I can’t order dumplings from restaurants anymore due to my allium allergy. Also, my husband is a chef and has done most of the cooking in our marriage, and it was never something I enjoyed, so I let him. As a result, I am inept at best. But desperation is a pretty good motivator, and I have gotten fairly skilled at making specific things that I yearned for but couldn’t buy ready made. But I found the idea of making dumplings very intimidating. (To be fair, I really find the idea of making ANYthing very intimidating.)
I finally saw enough videos of people making dumplings seem easy to try them for myself. The recipe I used called for ground pork, napa cabbage, spring onion, fresh ginger, cilantro, soy sauce, and sesame oil for the filling. I subbed out grated carrot in the same proportion as the onion, for the aromatic crunch, and did away with the cilantro entirely because I’m a soap-taster. I also mixed up a dipping sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sambal, and brown sugar.
They were delicious, if very time consuming for a weeknight after work. Scratched my pot sticker itch, and I fed my husband and son, which is a rarity and always makes me feel nice. And I have lunch for tomorrow, and a dozen or so freezing for later.
I’m sure dumplings are not a triumph for most people, but the fact that I am ever able to make something anyone enjoys eating is still like magic to me.
Dumplings are definitely a triumph! TheMisterT also does all the cooking (at least for the last 7-ish years) and while I don’t enjoy cooking, I understand how satisfying it feels to provide nourishment to your family and all the more so if it’s delicious!
It’s a real pain in the butt. I haven’t had pot stickers in almost 4 years. My husband makes me homemade fajitas, tacos, and burritos, but it’s been 3 years since I had chile rellenos. I now know how to make thai yellow curry, wild rice and chicken soup, white chicken chili, and a mean miso soup. I long for pizza, and bagel pizzas just don’t do it but yeast crust intimidates me.
I had to look up that allium allergy. That’s an awful allergy to have! Most foods have onions or garlic for flavor. All the items in that list also allows that umami flavor for any type food. Great job on the dumplings! My son is vegetarian and I have made special dumplings for him in the past, but now vegetarian dumplings are readily available in the frozen section and even in the restuarants. It is labor intensive and lots of work to make them.
It’s very difficult to eat out. Lol In my case, I don’t have a food allergy. The doctor has confirmed it’s an allergy, but it behaves more like contact dermatitis but on the inside. It’s complicated. I get blisters on the inside of my mouth if I catch a raw onion. But cooked onion or garlic makes my mouth feel hot like I had hot pepper. Then it gives my digestive issues, and is altogether unpleasant. I have an epi pen on the off chance it does get more severe, but as of yet, it is merely yucky, not life threatening. Which is good because it’s VERY hard to avoid completely, even if I say I have an allergy. And there are lots of types of restaurants where I just don’t even try anymore. Italian and Mexican for sure. Some Indian places have Jain food, which doesn’t include onions or garlic, but none in my area. And some Chinese places, I can get something without sauce. It’s a lot.
Once I got the rhythm down, they were actually very approachable, just time consuming. The recipe I used made exactly the number of dumpling wrappers in a package; somewhere around 50. They take about 7 minutes to cook, but it took me around 2 hrs to prep them all.
