VEGAN DUMPLING RECIPE WITH WATERCRESS, CELERY, AND SHIITAKE

A Lunar New Year Recipe for Vegan Dumplings (Jiao Zhi)

I first shared this recipe a few Lunar New Years ago, but because so many have continued to ask for it, simply because it's such a delicious and easy dumpling recipe, and since we are in the midst of preparing for the Lunar New Year, it feels fitting to share it again.

Here's a version that my maternal father's line, have been making (and eating) for as long as we can all remember. The dumplings are called 'jiaozi', as it sounds like a word meaning 'bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new' in Chinese. A traditional Chinese dish for new year, dumplings are always made before midnight and eaten during the last hour of the old year and the first hour of the Lunar New Year. In ancient traditions, some like to wrap a one-yuan, fifty-cent or ten-cent coin in some of the dumplings, as a token of good fortune for those who eat them. This is said to ensure good luck and prosperity in the New Year. (It would mean that eating is done with presence and caution, and is definitely not recommended if children will be partaking in this activity).

Dumpling Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp sesame oil

• 1 bunch of green onions

• 2 cups of shiitake mushrooms

• 1 cup of firm tofu

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 cup celery

• 1 cup watercress

• 1/2 cup cilantro

• 3 tbsp tamari / soy sauce

• 1 cup clear vermicelli (mung bean noodles), pre-cooked

• 1 tbsp ginger, grated

• 1 tbsp ground white pepper

• ~55 round dumpling wrappers

• all purpose flour, for dusting

• large pot of boiling water

Dipping sauces:

• Option 1: 2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar 1 tsp finely julienned ginger

• Option 2: 2 tbsp tamari / soy sauce 1/2 tsp filtered water 1 tsp finely chopped garlic

Instructions:

• Add all items into a food processor and chop it up until it resembles a coarsely chopped mixture.

• Pour out excess liquid - reserve for a separate use.

• Then assemble one dumpling for testing: spoon about 1 tbsp of filling onto a wrapper.

• Brush water around the edges of the wrapper and pinch edges to seal.

• Gently place in pot of boiling water and boil for ~4 minutes or until cooked.

• Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.

• If you find it's not salty enough, proceed with adding sea salt instead of tamari / soy sauce so as to not make the filling even wetter.

• Assemble a subsequent dumpling with adjusted filling and cook as above.

• When taste of dumpling is satisfactory, then proceed with assembling remaining dumplings, being careful to dust each dumpling with some flour so they don't stick to a resting surface or to each other.

• Cook in same fashion as above.

• Serve with choice of dipping sauce. (Or make both sauces!)

While we're on the topic of the year of the Wood Dragon, if you're looking to learn more how your year will fare, according to your specific Chinese elements and zodiac sign, I would love to further explore and offer predictions through Five Elements Zodiac Reading. By analyzing your unique combination of Elements, which not only form the basis of I Ching, Feng Shui, and earth-based Chinese Astrology, but in many ways, reveal who you are as a fully alive, complex, and beautiful self. Play to your strengths, and steward your gifts to flow. Develop your intuition and more informed decision-making from a place of self-trust.

Wishing you a Year of the Wood Dragon, where you dream bigger dreams, where love, health, and magnificence are on with you.

Mimi
Animist spirit medium