Prawn again dumplings
I think I’ve said before that you can’t trust someone who doesn’t like dumplings. I’m yet to meet anyone who doesn’t like a good dumpling. Most European or Asian countries have their own variation on the theme.
I’ve been making these dumplings for a while now. The recipe has been tested, developed and workshopped – more than most of the recipes I cook – and it is a recipe of which I am really proud. I was quite particular about how I wanted it to taste and how I wanted the texture.
The vision was to have a dumpling that had a subtly flavoured chicken filling studded with large pieces of sweet and crunchy prawn.
It’s not just the combination of flavours that I’m proud of here but also the development of the technique of making the dumpling filling. The main factor is how we work the minced chicken to develop a firm texture. The other element that contributes to this mouth feel is the size of the dice on the prawn meat. Too small and it gets broken down and indistinguishable. One of the best things about prawn meat is its texture, and I think that is really apparent in this dish.
There are traditional and regional versions of this dish. Prawn dumplings with garlic chives is an obvious one, and was a favourite of mine when I lived in China.
One of the influences of the balance of flavour in this dish is a need to accommodate the complex vinegar that we serve with it. The vinegar we use is a brown rice vinegar called Chinkiang. It has a lovely yellow label but more importantly it has a unique flavour and sweetness, which is great with dumplings. The famous xiaolongbao is served with this on the side, flavoured with shredded ginger.
Handmade and hand-rolled wonton skins are great, but I quite like store-bought skins for this recipe. When boiled and served immediately the flavour and
• texture of the wanton skin is almost superfluous.