Asian Dumplings with Curried Coconut Sauce

Mark and Sheri' DuMond in Renton, Washington rarely make Asian dumplings. Why? For the same reason they almost never make ravioli or tortellini from scratch at home. It's a lot of time and work.

However, if you're up to the challenge and have the time, here's a recipe for some veggie-tofu dumplings that are pretty good. If you prefer meat instead of tofu, you can substitute lean ground pork or chicken.

Perhaps one way to make the process easier would be to invite several friends over for dinner and let 'em labor in the kitchen, doing the busy work of assembling the dumplings or shui mai.

Makes four to six servings depending on whether it's an appetizer or main course.

8 large dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 lb. fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 lb. firm tofu, drained and pressed dry with a towel
1 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger
1 Tbsp. dry sherry
1 Tbsp. prepared oyster sauce
1 tsp. sambal oelek (spicy red chile sauce)
1 tsp. dark sesame oil

Combine all these ingredients in a food processor. Pulse it a few times until you have a coarse mixture. (You don't want to run it too much or your filling will become to liquidy.) Chill the filling mixtured for a couple hours in the fridge. Meanwhile, make your sauce:

1/4 cup rich vegetable stock
1/3 cup canned coconut milk
2 scallions, finely minced
2 Tbsp. dry white wine
1 Tbsp. prepared oyster sauce
1 tsp. honey
2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. powdered galangal or powdered ginger

Whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and keep in the fridge until it's time to make the dumplings.

36 wonton wrappers
6 Tbsp. cornstarch

Scatter the corn starch across a large cookie sheet. Put a scant teaspoon of filling on each wonton wrapper. Fold the wrapper over filling to turn a square into a triangle. Press out as much air as possible. Using a fork, fold the edges over and crimp tightly and completely. (You don't want filling leaking out during the cooking process.) Store the dumplings on the cookie sheet while making the rest of them.

3 Tbsp. peanut oil

Heat the oil in a wide, flat non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the dumplings to the pan and fry for two or three minutes, until they're golden brown on the bottoms.

Pour in all the sauce, cover the pan, and steam the dumplings for a couple minutes more over medium heat, until they're firmed up. Remove the pan lid, put the heat back on high, and shake the pan around to keep the dumplings from sticking and to glaze them with the reducing sauce. Serve immediately.