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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

dumplings

Ever since Xuelei and YiJuen cooked real chinese dumplings for us, I've been craving them. I've been begging for the recipe, begging for a real chinese cooking lesson, drooling in my dreams about eating them again and again.
We went to their house for dinner a few nights ago, and although they did not make dumplings (the dinner was great- chinese tofu and cucumber salad, "bugs on trees", chicken curry, and tofu with tomatoes), they shared some secrets with me and i figured I would give the dumplings a try on my own.
Their new-found time-saver comes from none other than our favorite store- costco. Frozen UNCOOKED flour tortillas. They may not taste as wonderful as homemade dough, they are a close second.
Xuelei uses chinese chives and dried shrimp and egg as her filling, which i did not have access to, as i have no clue where there is a chinese store (i need to tag along with her next time she goes). i, instead, scoured the internet for recipe after recipe for turkey dumplings, just to give me ideas. since jeff refuses to eat pork (let alone have it in our home), i thought ground turkey would be a good compromise.
using a mixture of ground turkey, minced garlic, chopped scallions, chopped chives, egg, sesame oil and soy sauce, i made a concoction that i hoped would delight us (that is, me, jeff, and my mom, since i knew the kids wouldnt dare try something so delicious- i was right).
i stuffed the tortillas, folded them over, wet the edges so they would stick together, and pan fried them for 2 minutes before putting in a couple tablespoons of water and covering the pan to allow them to steam the rest of the way. the result was crispy on the outside, delectable on the inside, and a truly amazing dinner. not one bite leftover for me to eat for lunch today. too bad. I will be making them again. and now im thinking about what else i can add next time. any ideas?
FINAL RESULTS!

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