I am exhausted, but it’s a happy kind of tired.
The kind of satisfied tired that you get from laughing a lot and putting some heart into a project that turned out better than you thought it would.
I’m talking about today’s adventure which was the successful launch of the First Annual Dumpling Making Party!
So as a child, my mom used to gather up her friends and family around new years and we’d make dozens upon dozens of mandoo. We’d make them, cook them, bag them, and pack them up to give to friends and other loved ones. It was tradition we did nearly every year and it was always one where I felt very close to my mother by listening to her chat with her friends as I helped out in whatever way I could.
I was not talented at folding the dumplings so I was usually put to the task of chopping vegetables or cleaning up, preparing and serving fruit, or fetching drinks.
It’s been nearly two decades since I made dumplings with my mom, nearly 19 years since she passed away. But now that I’m a mom, I’m eager to start traditions that Amelia will hopefully recall fondly when she’s older and I’m eager to have her make a mess with me in the kitchen when she’s able.
She’s still not quite 2 yet so more trouble underfoot than helpful but I figure I have about 3 years as a window to perfect my dumpling making skills before she will have any solid memories of their fail-ness or awesomeness.
Last week I ordered a pasta machine. While wholly unnecessary in the bay area where there are dozens and dozens of Asian markets where you can buy dumpling wrappers, I still felt the urge to try out rolling some of my own.
Imperia 150
It wasn’t until the machine arrived that I recognized the box and was overwhelmed with a sense of nostalgia.
This was the same machine that my mother used to roll out her mandoo skins when we were younger! She would let me use the round top of her metal tea kettle to cut beautiful and perfectly round circles to make the mandoo skins.
Earlier in the week I did a trial run of making some mandoo skins and today’s attempt at making them turned out lovely. While labour intensive and time inefficient it was still fun to roll the crank out, and handle the dough.
Mandoo Skins Recipe
* 1 egg
* 1/3 cup water (Hot)
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon saltMix together, let rest for 25 minutes in plastic wrap and then portion out with extra flour and roll out. Depending on wrapper thickness, milage will vary on how many you get out from this recipe.
I wound up also buying 4 packages of pre-made skins because, well, frankly, to do them all by hand would have been a little dumb.
I also made up two sets of mandoo guts.
Recipe for Vegetarian Mandoo
1 1/2 Package of Firm Tofu
1 Cup fine chopped shiitake mushrooms finely chopped
1 1/2 Cup sauteed onions
3 teaspoons chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped, sauteed and squeezed out moisture cabbage
1/2 cup chopped, sauteed and squeezed out moisture carrots
1/2 cup hopped green onions
Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
2 Teaspoons Ginger powder2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
Salt
Pepper
Recipe for Meaty Mandoo
Package of Silken Tofu
1/2 Cup fine chopped shiitake mushrooms finely chopped
1 1/2 Cup sauteed onions
3 teaspoons chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped, sauteed and squeezed out moisture cabbage
1/2 cup chopped, sauteed and squeezed out moisture carrots
1/2 cup hopped green onions
2 Cups Ground Beef
2 Cups Ground Pork
1/2 Cup cellophane noodles cooked, drained, and chopped
Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
2 Teaspoons Ginger Powder
2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
Salt
Pepper
A dozen or so friends stopped by to make and eat the dumplings.
Dumpling making sweatshop.
Meaty Dumpling Assembled.
Veggie Dumplings assembled.
Jonathon’s very pretty Fish dumplings that were the prettiest dumplings to eat.
Ernie proving he’s not a bad Chinese person because hey, he can cook dumplings!
Some final product before they were devoured.
Frankly most of them were ugly but they were all delicious! The meaty mandoo came out tasting a lot like how I remembered my Mom’s tasted. And most importantly it was fun and combined three of my new years resolutions into one project. To be social more with my friends, to cook more, and to be a good mom. Oh! And I’m blogging this. I guess that makes four then.
I am so full now. But full of more than dumplings. I’m full of happy.
