TGIF Sesame Dumplings with a Bean Sprout Salad

It’s Friday.

For me, it’s been the weekend since about 1 PM, when I made the completely selfish but unapologetic decision to ditch work after lunch. I parked myself at a sunny bistro table, indulged in a peppermint tea and decadent treat (almond cake topped with mascarpone, salted caramel-filling and fig and pear glaze), and spent a few hours dreaming big.

Today I reflected on what truly drives me and enriches my life. Not what I am good at, or what I have a lot of experience in (which defines so many career choices for people), but what I actually love. It’s such a ridiculously simple notion, but it’s so removed from our consciousness. We always seem to focus on what we are not good at instead, because that’s what we need to ‘work on’. What complete garbage. The things we are great at should be our only focus, these are the things that can make a great career!

Anyway, one thing that I become totally submerged in is cooking. I love cooking. Preparing food has become therapy for me, because food and I have a long history. Food has been, for the lack of a better word, an addiction. I turned to it when I was lonely, sad and weak. I ate too much and hated myself for eating more, all while standing at my pantry or sitting in a Mcdonalds drive through. Food made me sick and food comforted me, and it wasn’t until I found the joy in cooking that I gained an ability to develop a different relationship with food – one where I called the shots!

Tonight I wanted to enjoy that relationship and make a Friday dinner that gives me the ‘takeaway’ feel without the ‘takeaway’ food relationship. Enter the ever-so-versatile dumpling.

Sesame Dumplings with a Bean Sprout Salad

 

Ingredients:
Dumpling Filling
100 g lean mince pork
250g raw prawns
1 carrot
10 garlic shoots
1 tbls sesame oil
piece of ginger (roughly the size of a madadamia)
250 g pack of gow gee dumpling wrappers (check your Asian grocer)

Salad
1/2-2/3 bag of bean sprouts
15cm of a continental cucumber
3-5 garlic shoots
handful of flat beans
Tbls sesame seeds

Dressing
rice wine vinegar
low-salt soy sauce
fish sauce

Mince the prawns then the garlic shoots for the filling. Grate carrot and ginger finely. Add to a bowl with pork mince, sesame oil and a bit of salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and pop into the fridge.

Put a pot of water with steamer basket on a medium stove. While the water is heating, put bean sprouts on a plate, julienne/finely dice cucumber and garlic shoot for the salad and top bean sprouts. Once water is boiling, steam the flat beans for 90-120 seconds then remove to cool.Slice once longways, then add to salad and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Set aside.
Cut and place a wax paper round in the bottom of the steamer to cover and protect dumplings from sticking.
Place one level tablespoon of filling into each gow gee wrapper and close by pinching the top around the filling. Steam in batches for 5 minutes until all completed.

Mix equal amounts of rice wine vinegar and soy sauce (about 2 tbls each), then add a splash of fish sauce and pour mixture over salad. Add low salt soy sauce in a flat dish for dumpling dipping.
Place salad, cooked dumplings and dipping sauce out and voilà! Deliciousness.
This recipe should make 25-30 dumplings, enough for 3 people (or 2 with leftovers, like us!)
Pair with a light Semillon Sauvignon Blanc if you wish (I chose Jacob’s Creek Vintage 2012)

Tip: Gow gee wrappers freeze well, as does pork mince and prawns. I keep all three in my freezer for this easy option dinner. To defrost quickly, place gow-gee wrappers in a water tight ziploc bag and suck all the excess air out, float in  warm water in the sink with the mince (also in a ziploc bag) for 30-ish minutes. Prawns will defrost in a bowl of room temp water in 20-30 minutes, change water twice.

Time: 45 minutes
Wellness Facts: Prawns are full of goodness (Omega 3’s, Calcium, Vitamin B, Vitamin E), garlic shoot boosts the immune system and reduces inflammation, sesame oil has antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties, ginger is a super food in its own right and just one benefit is that is improves the absorption and assimilation of essential nutrients in the body, bean sprouts are rich in iron, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, and manganese and omega 3 fatty acids and rice wine vinegar is rich in amino acids.