Avatar: The Last Airbender Official Cookbook: Recipes from the Four Nations
CHRYSANTHEMUM AND SHIITAKE DUMPLINGS Prep Time 1 hour Cook Time 15 minutes Yield About 30 dumplings Dumplings are a staple when it comes to Air Nation meals When I was growing up Monk Gyatso would always surprise me with new filling flavors after tough airbending trainings cabbage and ginger chayote and carrot even sweet ones with milk If I'm being honest they were never quite as good as his fruit pies This particular flavor has always been one of my favorites now these are a regular treat I make for Katara and me though occasionally Momo eats them all before we can Aang FOR THE DUMPLINGS 2 tablespoons neutral oil such as canola or grapeseed divided ½ medium yellow onion peeled and sliced 12 shiitake mushroom caps sliced Kosher salt 3 cups chrysanthemum greens tough stalks removed 4 large eggs beaten until smooth 1 teaspoon cornstarch optional 30 round dumpling wrappers of choice NOTE Reserve shiitake stems and chrysanthemum stalks and add to the water when steaming or boiling your dumplings FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE Soy sauce Rice vinegar Freshly grated ginger optional Sliced scallions optional TO MAKE THE DUMPLINGS Fill a medium pot three-quarters full of water and bring water to a boil In a large sauté pan heat 1 tablespoon of neutral oil over medium until slick and shiny Add onion and mushrooms with a dash of salt and sauté on medium-low to medium until onions have lightly caramelized and mushrooms have reduced significantly 5 to 8 minutes Remove from heat and let cool Reserve Once water is boiling blanch chrysanthemum greens for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until greens are just barely cooked through Shock with ice water and squeeze out all remaining water Reserve In a medium nonstick sauté pan heat the remaining tablespoon of neutral oil over medium until slick and shiny Add eggs with a dash of salt and cook very gently over medium-low heat until completely set on one side approximately 2 minutes Flip eggs and cook gently until second side has set approximately 2 minutes Remove eggs from heat and break up into pieces Reserve Transfer onion mushrooms chrysanthemum and egg to food processor and pulse until desired consistency If using add cornstarch and pulse again to help bind the filling together Make sure to scrape the edges of the food processor to incorporate all ingredients Once filling is made set up your dumpling station a small cutting board to wrap the dumplings a small bowl of water to wet the wrappers plus the filling and wrappers themselves Wrap dumplings in a shape that makes the most sense for you The simplest version is to place 2 teaspoons of filling at the center wet the edges of the wrapper and fold over to seal in a half-moon shape Once formed dumplings can be cooked by steaming or boiling Cook until wrappers are translucent and soft Make sure to use your vegetable scraps in the steaming or boiling water the Air Nation monks do not approve of wasting food TO MAKE THE DIPPING SAUCE While dumplings are cooking mix together soy sauce rice vinegar ginger and scallions in a small bowl to taste Serve alongside dumplings 11
3 SIMPLE STEAMED VEGETABLES Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 15 minutes Yield Serves 2 No temple dinner is complete without a plate of steamed vegetables Through trial and error I've learned that a mix of root vegetables like taro potato or yam mushrooms like shiitake or oyster and some watery crunchy vegetables like bell peppers or tomatoes complete the set The best part though is the dipping sauce I could probably eat parts of my glider if it were dipped in this sauce Aang FOR THE VEGETABLE DISPLAY 1 cup peeled small-diced taro 10 shiitake mushroom caps 10 slices red bell pepper 10 slices yellow bell pepper 10 slices green bell pepper Kosher salt FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE 6 cloves garlic minced 2-inch knob fresh ginger peeled and minced ½ cup neutral oil ¼ cup sliced chives 2 tablespoons soy sauce plus more if needed 2 teaspoons white vinegar plus more if needed ¼ teaspoon white sugar plus more if needed TO MAKE THE VEGETABLES Arrange vegetables on the steamer ideally a steamer that can also be used as the serving platter Fill steamer pan halfway with water Cover steamer and transfer to stovetop Bring water to a boil on high heat then reduce heat to medium Steam vegetables until tender and cooked through about 1 minute for the peppers 5 to 8 minutes for the mushrooms and 10 minutes for the taro TO MAKE THE DIPPING SAUCE While vegetables are cooking combine the garlic and ginger in a heatproof bowl In a small pot heat oil to 350 F making sure there is least two inches of clearance between the oil and the rim of the pot Pour hot oil on top of garlic and ginger Stir and wait for it to stop foaming Add chives and stir Add soy sauce vinegar and sugar Adjust to your liking Set aside until ready to serve alongside vegetables 13
