#280: Make yum cha

There are about a million different yum cha dishes. The easiest to make (while still looking awesome) is dumplings.

Here’s the recipe I utterly mangled:

500g minced chicken (or half chicken half pork)

6 canned water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped (get sliced ones)

1 small carrot, finely chopped

1 tsp ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 spring onions, finely chopped

1 tsp each Asian sesame oil, rice wine, and soy sauce

2 tsp sugar

2 tablespoons cornflour

30 wonton wrappers (which are in the ham and cheese aisle at Woolies)

500mL peanut oil

1. Mix together everything but the wonton wrappers and oil.

2. Lay out the wonton wrappers on a clean bench, covering those you’re not using with a clean wet teatowel.

3. Put a teaspoon or so of mixture in the middle of each wonton wrapper, then wet the outside edge and push it together at the top.

4. Steam some (in a steamer lined with greaseproof paper) for twelve minutes. Fry others in oil for about two minutes each (you can tell the oil is at the right temperature when a cube of bread dropped into it immediately sizzled and turns golden). NB: Do not leave boiling oil unattended. It spontanously combusts. NB#2 If your oil suddenly bursts into flame, move it off the heat and put the lid on. You are now a real cook.

5. Eat with soy sauce.

Coming soon: The epic international feast, featuring yum cha dumplings, sushi, and so much more. Getting the mashed potato a day early was the catalyst for something deeply strange but ultimately beautiful (and, my peeps, photogenic).