Sweet potato jiaozi

Makes 25-30 dumplings Starters and mains

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Method

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C pierce the sweet potato several times with a sharp knife and place on a baking tray in the middle of the oven to cook for 45-50 minutes, or until tender. Alternatively, if you are using a microwave, pierce the whole sweet potato and place in a microwaveable dish, cover with allow steam to escape. Cook on high for 8-10 minutes, until will escape. Set aside at room temperature until cool, then slice in half lengthways and scoop mixing bowl and discard the skin.

Add the chilli to the bowl with the spring onions, miso paste, ginger, salt, soy sauce and sesame oil and mix thoroughly. Fold through the shredded cabbage, then crumble in the tofu and fold in gently, taking care not to turn the tofu into mush. Finally, add the panko this ahead of time, store the mixture, chilled, until needed.

Next, make the wrappes. Divide the jiaozi dough into 3, then roll a third of the dough into a sausage shape around 25cm long, and cut it into between 8 and 10 segments. Roll the segments into balls and then roll each out into a wrapper around 10cm in diameter.

Add 1 large tsp of filling to the centre of each wrapper, bring the edges together and gently press the dough to seal the dumpling, adding some pleats if you want to. Place the completed dumplings, spaced at least 1cm apart, on a baking paper-lined tray. They will rest while they are sitting and may expand a little. Repeat this process with the remaining dough until you run out of dough or filling.

To cook the dumplings, heat 1tbsp of oil in a nonstick frying pan over a medium heat. Add half of the dumplings to the pan, spaced at least 1cm apart, and cook for 3-4 minutes, after which the bottoms of the dumplings will become brown and crisp. Depending on the should be nestled in together – cook them in 2 batches. Add pan to a depth of around 1cm. This will create a burst of steam, so make sure your face is a safe distance away. Put a lid on the pan and leave the dumplings to gently simmer for 6-8 minutes, until all the water has evaporated. Let the dumplings fry in the pan for another 1-2 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly – this will loosen them from the bottom of the pan and make them easier to scoop out. As an alternative, these dumplings can simply be steamed or boiled for 8 minutes.

Mix together all the ingredients for the dipping sauce in a small bowl. Sprinkle the dumplings with the toasted sesame seeds and serve.

Jiaozi dumpling dough (makes around 560g)

To make the dough, add the flour and a pinch of salt to a mixing bowl and stir through with chopsticks or a fork to separate any large lumps.

Measure out 160ml of just- boiled water and 80ml cold water and keep them close
to hand. First, add the boiling combine into a crumbly mixture. Once the boiling water has been completely absorbed, add the cold water and mix in.

Continue to mix until a ball of dough is formed. Knead this for 1-2 minutes in the bowl, then turn it out onto your work surface. Continue to knead the dough for 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.

Once the dough is smooth and supple, form it into a ball and place inside a resealable plastic bag or in a bowl covered with a clean, damp tea towel. Leave this to rest at room temperature while you prepare to your chosen recipe. If you are preparing the dough more than 1 hour ahead of time, you can leave it to rest, chilled.

To make and fill the dumpling wrappers, take the ball of dough and knead it for 3-5 minutes. The dough should be very supple and elastic. Cut the ball into thirds – you will be working with one-third at a time – and put the other two-thirds back into the plastic bag or covered bowl to prevent the dough from drying out.

Roll the dough into a sausage shape. You may need to coat your work surface with
dough into 8-10 equal-sized segments, depending on the recipe, then roll each into a ball.

To make a dumpling wrapper, take 1 of the small dough balls and using 3 disc. Take your rolling pin and roll out the topmost edge of the disc. Rotate by 30 degrees and roll out the topmost edge once again. Continue to do this, rotating and rolling, until you have what looks like a little fried egg. The dough should be flat around the outer edges, with a thicker, raised centre. Make sure there is a light dusting of are prone to sticking together.

Now take a dumpling wrapper in the palm of your hand and place a spoonful of the edges of the wrapper together and gently press the dough to seal the dumpling. You can add some pleats if you necessary – the dumplings will still taste delicious.

Place the completed dumplings on a baking paper- lined tray, spaced at least 1cm apart. They will rest while they are sitting and may expand a little. Repeat this process with the remaining two-thirds of the before cooking the dumplings.