Steamed Vegetable Dumplings (五彩蔬菜蒸餃)

You might’ve noticed that my family and I are not vegan eaters. But I do love having many different vegetables served on table, sometimes enjoy a no-meat day. These dumplings have got several vegetables in five different colours for fillings, and can be a perfect light lunch, or snacks for tea time.

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings (Printable recipe)
By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 40 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Pastry Ingredients:

• 300 gm plain flour
• 150 ml hot water, 80C/175F
• 60 ml water, at room temperature

Filling ingredients:

• 1 to 2 shiitake mushrooms
• 45 gm corn kernels
• 25 gm carrot, diced
• 50 gm chinese chives, finely chopped
• 34 gm vermicelli/cellophane noodles, soaked, softened and sectioned
• 3 water chestnuts, about 56 gm, skinned and diced
• 45 gm spicy tofu (picture shown above), diced
• 1/2 tsp minced ginger

Seasonings:

• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp chicken bouillon powder
• 2 Tbsp water
• sesame oil, to taste

Method:

• Sift flour into a large mixing bowl. Drizzle the hot water evenly into the flour in a circular motion. Use a spatula or chopsticks to quickly mix well, to create little flour crumbs.
• Add room-temperature water in three batches and knead into a smooth dough. Place in a greased bowl, covered with a plastic film. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
• To make the fillings: Heat oil in a wok or frying pan. Saute ginger over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, carrot, dried tofu, corn kernels and chives. Stir fry until aromatic. Add vermicelli and water chestnuts. Stir in the seasonings. Set aside. Let cool down.
• Roll out the dough into a long tube shape. Cut into 14 to 16 equal portions. Roll each portion into a small disc with a rolling pin, each about 8cm in size. Wrap a heaped tablespoon of filling and pinch the edge. Repeat this step with the remaining pastry and fillings.
• Steam the dumplings in a wok or a steamer over high heat, for about 15 minutes, or until cooked through. Serve immediately.

Notes:

• The chicken bouillon powder can be replaced with shiitake mushroom powder for vegan eaters, which is available at Asian stores.
• The leftover dumplings can be kept in a covered container in fridge up for 3 to 4 days. Frozen can be kept for a month.
• Spicy tofu is also available at Asian stores, often placed in chilling section.
• The texture of the dumpling skin is made from hot water and flour, produced a soft and springy feel. You might like to refer this video of how to wrap a dumpling. The pastry is very stretchy and tender, thus wrapping the diced fillings inside is quite a challenge for a beginner. It’s nothing wrong if seal tightly without pinching the edge at all. You'll make some beautiful rustic dumplings. Just make sure no fillings would leak out.