Seafood and Chive Dumplings

Dumplings are perfect little packages of bite-sized food and totally easy to make. We decided to make a seafood version after being inspired by a new show called Easy Chinese (horrible name, but good recipes!) on the Cooking Channel. I liked how this dumpling did not use pork, which tends to be much fattier and instead utilizes fish as the primary protein.

Seafood and Chive Dumplings

From Easy Chinese, Cooking Channel

Ingredients

6 ounces fresh skinless striped bass or other firm white fish, finely chopped

6 ounces shelled and deveined shrimp, finely chopped

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon Shaoshing rice wine or dry sherry

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Pinch minced seeded red chile, optional

Pinch sea salt

Pinch ground white pepper

6 Chinese chives or flowering garlic chives or 3 scallions, finely sliced

4 dried Chinese (shiitake) mushrooms, soaked in hot water and finely diced

36 square wonton wrappers

2 large carrots, thinly sliced on a sharp bias

Directions

1. Mix the bass, shrimp, cornstarch, ginger, Shaoshing wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, red chile, salt, white pepper, chives and mushrooms in a medium bowl until well combined.

2. Place a teaspoonful of the seafood filling into the center of each. Rub the outer edges of the wrapper with water using your finger and then place the wonton into your hand. 

3. Fold the wrapper into a triangle, pressing the edges together to seal in the filling, and then create 6 to 8 pleats along the sealed edges using your thumb and index fingers, pinching well to adhere. Repeat with the remaining filling and wrappers. 

4. Lay the carrot slices in a bamboo steamer and place a dumpling on top of each.

5. Fill a wok or large skillet with 1 inch water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Place the lid on the bamboo steamer and lower it into the wok. Steam the dumplings until the fish is cooked through and the dumpling wrappers are translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.

Enjoy!