Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, Spring Rolls, Samosas, and More

382 Pages·2009·5.08 MB·English

by  Andrea Nguyen

Copyright © 2009 by Andrea Quynhgiao Nguyen
Photographs copyright © 2009 by Penny De Los Santos All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com
Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with publisher.
eISBN: 978-1-60774092-6
Illustrations by Ann Miya
v3.1

Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
INTRODUCTION
Essential and Handy Equipment
Ingredients
Cooking Techniques
Tips for Success
1 Filled Pastas
Basic Dumpling Dough
Pork and Napa Cabbage Water Dumplings
Meat and Chinese Chive Pot Stickers
Steamed Vegetable Dumplings
Fish and Chinese Chive Dumplings
Japanese Pork and Shrimp Pot Stickers
Kimchi Dumplings
Korean Meat and Vegetable Dumplings
Korean Dumpling Soup
Mongolian Meat and Caraway Pockets
Nepalese Vegetable and Cheese Dumplings
Spiced Lamb Dumplings
Tibetan Beef and Sichuan Peppercorn Dumplings
Shanghai Soup Dumplings
2 Thin Skins
Wonton, Siu Mai, and Cantonese Spring Roll Skins
Fried Wontons
Shrimp Wonton Soup
Vegetable and Pork Wontons in Spicy Oil
Siu Mai Open-Faced Dumplings
Cantonese Char Siu Pork and Vegetable Spring Rolls
Shanghai Spring Roll Skins
Shanghai Pork, Bamboo, and Mushroom Spring Rolls
Filipino Shrimp, Meat, and Vegetable Spring Rolls
3 Stuffed Buns
Basic Yeast Dough
Steamed Filled Buns
Baked Filled Buns
Char Siu Pork Bun Filling
Vegetable and Tofu Bun Filling
Curried Chicken Bun Filling
Filipino Chicken and Egg Buns
Panfried Pork and Scallion Mini Buns
4 Rich Pastries
Beef, Sweet Potato, and Raisin Turnovers
Simple Flaky Pastry
Spicy Potato Samosas
Shrimp, Pork, and Jicama Turnovers
Chinese Flaky Pastry
Daikon Radish and Smoky Ham Cakes
Curry Puffs
Potato and Lamb Curry Puff Filling
Spicy Sardine Puff Filling
5 Translucent Wheat and Tapioca Starches
Wheat Starch Dough
Har Gow Shrimp Dumplings
Chiu Chow Dumplings
Vegetarian Crystal Dumplings
Scallop Dumplings
Chinese Chive Dumplings
Vietnamese Tapioca Water Dumplings
Thai Tapioca Pearl Dumplings
6 Transformations of Rice
Rice Sheet Batter
Shrimp Rice Noodle Rolls
Beef and Orange Rice Rolls
Chicken and Vegetable Rice Rolls
Dried Shrimp and Scallion Rice Rolls
Fried Sticky Rice Dumplings
Char Siu Pork and Mushroom Filling
Vegetable and Shrimp Filling
Steamed Sticky Rice Dumplings with Shrimp and Pork
Sticky Rice and Chicken in Lotus Leaf
Sticky Rice and Spiced Chicken in Banana Leaf
7 Legumes and Tubers
Fried Mung Bean Dumplings
Tangy Spiced Potato Dumplings
Sweet Potato, Shrimp, and Lemongrass Dumplings
Taro Puffs
8 Sweet Treasures
Fried Banana Spring Rolls
Spiced Pineapple-Filled Pastries
Milk Dumplings in Cardamom and Saffron Syrup
Sesame Seed Balls
Sweetened Red Bean Paste
Sweetened Mung Bean Paste
Sweet Rice Dumplings with Palm Sugar and Coconut
Sticky Rice and Mung Bean Dumplings in Ginger Broth
Banana and Coconut Sticky Rice Packets
9 Sauces, Seasonings, Stocks, and Other
Basics
Tangy Soy Dipping Sauce
Korean Dipping Sauce
Chile Oil
Chile Garlic Sauce
Sweet Soy Sauce
Sweet and Sour Sauce
Spicy Roasted Tomato Sauce
Garam Masala
Fresh Mint Chutney
Tamarind and Date Chutney
Green Chutney
Coconut Dessert Sauce
Chicken Stock
Korean Beef Stock
Char Siu Pork
RESOURCES
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INDEX

Introduction
Dumplings make people smile. At their core, they are fun,
uncomplicated, wonderfully satisfying foods that can be enjoyed with a
crowd or savored in solitude. They’re reminders of good times—
preparing them for family, noshing on them with friends, or queuing up
for them with great anticipation. The individual dough morsels,
diminutive pouches, and leaf-wrapped packages contain treasures that
never fail to please the palate.
I’ve enjoyed a dumpling-filled life since my youth. One of the first
cooking assignments my mother gave me (after cooking rice) was folding
wontons. After all, we ate rice daily and frequently ate fried wontons
and wontons in soup. My mother was smart to figure out that a
precocious ten-year-old was perfect for these elementary but crucial
family kitchen duties.
Making batches of 150 to 200 wontons became part of my life, and I
rarely thought of it as drudgery. I rather liked folding different shapes
and devising new methods to make the work go faster and better. I
didn’t always work alone; sometimes my siblings and I challenged one
another to see who could fold the prettiest wontons or pleated pot
stickers.
We used premade wrappers for Chinese-style dumplings because they
were readily available, but there was no such convenience for
Vietnamese dumplings. Those were my mother’s specialty, and she
prepared hers from scratch to ensure that our family had the tastes of
our homeland. Treats such as bánh ít (Steamed Sticky Rice Dumplings
with Shrimp and Pork) were part of my options for both breakfast and
afternoon snacks. We also exchanged gifts of homemade Vietnamese
dumplings with family and friends—we all knew they were hard to come
by in the United States.
I’ve probably eaten as many Asian dumplings “out” as I have at home.
My father regularly piled us into our Buick Estate Wagon and drove over