A recipe to celebrate my news...

[gruntygiggles]

So, fancied something healthy and tasty for dinner and Nic and Stretchie just ate their own bodyweights in Gyozas and Thai chicken broth. I did too, but I made it so I'm allowed...lol.

Anyway, Dan said they were my best dumplings and broth yet. I changed the way I use lemongrass in both and it really made a difference. Anyway, here ya go...

Gyoza - Pork dumplings

500g Pork Mince
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped
3 large cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1.5 inches of lemongrass root, finely chopped (remove all outer leaves and cut off tough root end).
2 spring onions, finely sliced
a large handful Coriander leaves, roughly chopped
zest of 1 lime and juice of 1/4 lime
1 birdseye chilli, finely chopped (leave the seeds in, they taste good)
2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1/2 tbsp light Soy Sauce
1 pack of 50 fresh wonton wrappers (you can get these in any asian supermarket or buy them online. If you can only get them forzen, defrost them thoroughly at room temperature and keep the air away from them.
A small bowl of water
A little oil
1tsp Xiaoxing wine
You don't need to put any seasoning in this as it's all there in the ingredients.

Put all of the above ingredients in a bowl and work together well with your hand to break down the mince into more of a paste. No need to overdo it, just enough that it's all combined and no longer looks like it's just come out of the mincer.
Now, take a wonton wrapper and lay it flat in the palm of your hand. Using a finger from the free hand, rub a little water around the edge of half of the wonton. Place a small teaspoon of filling in the centre, fold to make the edges meet, making sure to keep the air out and then crimp the edge from one side to another to seal well. The water will work with the little flour on the wonton and so you don't need to press hard. You need to be as delicate as you can and before long, you'll be like a dumpling making machine!

When done, pop on a large plate and cover with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper.

Pop a large frying pan on the hob over a medium heat and pour in a teaspoon of groundnut or veg oil. When hot, place the wontons in on their sides, cover and cook for 1 minute. Remove the lid, pour in a couple of tablespoons of water from the kettle, give it a little shake and put the lid back on for another minute. Repeat this process a further two times. Remove one of the wontons and check that the filling is cooked through. It should be done after this process, but check it and give it longer if it needs it. They will stic to the bottom of the pan, so don't let it dry out completely before removing. Just use a rubber or wooden spatula to loosen them off the bottom and serve on a large warm plate with a sweet chilli dip and a dip of dark soy and a little toasted sesame oil. I had to keep the first batch warm in a super low oven as I did 50, so had to do them in two batches.

Thai Chicken Broth

I think I've put this on here before, but if I did, it is my old recipe anyway, so here ya go. This is a quick and easy version as well.

2 skinless Chicken Breasts, sliced into bitesized pieces
1 Carrot, cut into 1 inch pieces, peeled and finely sliced into matchsticks (julienne)
1 inch piece of fresh root Ginger, finely sliced into matchsticks (julienne)
1 large clove of Garlic, finely sliced
1 inch piece of lemongrass root, finely sliced (remove root end and all tough outer leaves)
2 pints chicken stock
2 tsp Nam Pla (fish sauce)
Juice of 1/4 lemon (bottled is fine and use 1tbsp of it)
1 tsp sugar (caster or granulated, white or natural cane, but not brown)
1 Pak Choi
1 Birdseye chilli, finely chopped, seeds left in
3 Star Anise (can be bought in any supermarket but much cheaper if you have an asian store anywhere near you).


Prepare your ingredients, pour the stock into a large saucepan and bring to a slow simmer. Add the chicken, ginger, garlic, carrots, lemongrass and chilli and allow to simmer slowly for 10 minutes.

Now add the nam pla, lemon juice, sugar and noodles and allow to simmer while you wash and slice the leaves of the Pak Choi. I no longer use the white stalks in this as I prefer it without...I use them in a stir fry the following day. So, add the sliced leaves leaves, stir through and serve immediately.



This went down an absolute treat tonight and best thing.......only a couple of teaspoons of groundnut oil used and so extremely healthy and very very good for you.

If I've forgotten anything, I'll add it in a bit.

Can I just say....THIS WAS AMAZING! I could eat it again and will have some more soup for lunch. Yummy!

Cheryl, I WUB YOU!

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by Milky Bar Kid

Can I just say....THIS WAS AMAZING! I could eat it again and will have some more soup for lunch. Yummy!

Cheryl, I WUB YOU!

Wub you too chickieboo x

[gruntygiggles]

Just thought, if you add 1/4 lime juice and another tsp soy sauce, you can just steam the wontons in a bamboo steamer and they'll have a nice little sauce inside when you bite into them. Just remeber to oil the steamer well.

[Stingo]

Looks yummy GG but could you please clarify for me...

When you say 'prepare your ingredients' in the pork recipe - do you mean 'mix all the above together'?

[CheGuevara]

Mrs G loves gyoza, so I will forward this to her and she will be happy.

Thank-you

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by Stingo

Looks yummy GG but could you please clarify for me...

When you say 'prepare your ingredients' in the pork recipe - do you mean 'mix all the above together'?

Yeah, just meant, get them all chopped, sliced, cut etc before you put them all together to mix. That's what happens when I try and type out something quickly....lol. I'll just remove the above sentence to make it more clear!

Thank you x

[Stingo]

You beauty!! I'll be on the case in due course...

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by Stingo

You beauty!! I'll be on the case in due course...

The soup recipe works really well with beef as well. All you have to do is leave out the lemongrass, use beef stock instead of chicken stock and add 2 tbsp Hoisin Sauce. Use beef fillet, cut into strips and straight to wok udon noodles. Share the noodles and raw beef strips between serving bowls and when the broth is ready, bring to a rapid boil and pour immediately over the noodles and beef. Stir well and serve immediately. The noodles are already cooked and the boiling broth will heat them through thoroughly and the beef will be supr tender. If you don't like having any pink in your beef, just add it to the broth a minute before you serve while you bring it to the boil.

[gruntygiggles]

DOH......Forgot to mention to put a tbsp xiaoxing wine, to the pork mince mix......can't believe I forgot this, it's what makes the difference between it being good and great!