Chinese dumplings

So Pretty

Ready for cooking! or freezing!

Love the colours!  So GREEN.
Green here is from spinach, could use green onions (very aromatic) garlic chives, celery! Anything green and fresh, just be mindful of the aroma it will impart.

Classic white dough.

Natural colouring: Beetroot

 

Amazing colour!

Straight in the freezer.  Before there's a chance of being gobbled up.
Ready for that inevitable late night at work.  Tired and hungry.  15 minutes in boiling water. Replenished!


So simple. Soooo good!

Crazy naturally coloured dough. Love it!

Beautiful and so much fun.

Classic meat filling.

 

Classic dumplings. These can be steamed, in a soup or fried/broiled, even deep fried to crispy deliciousness.

Two colours wontons!

Love the colours! Soooo pretty!

Ready for steaming.  Everyone's hungry!

Chubeza season Yay!! Lovely lovely greens!!

Delicious baby young chubeza leaves

Good wash.  Ready for cooking. Super nutritious 
"Highly nutritious. The plant is exceptionally rich in vitamins A, B, and C, along with calcium, magnesium, and potassium. The tender young leaves actually have one of the highest amounts of vitamin A in any vegetable!"

Vegan - packed with protein, super delicious filling.

 
This lot for the freezer.  Investing when after a long day at work, I just gotta have some hot comforting Chinese dumplings. 20 minutes from the moment I walk in the door to hot steamy bowl on the table. Yes!!

Gluten Free wrappers!! Mixed with hot water.

These GF babies come out translucent, light as a feather and packed with punch.
Wonderful texture, deep flavour and bursting with nutritious protein. Vega-neli-cious!

This is vegan.  With freshly picked chubezah
Insanely delicious!

Notes:

GF/Hot-water dumplings:

Keep corn flour and potato flour ratio (Using corn flour and rice flour yielded a dough closer to Cheung fun)

1/2 cup of boiling water Add corn flour first.  Cool slightly.  Add 1 tsp of veg oil. Mix.  Then potato flour. Knead mix all to a ball.  Rest 10 mins.

Carrot Cake (scroll down for GF version)

Dark, rich with goodies, walnuts, raisins, carrots. Dense and soft to the taste. 

Careful!  Not to make this too sweet. 
Very very good.

Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup GF flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1.5 cups finely grated peeled carrots
1/2 cup of Walnuts
1/3 cups of raisins

• Mix all the wet ingredients:
• Oil, egg yolks, orange juice, zest, sugars,

• Dry ingredients: flours, Baking soda, Baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, walnuts, grated finely carrots, raisins

• Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks.
• Whisk the wet ingredients together.

(I forgot to include the yolks here!) still came out tasty :)

• Stir dry ingredients, slowly add to the wet ingredients. 
• Mix. 

• Fold in the egg whites.
• Place in greased or lined pan in pre-heated oven 160oC for 50 mins or till brown and done. 
• To check slide a skewer or toothpick in the middle. 
• If it comes out clean.  It's ready. 
• Take out of oven and let to cool before adding frosting/topping of choice.

American frosting:
This frosting sets quickly when mixed.

225g caster sugar
4 tablespoon of water
1/2 cream of tartar
1 egg white only

Boil sugar and water together slowly.  No need to stir.
Blend cream of tartar with a teaspoon of water.  Add to sugar syrup.
Bring to boil without stirring till it reaches "soft ball" stage (see below)
Carefully pour into the already whisked egg white.  Stir.
Over cooled carrot cake.


Soft ball:  One drop of hot syrup in cold water forms a soft ball

Source recipe:
Thanks Laura!  It really is the best!
https://lauracowan.blogspot.com/search?q=cake



Gluten free!
Substitute plain flour with coconut flour.

Pickles!! Okra

Nothing beats the crunchy spicy bite of a homemade pickle okra

Just use what you already have in the kitchen.  I had chili flakes (I always have chili flakes)
black mustard seeds, coriander seeds, all spice, sliced or crushed fresh garlic, bay leaves and super hot Thai chilis.

1.  Place fresh  okras in jar, tightly packed.  They loosen up as they start to pickle.
2.  Add spices you have in hand ie: mustard seeds, black pepper seeds, lemon zest,  

     black mustard  

     seeds, coriander seeds, allspice, sliced or crushed fresh garlic, bay leaves, chilis

3.  Dissolve 1tsp of salt in 1/2 cup of hot water.  Leave to dissolve.
     Then fill with cold water to top of cup.
4.  Pour cold salty water in to the okra jar till 3/4 full.
5.  Top with vinegar to make a ratio of 3/4 salty water and 1/4 vinegar.
6.  Close tightly lid and leave to pickle.

The water will start to get cloudy and the okras will change from a bright green to a dull khaki colour.
They should be ready to eat after a week (depending on the climate)
If you want to slow the process.  Often I open a jar and want to eat the other jars for later, I just put them in the fridge for later. Easy peasy.

• Benefits:
  Potassium, vitamin B, C, folic acid, calcium
  Low in calories, high in fibre. 
• Contains beneficial antioxidants. Okra packs many antioxidants that benefit your health. ...
• May lower heart disease risk. ...
• May have anticancer properties. ...
• May lower blood sugar. ...
• Beneficial for pregnant women. ...

Okras, and baby cucumbers are being pickled simultaneously.

Pickle party!

Crunchy heaven!