Yesterday for our Vegan Cooking activity we made delicious Chinese Dumplings!

One of our teachers, Serena, has made them a few times and kindly shared the recipe with us and led the afternoon session!

Luckily I didn’t miss out though as I got to make them (and eat them!) with our morning group 🙂

They are really quick and simple to make; if you’d like to try them at home here’s how…

Ingredients

• 1 packet vegan wonton wrappers
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 thinly slice leeks
• 1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
• 1 cup diced mushrooms
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1 cup hard tofu, cut into small dice
• 4 cups chopped baby bok choy, Chinese cabbage or spinach
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce, plus extra for tasting
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in the wok over high heat. (Alternatively, you can make this in a large saute pan.)
2. Add the leeks ,garlic and ginge. Stir fry (use a spatula to stir, scoop and flip the ingredients) for about 20 seconds. Do so quickly to keep the garlic from burning.
3. Add the mushrooms and stir fry again continuously to keep the ingredients from burning, but also to help everything release their moisture. Do this for 10-15 seconds.
4. Add the greens, carrots and tofu .
5. Add the water and soy sauce. Stir fry for about 2 minutes, or until the greens have cooked down and the tofu has heated through.
6. Drizzle with sesame oil. Stir to combine. Turn off the heat.
7. Taste the vegetables. If it feels like you need to adjust for seasoning, you can add a splash of soy sauce or you can add a pinch of salt to taste. Because soy sauces differ in saltiness, you may have to adjust as needed.
8. Set aside to cool to room temperature before using in potstickers. As a filling, it will be too “saucy” so you will have to strain it.
9. Once cool, assemble your potstickers. Place a small teaspoon of the filling in the centre of a wonton wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrapper with water. Fold the wrapper over the filling and pinch the edges together to seal. Place them upright on a plate, being careful not to let them touch or else they will stick together.
10. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat in a large pan. Add the potstickers and fry until browned on the bottom – 1 to 2 minutes. You may need to work in two batches if not all your potstickers fit in the pan. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover the pan and reduce heat to medium. Allow to steam until the tops are tender and the water has evaporated – about 2 to 3 minutes. Uncover the pan and flip the potstickers onto their sides to brown on each side (optional). Remove to a serving dish.
11. Serve with soy sauce.

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