Crawfish Dumplings
- Level: Advanced
- Yield: 4 servings
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 4 servings
- Calories
- 1470
- Total Fat
- 97
- Saturated Fat
- 49
- Carbohydrates
- 108
- Dietary Fiber
- 7
- Sugar
- 38
- Protein
- 49
- Cholesterol
- 301
- Sodium
- 1414
- Total: 1 hr 45 min
- Active: 1 hr 35 min
Ingredients
Crawfish Filling:
2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon salt
Zest of 5 limes plus juice of 1 lime
2 bunches fresh Thai basil, chopped
1 pound cooked crawfish meat, chopped
Dumpling Skins:
2 cups high-gluten flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
Sweet Chile Sauce:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon sambal oelek
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon chile flakes
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Togarashi:
2 tablespoons red Sichuan peppercorns
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
3/4 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons dried orange peel
1 sheet nori (seaweed)
1/2 cup gochugaru
1 tablespoon garlic powder
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Directions
Special equipment:
a spice grinder; a deep-fry thermometer- For the crawfish filling: Lightly beat the cream cheese in a stand mixer, or by hand using a whisk, until the cream cheese is slightly whipped. Add the fish sauce, salt, lime zest, lime juice and basil. Beat on medium speed until everything is well combined. Add the crawfish to the cream cheese mixture and beat on low speed until thoroughly mixed. Place in the fridge until cool.
- For the dumpling skins: Place the flour in a mixing bowl. Whisk the salt into 1/2 cup plus 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl until completely dissolved. Pour the salt water into the mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until a coarse dough forms. Using your hands, continue to knead the dough until it is smooth, approximately 5 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and rest the dough for 30 minutes.
- Place the dough on a table that has been dusted with flour. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a sheet. Continue to roll the dough as evenly as possible into a thin sheet. Dust the top of the dough sheet with more flour. Cut 3 1/2-inch circles out of the dough sheet and set aside in a sealed and dusted container until ready to use.
- For the sweet chile sauce: Heat a saucepan on medium heat. Whisk in the brown sugar, vinegar, lime juice, granulated sugar, sambal, salt, soy sauce, chile flakes and 1/2 cup water. Continue to heat until the mixture comes to a light boil. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water. Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the sauce. Continue to cook, whisking, until the sauce thickens slightly. Cool completely.
- For the togarashi: Heat a saute pan on medium-high heat. Toast the Sichuan peppercorns, black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds and mustard seeds in a dry frying pan until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. (Make sure not to burn the spices.) Set aside to cool. Grind the toasted spices, orange peel and nori into a coarse powder. Whisk together in a bowl with the gochugaru and garlic. Set aside.
- For the crawfish dumplings: Place 1 tablespoon of filling on the center of a dumpling wrapper. Use your finger to slightly moisten the edge of the wrapper with water. Fold the wrapper in half, covering the filling, and squeeze the edges of the dumpling to seal the filling inside. Continue to fill and fold the rest of the dumplings.
- Heat the oil in a heavy-bottom pan over medium-high heat to 320 degrees F.
- Fry the dumplings in the hot oil in batches for 3 minutes. Remove from the oil and place in a mixing bowl. Toss the dumplings with the togarashi. Plate and serve with the sweet chile sauce on the side.
Cook’s Note
For the dumpling skins, work quickly to prevent the dough from drying out. If you need more time, you can cut the dough into smaller sections and keep the other pieces covered while working on one piece.