DUMPS LIKE A TRUCK 🥟🍅
Truck, Truck...
If you have Sisqó’s “Thong Song” stuck in your head now, you’re welcome.
It’s that time of year when TOMATOES are popping off, and that’s our favorite time of year, to be honest! We love a good ol’ fashioned tomato sandwich, panzanella salad, tomato toasts with garlic aioli, and pastas like a no-cook puttanesca…
But our latest tomato obsession has come from food stylist/recipe developer Hetty Lui McKinnon’s brain where she created a panzanella-like tomato salad with pan-fried dumplings standing in for cubes of bread. Combined with rice wine vinegar, a touch of soy sauce, and generous spoonfuls of your favorite chile crisp, her Dumpling Tomato Salad with Chile Crisp Vinaigrette is a spicy bowl that is both refreshing and comforting at the same time. It’s so easy, so fast, and so tasty that we’ve both had it on repeat in our kitchens the last two weeks.
But let’s say you want to make your own dumplings… it’s easier than you think! And it actually makes for a really fun activity to do with friends, family, and a great indoor summer activity to keep the kiddos occupied…
DIY DUMPLINGS ARE EASIER THAN YOU THINK…
AU: I think that dumplings are crowd-pleasers that have universal appeal. Who in their right mind could be sad eating a delicious pillow filled with all sorts of juicy treats?? Not this guy.
I tend to gravitate towards the pork variety, but have equal admiration for vegetable, chicken, shrimp, and soup (Xiao Long Bao) dumplings. I don’t discriminate when it comes to dumplings!
EK: I too love them all, but my favorite is shrimp! And, I love that they are equally good sautéed like they are in this “salad” or steamed. Some nights I crave that golden-brown slightly crisp exterior and some nights all I want is the steamed, lightly sticky rice-wrapper that turns semi-translucent.
AU: If you’ve never been to a really good Dim Sum, I highly recommend you do. It’s so much fun, because it’s a veritable buffet of dumplings, bao buns, salads, and sauces. Every steamer basket that arrives at your table is like opening a present! And New Yorkers are going dumpling crazy this week, thanks to the brand new Din Tai Fung that just opened in Manhattan (the first USA location on the East Coast!).
To make dumplings, you could, of course, make the dough from scratch. It makes the dumplings more supple and is truly a game changer… however, I was short on time (and patience), so I used store-bought round dumpling wrappers.
WHAT TO BUY: When looking for dumpling wrappers at the store, look for packages that don’t seem smushed (where the wrappers can be stuck together), and make sure they look soft, moist, and supple in the packaging.
AU: Then, all you have to do is make a simple filling with ground pork, ginger, soy sauce, Shaoxing Wine (aka Chinese Cooking Wine), toasted sesame oil, white pepper, salt, and chives.
If you can’t find Shaoxing wine (I linked the one I use at home—available on Amazon), a good Dry Sherry will do the trick, too. But I recommend using either ingredient, because it does make a difference in the flavor of the finished dumplings.
This is where your arts-and-crafts skills come into play. If you’ve been to a proper dim sum, you’ve seen the stunning and intricate pleating that all the different dumplings can have. I’ve even had ones in the shape of pandas, pigs, and pac-man ghosts (like Red Farm on the UWS of Manhattan).
The key is to not go overboard on the filling. You just want a scant tablespoon per wrapper.
The pleating is what most people find tricky, so if that’s you, just press any air out of the dumpling and seal the two ends together with your fingers. Boom! You made a dumpling!
EK: Thank you for that tip. Don’t let the pleating intimidate you! They will taste just as good if you seal the ends simply as they do if you pleat them like a master like Anthony. Once you make them a couple of times, you will feel more and more comfortable with it. As long as the filling doesn’t escape, it doesn’t matter if they don’t look perfect because they will taste perfect!
AU: If you’re interested in making the pleats like I did, here’s how to go about it. I did 3 pleats per side of the dumpling, but next time I might just do two to make it easier.
HOW TO ASSEMBLE: Working with one wrapper at a time (keep remaining wrappers covered with a damp towel, so they don’t dry out), place a scant tablespoon of filling in the center of the wrapper. Brush away any cornstarch clinging to the surface of wrapper.
Wet your finger tip in a bowl of water, and trace the perimeter of the wrapper. Lift the side of the wrapper closest to you and join with the side farthest away. Pinch the two together in the middle to form a seam in the center of the dumpling. (When viewed from above, the dumpling will look like a taco that has been sealed in the middle with rounded open ends.)
To make the pleats, lift the left corner farthest away from you and bring to center of seam. Pinch to seal. Pinch together remaining dough on the left side to seal, adding as many pleats as desired. Repeat pinching/pleating on the right side. Gently press dumpling into a crescent shape and transfer to the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling in bowl. I made a double batch, so I could freeze a ton of ‘em and have them at the ready.
DUMPLINGS ARE PERFECT COOKED FROM FROZEN!
EK: The good news about making these dumplings from scratch is that they freeze really well, and you can cook them from frozen. In fact, they are better cooked from frozen. (Which means you could also buy frozen dumplings from TJs or your local grocery store, and still make the Dumpling Tomato Salad that we are both obsessed with right now.)
AU: My favorite way to have dumplings, is probably pan-fried. It’s also, to me, the easiest method because you don’t have to own a bamboo steamer. What can I say? I love a crispy-crunchy texture!
But I’ve written all the methods for cooking below (they’re in the downloadable recipe PDF too):
HOW TO COOK YOUR DUMPLINGS
TO PAN FRY: Heat a 12” skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of neutral oil and swirl to coat bottom of pan. Arrange 12 dumplings in the pan, flat side down, and cook until golden brown spots appear, about 3-5 minutes. Pour in ¼ cup of water and cover immediately with a lid. Cook dumplings until the water is mostly evaporated and the dumplings are cooked through, between 6 and 8 minutes.
TO BOIL: Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven over high heat. Add 12 dumplings, a few at a time, stirring gently to prevent them from sticking. Return to simmer, adjusting heat as necessary to maintain simmer. Cook dumplings for 4-7 minutes or until tender. Drain well.
TO STEAM: Place steamer paper or lettuce in your bamboo dumpling steamer. Add dumplings into the steamer placing them 1/2 inch apart. Fill 2/3 of a large pan with water. Bring to a rolling boil, then place the dumpling steamer in the pan. Let steam for 10 minutes. Carefully, remove the steamer from the pan (it will be hot!).
DUMPLING TOMATO SALAD WITH CHILE CRISP VINAIGRETTE
AU: The genius of this recipe is multi-faceted, but the sheer convenience of it, makes it a hit! If you skipped over all that make-your-own-dumplings stuff, feel free to use frozen pre-made dumplings. I use TJ’s pork potstickers constantly, and they’re perfect in this.
Here’s why I love this dish… (which is available on New York Times Cooking) you start by slicing and salting your tomatoes. Doing this draws out the juice, but it also transforms even-ugly-grocery-store tomatoes into delicious juicy rubies. In addition to adding salt to the tomatoes, you also grate a clove of garlic, and add basil (I used regular and opal basil 💅). This all flavors the juice, so when you assemble the dish, there’s this incredible tomato water/broth-type-thing going on.
EK: That tomato water/broth is so key. And, you could really stop there, but when you add the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and chile crisp you have a tomato salad that explodes with bright Asian flavors!
AU: I let the tomatoes sit while I pan-fry the dumplings. When the dumplings are golden on one side, and cooked all the way through, I turn off the heat to the pan and let them hang out while I drizzle the tomatoes with chili crisp, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar.
I like to keep the dumplings warm, but not hot… it’s a pleasing temperature difference in every bite—the juicy tomato and the warm dumplings with fresh basil.
If you want to know what a good pan-fried dumpling looks like, here ya go. CRISPY DOT COM HENNY!!!
EK: Well done! You might have missed your calling! Mine do not look like that but they still taste good!
AU: Then it’s time to marry the dumplings and tomato mixture together. Hetty recommends garnishing with store-bought fried shallots, but I didn’t have any and used sliced scallions instead. I’ve also used chives. Both were delicious, and frankly, I didn’t need the fried shallots (I sometimes think they overpower everything).
EK: I also did not use the fried shallots. I used heirloom cherry tomatoes, basil, scallions and store-bought frozen dumplings and it was the best thing I ate for dinner this week! I also sprinkled mine with pumpkin seeds to add a little crunch!
A few tips for making the salad—and really all recipes—season to taste, based on how YOU like your food. Remember that you can always add more salt, if needed. Besides the salt you use to salt the tomatoes, soy sauce is salty and so are some chile crisps. My chile crisp, for example, is super spicy so I only used a fraction of what the recipe called for.
AU: Yes! It’s always easier to add more, but next impossible to take away seasoning, so be judicious at first. Do yourself a favor and make this dish—and your own dumplings—you won’t be sorry you did!
Dope food! Have you tried making gnudi? https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9kXmEqO3Kd/?igsh=c2NkaHR4cXBrZHI2