Dumplings

Today was a karate day and I got home late and tired, so a fast, easy meal was in order. These are just frozen dumplings out of a packet. I have it on good authority that actually making dumplings is difficult and time-consuming, so meh. Unfortunately, a normal supermarket will typically not have much choice when it comes to dumplings and the ones they tend to have aren't that great but you can do better if you go to an Asian grocery store. These were just pork and chive ones from Woolies though.

I'm pretty sure the way I cook dumplings is not in keeping with tradition but whatever, it's fast and tasty. I basically fry them in some oil for a bit, then add water so they kind of steam to finish cooking - if you just fry them, I find the middle doesn't cook before the outside burns, especially if they were frozen. If you do it the way I do you can throw frozen ones straight in the frypan and they cook fine. The only trick is that you need to stir them constantly or they stick; I neglected this a bit this time and some of them broke open. :( You can also just boil or steam them but then you don't get tasty Maillard reactions on the outside.

I also cooked some rice and choy sum to go with them. I cooked the choy sum in kecap manis with some garlic and ginger and then poured the excess sauce over the rice. I added sweet chilli sauce to my dumplings but of course you could use soy or whatever you like.