Delicious Chinese New Year’s Dumplings

Gong hei fat choy! Happy Chinese New Year, because the main highlight is food. Each item has special symbolism—for example, mandarins symbolize abundant happiness, deep-fried sesame balls mean good luck for the whole family, and dumplings are number one, because they symbolize wealth. Why? Because they look like ancient Chinese money.

We wish you a very happy and wealthy 2020, Year of the Rat! 

Dumplings:

• ½ pound of ground pork
• ½ pound of small shrimp, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• ¼ cup of water chestnuts, minced
• 2 scallions, minced
• Ginger root, about 2 cm grated
• 2 tablespoons of fresh coriander leaves, minced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons of tamari sauce (or soy sauce)
• 1 pinch of Cayenne pepper
• 40 dumpling wrappers (you can find them in the frozen section of any grocery store)

1. Mix all of the ingredients (except the dumpling wrappers) into a paste.

2. Moisten the sides of a wonton wrapper with water and put a teaspoon of filling in the centre.

3. Wrap by bringing the corners together in the centre—like a little parcel.

4. Steam the dumplings in a bamboo steamer lined with a lettuce leaves (to avoid sticking), for about 12 minutes.

(Makes 40 dumplings)

Serve with sesame soy sauce.

Sesame Soy Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons of tamari (or soy sauce), mixed with 1 teaspoon of grilled sesame oil. You can add some grated ginger, if you like, and top with sesame seeds, if you have any.   

IMAGE SOURCE: COURTESY OF NATALIE RICHARD