the taste test: jiaozi (Chinese dumplings)

Finally, the taste test!  We ate some of our dumplings last night and they were delicious.  They got a bit mangled in the pot as they stuck together a bit (think I needed to put more flour between the layers) but they were yum.  However, I think next time I'm going to go with less Chinese cabbage and more ginger, for extra flavour! 

food & drink: jiaozi (Chinese dumplings)

To celebrate the start of april, I'm making up a new batch of jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) to freeze.  They're great for quick meals during the week.

To start, I headed out into the garden and harvest my garlic chives (see my separate post here).   

Then I got my other ingredients ready and started preparing!


Ingredients
100g garlic chives, finely chopped
500g chinese cabbage, finely chopped
1-1.5 tblsp ginger, finely chopped
500g chicken mince
2.5 tbsp light soy sauce
1.5 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tbsp sesame oil
750g - 1kg of dumpling or wonton wrappers


Preparation

1. sweat the chinese cabbage by putting small batches in a frying pan and heating over a high heat for a few minutes, stirring continuously, until the cabbage wilts. This reduces the moisture from the cabbage and makes it easier to work with.
2. when the chinese cabbage cools, combine with the other ingredients in a large bowl, mixing well.
3. prepare a work space with a small bowl of water, storage containers, dumpling or wonton wrappers and a bowl of flour
4. prepare the dumplings by placing a small teaspoon of mixture in the middle of the wrapper, wetting the edge of half of the wrapper with water and folding over.  for dumpling wrappers, fold into a half moon shape and crimp the edges.  for step by step photos, see here. for wonton wrappers, fold diagonally and fold into a wonton shape or, if this is too difficult to master, fold to create an envelope. for step by step photos, see here
5. if freezing, stack the dumplings in storage containers with a dusting of flour between each layer to prevent sticking

Cooking

1. to cook, bring a saucepan of water to the and add the dumplings.  cook for 8-10 minutes
2. serve with green vegetables and oyster sauce or soy sauce

I was initially very daunted by the idea of dumplings before a friend stepped me through the process!  I try not to worry too much about how they look as I still haven't quite mastered how to fold them. I just focus on getting the flavours right!  


I developed my recipe after finding a whole heap of jiaozi and wonton recipes on the net and practicing with my favourite Chinese cookbook, Food of China by Murdoch Books.

P.S. check out my posting on the taste test here

harvesting my garlic chives

Whilst I impatiently wait for this year's crops to be ready for harvesting, I thought I'd experiment with some recipes using herbs from my herb garden.


Last year I created a herb garden and planted out a whole lot of herbs including rosemary, sage, lemon thyme, marjoram, mint, lemon grass and parsley. One of my biggest successes so far has been two large bunches of garlic chives which produce more than enough for my needs, despite my love of Chinese cooking.

I try and aim to cut back my chives up to four times a year (once per season) as apparently this ensures that they never get too old and lose their flavour. However, I haven't had a chance to cut back my chives for a while and they've gone a bit wild, flowering beautifully but taking over the herb patch. 

To harvest my chives, I cut them about 1-2 inches above the ground.  I then rinse them, removing the flower stalks and any dead (brown) stalks.  I make a flower arrangement out of the flower stalks.

in the garden: autumn planting

The first weekend of april and we tackled the garden with gusto!  We pulled up the remaining straggling plants from the vegie beds, applied new compost (that I'd grown myself) and began planting.

From this:

my vegie bed: before

To this:

my vegie bed: mid-renovation

In went onions, garlic, carrots, broad beans, brussel sprouts and snow peas as well as some sort of cucurbit (my bet is on a cucumber but my partner thinks it's zucchini) that planted itself in a very inappropriate spot and needed to be moved.  We also sowed some cauliflower and broccoli in trays for replanting when they're a little bigger.  At the same time, we spruced up the herb bed and planted some lemon verbena as well as sage to replace the old plant which died.  Then we applied some lucerne mulch over everything and watered it all in well.  I can't wait until they all start to grow!

To this:

my vegie bed: after

And this:

my herb bed: after