August 11, 2008

Dumplings - Coltunasi chinezesti



My Asian food journey continues. Saturday night I made dumplings/ pot stickers, a quick and tasty dish, for me and Clara only. So, I made about 30 (just me and Clara, right), because I had about 2/3 of a pound and I didn't realize it's too much until i was frying the second batch and I used less than half of the meat.
Dumplings are so easy to make, especially when you buy the won ton/ gyoza skins, so you don't have to make the dough. I like these wrappers and used them once for mushroom tortellini, they came out great. But back to my chinese food.
Clara did not want to eat them immediately, but when i told her later that's all i've made, and she should try one before she makes me cook something else, she liked them. So much that yesterday she asked if we have any leftover. Bingo!!!!
They could be served as appetizers, and then you calculate about 2-3 per person, or as an entree, so you should say at least 7-8 for each.
You could fill them either with pork, beef or chicken ground meet, just vegetables, or even fruits. They could be fried, boiled or steamed, depends how you like them more and how you cholesterol allows you to.

This filling was made with:

2/3 lb ground beef,
5 scallions chopped finely,
one carrot grated,
about one inch ginger grated,
one egg,
salt, pepper
Mix all ingredients together, then put one teaspoon of filling in the middle of each wrap. When making the dumplings, work with about 4 at the time and keep the rest of the wrappers covered with a wet paper towel, so they don't dry out.
I wet the edges to seal them and put about 6-7 in a frying pan. I made a combo between frying and steaming- i used only about 2 tablespoons oil for each batch and fried them about 1-2 minutes per each side, then added half a laddle of water and cook them until the water evaporated. They need to be turned once, so both sides are moist and cooked through.
If you fry them, use more oil in the pan, or you could boil them in salted water, or prepare them in the steamer.
Serve immediately with soy sauce, mixed with lime juice, grated ginger and chopped scallions.

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Calatoria mea culinara asiatica continua. Sambata seara am facut dumplings - un fel de coltunasi chinezesti care erau numai pentru mine si Clara, Gabi tine post inca, numai ca din greseala, am avut prea multa carne, mi-au iesit peste 30 (numai pentur mine si Clara).
Coltunasii sunt tare usor de facut, mai ales cand cumperi foile de impachetat si nu ai de facut aluatul. Imi plac foitele de wonton si le-am folosit si pentru tortellini umpluti cu ciuperci, si pentru "palariutele chinezesti cu tuna tartar" postate mai demult.
Mandra mea la inceput nici nu a vrut sa-i guste, si dupa ce am rugat-o sa-i incerce inainte sa ma apuc sa-i gatesc altceva, mi-a spus ca ii plac. Atat de mult incat ieri m-a intrebat daca mai avem ramasi, asta da succes.
Pot fi serviti ca aperitive, 2-3 de persoana, sau ca fel principal, cel putin 7-8 pt. fiecare.
Umplutura poate fi facuta cu carne de porc, vita sau pui, doar legume/ vegetale, sau chiar fructe.
Pot fi prajiti, fierti sau facuti la aburi, depinde cum va plac sau va permite colesterolul.
Umplutura mea a fost facuta din:
300 g carne tocata de vita
5 fire de ceapa verde tocata
un morcov ras marunt
cca 5 cm ghimbir proaspat ras pe razatoarea mica
un ou
sare si piper
30-35 foi de wonton, sau de pachetele de primavara
Se amesteca ingredientele toate si se pune cate o linguritza de umplutura in mijlocul fiecare foi. Se lucreaza cu numai 3-4 foi o data, restul s epastreaza acoperite cu un prosop ud sa nu se usuce. Se uda foile pe margine cu apa sa se lipeasca bine. Eu am pus 6-7 pachetele o data in tigaie, cu 2 linguri ulei, la prajit cate 1-2 minute pe fiecare parte, apoi am adaugat o jumatate de polonic de apa, o combinatie intre prajit si oparit. Se intorc pe ambele parti pana se evapora apa, cat sa fie patrunse si foile moi.
Se servesc imediat cu sos de soia amestecat cu suc de limeta, ghimbir ras si cateva felii de ceapa taiate.
Daca le prajiti, puneti mai mult ulei decat am folosit eu, sa fie acoperite pachetelele. Sau se pot fierbe in apa sarata pana plutesc la suprafata cca 1 minut ori pune la aburi cca 8-10 minute.

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