Dumpling soup

I don't know about where you are, but it's been pretty miserable outside here all day.  Cool, almost cold, and rainy - not the kind of day you want to spend outside.  Thanks, Nor'easter! 

Matt took this picture.  You can't tell how wet those boots are, but they are.

What it is, though, is the perfect day for soup.  A hot, tasty, filling soup to eat while curled up on the couch watching Ghostbusters 2, for example.   Or you know, something else, whatever.  I'm not judging.

The inspiration for this soup was Matt suggesting wonton soup for dinner, and me remembering that I had some dough in the freezer from when I made dumplings a few weeks back that needed to be used up.  One of my roommates a few years back gave me her recipe for Chinese dumplings (Jiaozi), which she also patiently walked me through.  Mine have never turned out as neat as hers, but they taste good! 

The thought was to make the dumplings and cook them in a simple soup, thus making a complete meal out of a soup.  And dumpling soup was born.  It's a bit involved, most of which is actually making the dumplings.  It's not hard, just time consuming.  I made a simple vegetable soup with green onions, carrots, gai choy (Chinese mustard greens), tofu, and Japanese somen noodles (for more of a Pan-Asian feel), and a mushroom and broccoli filling for the dumplings.

We had debated between the gai choy (above) and bok choy at the grocery store, but decided on this since we hadn't had it before.  It looks like a small cabbage, but has a slightly peppery taste to it.  I guess that's the mustard part of its name.  It adds a nice dimension to the soup. 

The dumpling filling is onion, garlic, mushroom, broccoli, pepper, ginger, and soy sauce sauteed until cooked through.  My roommate's original recipe calls for a shrimp and egg filling, and I think you could put just about anything in them.  Last time I think I used leeks and mushrooms.  You want to be sure you chop the filling pretty finely - makes it easier to fill the dumplings and to create a more homogeneous center.  Not that that's entirely necessary (the homogeneity, not the ease of filling, because I'd argue that is necessary).

I started the soup when the filling was done, and it was boiling by the time I was done filling the dumplings.  Perfect timing! 

This is the part that takes a while.  Rolling out the dough into little discs (or oblong, weirdly shaped pieces, which is what happens to me) and then filling each one took probably half an hour, but the soup comes together pretty quickly once that's done.  It helps to keep the dough covered so it doesn't dry out, and to keep the rolling pin and cutting board damp as well.  Not wet, since that turns the dough to slime, but moist.  I also covered the dumplings once they were made. 

 
The other thing to know is that the dumplings have a tendency to stick to themselves, as well as to whatever you put them on.  Next time, I'm covering the plate in saran wrap before I put anything on it, since they don't seem to stick to that.  I'm still working on my crimping and closing technique, but I'm happy to report that none of them busted open in the soup!  I think they plump when you cook them, though - since they always seem bigger when I'm eating them than they do when I'm making them.

It turned out to be just the ticket for a cold, rainy day.  The dumpling recipe will make about 40 dumplings total.

Jiaozi (Chinese dumplings)

3 cups flour
up to 1 1/4 cups warm water

1 Tbsp oil
one small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 1/2 cups finely diced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups finely chopped broccoli
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 Tbsp rice wine
1/2 tsp ginger

Make the dough: Slowly stir the flour while adding the warm water to form a smooth dough.  Knead dough into a smooth ball, cover and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.  You can also divide the dough in half, wrap half of it in plastic and put it in the freezer for a few months.  It'll need about 2 hours to thaw when you take it out. 

While the dough is resting, make the filling: Heat the oil over medium heat, add onion and garlic.  Cook til onion is translucent, add remaining ingredients and cook for about 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat, and transfer to a smaller bowl (this makes scooping it up for the filling easier).

When the dough is done resting, knead it gently, then divide in half.  Roll each half into a 1-inch diameter log, and cut each log into 1/2-inch slices. Roll each piece out into a circle about 3 inches in diameter. 

Place about 1 Tbsp of the filling into the middle of the dough round.  Wet the edges with water, and fold dough over filling, creating a half-moon shape, and pinch the edges to seal.  Pinch 3-5 pleats around the edge to make a small pouch encasing the filling. [I found that as long as the dough stays moist, the edges will seal without the extra water.  I thought adding water around the edges made it trickier to close the dumplings since it made everything stickier.  If you let it dry out, though, then you'll need the extra water to seal them.  ] 

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add the dumplings, and give them a gentle stir so they don't stick together.  Bring the water back to a boil, and add 1/2 cup of cold water.  Cover, and repeat.  When the dumplings come to a boil for the third time, they are done.

Remove from water, serve with a dipping sauce of soy sauce mixed with a small amount of sesame oil.

Dumpling Soup - serves 4 to 5

Make a broth based soup out of anything you want, and then cook the dumplings in the soup rather than in a pot of water.  You'll still need to add the three 1/2 cups of water at the end (or you could use more broth, I suppose).  The saltiness and heaviness of the soy sauce in the dumpling filling contrasts well with the lightness of the rest of the soup.  You could always leave it out and substitute broth when you're making the filling, if you're going for more consistency of flavor.  For this soup, I used:

1 Tbsp olive oil
half an onion
3 carrots
7 oz. tofu, cut into medium blocks
1 small head gai choy, chopped
3 green onions, roughly chopped, including the green parts
1 bunch somen noodles
4 cups of broth
2-3 cups water
1/2 recipe dumplings

Heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion, season with salt and pepper and cook til translucent.  Add carrots and gai choy.  Cook for 1 minute, then add broth and enough water to cover vegetables.  Bring to a boil.  Add tofu and green onions.  When soup boils again, add dumplings.  When it boils again, add 1/2 cup water, cover and repeat.  After dumplings have boiled a second time, add 1/2 cup water and somen noodles, and bring to a boil.  The soup is ready after the dumplings have boiled three times.

**updated to add: if you're storing some of the soup for later, fish out the dumplings and store them separately.  Add them back in the soup before re-heating.  Otherwise, they get a little soggy the next day.**