Lumplings

My interesting take on gyoza (Japanese dumplings), which I could eat all day until I'm fat.. or... fatter, I suppose. Anyway, I changed some of the traditional ingredients. I still use the requisite ground pork, but I switched the bok choy for red cabbage and added some traditional Thai flavors as well. The result is a deliciously different dumpling - and since mine often come out of the pan in one sticky lump that has to be plucked apart, and I make rather ugly pleats in them, I dubbed them 'lumplings' instead. The cabbage is prepared sweet and the pork savory; the two are then combined, wrapped, and pan fried to create a delicious harmony of Eastern flavors.

Usually dumplings are filled with raw filling, and then either steamed or fried long enough to cook the meat through. I find that using cooked filling instead of raw, while slightly messier when filling, reduces cooking time greatly and allows the first batches to stay hot while the last are cooking, enabling everyone to eat at once and letting me sit down through the meal.

The odd ingredients:
Dumpling wrappers are available in all Asian supermarkets and in many grocery stores, usually frozen; you can also make your own, but I find the process unnecessarily laborious and prefer the convenience of inexpensive frozen wrappers. Galangal is a root popular in Thai cooking, and is similar to ginger; ginger can be substituted if none is available, but the flavor and aroma are noticeably different. I use a jarred variety of galangal that keeps well in the fridge for a long time, since I use it infrequently. Shrimp paste is a hideous smelling pinkish-grey Thai paste made of shrimp and salt, and is available in jars in Asian supermarkets.

1 rounded tsp shrimp paste
1T sesame oil
2 cups diced red cabbage
1/2 cup water
1T packed brown sugar
2 cloves garlic
1 scant tsp galangal
1T mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine)
1T komezu (rice vinegar)
1/2 pound ground pork
1T shoyu (Japanese soy sauce), plus additional for dipping
1 package round dumpling wrappers

Wrap the lump of shrimp paste well in aluminum foil and cook in a heated skillet over medium heat for about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Add the sesame oil to the skillet and heat until just smoking; add cabbage and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Add water, sugar, garlic, galangal, and mirin to the skillet, stirring well to combine, and simmer cabbage until the liquid has evaporated. Transfer cabbage to a mixing bowl and add the pork, shoyu, and cooked (unwrapped) shrimp paste to the skillet. Fry over medium heat until well-cooked. Add pork mixture to the cabbage, mix thoroughly, and allow to cool to room temperature.

Get some water boiling, or have very hot tap water available. Now, get ready to fill the dumplings. Set out your dumpling wrappers, the filling, and a small bowl half full of lukewarm water. To make the dumplings, dip a finger in the water and wet the edge of one wrapper. Spoon a scant tablespoon of filling into the center, and fold roughly in half, making little pleats along the top edge. When you have 20 or so made, heat a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat and arrange as many dumplings as will fit, flat (unpleated) side down. Fry them until the bottoms are browned and crispy. Add boiling or very hot water to come about 1/3 of the way up the dumplings; cover immediately and steam about 3 minutes, or until dumplings become shiny and darker in color. Remove lid and continue steaming until water has evaporated; dump into a large covered serving dish and start cooking the next batch in the same way (more oil will have to be added with each batch). Serve hot with shoyu for dipping.