Do you like dumpling? I love 'em! I love eating so there ~.
In Korea they call it 만두 or mandu. Mandu or dumpling is created and presented in many ways. The dumpling pastry could be folded in many ways but as you may have already guessed - I love cooking stuff my way.
It's been cold here again and hub and I were a bit under the weather yesterday, we've been sniffing and what's the best food for a runny nose than - a chicken soup? That's what made me pull out the stock of dumpling wrappers in the freezer and make some Ayurvedic chicken with vegetable dumpling soup. The wrappers have been there for a while as I bought stock of them in an Oriental store for times like this. I bought this one in particular because it has just rice, water and salt for ingredients. I prefer eating something that doesn't look like a Science experiment.
Ayurveda is a traditional Indian manner of healing the body and bringing back the balance in our system and a lot more.
I call this dish Ayurvedic Chicken and Vegetable Dumpling Soup because of the three spices I used in the dumpling - the ginger, coriander and black pepper. Combining this three spices boosts your immune system and lets you be "sniffle free".
The soup is actually inspired by my father's "Chicken Tinola". It's a Filipino dish. My father was my first cooking teacher as - you may already know, there's a role switch happening in the South East Asia between husband and wives. My mother was the bread winner and my father tried to compensate by working and taking care of us. I haven't admitted this for quite some time but I'm actually very proud of my father. Having moved here in the West and heard stories of people I know of that breaks your heart hearing about (details I prefer to keep to myself) - I get to appreciate my father the more. I am not a very sweet daughter as I am more of a Mama's girl than a Papa's girl but I'm thankful that my father has forced me to learn cooking.
I used to hate it because I was forced. I grew up with my Aunt(his sister) and grandparents in the countryside and being the first grandchild I was never allowed to lift a finger in doing house chores. It was only when I was 10 and I had to go to high school that I learned cooking as I had to live with my parents back in the city.
I shed so many tears every time I got scolded for burning the "adobo" or the rice. Back then, we didn't have any rice cooker, everything is cooked with a pan. The bottom of the rice gets burned and turns black - and it's very bitter you won't be able to eat that - and I have committed such kitchen crime so many times, having multi -tasked with watching tv or playing marbles or chess with the neighbor or my sister while cooking. When the rice is burned you could smell it in the whole house. Even your neighbor probably smells it.
I had to learn cooking because I'm a woman, my father had always said; "You'd better learn cooking or else your future husband might give you back to us." Yes, that's how I was brain washed and I would often speak back to my father saying; :Yeah right - you're toying with the wrong emotions Pa. Who do you think you're kidding?" Later on, I lived on my own and I realized I should be freaking grateful my father taught me how to cook specially that one of my favorite hobby is eating.
I also found out that it is in cooking food that requires intricate process that I find therapy and quiet in my monkey mind. Today, while I was folding these dumplings, I was in my zone. I cook this kind of food because as one wise man once taught me; " A prudent wife is inheritance from the Lord." I wanted to be that kind of a wife to my hubby. He deserves that kind of wife - in my opinion. Why? Because he himself is a prudent spouse. Now, don't ask me the verse of that proverb - ask google.
Before this turns into a novel let me already show you the ingredients. Just so you know I made 54 pieces of Ayurvedic Chicken and Vegetable Dumplings for an estimate of almost 10 euro. Now, if you're in the Philippines, you'd say that's too expensive - but if you are in the West, we both know - this is way cheap. If we'll buy dumplings in the resto - it'll cost us perhaps 10 times the price I spent for making these 54 pieces.
Now, if you are expecting a quick fix - this is not one of those. As what @mibenkito once said, we also eat with our eyes in Asia and having said that - it would take quite some artistry in cooking. However, don't fret yet, I made it easy for you to do.
Here's how to:
Wash the chicken and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Put in a bowl.
Marinate the chicken in 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon powdered black pepper for 15 minutes.
Bring 1.5 liter water into a boil.
While you're waiting for your water to boil, wash the vegetables.
Peel the carrots.
Slice them into thin pieces then throw them into a hand blender.
Slice the two celery stems with leaves into pieces.
Throw the two celery stems with leaves into the hand blender.
Peel and slice the ginger next.
Throw the slices of ginger into the hand blender.
Peel and discard the dry tip of the garlic.
Throw the slices of garlic in the hand blender.
Throw in the coriander leaves the next.
Cover and give it a light blend.
Open the blender and you'll see that the vegetables on top haven't met the blades.
Shove them underneath the blended pieces of vegetables, cover and give another light blend.
Turn off your hand blender when your vegetables are evenly blended.
Set aside.
By this time, your chicken has already absorbed it's marinade.
Throw the chicken in the probably already boiling water.
Add in the dried Thai pepper and the dried laurel leaves.
Boil until whatever is written on the packaging of the chicken.
Fish the chicken out of the pan and de-bone on the chopping board. Leave the chicken broth -as that would be your soup.
Transfer the boneless flesh in the bowl.
Cut it into tinier pieces with a kitchen shears. Let it cool down.
Get another bowl and pour in the blended vegetables.
Add in a bit of those snipped chicken flesh and mix thoroughly. There you have it - Ayurvedic Chicken and Vegetable Dumpling filling.
THE FILLING PROCESS:
Get one of those dumpling wrapper and lay it on the chopping board. If your dumpling wrapper came out of your freezer, let it thaw in room temperature first before using it. A frozen dumpling wrapper would be too hard to fold. It would just burst. When your wrapper has thawed properly, do not expose it to air as it would dry up and harden. Keep it in the packaging. I just took each wrapper out one by one - just when it's their turn to be filled.
Get one teaspoon of the dumpling filling and carefully put it in the middle of the dumpling wrapper.
Get a bowl of water to dip your fingers on to seal the edge of the dumpling wrapper.
Dip a finger or two in that bowl of water and wet the edges of the dumpling wrapper. Now you know, why I would rather make my own dumpling than buy one in the grocery? At least, I'm sure my hands are freaking clean while making them.
Fold the dumpling wrappers' edge and make both edges meet.
Press the edge with your thumb to create that petal like tip/edge on the dumpling wrapper. Make sure to press it while it's still wet. If it hardens fast, just dip your finger again in the water and wet the tip of the edges, that'll seal it.
Get your Steem, I mean ... steamer and oil it.
Lay your filled Ayurvedic Chicken and Vegetable Dumpling on it.
REPEAT THE FILLING PROCESS TO THE LAST WRAPPER.
Lay the Ayurvedic Chicken and Vegetable Dumplings on the steamer and wipe with a bit of olive oil or whatever you have at home. Do this so the dumpling won't stick to each other while cooking and to allow them to get steamed evenly.
Steem it , I mean ... steam for 10 minutes. I just used the same chicken broth to steam them.
Take the dumplings out of the steamer and plate.
Pour in that still warm chicken soup.
Garnish with a few fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.
And so as we say it in Netherish/Dutch;"Eet smakkelijk!"
Enjoy !
I made them in several batches, the first batch are the ones on the frying pan which we had for lunch as you know I am always trying to cook in less than an hour. I folded the next batch after lunch and found out I need to thaw more dumpling wrappers since there's more filling left.
What am I going to do with the rest which is this much?
I'm going to fry them tomorrow for hub's lunch box. If I get to wake up tomorrow - I'd steam mine and eat with the rest of the chicken broth which I put in the fridge. And the rest ... perhaps next weekend. For now, they'll be sleeping in the freezer.
I took all these pictures with my Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 edition.
sources: Stay Sniffle Free this Winter
What is Ayurveda?( http://lifespa.com/about-lifespa/ayurveda/what-is-ayurveda/)
You could bump into other dumpling recipes in the sources I gave in this post.
Filipino Chicken Tinola