiak, people born under the sign of the monkey are said to have one common fetish… FOOD! Not to be confused with the gluttonous pigs, monkeys are said to have a preference for snacking whenever they like, wherever they like. So in true form, we provide you with our Executive Chef, Greg Benney’s recipe for the ultimate Chinese snack food, the people’s champion, the ever humble and mega delicious, dumpling…

Prawn and Pork Dumpling

10 wonton wrappers

Groundnut oil to grease

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

For the Filling

125g minced pork

125g raw tiger prawns, shelled, deveined and roughly chopped

1 large spring onion, finely chopped

1 medium red chili finely chopped

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger root

1 tablespoon of light soy sauce

1tablespoon of Shao hsing rice-wine or dry sherry

1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons corn flour

1 pinch of sea salt flakes and black pepper

Method

1. Mix all ingredients for the filling in a bowl.
2. Take one wonton wrapper and place two teaspoons of filling in the centre. Then gather up the sides of the wonton wrapper and mould around the filling into a ball shape, leaving the centre exposed.
3. Oil the bottom of the bamboo steamer and line with greaseproof paper. Place the dumplings in the steamer, cover with lid and place over a pan of bowling water (making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bamboo steamer). Steam the dumplings for 6-8 minutes until cooked.
4. Put soy sauce in a bowl and serve with the dumpling.

Happy snacking, monkeys; and Xin Nian Kuai Le to all!