Dumplings

Emily said that she wants me to write another entry on food. (She also said that the last blog was better because it had a theme to it. At which point I said that the theme was Singapore, not food. And she said that at least I posted on one topic consistently. But I say...this whole blog thing is teetering on oblivion anyway...so I am doing it as I want to...sigh. This sounds really mature.) Anyway, so I can give in though and do a food blog. Probably not so exciting for the Nathan women because they have seen/made/tasted this recipe ten thousand times, although this IS a very yummy variation.

Chinese (?) dumplings.
Taught to me by my first college boyfriend, who I newly learned lives somewhere in Idaho with his wife and three year old daughter, where he is a part time, amateur (but good!) folk musician and a full time...social worker, I think. I know this...because of...Facebook? No...not Facebook. I think Google.

The insides included (and so this is the new part..the new mix)
300 gms (about 2/3 of a lb) chopped salmon
about 3/4 cup soy beans
one large fat green/spring onion, chopped
1 chili, chopped fine (1/2 chili also enough)
about 3-4 tablespoons finely chopped mint
about 3-4 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro/coriander
about 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
about 1 tablespoon of vietnamese fish sauce
grated zest of a lemon (lime would be nice too)
couple splashes of oil (i used olive, which was fine) to hold things together

Mix it all together.

Make sure you have purchased dumpling skins. I like the round ones. Today's skins came...from Singapore, of all places.

Then here are pictorial directions on how to make them.

One step missing - the folding of the dumplings. Trick is to moisten one side of the skin with water and fold over the other side, being careful to press the air out. This is the hardest part of making these guys....takes some practice.

Also, the liquid in the pan is a broth. Fish broth is the best, but I used a vietnamese pho broth, which was also nice. In total, the dumplings should be browned for about 3 or 4 minutes - until brown - and steam fried with the broth for 1 or 2.

We ate them with a nice eggplant/mushroom asian-inspired side dish...also nice.

Oh, all photos taken with my new phone. Nokia n82. I have a love-hate relationship with the phone. Some aspects - camera - are great. But I wish it were an iPhone most of the time. :-( I could have bought the iPhone, but I am waiting for version 2. And I want a better camera than the iPhone offers...