Did You Know Dumplings Could Save the Economy?

Well, no economic stimulus for us at the moment. So I think we should all take this opportunity to learn how to cook really good "poor people" food. Poor People Food is what I called stuff like rice and beans, hummus, organ meat, and lots of stews. So pretty much, you know, all the really tasty dishes. I bought a pound of bacon slab ends at the Market on Monday for 1.99 a pound. I felt a)very thrifty and b) very Polish. I plan to always have bacon ends in my freezer now, for split pea soup and frying grease.

Mmost Asian food is included in this category, since most people in Asia are dying of lead poisoning and selling their kidneys for a bicycle, so here's my segue into what we made last Thursday for Thai Night, from now on known as Survival Skills for the Millennium Night.



Jay found this great pork dumpling recipe to try, and if you're like me and think dumplings are one of those things I am genetically incapable of making properly, this will change your mind.

First you grind up some pork, and then LOTS of green stuff.



Somewhere out there, a far more talented person than me should be capitalizing on the underused business of turning food smells into perfume. Like Cilantro and Mint shampoo. D. was the sous chef for the night, and she was living in a haze of Green, it was like catnip for her.

Then Jay actually folded the dumplings, a task he embraced except for the actual touching of the meat. Look how industrious this looks. It just seems like if you can do this, you can also keep your house sparkling clean and iron your clothes.



What Jay didn't tell us is that he secretly spiked those dumplings with Hope and Change. Jay and his Dumplings were single-handedly responsible for the election of Obama, the discovery of a pill that will lengthen your lashes, and the price of gas hovering below 1.80. If he ever stops making these dumplings, gas will careen up to 3.50 and all your hair will fall out. In fact, it's because he's not making these dumplings for Congress that we will lose twenty million more jobs next month. What we need to do is have a Day of National Dumpling, where every man, woman, and child makes these and freezes them and then stones Congress to death with them.

Only thing I would suggest is that maybe the Green sauce was a little too strong. We found that we preferred a sweet chili dipping sauce. But we had mutated our tongues with three bottles of red wine, so you know, make your own call. It did make the house smell wonderful, and it certainly sparked some animated conversation. So maybe you should just chop up some Green every time you have a party, and leave it in corners like Potpourri.



Coming up next....Dessert.

THAI-STYLE DUMPLINGS WITH MINTY CILANTRO-LIME DIPPING SAUCE
(note: I did not write this recipe. But I don't know who did either.)

Ingredients
- Dumplings -
1 lb. ground pork
1/4 cup minced scallions
2 tbsp. minced cilantro
2 tsp. minced ginger
1 red bell pepper, minced
2/3 cup minced cabbage
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1 large egg, beaten lightly
45-50 shumai wrappers (or round wonton wrappers), thawed if frozen

- Green Sauce -
1 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. sugar, or to taste
2 tsp. minced ginger
1 tbsp. shredded mint leaves
1 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro


"Steps

In a bowl, add the scallions, pork, ginger, bell pepper, cabbage, garlic, oil, soy sauce, coriander, egg, salt, and pepper. Mix well with hands (or with a food processor, like a sane person). Cook a bit in the microwave and adjust seasonings to taste. Cover and chill filling for 1 hour (or overnight).

Put a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of a wonton wrapper, then moisten the edge of the wrapper with water. Form into the dumpling shape of your choice (regular wonton triangles or half-moons, little gathered purses with the filling completely enclosed, etc.). To make ones like mine, pinch the wrapper closed around the filling, forming a mulit-pointed star-like shape with the filling exposed in the middle. Then push all of the points in one direction and squoosh the filling and the dumpling into the shape you want. With a wet fingertip, flatten out the top of the dumpling. Place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.
(yes, only Jay is capable of turning that paragraph into an actual image. So I recommend making your closest artist friend do this. What else are they doing?)

Continue making dumplings until you run out of wrappers or filling. At this point, the dumplings can be frozen on the cookie sheet or cooked right away. I froze mine overnight, then popped them into freezer bags the next day.

To cook the dumplings, heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan. Place the dumplings in and cook for 1 minute, or until the bottoms begin browning. Then place about 1/4"-1/2" of water in the pan, cover and steam until the water is absorbed. Continue adding water as it is absorbed until the dumplings are cooked all the way through (it usually takes at least 6-7 minutes if cooking straight from the freezer).
To make the sauce, just combine all of the sauce ingredients and mix well. Adjust as you like. "