After years of relying on Trader Joe’s to stock my favorite dumplings, I finally managed to make some of my very own!
My quest for vegan dumpling wrappers has been long and painful. At first, I just couldn’t find wrappers at all. I looked all over town! When I finally ran across some at Whole Foods, I was so excited that I foolishly didn’t read the ingredients. Eggs! Boo. That pack of wrappers got passed along to my friends Rob and Leuwam.
A couple of weeks ago, I was hitting up an opening at Young Blood Gallery and ran into Rob and Leuwam, who had magically scored some vegan dumpling wrappers at an Asian market and brought them for me! Woohoo!! Unfortunately, I had about two glasses of wine too many that night and left the wrappers in my purse overnight. They spoiled. Boo again!
FINALLY, Liz and I stopped into the Asian market right near the Dekalb Farmers Market, and behold! Dumpling wrappers! Frozen ones! And they were vegan! This time, I was careful to put them straight into the fridge to defrost, and yesterday I made my first dozen dumplings from scratch.
- Finely dice 1 8oz package of oyster mushrooms and a handful of rainbow swiss chard.
- Mince 2 cloves of garlic.
- In a large frying pan, heat 2t of sesame oil and toss everything in there. Sprinkle on about 1t dried ginger and saute until everything is nice and soft. Transfer the contents of your pan to a bowl.
- Get yourself a small bowl of water, and repeat the next steps until you run our of filling.
- Peel one wrapper off of the stack and spoon about 2t of filling on top.
- Moisten one or two fingers in your bowl of water and paint a little water in a semicircle around the edge of the wrapper on the side where you’ve got your filling. Less is more when it comes to the water. If you use too much, things will get gummy and sticky.
- Fold the wrapper over, and press the edges to seal them closed. If it feels like it’s not sticking, moisten your fingers just a little.
Once you’ve got all your dumplings finished up, you can either pan fry them in a little more sesame oil, steam them on the stovetop or in your rice cooker, or stick them in the freezer if you’re not planning to cook them up right away.
These are so good! The package came with 44 wrappers, and I only used 12, so the rest are sitting in the freezer. I can’t wait to try new combinations of flavors. I also wonder if I could use some to make ravioli from scratch…has anyone made ravioli out of wonton wrappers?
4 Responses to Swiss Chard and Oyster Mushroom Dumplings
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you can totally use dumpling wrappers for ravioli…I’ve seen Giada DeLaurentis do it on tv!!!
Ohman, it is so ON!! Maybe even tonite!
Those look so good! Fyi, the vegan dumpling/wonton wrappers can be found in the Dekalb Farmers Market next to the frozen peas and corn, behind the onions. It took me weeks to find them. Although I just make my own wrappers now.
How is the Asian market down the street? I’ve always wanted to stop in but haven’t yet.
Ooooh that is fantastic news! That market closes earlier than YDFM, so it’s nice to have an option!
The First Oriental Market is amazing. They have a great selection of fake meats in the freezer area at the front of the store and a small selection in the canned goods aisle, too! And it’s cram-packed with ingredients on the cheap that cost way more at the regular grocery.
There are also 2 areas of cooking stuff and dishes and a fantastical candy aisle!
Liz and I once were looking for veg. dumplings and they were out, so they sent someone to their warehouse to get more for us! It only took 20 or 30 min, so the warehouse must be nearby.