Making Dumplings with Jamie

I'm going to mix up blogging about current things and things I should have blogged about within the last two years to catch up.  It's kind of nice because only the foods or moments worth remembering will be posted! A natural filter!

One of my best memories is living and cooking with Jamie in DC after we both graduated from policy school.  Jamie has lived in China and Brazil and is a constant learner of languages and a participant of different world cultures.  She loves adapting cultures that have been introduced to her into her cooking. She was the perfect housemate!

One of our favorite comfort foods is Chinese dumplings.  There's so much room for creativity in the filling that it never gets old!  We used to make a ton of these and freeze them so we can always rely on boiling some dumplings when we had nothing else in the fridge.

Chicken, scallions, napa cabbage, and shiitake filling

Chicken, cabbage, mushroom dumplings

This one time, we had too much filling and ran out of dumpling wrappers.  We had a jar of Tom Yum soup paste in the pantry so we improvised and made quenelles out of the chicken, cabbage, mushroom filling to fill a pot of tom yum soup!

Quenelles are basically French meatballs (usually with a seafood paste mixture) shaped by scooping a dollop of the meat mixture multiple times between two spoons until it takes on a firm oval shape.

Tom Yum soup base

Shaping the quenelles with two spoons

quenelles boiling in a separate pot

Tom Yum soup with Chicken Quenelles

Two other versions of dumplings we made were fennel and beef and lamb with spinach,  lemon zest, red onions and ginger.

Beef with fennel and ginger

Lamb with red onions, ginger, lemon zest, and spinach

We shaped the two kinds of dumplings differently so we can differentiate the two afterwards.  The lamb ones were flat while the beef dumpling sat upright.

Lamb dumplings and beef dumplings

This time, we had leftover dumpling skins, so we took leftover sweet potatoes from another night and made a dessert dumpling filling with brown sugar and ginger.

Sweet potato dumplings with honey and sesame seeds

I would love to start making dumplings again (I've been eating ones that my mom made and froze in my freezer) with Mike and my Madison friends. Perhaps a dumpling making party  is in order?

Din Tai Fung in Beijing...Hell Yes!

My partner-in-crime from my Shenyang days decided to move to Beijing around October 2010, and we happened to arrive in Beijing on the same day and just 30 minutes apart!  We celebrated New Year's Day at one of my all-time favorite restaurants in the world, Din Tai Fung, and apparently tons of other Chinese had the same idea.

Long Wait

I really didn't mind the 30 minute wait because that's nothing compared to the 3 year wait I had to endure since my last taste of DTF's juicy pockets of savory heaven.  Sure, I went on a soup dumpling binge in NYC July 2010 (exhibit A; exhibit B) , but there's just something special about DTF's.  I guess 2011 is my lucky year!

Stir-fried Snow Pea Leaves and a Steamer of DTF's Original Pork Soup Dumplings

Original Pork Soup Dumplings

Steamed Crab Meat and Pork Soup Dumpling

Steamed Crab Meat and Pork Soup Dumpling 

Steamed Shrimp and Pork Dumplings

Steamed Chicken Soup

The dishes above are the ones my family always order at DTF, but the chilled raw pumpkin slices in orange juice caught me off guard when I was skimming the menu.  I couldn't resist ordering it, and this was mind-bogglingly good.  I didn't even know you can eat pumpkin raw!  This was crisp and refreshing, and the orange juice tingled my tongue and awakened my senses. I definitely want to try making this at home.

Chilled Pumpkin Slices Soaked in Orange Juice

We concluded the meal with ba bao fan, "8 treasures glutinous rice."  It usually has red bean paste in the middle and is topped with red dates, lotus seeds, and various beans and dried fruits.

8 Treasures Glutinous Rice

Shenyang Dumpling Party

Bridget hosted a dumpling-making party where we made everything from the wrappers to the filling. We made a pork and cabbage filling and a shrimp and chives filling for the Chinese dumplings, and Sung made fried Korean dumplings with egg, chives, and potato noodle filling.

I dump things together when making dumpling filling and never measure any of the ingredients, so I didn't take any notes at this dumpling session. Dumplings can be an exploration of what tantalizes your own taste buds. There shouldn't be too many rules attached to food you can make your own. Dumpling fillings can be almost anything, so I recommend experimenting with various meats and vegetables. One of my favorites is pork and shrimp filling. The ingredients I add to almost all meat fillings are minced ginger, chopped scallions, soy sauce, and sesame oil.

The dough, on the other hand needs to be done just right. I, unfortunately, have the habit of not taking recipe notes, so I will ask the studious Bridget for the flour and water measurements.

Chopping Chives; Ready to Mix Cabbage, Scallions, and Pork

Cutting Clear Noodles; Scrambled Eggs, Chives, and Shrimp

Making the Wrapper Dough

Prepping the Dough


Rolling Out the Wrappers

Wrapping Dumplings

Practicing My Flower Wrapping Skills (but should really be for baozi)

Ready to Eat!


Korean Dumplings Frying; Sung Posing Next to His Dumplings


Korean Fried Dumplings

Lao Bian Goldfish-Shaped Dumplings!

Although I only like one kind of dumpling at the famous Lao Bian, I dragged some friends to the restaurant so that we could order the goldfish-shaped dumplings that the waiter wouldn't let me order when I ate alone. Damn the no-singles policy!!!!

We ordered some forgettable dumplings and a super weird looking stir-fried green bean dish...just look at it! It's a mutant!

Boiled Dumplings; Stir-fried Mutant Green Beans

I don't remember how the gold-fish shaped dumplings tasted (I can't even remember the filling), but just seeing it made me jump up and down in my seat. Notice my ear-to-ear grin.

Steamed Goldfish-Shaped Dumplings

I Just Couldn't Contain My Happiness

老边饺子 (Lao Bian Dumplings)

This famous dumpling house is now a state owned establishment, which usually translates to affordable prices but awful service. However, the dumplings are delicious and the variety, astounding. I would risk getting a headache pushing and shoving through crowds on Zhongjie (Central Street, a pedestrian shopping strip) to get my order of dumplings to-go next time...if they even offer them to-go.

It's called "Lao Bian" because the original owner found it impossible to keep the uncooked meat fillings from spoiling as the chefs wrapped the dumplings throughout the day, so he pre-cooked the filling before wrapping the dumplings and putting them on the steamer.

Naturally, I tried their original pre-cooked filling dumplings. It wasn't good in the utilitarian sense because the dumpling falls apart after one bite. The meat inside is not clumped together like its uncooked counterpart.

Dumplings steamed with pre-cooked meat

The waitress recommended a steamer of dumplings stuffed with 3 kinds of seafood. These dumplings were confusing. I couldn't taste seafood. Instead it tasted just like the original pre-cooked filling dumplings but with specks of sea cucumbers. These did not impress.

Dumplings filled with 3 kinds of seafood

The best dish was the snowflake pot stickers. It looked gorgeous as one on the plate, and tasted as good as it looked. I'm used to pork filled potstickers, but these were filled with shrimp, chives, and scrambled eggs. I think this filling lightens up a dumpling meal that could get too meat-heavy.

Snowflake Potstickers-shrimp, chives, and scrambled eggs