Dumpling ground

Water chestnut, shitake and edamame dimsums with honey, garlic and chilli sauce

I’m not big on Asian food, but when I crave for certain textures and flavours, I happily give in. I believe that no cuisine does justice to the energy of lemon grass, the denseness of tofu, the woodiness of bamboo shoots and the peculiar bite of bean curd, like Asian.

One such ingredient that blends extremely well with Asian fare is water chestnut. Personally, I always end up popping them one by one, as if they were popcorn or something. The burst of sweet juice is so addictive.

Today, I stir fried them with two ingredients that I absolutely adore for their texture – edamame beans and shitake mushrooms. I stuffed them in dim sum wrappers and served it with a hot and sweet sauce. 

For the dim sums

Ingredients:

5 round dim sum wrappers

¼ cup edamame beans

¼ cup shitake mushrooms (chopped)

¼ cup water chestnut (chopped and kept in cold water)

3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

¼ inch ginger (grated)

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce

Salt to taste

Method:

In a wok, heat sesame oil and saute the ginger and garlic. Tip in the beans, shitake mushroom and water chestnuts and cook this mixture for 2-3 minutes. Add the soy sauce. Mix all this for another 2-3 minutes or until all the flavours look well mixed. Season it with salt and let it cool for a few minutes.

Take the dim sum wrapper and place the mixture in the centre of the circle. Fold it into half and pinch the sides with a wet finger. There are serveral ways in which you can fold your dimsums. The easiest way is to bring all the sides of the wrapper together and pinch them in the center. Steam these for 8-10 minutes and serve it with the honey, garlic and chilli sauce.

For the sauce

1 tablespoon oil

3 tablespoon honey

3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

Chilli powder as per taste

Salt as per taste

Method:

In a wok heat the oil and add the garlic. Pour in the honey gradually and sprinkle the chilli powder on top. Mix all the ingredients together for 3-4 minutes.

Let the sauce thicken on the stove for a few minutes more.  Serve it hot with dim sums.