Green Baos and Eggs

Jiaozis (饺子) have never been one of my culinary strengths-which is weird, considering the fact that dumplings were the only thing my mom would let me help out with in the kitchen (besides peeling carrots and hard boiled eggs).
When I was really little, my mom would let me press down the dumpling skin dough before she rolled it out with a rolling pin. (she happens to be very proud of her dumpling skin rolling skills by the way, as is my grandmother)
When I got good at that, I was allowed to help fold the dumplings. Though despite years of experience, my dumplings still look hideous and are always easily recognizable when brought out to the dinner table ("oh, those two ugly ones are the ones Talia made, who will eat them...*pause*... why don't YOU eat them, Talia?")

About 4 years ago, when I was spending two months with my grandfather in Xinjiang, I attempted to make the dumpling skin from scratch for him and it ended up so hard that he promptly flattened them and cut them up into noodles instead.

Personally I'm not a big fan of dumplings on account of the carb factor and everything. Plus I feel kind of jinxed.

However, considering how everything's starting to get busy, I thought it would be a good idea to freeze some for a quick lunch or dinner.

I found a recipe for dumpling skin that replaced water with spinach juice instead, which I felt was healthier. I didn't have the ingredients my grandmother usually uses for her vegetarian filling (mushrooms, rice noodles, tofu etc) so I used eggs and tomato instead.

Amazingly enough, the dough turned out alright. As did the filling.
It was rolling out the dough to make the skins that was hard. I had trouble making them nice and round, and I suspect I made them too thin.

My boyfriend came in after I'd rolled out a couple and offered to help.

His method was to roll out the dough as use a cup as a cookie cutter-which helped with the shape but not with the thickness.

Eventually, I accepted the fact that we weren't going to be able to make actual jiaozis with the skin we'd made, so we decided they were going to become baozis (包子） instead (their skins are slightly thicker)

They ended up tasting alright, albeit deformed. We ended up with less than 20 baozis/jiaozis (because some of the skin became unusable) and finished them for dinner so I didn't have any to freeze after all.

If I ever try to make jiaozis again I will probably just buy the ready made skin. It saves alot of time even if I question the nutrition value ><

Anyway, I've tried to describe the recipe the best I can here, I expect a more expert dumpling skin maker would get better results than I did with this.

Steamed Tomato Egg Dumplings
Wrappers
300 grams fresh spinach, washed
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
¼ teaspoon salt
Filling
2 eggs
1 big tomato
1 piece spring onion, chopped finely
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon white pepper

To make spinach dumpling skins:
1.Juice spinach to make roughly 130 ml spinach juice.
2.In a bowl, combine flour and salt. Pour in spinach juice and mix with a spoon until a soft dough forms (it’s very sticky so don’t be tempted to use your hands just yet). Keep adding flour until the dough can be worked with your hands.
3.Turn out the dough on a floured surface and knead it into a smooth ball. Cover the dough with a wet towel and let it rest for 15-30 minutes.
4.Cut the dough snake into around 25 pieces using a knife. Flatten each ball of dough with your palm and cover each with enough flour to prevent sticking.
5.Roll each piece out into a circle about 3-inches in diameter using a rolling pin, making the edges thinner than the center.* Dust the dumpling skins with flour if you stack them or they will stick together.

To make the filling: Place tomato in boiled water for 20 seconds and peel off the skin. Chop tomato into small chunks, discard juice and set aside. Beat two eggs and ¼ teaspoon soy sauce in a bowl. Scramble eggs in a non stick pan. Combine eggs, tomatoes, spring onions, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper in a bowl.

To make the dumplings: Put about 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center of each skin, holding the skin in the palm of one hand. Wet the edges with water, then seal the edges with 2-3 pleats on each side and transfer to a lightly floured plate or tray.

To steam dumplings: Place as many dumplings as you can into a steamer, without touching each other. Cover and steam for 10 to 12 minutes over medium heat. Serve warm with your favorite dumpling dipping sauce.







For an American and a banana, we didn't do so bad. Really!