Last night, after an almost three month hiatus, our cooking club reconvened at my house for Dumping Fest. Last month, during Chinese New Year, I went out for a huge Chinese feast and thought, we HAVE to do dumplings for our next cooking club night. We had planned to meet last month, but I guess it wasn’t in the cards. It’s probably for the best anyway. Dumplings are one of my all time favourite foods and I ate so many last month, I think my belly needed the break.
So a full month late but still full of enthusiasm, my fine foodie friends came over with either dumpling fillings, wrappers, or both, and got busy assembling them on my kitchen table while I manned the bamboo steamer. The feast was rounded out nicely by both vegetarian and seafood versions of noodles dishes, stir fry, and a delicious coconut curry soup. Oh! And of course Maria’s crunchy-sweet green tea meringue kisses.
An exploding Pyrex measuring cup and a flickering overhead light notwithstanding, the evening was a huge success. Even with two new members, it felt like we’d all been friends for years. Then again, we always have an awesome time together cooking, eating, catching up and sharing recipes and life stories. In fact, we got so excited to eat everything, these dumplings were the only surviving remnants of the night.
Our founding member is no stranger to cooking clubs. A girl with an exciting past, Maria has found herself living in many different places throughout her life. As a way to meet new friends, she started her first cooking club in Seattle. It must have worked because she started a second group after she moved to Montreal and when she finally arrived in Toronto, she thought she would try it again.
After a slow start, she finally got things going. I was lucky enough to join her group last summer. We try to meet every month or so and each month we choose a different theme and a different member hosts the group. We have enjoyed International barbeque, Mexican, and French food to name a few.
While I don’t need an excuse to try new things in the kitchen, it has really been an eye opening experience. For our French-themed night, through the process of selecting menu items, I learned some things about French cooking and culture I never knew before. I also renewed my fondness for Julia Child.
For last night’s get together, I went shopping for groceries in Chinatown, which is always a fun experience. I took the 15-minute streetcar ride from my house, and felt like I’d landed in China. Interesting foods, neat products; Gotta love this city.
Next time we get together, we will be celebrating Orthodox Easter, so stay tuned for decorated eggs and lots of rich, celebratory dishes, can’t wait!
And what about you? Are you part of a cooking club? Have you always thought about it? Why not take the plunge? Food is such a natural way to bond with people, and I guarantee you will come away with some great new friends and a whole book of new recipes. Speaking of recipes, I made siu mai (pork and shrimp dumplings) found at About.com/ChineseFood and once I round up the recipes from the rest of my group, I will post them here.
Need help getting your own cooking group started? Check out this great resources from Bon Appetit Magazine
Siu Mai (Pork and Shrimp Dumplings)
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3 dried Chinese black or Shiitake mushrooms
- 6 ounces peeled deveined large shrimp
- 1 green onion
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 3/4 cup ground pork
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- about 20 gyoza wrappers (or won ton wrappers cut into circles).
Preparation:
Soften the mushrooms by soaking in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes. Squeeze out any excess water. Cut off the stems.Soak the shrimp in warm, lightly salted water for 5 minutes. Pat dry. Mince the mushrooms, shrimp, and green onion. Combine with the ginger and pork. Stir in the seasonings. Mix the filling ingredients thoroughly.Lay a gyoza wrapper in front of you. Wet the edges. Put 2 to 3 teaspoons of filling in the middle, taking care not to get too close to the edges. Gather up the edges of the wrapper and gently pleat so that it forms a basket shape, with the top of the filling exposed.
Steam over boiling water until the filling is cooked through (5 to 10 minutes).
Comments (17)
Christ, those looks amazing even uncooked.
Honestly, who can argue with a good dumpling? It’s got everything a person needs to survive.
Did I miss the sauce you guys used for dipping, or did you not use any?
Thanks for sharing!
Mike, those were already cooked. I know, right? Dumplings should be their own food group I reckon. Oh, the most important part! The sauce! I kept it simple with soy sauce but we had dumpling sauce, sweet chilli sause, sriracha…and even mixed some together. I added some sriracha to my soy sauce and Tab added it to sweet chilli sauce. What’s your favourite dipper?
WANT!!!
MAKE! and let’s hear all about it:)
Game on. 😉
love the idea of a cooking club! anyway your pictures make me wanna have some dumplings now!
You know Jo they were easy and I couldn’t believe how authentic they tasted!
Dumplings are a life necessity – I love filling them with leftover curry 😀
Yum!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Latest: Traditional Lemon Meringue Tart
That’s a fantastic idea! I still have dumpling wrappers so this week there may be a bunch of leftover dumplings being made. And maybe some dessert dumplings too:)
Yum…if you’re sick of dumplings (ah, not likely), I have a fab recipe for ravioli that uses wonton wrappers. It’s SO good.
Um, recipe please! Can you post it on DD’s Facebook for all to try?
Ja! I shall this week. It’s dead easy and has like, five ingredients.
Merci! Or should I say Grazie?
Oh. My. God. Girl!! Those dumplings!!!! I need a pile of them right now. Right. Now.
And the sweet green tea meringues???? Yes, please. You guys had a great time!!! I love that you have a cooking club, how much fun is that? I need to move….
Terrific post, I love, love, love everything about it. A fun read when you’re under the weather makes you feel a little less under the weather, you know?
xoxo
Thank you. It’s true. Amazing what the spirit can do to the physical body. You should start your own cooking club!
As for the meringues, I wish I had grabbed a picture before they were all gobbled up. They were adorable. Hoping to get the recipe soon.
[…] latest kitchen gadget, the bamboo steamer. Made quick work of my pork and shrimp dumplings a while back and can’t wait to use it […]
How fun to be part of a cooking club. I want to be part of a cooking club. If you’re detecting a little envy on my part, it’s there. 😉 It looks like the perfect evening with friends and your menu sounds wonderful. When my mother-in-law arrives next month, we’ll be enjoying many of her Chinese dishes (including dumplings). I think I’m going to be paying more attention this time around.
I loved this post! Heading over to the Bon Appetit link you shared…