To celebrate the launch of our Chopsticks, Ethaney Lee (@tenderherbs) developed this show-stopping yet easy dumpling recipe, served on a bed of micro greens with mom's "Everything Sauce." To make this vegan, simply swap the meat with ground tofu. 

To Grab

For the dough:

• 250g AP Flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp - 1 1/2 tsp beetroot powder
• 3/4 cup hot water

For the filling:

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1/4 lb ground beef
• 1 white onion diced
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• 2/3 cup coarsely chopped shiitake mushrooms
• 2 scallions (green and white parts finely chopped)
• 2 cups of cavolo nero, roughly chopped
• 2 tbs of minced ginger
• 3/4 tsp white pepper
• 1 1/4 tsp of salt

To Do

For the dough:

1. In a large bowl, whisk the flour and salt together until well combined. Add 3/4 cup of hot water and mix until it forms a shaggy dough. Add a little bit of hot water as needed. Once a cohesive dough is formed, knead for a few minutes and shape into a flat disc. Split the dough into three equal sections. Set one of the doughs aside and cover with saran wrap.
2. Take another dough section and knead in 1/2 tsp of beetroot powder (you can also use butterfly pea powder or turmeric!). Slap the dough onto your countertop and with your other hand, knead the dough away from you and then toward you. Slap and knead until the dough is tacky and smooth. It should not stick to your fingers! Set aside and cover with saran wrap.
3. Take the last dough section and knead in 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of beetroot powder (or turmeric or butterfly pea powder) so it's a darker shade. Repeat the 'french-slap' method until the dough is well kneaded and smooth. Wrap in saran wrap and set aside.
4. Take the first dough ball (white dough) and knead until smooth like the previous doughs.
5. Let all three dough balls rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

For the filling:

1. In a large food processor, add the beef and pork and mix until it becomes almost paste like. Add the meat mixture to a large bowl.
2. In the same food processor, add the mushrooms, onion, garlic, cavolo nero, minced ginger, salt and white pepper and mix until everything is well combined and finely chopped. Add to the beef and pork mixture and mix together very well so everything is combined. Refrigerate until needed.

For the dumplings:

1. Using both hands, roll out each dough ball into a long thin strand.
2. Take the three strands of dough and braid together. Once braided, roll with both hands to smush the strands together. Take a knife and slice the strand into slices.
3. Take each slice and place them in a random pattern shaped in a rough square on a lightly floured counter. Take a rolling pin and roll out the dough square until 1/3 inch thick. Lightly flour the dough to keep the rolling pin from sticking.
4. After the dough is rolled out, take a 3 inch round cookie cutter and cut out dumpling skins.
5. Fill each dumpling skin with 1 tsp of the dumpling filling. Lightly wet one edge of the dumpling skin to make sure the pleats stick together. Repeat until all the dumpling skins are filled.
6. Boil for 4 minutes or until the dumplings float to the top or steam for 8 minutes.

Serve with my mom's 'Everything Sauce' - 1 tsp of soy sauce, 1/2 tsp rice vinegar, a dash of sesame oil, 1 tsp of chili oil and sesame seeds.

Recipe and food styling by Ethaney Lee - a  Recipe Developer and Content Creator based in San Jose, California.

Keen to get cooking?