Potato dumplings with XO trout

SERVES 6-8 // PREP TIME 30 MINS // COOK 1 HR 10 MINS (PLUS CURING)

“My parents weren’t adventurous cooks, so we always ate very traditional food growing up in Finland. We’d have fish – often herring, sardines, salmon, trout or pike – and the fish was always served with potatoes on the side. Potatoes are Finland’s idea of breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“The simple flavours of my childhood really influenced Cafe Paci’s potato dumplings with XO trout. When you get rid of the word ‘dumpling’ and ‘XO’, it’s really just potato and trout. And that’s what we’d have when

Dad got home from work at 5.30pm – perhaps baked, and again, always with boiled potatoes. My parents are salt-and-pepper people, and wouldn’t even know what XO sauce is. I remember the first time they heard about soy sauce and brought it into the house. They were dipping sausages into it like it was a mustard or tomato sauce, and then it sat in the fridge for 12 years! I still find it very comforting to eat super-simple, super-Finnish flavours. It tastes like home to me.

“When I was getting ready to open Cafe Paci, I thought XO sauce was too popular to put on the menu. But I ate dinner at Momofuku Seiobo, maybe a year ago, and chef Paul Carmichael had a dish that had an XO made from salt cod. It really opened my eyes to the fact you don’t always need to use prawns, scallops or expensive hams to make a delicious XO. From there, I knew I wanted to create an XO dish that was not too Asian or spicy a flavour; something that was very subtle and more about aromatics than heat. A nod to that traditional Finnish fish and potato combination that our family loves so much.

“In Finland, making dumplings is often about making use of leftovers. They’re made with everyday food like potatoes, or old bread soaked in milk. It’s nothing luxurious, but it’s super-tasty. And even more so when my mum strains off yesterday’s soup and uses that broth to poach the dumplings in. For my version, instead of relying on flour and egg like you would if you were making gnocchi, we use a lot more potato starch, which makes the dumplings much lighter and fluffier. You don’t have to go to the effort of making the dumplings if you don’t want to. You could just warm leftover boiled potatoes in the pan and use the XO as a dressing. But I like the idea of having at least six friends over, and getting everyone involved over a bottle or two of wine. When you make food together, you appreciate it so much more when you eat it.”

1 kg Dutch cream potatoes (about 5 potatoes; even in size), scrubbed

110 gm (3/4 cup) baker’s flour, plus extra for dusting

100 gm (2/3 cup) potato flour 1 egg yolk XO TROUT

400 gm piece skinless ocean trout, pin-boned, cut into 1cm dice

50 ml fish sauce (or to taste)

2 tsp sweet paprika

80 gm unsalted butter

80 ml (⅓ cup) vegetable oil

150 gm golden shallots (about 4 shallots), finely chopped

6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

3 long red chillies, seeds removed, finely chopped

150 ml Shaoxing wine

2 tsp brown sugar (or to taste)

2 tsp light soy sauce (or to taste) 1 tsp oyster sauce (or to taste)

1 For XO trout, place trout in a bowl, add fish sauce to taste, toss to coat and set aside to cure (30 minutes). Rinse trout and pat dry with paper towel. Heat a frying pan over low heat, add trout and cook, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon and pressing trout slightly, until trout breaks down into trout “floss” (30 minutes). Stir through paprika, then transfer to paper towel to drain.

2 Wipe pan clean, add butter, oil and trout to pan over medium heat and cook until butter starts to foam (4-5 minutes).

Add shallot, garlic and chillies, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring continuously, until trout is flaky and crisp (12-15 minutes). Add wine and cook until slightly reduced (10-12 minutes). Remove from heat, season with sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and black pepper to taste. XO trout will keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

3 Meanwhile, cook potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until tender when pierced with a knife (45 minutes). Drain and set aside. When cool enough to handle, peel and put through a mouli or potato ricer. Working very quickly, fold flours and 1 tsp salt flakes into potato, mixing quickly with a spatula to combine, then add egg yolk and mix quickly again.

4 Place dough on a lightly floured surface, roll into 1cm-thick logs, then cut into 1cm dumplings. Transfer dumplings to a tray dusted with extra flour and set aside. Dumplings will keep frozen for up to 1 month.

5 Cook dumplings, in batches, in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until they float (2 minutes).

6 Drain dumplings, then add to XO trout, toss to combine and serve.