Viet World Kitchen

No-Fuss Dumpling Folding Video

In July I traveled back East to do a consulting job, stopping enroute in New York City to see my friends at Saveur. (I've been a contributing editor at the magazine since 2007.) We'd been talking about making a video of me giving a cooking tip or two and settled on one about folding dumplings.

If you have Asian Dumplings, you know my motto about shaping dumplings. If you don't have the book, it's this: Get the wrapper closed. Practice pretty shapes later.  

Senior video producer Anique Halliday is a veteran of doing wonderful, fun educational videos; she worked on PBS projects before coming to Saveur. We huddled over the phone in June and then in July, spent a couple of hours at the Saveur test kitchen to produce this:

 

Saveur's "Test Kitchen Tips" videos have run the gamut from the viral one on how to peel garlic in less than 10 seconds to the practical one on dipping truffles in chocolate. Asian food-wise, editor in chief James Oseland has shown folks how to tie a knot with lemongrass and how to use and chop kaffir lime leaves into fine hairs. (James wrote the amazing Cradle of Flavor cookbook, which I reference and use all the time.) 

All of the "Ask the Test Kitchen" videos have been done with the Saveur staff and I was the first guest in their series. Anique said I was "a natural" and welcomed me back anytime. Let's just say that it helps to have a professional like her tell me what to do, and two terrific, seasoned cameramen to boot. 

If you're looking for more Asian dumpling tips, jump over to these links my other site devoted to dumplings for these videos:

• How to roll out Asian dumpling wrappers
• Basic Asian dumpling shapes: Half Moon, Pea Pod and Big Hug
• Advanced dumpling shapes: Pleated Crescent
• How to shape a rope edge (for empanadas, turnovers, curry puffs)
• How to fold basic wonton shapes
• How to Fold a Closed Satchel 
• How to Make Shanghai Spring Roll Wrappers 

There are more tips listed on this page at ADT. 

If there are cooking tips that you need want via video or text and photos, let me know below. I may not be able to get to them all soon but will put them on a to-do list. 

I'm hitting the road for the Pacific Northwest book tour tomorrow. My posts may be erratic for the next 3 weeks. But then, I'll be back. ;-)

How to Make Asian Dumplings without Eggs or Pork

I haven’t had the chance to make a new dumpling to share with you, but I have been fielding email queries from cooks interested in making Asian dumplings. Over the weekend, I received a question that you may either ponder about or have solutions to. This came from Meghan in Indiana:

I was wondering if it is possible to make dumplings, or pot stickers, without egg yolks? I am allergic to egg yolks...and pork actually. That's not a big deal though because I could always add beef or chicken, etc.. but I do need to know about the egg. I'm not allergic to egg whites and it does actually work in most recipes that I've tried. I would really appreciate it if you could let me know. Thanks!

Eggs and pork play marvelous roles in Asian cooking but can you do without them in dumplings? Yes, indeed!

After I wrote back to Meghan, I figured that I’d organize and expand my tips to her in a post. If you have the same allergy or want to avoid eggs for some reasons, these suggestions may help your adventures in dumpling making: (page number references are for the Asian Dumplings cookbook)

The general lowdown & DIY dumpling wrappers
Most Asian dumpling wrappers don’t contain egg. I’ve seen recipes online and elsewhere that incorporate egg into the dough and that’s not necessary for all dumplings, especially popular pot stickers. Just check packaged wrappers sold at a market and read the ingredient label.

Why Muslin is the Better Cheesecloth

I stopped using cheesecloth for cooking purposes about 2 years ago. It was expensive to purchase at markets and cookware shops. It got caught in my scissors at the most inconvenient times. It had to be discarded after each use. I got fed up and instead, turned to unbleached muslin. I have never looked back. Here are 5 reasons for using muslin in the kitchen:

1. Affordable – You can buy it by the yard at a fabric store for as little as $4 per yard.

2. Easy – Just tear it along the grain into the size you need. (I aim for 24 by 24-inch pieces but also have smaller odd-size pieces.) Snip an inch then pull the fabric apart with your hands. It should tear along its natural weave. No tricky sewing skills needed to neaten things up. The torn edges fray in the wash to develop a handsome appearance. Check out my stack above.

Cooking Light’s 7 Top Asian Cookbooks: Mine are included!

It’s been kind of an amazing year full of fantastic developments in my food writing career. Along with the Asian Tofu book release, both of my earlier works were selected by Cooking Light for their Top 100 Cookbooks of the Last 25 Years awards. (The awards are in celebration of the magazine’s 25th anniversary.) Each month, the editors thematically reveal their picks.

The March issue has the fourth installment of the series, and the editors chose seven works for the Asian cookbook category. I was blown away to see the above photo with Asian Dumplings and Into the Vietnamese Kitchen in the stack along with Grace Young’s Breath of a Wok, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s Hot Sour Salty Sweet, Madhur Jaffrey’s At Home with Madhur Jaffrey, Hiroko Shimbo’s The Japanese Kitchen, and Eileen Yin Fei Lo’s Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking. Not only do I respect these authors (I have used their works for years) but I am also lucky to count most of them as friends. Wow.

Bringing New Year Dumplings to Busy Families

This is Henry. He’s about 3 1/2 years old and experiencing his first Asian dumpling. Many of my friends started families not long ago and consequently, it’s been difficult for us to schedule normal adult activities. For this Year of the Dragon, I decided to bring the ‘adult’ activity of making and eating dumplings to a couple of friends and their kids.

I made a big batch of filling, some of which I used on Monday and Tuesday. There was plenty leftover by Wednesday, when we had a 5pm cocktail hour date with Diane and John (Henry’s parents). We typically bring over a bottle of wine along with nuts or cheese and bread to nibble on. This time, my husband and I walked in with: