Obama dumplings
Last year, around this time, I attempted to make soup dumplings…I’ve since dubbed them my “George Bush dumplings” because they were such a miserable failure. I was craving the porky/gingery delight so I figured I might as well try again. Since I’ve decided to follow recipes and I checked Barbara Tropp’s book, The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking out from the library. It’s a great book and I’m delighted I have it for four weeks…I can already bet I’ll put it on my list of books to buy. I read through the dumpling chapter and quickly saw how to make a good dumpling wrapper. It’s amazing how going with the facts can be so beneficial.
Because of the rousing success of these dumplings I’ve decided to call them the Obama dumplings…they’re already better than the last ones and even though there’s room for improvement it’s obvious that it’s a change for the better.
Shu Mai Dumplings aka Obama Dumplings
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Dumpling Wrapper
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
2 large eggs
9 tablespoons water
cornstarch for dusting the dough as you roll them out
Put the flour and salt in the work bowl of a food processor. Buzz it around a couple of times and then add the eggs with the motor running. Pulse two or three times. With the motor running add the water slowly, pulsing and adding water until the dough forms a ball and moves around the bowl. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into 4 equal pieces. Let them rest for 10 minutes.
Press the dough segments out flat and feed them through a pasta machine, working through the numbers, dialing it thinner each pass through. I went to number 6 which is where I could see the shadow of my hand behind the dumpling sheet. Keep them covered until you’re ready to fill them.
Dumpling Filling
1 pound ground pork
2 inches of fresh ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chinese sesame oil
black pepper
Put all of the ingredients in the bowl of food processor and pulse two or three times. Remove from the bowl and refrigerate until ready to fill the dumplings.
To fill the dumplings I used a 1 tablespoon scoop and instead of cutting the dumplings into circles I just used squares. Once filled, I drew the edges up with my fingers and cinched them with a pinch. I steamed them in a bamboo steamer over simmering water for 25 minutes. Serve them with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, sesame oil, chili oil, and rice wine vinegar.
GH and I came up with these this morning: a Hillary dumpling looks good but tastes like all the other store-bought dumplings. A Giuliani dumpling is filled with hot air. A Edwards dumpling is absolutely beautiful but falls apart in the steamer. A McCain dumpling is beefy yet has an odd texture/flavor, it’s served with a difficult vietnamese-flavored sauce. A Romney dumpling is shaped like the mormon underwear, served with a secret sauce and is really difficult to swallow. A Huckabee dumpling is lowfat but ultimately makes you nauseated and uncomfortable.
19 Responses to “Obama dumplings”
1 elly 8 January 2008 @ 8:35 pm
love this post and the name of your dumplings :) they look delicious!
2 Trig 9 January 2008 @ 3:15 am
So last night’s result must have come as a bit of a shock to your dumplings, then, Vanessa.
3 Peter 9 January 2008 @ 5:45 am
LOL….the George Bush dumplings could be categorized as……”dum sum”!
The Obama dumplings are superior in intellect and in presentation. ;)
4 vanessa 9 January 2008 @ 6:53 am
elly, thanks.
trig, no shock, it’s a long race and it’s not over yet.
peter, excellent!
5 Laura W. 9 January 2008 @ 7:14 am
What did you line your bamboo steamer with? I use a regular metal steamer (since I don’t have a bamboo one) but sometimes they stick a tad.
The dumplings look delicious!
6 vanessa 9 January 2008 @ 9:11 am
Laura, the recipe said to brush the steamer with oil but I was afraid they’d stick so I lines it with parchment paper…it worked like a charm.
7 Lisa (Homesick Texan) 9 January 2008 @ 11:59 am
Looks like I need to get a pasta machine! And I love your dumpling logic, though I must admit the Romney dumpling made me gag.
8 JEP 9 January 2008 @ 6:22 pm
Thanks for smiles at the end of a hectic day:) Terrific photos, too!
9 brilynn 9 January 2008 @ 7:42 pm
Ha, political dumplings!
I’ll take mine with a little tamarind dipping sauce please!
10 MadLisa 9 January 2008 @ 9:26 pm
Hysterical!
I love soup dumplings. Maybe now I’ll work up the courage to try this recipe. My daughter gets them every year in Chinatown when we visit my mother–let’s see if I can impress her ;-)
11 Lydia 10 January 2008 @ 6:15 am
Now that’s a dumpling I can vote for! I’ll swap out the pork for ground turkey, though. Not a political statement — just an adaptation for someone who doesn’t eat pork. Wait… that’s sounding a bit political too…
12 Crys 10 January 2008 @ 1:13 pm
um, i love the Romney dumpling. that is sheer gold.
not to mention your obama dumplings look FABULOUS. this is a will-try, for sure.
13 vanessa 10 January 2008 @ 4:01 pm
Thanks to all of you for your comments.
14 L 14 January 2008 @ 5:38 am
These look great! Did the recipe say to pinch them closed, though? Traditionally, siu mai dumplings have an open top. http://www.jenius.com.au/images/crystalYumCha_siuMai.jpg
Good on you for making your own wrappers - i’m too lazy and I use shop bought wonton wrappers.
15 Justin 14 January 2008 @ 11:09 pm
I think you should call them Ron Paul dumplings :) Anyway love the site and the recipes!
16 vanessa 15 January 2008 @ 9:23 am
L, no the book said to leave them open but I was afraid they’d fall apart. Next time I’ll leave them open. Trust me, if I’d had the wrappers I’d have used them. Thanks for reading
Justin, the Ron Paul dumpling would come from a recipe on the internet, the ingredients would be sourced from the internet, and the results would appeal to those who had never ate a dumpling before. Thanks for reading!!
17 Casey 15 January 2008 @ 12:47 pm
LOL I love the political dumplings! Despite being a home-grown Arkansas girl myself, I couldn’t agree more with the Huckabee dumplings! Those Obama dumplings are looking pretty darn good to me right about now!
18 Oishii Eats 15 January 2008 @ 1:59 pm
LOL!!! Love the Obama dumplings. Speaking of Obama and food, there’s a poll
on Eater LA asking where we should eat in LA. Haha. I’d love to see Obama eat at Roscoe’s…as long as he doesn’t dance.
19 vanessa 19 January 2008 @ 9:43 am
Casey, Yes, those Obama dumplings are quite refreshing.
Oishii Eats, thanks for the comment. Chicken and waffles…my kind of comfort food. He won’t be able to dance after that feast.
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