SAVOUR THE YEAR OF THE ROOSTER

By Jeremy Pang Want to have a go at making your own Chinese dim sum? Jeremy’s recipe includes a useful guide to making these wonderfully crispy shiitake and chive dumplings, with tips on how to perfectly wrap and shape them.

Most Chinese dumplings can either be deep-fried, panfried, steamed or blanched, though there is something incredibly moreish about deepfried ones with their crunchy exterior and hot, steamy filling. Much like fresh pasta, when made from scratch, dumplings should not be overcooked – whichever way you choose to cook them, the cooking process should not take any longer than five minutes.

The goal is to cook the pastry and filling through, while keeping that al dente bite. Served with noodles for a great alternative to a Sunday lunch.

FOR THE DUMPLING WRAPPERS

225g of plain flour 130ml of hot water, plus extra

if required vegetable oil, for frying

FOR THE FILLING

Makes 25 50g of rice noodles 1 handful of coriander 1 spring onion 2.5cm piece ginger 1 garlic clove 5 shiitake mushrooms,

soaked and drained 200g of chives, Chinese chives

preferably or garlic shoots By Paul Ainsworth Duck coated in a range of piquant flavours is served up with a cooling cucumber and asparagus salad.

FOR THE AROMATIC DUCK

1 duck crown, 900g 1 onion, peeled and quartered 2 red chillies, halved 85g of root ginger, peeled,

roughly chopped 1 garlic clove, halved 2 cinnamon sticks 3 star anise 1 large orange, halved 2 2/3 handfuls of coriander,

stalks only 250ml of port 4 tbsp of Hoi Sin sauce 2 tbsp of soy sauce 2 tbsp of clear honey 2l chicken stock 2 celery sticks, halved 1 pak choi, 5 leaves only 1 head of Chinese leaf, 1

leaf only

FOR THE MARINADE

1 tbs of light soy sauce ¼ tsp black pepper ¼ tsp granulated sugar 2 tsp sesame oil ½ tbs of cornflour

FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE

4 tbs of light soy sauce 4 tbs of black rice vinegar 2.5cm piece ginger, finely

sliced

PASTRY:

Sieve the flour into a bowl. Gradually add the water, mixing with a fork to form a dough, then knead it on a lightly dusted surface for five minutes until slightly elastic.

Roll out the pastry to a thickness of 1-2mm, then use a 70mm diameter circular cutter to cut out as many pastries as possible.

Set the pastries aside on a baking sheet or tray and cover with a tea towel until needed.

Put the noodles in a bowl, cover with hot water and soak for 3 minutes. Drain and dry the noodles on a kitchen towel, then finely chop them along with all the other filling ingredients.

Put the chopped filling ingredients into a bowl along with the marinade ingredients and mix together well.

Combine the dipping sauce ingredients

FILLING: MARINADE: DIPPING:

1 leek, halved 2 carrots, quartered

ASPARAGUS AND CUCUMBER SALAD

in a small bowl or ramekin and wrap the dumplings. Place one teaspoon of the filling in the centre of each circle of dough. Fold the bottom centre over the filling to form a semicircle and pinch the top tight.

Pinch the two corners of the semicircle together leaving two symmetrical Mickey Mouse ear shapes between your centre fold and the corner folds.

Now pinch the ears in towards you to make four layered folds.

Tidy up to create a halfmoon shape and arrange on a plate.

Half-fill a large pot, wok or deep-fryer with vegetable oil and heat to 180°C or until the tip of a wooden chopstick or skewer starts to fizz after a second or so in the oil.

Carefully add the dumplings in batches of no more than 10 and deep-fry for 3 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove the dumplings carefully with a slotted spoon and drain well on a plate covered with kitchen paper.

Serve immediately with the dipping sauce.

Recipe from Chinese Unchopped by Jeremy Pang (R376, Photography by Martin Poole 6 asparagus, stems removed,

halved lengthways 1 cucumber 3 spring onions, sliced lengthways 4 French breakfast radishes, sliced

lengthways 1 tsp chives, chopped 1 tbsp of chervil, chopped 1 dash of lemon juice salt ground black pepper olive oil

DUCK:

Place the onion, celery, leek, carrots, chillies, ginger and garlic into a large bowl. Rub the duck all over with a little salt and place on top of the vegetables.

Cover with cling film and leave to marinate for 15-30 minutes, or, for best results – leave overnight in the fridge. Preheat the oven to 230°C. Heat a large frying pan until hot and add the duck breast, skin-side down. Fry for 4 or 5 minutes, turning the breast frequently until browned all over.

Remove the duck from the pan and set aside to rest on a cooling rack. Remove some fat from the frying pan, leaving

t the table to carve. Best served with traditional Chinese pancakes or steamed rice. By Sally Abé Spring rolls are traditionally eaten during the spring festival in China, hence the name. Believed to bring wealth and prosperity in the new year (because the roll is the shape and colour of a gold bar) spring rolls are a tasty, easy snack to prepare for Chinese New Year or as part of a buffet at a party. Spring roll pastry can be a little tricky to get hold of, but Asian supermarkets will definitely sell it. Spring rolls spring roll sheets, 1 packet 1/2 Chinese cabbage, cut into

fine chiffonade 1 handful of bean sprouts 1/2 large carrot, cut into

matchsticks 50g of rice noodles, vermicelli,

broken into small pieces 2 garlic cloves, minced ginger, 2cm piece, minced 1 tbsp of coriander 1 tbsp of sesame oil 1 tbsp of rice wine, preferably

shaoxing 1 tbsp of soy sauce 3 tsp cornflour, mixed with 3

tablespoons of water 1 tbsp of sesame oil salt oil, for frying To begin, soak the noodles in warm water for 8–10 minutes.

Heat a wok over a high heat with the sesame oil and add the cabbage, carrots and bean sprouts and cook for a minute, stirring all the time.

Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a few more minutes, or until softened, then stir in the soy sauce, shaoxing wine, spring onions and coriander.

Transfer to a bowl to cool slightly and drain off any excess moisture.

To make the spring rolls, lay a layer of spring roll pastry on a clean work surface with a corner facing toward you

Place a tablespoon of the vegetable mixture on the corner of the pastry and begin to diagonally roll the pastry up tightly around the filling.

When you get to the middle of the pastry, fold in the corners from either side and brush a little of the cornflour mixture on to the remaining corner, finish rolling up and press together to seal.

Repeat with the rest of the mixture and pastry.

Fill a deep saucepan with oil and heat to 180°C.

Deep-fry the spring rolls in batches for 2–3 minutes, until golden brown and crispy.

Serve immediately.