Vegan Chinese dumplings

From Hey, that tastes good!

I spent the better half of the morning grumbling to myself about how I'm not allowed (my own rule) to bake anything until that cake in the fridge is gone. I've been thinking about cookies, and had some really great ideas, but seriously? I can't make three dozen cookies for the two of us until that cake is gone, or else it won't get eaten, and I will be so bummed.

So I was cruising around the internet (or, Google Reader) and saw Ellen over at I am Gluten Free had made some dumplings. Oooooh I love dumplings. I haven't made my own wrappers before, I've been meaning to make Kate's for a while but haven't gotten around to it (mostly because hers have gelatin and I rarely use gelatin). I've made dumplings from a mix from the Asian grocery store before, but never from scratch. Oh these were easy. I used the tofu filling Ellen made, it was delicious. You can also use pork (I usually do) with about the same mix of ingredients, plus a splash of fish sauce.

Vegan Dumpling Wrappers

1/2 c tapioca starch

1/2 c fine rice flour

3/4 t xanthan gum

1 T oil

5-6 T cold water

Whisk together the starch, flour, and xanthan gum. Add the oil and then 5 T of the water. Mix by hand until everything comes together, adding more if needed. Sprinkle your work surface with sweet rice flour, roll into a ball, and cover with a damp paper towel. Follow Ellen's directions to make wrappers, or pinch off balls a bit smaller than a quarter and flatten in your palm, then add a teaspoon or so of filling and pinch closed. Steam in a bamboo steamer, or put dumplings in a pan and add enough water to go 1/4 of the way up the dumplings, cover, and cook over medium heat until water is evaporated, then add some oil to the pan (use a nonstick pan, I learned the hard way), shake around the dumplings to coat, and cook each side until browned. Serve with dipping sauce of your choice (see below for my choice).

Maked about a dozen dumplings, you can double (or triple or quadruple) the recipe, which I would recommend since you're going through all the effort of making dumplings, you might as well make a ton. Stick any extras in the freezer lined up on wax paper on a cookie sheet, freeze until hard, then stick in serving-size bags. Steam frozen dumplings a few minutes longer than fresh ones.

Dipping Sauce for Dumplings

This is more a method than an actual recipe

1 part soy sauce

1 part rice vinegar

1 part chinese cooking wine

big plop of chili garlic sauce

a chopped up scallion or two

a light drizzle of sesame oil

1 minced garlic clove

a chunk of minced ginger

Whisk everything together, let sit an hour or so if you have time. Divide into small bowls for dipping dumplings in.