Vegan Dumplings!

Anything that takes an entire evening to make is bound to taste better than a quick fix meal. There's something about having to really work for your food that brings out the foodie in all of us... and with that in mind, I bring you vegan dumplings!

It was still late afternoon when we decided to venture into the culinary abyss better known as homemade dumplings. The challenge of finding vegan dumpling wrappers (pre-made dough that folds easily into dumpling-like shapes) was a good one, and from what I've read online it's probably easier to just make them yourself. In terms of filling, you can really switch it up here. As long as you aren't using anything too watery, and as long as it fits in the dumpling wrapper, it's probably fair game. What I've listed below is what we used in ours, and I can definitely attest to its deliciousness.


DUMPLING FILLING:
-1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
-2 tablespoons soy sauce
-1 tablespoons sesame oil
-1 cups finely shredded nappa cabbage
-1/2 cup shredded onion


DUMPLING SAUCE:
-4 tbsp soy sauce
-3 tbsp sesame oil
-pinch of white sugar
-pinch of chili flakes


1. Sautee filling ingredients, and mince until almost ground.
2. Keep dumpling wrappers under a wet cloth to prevent them from drying out. Take out only 10 at a time, and lay flat on clean countertop or cutting board.
3. Drop 1 tsp of mixture into centre of wrapper, wet edges of wrapper with a drop of water, and fold wrapper in half.
4. Make sure edges of wrapper are smoothly sealed, and pinch the edges until they are frilled. Flatten the bottom of the dumpling so that it can stand on its own.
5. Place filled and sealed dumplings into tupperware or a ziploc baggie until ready to cook. Repeat steps 2-4 until you've exhausted your collection of wrappers, or until you're simply too excited/hungry to not move to the next step.
6. Heat 1 tsp of cooking oil in a large nonstick pan (one which you have a fitted lid for!) at medium heat, and place as many dumplings as will fit (flat side down), and not touching.
7. Allow to fry for about 2-3 minutes, until the bottoms of the dumplings have browned.
8. When the bottoms of the dumplings are sufficiently golden, throw in a quarter cup of water, and place lid onto pan. Steam dumplings for 1 minute.
9. Remove the lid, and allow the remaining water to evaporate.
10. Throw together dumpling sauce, and nom nom nom! You have dumplings!

Though quite a bit of effort on the first round, round two and three proves much quicker and significantly less complicated. I recommend munching on cooked dumplings in between each round when you first start out --though, in all honesty, that's probably a given.