Chicken Dumplings with Spicy Peanut Sauce
This is such a crazy but satisfying combination – fragrant, pot-sticker dumplings with lashings of hot and spicy peanut sauce.
Serves 10-12
ingredients
1 shallot, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 lemongrass stalk, outer leaves removed, sliced
1 thumb ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 red chilli, roughly chopped
¾ cup coriander leaves
500 grams skinless, boneless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat and roughly chopped
25–30 dumpling wrappers
Spicy Peanut Sauce
2 tablespoons neutral-flavoured oil
2 shallots, roughly chopped
2 red chillis, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 thumb ginger, peeled and chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, outer leaves removed, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
400ml coconut milk
250 grams roasted peanuts
To serve: 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives, to garnish
Method
Place shallot, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, chilli and coriander in a small food processor and whiz to combine. Add the chicken and pulse to form a chunky chicken paste. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to overnight.
Have a small bowl of cold water ready. Place a dumpling wrapper in the palm of one hand, dip a finger in the water and run it around the edge of the wrapper.
Place a heaped teaspoonful of filling in the centre of the wrapper then fold it gently into a half moon shape. Starting at the centre pinch the top together, then you can just squeeze the edges together to seal.
To cook, heat a teaspoon of oil in a non-stick frying pan and cook dumplings in batches of about 10 at a time, bottom-side down over a medium high heat for 2 minutes or until the bases are golden brown. Add ¼ cup of water and immediately cover
with a lid.
Cook for about 5 minutes more until the water has evaporated, then remove the lid and cook the dumplings for a minute more on one or both sides until golden. Serve immediately with the Satay Peanut Sauce and garnish with chives. Makes 25–30.
Spicy Peanut Sauce: Whiz the oil and shallots in a small food processor with the chillis, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, soy and fish sauce. Heat the paste in a pot and cook over a gentle medium heat, stirring for 8 minutes.
Add the coconut milk and stir to combine. Pulse the peanuts in the food processor until finely chopped and tip ¾ of them into the sauce. Cook, stirring, for a further 15 minutes.
Serve hot, or at room temperature, garnished with the remaining chopped peanuts. Makes about 2 cups.
