fine dining experience

Love dumplings

Me and Jools absolutely love making and eating this dish. The inspiration came from a Japanese gyoza recipe, but I’ve gone for more of a Vietnamese-style filling, which works so well. It’s light, full of flavour and a real pleasure. Pop them in the middle of the table, then get sharing and dipping – it’s about as romantic as it gets.

Ingredients

  • 200 g raw peeled prawns, from sustainable sources
  • 1 large shallot
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 4 spring onions
  • ½ a bunch of fresh coriander
  • 16 round dumpling wrappers
  • 100 g glass noodles
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted peanuts
  • 1 soft lettuce
  • a few sprigs of fresh basil
  • a few sprigs of fresh mint
  • Lingham’s chilli sauce
  • DIPPING SAUCE
  • 1 fresh red chilli
  • 1 lime
  • 4 tablespoons caster sugar
  • 4 tablespoons fish sauce

Directions

  1. Start by making the dipping sauce. Finely chop the chilli, then combine with the lime juice (about 2 tablespoons), sugar, fish sauce and 8 tablespoons of water.
  2. Pour half into a cute bowl for dunking, and save the rest to dress your lettuce, herb and noodle salad.
  3. Smash the prawns with the side of your knife, then finely chop them. Peel and very finely chop the shallot and garlic, then trim and finely slice the spring onions (keep the white and green parts separate). Pick and finely chop the coriander leaves.
  4. Pop the prawns, shallot, garlic, coriander and the whites of the spring onions in a bowl, generously season with black pepper and a pinch of sea salt, and give it a good mix.
  5. Lay out your wrappers and spoon a teaspoon of filling into the middle of each. Brush the edges of one wrapper with water, fold it in half, then pleat and pinch the edges together to secure. Repeat with the others.
  6. You can steam the dumplings for 5 minutes, then fry the base until crispy. But the method I use is how I’ve seen it done in Japan. Place an oiled pan over a medium heat, add the dumplings and a splash of water, and cover. They’ll steam for 2 to 3 minutes, then once the water has evaporated, take off the lid and fry for a further 2 minutes.
  7. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions. Toast the peanuts in a dry frying pan, then crush.
  8. Pick off and arrange the lettuce and herb leaves with the glass noodles on two plates, dress with the sauce and scatter the peanuts on top.
  9. Serve the dumplings sprinkled with the sliced green part of the spring onions, with bowls of dipping sauce and chilli sauce on the side.