Chicken & Mushroom Dumplings with Sesame Ginger Sauce

Happy New Year! Hoping it's a blessed one for you all.

This time of year, a lot of us are preparing for the biggest snacking day of the entire year; Superbowl Sunday! Well boy do I have a superb recipe for you just in time for game day.

The thought of making your own dumplings might seem daunting, but I promise this recipe is pretty easy to follow and the results are so worth the little effort. We will be using store bought dumpling wrappers to cut out some of the work and focusing our attention to developing a big, bold, juicy flavored filling.

Let's get started.

For this recipe you'll need:

1 12oz pack pre-made dumpling wrappers about 30 wrappers - (find them at your local Asian Supermarket or the cold International section of your local grocery store.)

1 lb ground chicken

1/3 cup shiitake mushrooms finely minced

2 tsp corn starch

1/4 cup finely chopped scallions

1 tbsp TQM Szechuan Delight Spice

or

1 tsp finely minced ginger

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp finely minced garlic

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

And

3 tbsp vegetable oil for searing

2 tbsp water for sealing dumpling

1/4 cup water for steaming

Method:

Place the chicken, mushrooms, corn starch, TQM Szechuan Delight Spice and green onions in a medium bowl and combine thoroughly.

Substitute our Szechuan Delight Spice with the listed amounts of ginger, garlic, salt, pepper flakes, soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar.

Place one dumpling wrapper on a flat surface, keeping the remaining wrappers covered to prevent them from drying out.

Place 2 teaspoons of the mixture into the center of the wrapper. then rush the edges of the wrapper with water.

Fold the wrapper over in a half moon shape. To make pleats, pinch the sealed edges in about half inch increments. You can also score with a small spoon to create a rippled pattern.

Repeat this process until filling is used up.

Heat 1.5 tablespoon of the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Place 10 dumplings in the oil with the flat side down. Cook for 3 minutes or until bottoms are browned.

Add 1/4 cup of water to the pan then immediately cover the pan and reduce heat to medium low to steam the dumplings.

Steam for 5-7 minutes or until all of the water evaporates. Repeat this process until all the dumplings are cooked.

Serve while hot with Tasting Queens Market's Sesame Ginger Dressing.