Vegan Jiaozi for Year of the Horse

 

 What the horse dragged in

As per food tradition, I had to join the jiaozi-making fun for Chinese Lunar New Year last week. The jiaozi 餃子(dumplings) are shaped to look like ancient gold ingots- hence plenty of jiaozi equates to plenty of wealth to the family- so you can imagine the painstaking craftmanship that went into shaping the jiaozi from everyone involved! My apologies, I've been pretty busy to post (ahem, show them off) until now.

Instead of the usual meat version of pork and chives combination, I conjured up a vegan version that is just as hearty, flavorful, satisfying, and if I may be so bold to boast- more unique, more fragrant, and healthier.

Inspired by one of my favorite dish, baba ganoush, I used smoked eggplants, sweet and crispy jicama, delicate leeks, crunchy cloud's ears, and flavored them all with a tangy and spicy Sichuan sauce.

The Sichuan chili vinegar sauce is staple item I prepare in big batches to conveniently use in stir-fries, as a dipping sauce, a marinade, etc. at any time.

A separate post on it will be forthcoming soon I hope, but in the meantime, here is the low-down. The base is chili oil made from anise, cumin, shallots, spring onions, garlic, a variety of chilis, including of course-- Szechuan peppercorns. It's a thing of beauty to behold!

To make the penultimate chili vinegar sauce, take this chili oil and add sweet black vinegar, lightly browned garlic, soy sauce, mirin, toasted sesame seeds, and a generous helping of chopped scallions and cilantro.

This sauce with the smoky eggplant! Just use your power of sensory....mmmm!

Ingredients

• 1 pack of potsticker wrappers-- either square or round shaped is fine (I used squares)
• 1 large or 2 medium(ish) long Japanese eggplants-- yields approximately 3 cups after they're smoked and roughly chopped or mashed
• 2 cups jicama-- peeled, washed, diced small
• 3/4 cup dried wood's ear or cloud's ear fungus-- soak in hot tap water for 10 minutes to re-hydrate, then wash thoroughly so water runs clear, strain, then roughly chop
• 1 (packed) cup of leeks-- roughly chopped small
• 1/2 cup Sichuan chili vinegar sauce
• Water for sealing potstickers
• 1-2 tray (that can fit in the freezer) to hold all the wrapped potstickers
• Aluminum foil
• Flour to flour the aluminum foil

Instructions

1. Fire up a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add a 1/2 tablespoon olive oil or chili oil for an extra kick.

3. Briefly stir-fry the leeks for 1 minute. Then add the ear fungus, saute another minute. Finally add the jicama, stir-fry a couple more minutes then turn off the heat.

4. In big bowl, add the eggplants, contents of the wok, and the Sichuan chili vinegar sauce and gently mix everything together.


Prepare your station for wrapping:
5. For each tray, cover with a piece of aluminum foil. Dust the sheet with flour, so the potstickers won't stick to the sheet.

6. Have clean dry paper towels ready and besides you-- your hands must be dry!

7. Ready your bowl of water for sealing.

Wrapping the potstickers:
8. Place a wrapper in the palm of your clean dry hand. (Left if you're a righty, right if you're a lefty.)

9. Scoop about a tablespoon of filling onto the center of wrapper.

10. Using the back of the scooping spoon, dip it in the water and moisten the circumference or perimeter, depending which shape you use, of the wrapper.


11. Dry your finger, hands, any part that's damp!


12. Fold the edge of the wrapper over to the opposite edge and firmly press to seal the center 60% portion, leaving the left and right flanks to shape into a ingot shape (view picture.)


13. Follow pictures below:

A. Push in the side

B.

C. Pinched in the 2 flaps

D. Top view of the jiaozi with both ends pinched in

E.  Ingot-looking jiaozi

14. Dry fingers if needed. Place the potsticker on the floured aluminum foil. Proceed to wrapping the rest, placing each jiaozi without touching each other, else they will stick and rip apart when you try to separate them!

To store for future:

15a. When a tray is filled, put it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.

16a. Remove the tray--timing is staggered for each tray-- and gently store all the semi-frozen firm jiaozi in a big zip-lock bag. Put it back in the freezer for future enjoyment.

To enjoy immediately:

15b. Bring a pot of water to a boil. When the water has boiled, drop in as many jiaozi as would fit the pot without overcrowding and killing the boil.

16b. When all the jiaozi have risen to the top and the water is boiling again, use a slotted spoon to scoop out the jiaozi. Eat now: as is, with the Sichuan chili vinegar sauce, with hoisin Sriracha hot sauce,...


Repeat steps 15b-16b to make more.

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