Prawn, Courgette & Egg Filled Chinese Dumplings

As Lunar New Years celebrations creep closer and closer - it’s time to start planning the menu… We’ve teamed up with @thechinesefoodie to bring you all the Lunar New Year inspiration you could ever need, starting with delicious prawn, courgette and egg filled Chinese dumplings. Follow her recipe and recreate the dish with ingredients bought in store… you won’t regret it.

Ingredients

Wrappers (can also used store bought ones):

  • 300g plain / all purpose flour
  • 150g room temp water
  • Pinch of salt

Filling:

  • 200g peeled raw prawn tails
  • 4 medium sized eggs 
  • 1 medium courgette
  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp of white pepper powder
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Salt

Dipping:

  • 1 tbsp Chinese chilli oil
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Chinese black vinegar (or rice vinegar)
  • 1-2 tbsp dumpling water
  • Drizzle of sesame oil
  • Finely chopped onion for garnish


Method

  1. Put flour in a large bowl, add in salt and stir well. Gradually stir in the water until dough is formed. Cover dough to rest for 20 mins then knead for 1-2 mins into a smooth ball, cover again to rest for 1h.
  2. While the dough is resting, prep the filling. First beat the eggs with a pinch of salt added, scramble in a hot pan until well cooked and a little golden, set aside to cool down.
  3. Julienne the courgette and quickly blanch in salted boiled water until soft (1-2 mins), sift and rinse under cold water, squeeze out excess water and pat dry with a kitchen towel.
  4. Take 100g prawns and cut them into a fine mince, roughly cut the other 100g into larger cubes. Put them both in a large bowl, add in 1 tsp white pepper powder, 2 tbsp oyster sauce, a generous pinch of salt and stir using a fork / chopsticks in one direction until it all gels up together.
  5. Add the cooled egg and courgette into the prawn, add 1 tsp sesame oil and mix evenly to have filling ready.
  6. Dust worktop with flour, poke hole in middle of dough ball, stretch out to a long rope thickness of a ping pong ball, then use a knife to cut dough rope into around 14-15g portions, press with palm to form round disks and roll out to about 8 cm diameter thin wrappers.
  7. Wrap your dumplings. Put 1 heaped tbsp of filling at the centre of the wrapper, fold over in half and pinch middle for it to hold shape and fold 2-3 times each side.
  8. To cook the dumplings, simply boil in a large pot of hot water until they float, then add about 100 ml of cold water, bring back to boil, repeat twice and drain. Alternatively, fry in about 2 tbsp oil in a hot pan, add 2 tbsp of cold water when the pan starts to smoke and put the lid on, repeat 3 times and they should be fully cooked. Leave to cook until a little golden at bottom.
  9. Arrange dumplings in a shallow bowl / plate, garnish with spring onion and serve with dip. Drizzle extra chilli oil if you like it spicy. Enjoy!

Chinese Cabbage Parcels Served in a Chilli & Garlic Sauce

Happy Lunar New Year! Our final recipe with @thechinesefoodie is one to remember, filled with flavour and so easy to put together. Try it for yourself in time for your celebrations and prepare to crave this every day… 

Ingredients

  • 1 chinese cabbage
  • Finely chopped spring onion for garnish

Filling: 

  • 150g pork mince (20% fat)
  • 50g tinned sweetcorn
  • 50g carrot blitzed 
  • 5g ginger minced
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • ¼ tsp white pepper powder
  • Salt

Sauce:

  • 4 large cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 red/green chilli (deseeded and diced into small cubes)
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • 100 ml water
  • Pinch of sugar

Method

  1. Cut off 6-8 leaves from the cabbage and blanche leaves for 1 min in boiling water until they soften. Rinse in cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.
  2. Stir pork using a fork / chopsticks in one direction until stringy & gelled up, add in everything else and mix evenly to have your filling ready.
  3. Place 1 heaped tbsp of filling onto the stem of a cabbage leaf, roll it up a bit to the green and seal both ends using the green leafy part before you roll it all the way to form a parcel.
  4. Place parcels in a bowl/plate, cover well and steam for 20 mins. 
  5. In the last few mins, pan fry garlic and chilli in some veg oil until aromatic, pre-mix all the other sauce ingredients and add it into the pan, stir well for 2 mins to make a chilli and garlic sauce. 
  6. Pour sauce over steamed parcels and enjoy!

Beer braised chicken hot pot

The ultimate chicken dish incoming… This Lunar New Year, we’ve teamed up with @thechinesefoodie to bring you her beer braised chicken hot pot recipe, marinated in oyster sauce, soy, white pepper and mirin. After you’ve tasted, you won’t want to eat anything else ever again… 

Ingredients

  • 4-6 chicken thighs
  • Handful of fresh mushrooms
  • 3-5 slices of ginger
  • 5-10 cloves of garlic
  • 1 green chilli and 1 red chilli, sliced in circles
  • 1 500ml can of lager 
  • 1 tbsp chilli bean sauce sauce
  • 1 tsp white pepper powder
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp mirin
  • 2 tsp corn flour mixed with 2 tbsp water to make sauce sticky
  • Salt

Method

  1. Remove skin and debone the flesh, marinate flesh in oyster sauce, soy sauce, white pepper powder, pinch of salt and mirin for 15 mins. Separately, cut chicken skin into small squares and set bones aside.
  2. Slowly cook chicken skin in a pan over medium heat until skin goes crispy & brown and plenty of fat gets rendered out into the pan, take out the chicken skin (which you can salt and snack on as a crisp while cooking).
  3. Add ginger and garlic into the pan with chicken fat to fry for 2 mins or so to bring aroma out, then add the bones, marinated meat and chilli bean paste in to fry until golden. 
  4. Add lager to cover the chicken, lid on to cook over medium heat for 15 mins. Toss in the mushrooms and keep the lid on for further 5 mins. Then take the lid off to reduce any remaining sauce until not soupy, add in starch water to thicken the remaining sauce.
  5. Toss in mixed chillies and cook for a further minute, take out the bones, adjust seasoning to taste and serve alongside some rice. Enjoy!