Easy Shrimp Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of raw shrimp (fresh or you can use defrosted frozen shrimp); chopped up

• 4 scallions; diced up

• 1 tbsp of soy sauce

• 1 tbsp of sesame oil

• 1 tbsp of Mirin

• 1 tsp of minced ginger

• 2 cups of shredded cabbage (Napa or Chinese cabbage both work)

• 1 package of won ton wrappers

In a large bowl, add your shredded cabbage and sprinkle with two large pinches of kosher salt. Toss the cabbage in the salt and let sit for about 10 minutes. The salt will pull all the water out of the cabbage. After 10 minutes, drain your cabbage and squeeze out the access water.

In mixing bowl combine, the diced shrimp, cabbage and scallions. Pour in the soy sauce, sesame oil and mirin. The filling should be fragrant and sticky.

Place about a teaspoon of filling in the middle of your circular wrapper, Wet your finger and run your finger along one half of the circle wrapper (in a semicircle) and fold the circle in half to seal the dumpling. From here, you can use a fork to press the edge of the sealed dumpling shut or you can fold in over itself a few time (like I did). Place the formed dumplings on a wax paper lined baking sheet and cover with a kitchen towel. You don’t want your dumpling to dry out. I highly recommend using a dumpling press like this.

Pan-fried: Heat some canola oil in a pan and place dumplings in the sizzling oil. Cover the pan with a lid (to stop oil splattering) and cook for about 10 minutes, flipping half way through.

Steamed: Place dumplings in a bamboo steamed over boiling water and steam for about 10 minutes. Alternatively, drop dumplings into boiling water and boil for about 5 minutes. remove from the boiling water with a slotted spoon. This is also what I would do if you wanted to use this dumplings as won tons in a soup. Steam them first, then add them to soup. If you steam them in the broth, it will make the broth starchy.

Serve dumplings with spicy soy sauce or sweet chili sauce for dipping. If you boil your dumplings, place them in a bowl and drizzle over soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds and chili flakes.

Freezing: If you plan to freeze these dumplings, place your baking sheet of dumplings directly in the freezer for about an hour. Pull them out and place in a plastic baggie. You want them to be frozen before you put them in the bag so they don’t stick together.