Dumplings!

One year ago Jim and I were packing to go to China, we are also coming up on Chinese New Year so I thought I would try some new recipes.  While in China we had some pork dumplings that were AMAZING! They had soup in them and I had them every chance I got.  I have been craving them ever since and I have not seen them anywhere.  So a year later the light  bulb goes off and I googled pork soup dumplings and this is what I find, Steamy Kitchen!  Perfect but wait that is a lot to attempt in one dish!  So I thought I would start at the end and work my way to the soup dumplings, my biggest concern was the dough.  I have never done dough from scratch before and I was a bit intimidated.  So I thought before the big, yummy, soup dumplings which are apparently called Xiao Long Bao, I would use some egg roll filling that we had left over and just try the dough.  
We didn't have a bamboo steamer so off the the kitchen store we went.  Not to skip to the end but I think we will be using this for many dishes! I used the recipe from Steamy Kitchen! Although Jim didn't start to take pictures until the rolling phase.  I was a little nervous but it turned out great.  I am now excited to make many more doughy dishes!  I think that in the next couple of weeks when I attempt the whole recipe we are going to be very happy!    

 Kneading the dough, notice the laptop near by for needed moral support :)

 The Princess woke up from her nap just in time to help with the rolling of the dough.  (FYI- we did not go anywhere today so it was outfit of her choosing and who really needs to comb their hair anyway :)





In the steamer YUM!



Finished product!! So good.  We learned a lot from this attempt and next time the pleating will be better, I am sure it will never be pretty but that is ok as long as they don't leak soup.  I am sure that I will never be a Chinese chef but I hope that I can make some dishes (Chinese or American) that Chloe will someday want to make for her family.  

Just a warning but you might want to be ready for some flash back posts.  I really didn't get to post like I would have liked to in China.  It was...let me just say, more challenging that I anticipated and things like blogging suddenly seemed not as important as I once thought they would be.   

Comments

Kim said…
YUMMY.... looks sooo good but a lot of work.. can't believe it has been a year... time flies...
Love ya
Jimh. said…
They WERE good! It was fun watching Chloe work on her dough with you!
SpunkyBookworm said…
These are so precious! Thank you!
Myra said…
I am SOOO impressed an inspired...I tooo will be buying a steamer soon...did you know Tracy and Tom (Luke's parents) AND Kristi and Kevin (Finnley's parents) have BOTH submitted LOI to go back to China??? Crazy!!! I feel everyone I traveled with is going back...thought I'd check to see if you guys had anything to share hahahaha!!
jade said…
Dear Cora,
The picture of the two of you rolling the dough gave me tears in my eyes, again. And only afterwards did I see your post of the ABC song (what a great idea to put her in her crib, love to see her on a video - so much joy she has!). The video of her reading books is sooo cute too though. I must admit I'd forgotten how unbelievably cute she was back then - I just think she is cute all the time, but her tiny version definitely beats all cuteness records.
I think I need to catch up on sleep before reading your flashback posts, if not, I will be sitting in salty puddles in front of my computer!
Oh and the pleating of your dumplings look pretty professional to me already!
Lorrene said…
I've seen the two of you color Easter eggs,make a ginger bread house,bake cookies,carve a pumpkin,decorate a Christmas tree, and now the dumplings. There is probably more that I have forgotten. She has been there and done that.
Anonymous said…
Looks good! When we steam our dumplings, we either use lettuce or wax/parchment paper (poke holes) under the dumplings with a little oil so they don't stick.
Anonymous said…
When can we have dinner with you again? I believe Chinese would be great and Steamed Soup in Bread would be fun. Love mom
Alyson and Ford said…
Yummy! You did great! We made filled veggie wontons and steamed them last night. I am sure you will make many more with little miss C.

Alyzabeth's Mommy
Catherine said…
Wow! Great dumplings! How cute to see Chloe right there along side mommy!

Popular posts from this blog

Reading and Riding

Pictures!!