In case you’ve just arrived here by chance I’ll fill you in on something important about me: I love dumplings. Dumplings are life and I love them in all their many forms. I’ve tried many vegetarian dumplings and these are definitely my favourite ones. Tis rich mushrooms with the fresh chives is just such a good combination!

You can steam these or cook them like gyoza or pot stickers as I have done here. I used a mix of mushrooms and I think this adds a greater depth of flavour. Feel free to play around with your own favourite mix too! I love coming up with new dumpling combinations as they’re such a favourite of mine. There’s never been  moment in my life when someone has suggested getting dumplings and I’ve been like ‘nah, I don’t really feel like them’. They’re always appropriate (yum cha for breakfast anyone?) and just little bombs of flavour and texture in your mouth. I love steamed dumplings just as much as pot stickers and have made these both ways. I just forgot to take any pictures of the steamed ones…

When I made these dumplings I made my own dumpling wrappers. This is easy to do but a little time consuming, I’d suggest attempting it when you have a helper in the kitchen on hand so you don’t get frustrated and throw a tanty and only make a half batch in the end because it was taking too long. Incidentally, I can also tell you the mushroom mix keeps really well in the fridge over night. All good to go the next night when you’ve put your toys back in the pram and are ready to face dumpling making again. Don’t judge me, it’d been a long week and I’m not very good at patience!

There is no need to go through the above though you can just buy gyoza wrappers. They sell them in most supermarkets now. Just not my local one because such is life.

I roasted the mushrooms in this recipe because MORE FLAVOUR! It helps make these dumplings a celebration of mushroom as their richness is really intensified. And it doesn’t take that long to do so give it a shot. Also, don’t skimp on the spring onion, it’s what adds freshness to them! I like to serve these with just a big pile of steamed greens sprinkled with sesame seeds and oil on the side.

Remember not to over fill your dumpling wrappers so that you can pinch them closed. If you’re super into dumplings but prefer yours with a meat filling then try this recipe, it’s my go to.

Makes 40 dumplings

Ingredients

30g dried shitake mushrooms

300g swiss brown or cup mushrooms

1 cup spring onion, finely sliced

¼ cup chives finely slices

2 Tbs coriander root, finely diced

1 Tbs freshly grated ginger

a few drops of sesame oil

2 tsp chilli flakes

2 tsp Chinese Cooking Wine

2 Tsp soy sauce

½ tsp white pepper

40 Dumpling wrapper

1 Tbs Rice bran oil or similar to pan fry

Chilli oil, soy and black vinegar to serve

Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Soak shitake in hot water to rehydrate.

Spread the swiss brown mushrooms in a single layer on a tray, season and roast for 20 minutes.

Finely chop shitake and roasted mushrooms and combine with all other filling ingredients in a bowl. Stir well.

Place a teaspoon of mixture in the centre of each dumpling, brush the edge of the dumpling wrapper with water, fold in half and pinch and fold the edge of the dumpling to seal. Place on baking paper or a tray, with the folded edge facing up, to flatten the bottom.

Heat the oil in a large heavy based fry pan. Once hot, add the dumplings flat side down. You do not want them to be touching, do two batches if you have to. Fry for a few minutes until the base of the dumplings is golden and crisp and then add enough hot water to come 2cm up the side of the pan. Place a lid on the pan and steam/ boil until the water has evaporated. Remove the lid and continue to fry until the bottoms are crisp again.

Serve with chilli oil, black vinegar and soy and some wilted spinach underneath to soak up the juices.

HH. x