Steamed Crystal Skin Dumplings with Nori King Mushrooms

Ingredients:

Filling

  • 5 oz king mushrooms, finally chopped.
  • 5 oz water chestnuts, finally chopped.
  • 1 large sheet of nori, cut into long strips measuring 1 inch in width, stack together and cut into thin slivers.
  • 2 cloves, minced.
  • Small pinch of white pepper
  • Salt for seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon cornflour and 7 teaspoons of water made into a slurry
  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil

Dumpling skin

  • ½ cup or 2.11 oz Wheat starch
  • 1/3 cup or 1.41 oz Tapioca starch
  • 1/3 cup or 1.41 oz Corn starch
  • Pinch of salt
  • 120ml boiling water
  • 2 teaspoon vegetable oil

Photo Courtesy of Kay Kay // @kaykayfood

Instructions:

Filling

  1. Using a pan, heat the oil over a medium heat and fry the garlic until fragrant, but not burnt.
  2. Add the diced king mushrooms, season with salt and white pepper. Cook until softened.
  3. Add the water chestnuts, sprinkle over the nori and mix. Cook for 1 min.
  4. Increase the heat and add the corn flour blend (mixed well) over the mushroom filling, using a circular motion. Fold into the filling and cook until the mixture starts to thicken. Note:  There is no sauce, this step binds the filling together.
  5. Let cool completely.

Dumpling skin

  1. Mix all the flour / starch in a bowl.
  2. Add boiling water (must be boiling) and very quickly mix in a circular motion for no more than 30 secs. Note: the mixture will look lumpy with a mix of translucent and flour bits.
  3. Cover the mixture with a lid for two mins to cook the dough.
  4. After two mins, add the oil and knead the dough until soft and smooth. Note:  This dough must be used immediately and be kept wrapped up to stop it from drying.
  5. Divide the dough in half. Work on one half and wrap the other with clingfilm.
  6. Roll out into a sausage shape and divide into 10 equal portions.
  7. Form each portion into a ball and flatten with your palm. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to 1mm thickness and use a 9cm cutter to cut out circles. The excess can be merged into the next ball.  Note:  Dust with a little wheat flour if sticking.

Assembling

  1. Cradle the cut dough over your fingers and place approximately 1.5 teaspoon of cooled filling in the centre. Fold over into a semi-circle and pinch the edges.
  2. Repeat until all filling and dough is used up.
  3. At this point, the dumplings can be frozen for up to one month. Frozen dumplings will require a increased cooking time of 12-15mins.

Cooking

Steamer method

  1. Using a bamboo steamer, wait for water to boil and cook the dumplings on high heat for approximately 8 minutes.

Recipe & Photo Courtesy of Kay Kay // @kaykayfood