These Steamed Vegetable Dumplings Are Dense, Bright and Shockingly Easy!

In case I haven’t broadcasted this loudly enough in the 114 entries prior to today, I tend to get a little obsessive in the kitchen when trying to find “perfect” recipes. “Perfect” is always some approximation of an ideal that got etched in my tastebuds in some other time and place — there’s salted butter caramel (Paris), bretzel rolls (a Fresh Direct discovery), frisee with poached eggs (Balthazar, 2003) and one day soon, those truffles from La Maison du Chocolat, as my wee Valentine’s Day supply has rapidly diminished. I know better than to try to go back to such a place and expect the same experiences time after time, but it doesn’t mean I can’t have warming fits of nostalgia when I find a lost flavor on my dinner plate.

Case in point today is the steamed vegetable dumplings from Ollie’s, a small chain of large Chinese restaurants up the west side of Manhattan. Growing up, I was absorbed with them and it’s (of course) my mother’s fault, as she would bring an order of them home for us after spending a day in the city, and I’d have them cold directly from the refrigerator as soon as I woke up the next day. They were perfect: dense but not too heavy, brightly flavored and full of tiny but easily-recognized ingredients — no mystery blend here!

Once I moved to New York, a friend and I made the stunning discovery that an order of dumplings and a beer was pretty much the best weekday night dinner there could ever be, and made a weekly ritual of it, until one day, horror of horrors, they changed the recipe, and my glorious order of steamed vegetable goodness was replaced with a filling of foul vegetable mush. They didn’t consult me! I was their self-appointed dumpling evangelist and they just up and changed recipes and now… now I had no place to get my fix.

In the four years since, I’ve tried endless combinations of vegetables, tofu and seasonings and I just can’t get it right. Alex, always the cheerleader, loves them all but I only frustrate because they’re not those dumplings. I know I should move past this and just enjoy a good dumpling for what it is, but I’m just not wired like that. Last night I tried Alton Brown’s recipe, and the experience was no different. They were delicious, and yes, I have already enjoyed them today cold from the fridge, but all I know is that they weren’t them.

There were also a few problems with the buggers. First, there was too much liquid, and despite draining probably the best flavor out of each spoonful before stuffing the wonton wrappers, I was leaking juices with each crimp. In addition, he suggests you steam them but I learned the hard way that wonton-wrapped dumpling do not hold up in the steamer. Their skins are too thin and fall to mush when you try to lift them out. I was able to save them by plopping them in a hot, oiled pan and making much more structurally-sound potstickers of them, and I’d suggest if you make these that you do the same. Finally, they had great flavor, but they were pretty tofu-heavy. While this isn’t a bad thing per se, I didn’t want any one ingredient to dominate. It just didn’t match my obsessive dumpling ideal.

None of this stops them from being crazy delicious, and if you aren’t as irritatingly fixated on your vegetable dumplings tasting like one thing and one thing only, I highly recommend them. Trying to keep with our Chinese-American theme, we served them with a salad tossed with my favorite spicy sesame dressing, hoisin pork riblets (because we really can’t get enough of them) and, though unrelated, an unbelievably satisfying rice pudding Luisa wrote about weeks ago. Dave, Dups and Conroy came over to help me oggle the gorgeous men on Rome, and we ate in the New York Sunday night tradition, minus the white take-out boxes.

Vegetarian Dumplings

At-a-glance

Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 200°F to keep cooked dumplings warm.

Press the tofu: cut the block in half horizontally and layer between paper towels. Place a plate on top and weight it (a 14-oz can is suggested). Let stand 20 minutes. After pressing, cut the tofu into 1/4-inch cubes and transfer to a large bowl.

Add the grated carrots, shredded cabbage, red pepper, scallions, ginger, cilantro, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin, sesame oil, the beaten egg, salt and pepper. Stir lightly to combine.

Form dumplings: Work with one wonton wrapper at a time, keeping the rest covered with a damp cloth. Brush the edges of the wrapper lightly with water. Place about 1/2 rounded teaspoon of filling in the center of the wrapper and shape as you prefer. Place formed dumplings on a sheet pan and keep covered with a damp cloth until ready.

Cook dumplings as potstickers (recommended): Heat a 12-inch sauté pan over medium until hot and brush with a little vegetable oil. Add 8–10 potstickers at a time, cook without touching for 2 minutes. Then add 1/3 cup chicken stock to the pan, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook another 2 minutes.

Transfer cooked dumplings to a heatproof platter and place in the warm oven while you cook remaining batches.

Storage & handling: Keep formed dumplings well separated on parchment; these thin wrappers will stick together if crowded. For easier handling and long-term storage, freeze the arranged dumplings on a parchment-lined tray until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. Cook from frozen as needed.

Simplest Dumpling Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

Mix ingredients and serve alongside dumplings.

Sesame Dressing

Ingredients

Blend all dressing ingredients until smooth. Keep covered and chilled; it will keep about one week.

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