Dim Sum swap party

This weekend I hosted three friends for a dim sum swap party. Each of us brought a different dim sum recipe, we helped each other fill and steam the dumplings, then ate a bunch, and swapped.

It was a great way to spend the day cooking with friends, and we each got to take home bags filled with dumplings to be frozen.

I took a first run at using Andrea Nguyen's basic dumpling dough, and used some tips from her website. I've been hesitant to use boiling water dough in the past (it's so hot!) but Andrea gives tips for making it in the food processor, which allows some of the heat to escape before you have to handle it.

The filling I chose is a recipe adapted from a high school friend Ali. Pork and leek are fairly common dumplings, I think. I swapped in a pound of turkey to try and make them a little healthier.

The party was a huge success - we had egg tarts, the pork dumplings, veggie dumplings and shrimp siu mai. I also made a quick version of the Momofuku steamed pork buns (which I've made before using David Chang's original recipe).

Thanks to a post by Cheryl Tan, a food writer/blogger and AAJA member whom I greatly admire, about making her mother's kong bak pau I learned about the existence of frozen steam buns sold at Asian grocery stores. I found them at Shuang Her on University Av. at $2.45 for a dozen.

Next month, we're hoping to tackle tapas and small plates for our group cooking. :)

dreaming? of my happily full freezer with bags of homemade dumplings

RECIPE: Pork dumpling filling (adapted from Ali & Matt)
2-3 lbs ground pork (I substituted 1 lb ground turkey in this recipe)
1 two-inch piece of ginger, minced (about 2-3 TBS)
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced (about 2-3 TBS)
2 small leeks (or 1 large one), minced
2 bunches green onions, the darkest green parts, chopped thinly
salt, pepper 1 tsp each
1 TBS sugar
3 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS sesame oil

Mix meats together with chopped ingredients. In a small bowl, combine the seasonings and liquid ingredients.

Pour seasoning over the meat and combine thoroughly. Allow to marinate at least 1 hour, then use to fill dumplings.

Steam or fry until cooked through.