I really really love dumplings (I actually describe my body type as dumpling), but, honestly, since I’ve stopped eating meat I’ve had trouble finding dumplings that I like. Most veggie dumplings have a weird filling of egg, noodles, and mushrooms. Blah. Rather than complaining, I decided to take action because that’s just the kind of gal that I am.

We’ll start by making the dough. This seems really intimidating, but it’s actually super easy. If you’re not down for the work or the mess, you can buy wonton wrappers at the grocery store and use those easy peasy.

Start with two cups of all purpose flour.

Slowly pour in a cup of boiling water while stirring the flour. Shout out to my roommate Eleanor for pouring the water while I snapped this pic.

It won’t really come together on its own, but don’t be alarmed. Stop stirring when it forms little chunks. See below for chunk reference.

Now time to get messy. Form the loose dough into a ball with your hands and let rest at room temperature for half an hour covered with a moist towel. Give your dough ball a little kiss before tucking it in for its nap.

While the dough rests, make the filling. Check out my loot from the farmers market!

Start by giving all the veggies a good rinse, then grab the zucchini.

Trim the ends and slice into thin rounds. I am surprised I actually pulled of this slicing perfection. I felt like I was in a facebook Tasty video.

Cut each round into twelve little squares like so.

Continue until you have a pile of little zuke cubes.

Toss those cuties in a bowl and sprinkle them with a hefty pinch of salt. This will help leech the moisture out of the zucchini, so the filling isn’t too wet.

Let the salted zucchini rest for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel off four leaves from the head of cabbage.

Give the cabbage a rough chop, avoiding the bits with all stem and no leaf. Some stem is fine, but we don’t want tons.

Next up: carrots

These guys are pretty gnarly, but after a little trim here and a peel there…TA DA!

You could try to julienne these super finely with a knife, but I just decided to use a grater to get tiny carrot shreds.

And now the onion. I only got a picture of the whole onion because my eyes were killing me after dicing it up. Tragic, but also remarkable that nature created such inventive ways to ward of predators! As a predator, I salute you, onion.

The zucchini should be done soaking now. Transfer the salted zucchini from the bowl to a paper towel absorb all that moisture that was released.

Now toss it in with the other veggies.

Season the veggies up with fresh ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil. This is where the good flavor really comes from, and I think it’s what a lot of other veggie dumplings lack. Come on dumplings! Represent for the veggies please!

Mix in the grated ginger and garlic and a drizzle of soy and sesame. Then set the filling aside.

The dough should have rested for enough time by now. Flour your work surface, and plop the dough down.

Using a rolling pin or a wine bottle, roll the dough out into a thin sheet. Aim for about 1/8 of an inch, but take extra care to make sure the sheet is evenly rolled.

Cut the dough into circles that are approximately 3 inches in diameter. I’m pretty bad at measuring distances and such so maybe those aren’t exactly three inches? You should get twelve out of the dough you have.

Lay the circles of dough on a baking sheet and cover those you’re not working with with a moist cloth.

Place a spoonful of filling in the middle of the dough circle.

Then fold the dough over the filling to make a little pocket pie shape. If you used store bought wrappers you’ll have to swipe a bit of water onto the dough where you want the dumpling to seal or it won’t stick together.

Fold the edge with your fingers to create four crimps along the top of the dumpling.

Repeat the filling and crimping process until all the dumplings are made.

In a large nonstick pan, heat canola oil over medium heat. Carefully place six dumplings in the pan and let them cook until the bottoms are golden brown.

Pour in two tablespoons of water and cover with a lid for two minutes. This creates steam that will cook the rest of the dumpling dough.

Repeat with the other six dumplings.

While the dumplings cook, make the dipping sauce. This is the easiest sauce in the whole world, but it is so so tasty. I always double dip my dumplings so the inside fills up with saucy goodness.

Simply combine equal parts of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Drop in a few scallions to look impressive.

Serve dumplings immediately. Enjoy!

 

Vegetable Dumplings

Serves: 2

Level: Medium

Ingredients

For the dough:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup boiling water

For the filling:

2 small carrots, grated

4 leaves napa cabbage, chopped

1 small red onion, diced

1 zucchini, finely diced

1 T salt

2 tablespoons grated ginger

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 T soy sauce

1/2 T sesame oil

2 T canola oil

4 T water

For the sauce:

2 T soy sauce

2 T rice wine vinegar

Scallions (optional)

 

In a large bowl, slowly combine water and flour until large chunks form. Roll into a ball with your hands. Let rest for 30 minutes covered with a moist towel.

Sprinkle the salt onto the zucchini and let rest for 20 minutes. Drain well.

Combine zucchini, cabbage, onion, carrot, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a large bowl. Set aside.

On a floured work surface, roll out the dough until it is evenly 1/8 of an inch in thickness. Cut into 12 circles. Place a spoonful of filling in each circle and fold to close. Fold four creases into the edge of each dumpling to seal.

In a large nonstick pan, heat canola oil over medium heat. Add six dumplings and let cook until bottoms are golden brown. Add 2 tablespoons of water and cover. Let steam for two minutes then remove dumplings from the pan. Repeat with the other six dumplings.

Combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, and scallions to make the dipping sauce.

Serve dumplings with sauce and eat immediately! YAY!