Crispy rice paper dumplings

These are a bit fiddly, but oh so worth it! Crispy on the outside, chewy on the sides, and bursting with flavor inside.

The sour and spicy dipping sauce brings it all together and these are such a great lunch idea. Serve them alongside some noodles or a stir fry, or, have them as is and have one big dumpling feast!

Make sure you have plenty of bench space as there are a lot of components to this. I had to wash up everything three times in the process hah!

Prep time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

Serves: 10 dumplings

Ingredients

Dumplings

20 x rice paper wraps

100g firm tofu

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 spring onion, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 bok choy, chopped

2 carrots, grated

1 cup Chinese cabbage, chopped

1/2 cup wood ear mushroom, chopped

3 shiitake mushrooms, chopped

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp white pepper

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

Sauce

3 sprigs of chives

1 tsp chili oil

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp vinegar

1/2 tsp sesame oil

Method

1. Place the tofu in a bowl, and press a fork into it, repeating until it becomes a crumble.

2. Add the bok choy, carrots, cabbage, and mushrooms and mix.

3. Heat a pan on medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and add in the spring onion and garlic, stirring until fragrant.

4. Add in the tofu-vegetable mix, and stir until everything is just about cooked.

5. While the tofu-vegetable mix is cooking, in a separate pan, toast the sesame seeds until they are a nice golden colour, then set aside.

6. To the tofu-vegetable mix, stir in the white pepper and soy sauce until evenly mixed.

7. Lastly, add the sesame seeds and sesame oil, giving it a final mix before taking it off the heat. There should be no residue liquid. It should be moist but not wet mix.

8. While the mix is cooling down, take a place and grease it with olive oil. This will be where you place your dumplings before frying them. If you don't grease your plate, the dumplings will stick and break.

9. Soften a rice paper wrap in hot water. Once soft, place it on a chopping board, and put two tablespoons of mixture in the center, before folding each side of the wrap inwards, creating a parcel.

10. Soften a second rice paper wrap, and wrap the dumpling you just made in a second skin. This is to keep the dumplings firm and in tact.

11. Each dumpling should take up two rice paper wraps. Repeat steps 9 and 10 until all dumplings are made.

12. Heat the last tablespoon of olive oil in a fry pan on medium-high heat, and place your dumplings on the fry pan. Fry until one side is golden then flip and repeat.

13. Serve the dumplings with the dipping sauce.

Notes

• I used tofu as I had some left over in my fridge. You can also do this with ground beef, chicken, pork or seafood.

• I used wood ear mushroom for texture and shiitake for flavor, but you can choose any you like.

• Make sure once you fold your dumplings, that they don't touch each other on the plate or in the pan as the skin is incredibly sticky and you may rip open your dumpling trying to pull them apart.

• If you have left over mixture like I did, save it. The mixture makes for really yummy filling in lettuce cups!