Chinese Sticky Rice Dumplings

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 200 g lamb fillets
• 200 g fresh prawns, uncooked
• 3 teaspoons cornflour
• 1 tablespoon shaosing chinese wine or 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 dried chinese mushrooms
• 1/4 cup diced bamboo shoot
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped spring onion
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornflour, dissolved in 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup hot water
• 3 cups glutinous-rice flour
• sesame seeds
• oil (for deep frying)

Recipe

• 1 soak the dried mushrooms for 45 minutes. then drain them and cut into a small dice. set aside.
• 2 meanwhile -- chop the lamb and the prawns finely. do not mince them.
• 3 mix the lamb and prawns with the 3 teaspoons of cornflour, wine and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
• 4 heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok and then stir-fry the lamb and prawn mixture for about 2 or three minutes.
• 5 add the remaining filling ingredients, including the mushrooms. stir until the mixture boils and thickens. remove and cool (overnight works best. store in the refrigerator until ready to be used.
• 6 for the dumplings: dissolve the 1/2 cup sugar and water in a saucepan. add the glutinous rice flour. you will need to stir vigorously to blend. it is important that this is done energetically and quickly.
• 7 transfer the dough to a floured board (use rice flour) and knead lightly to a smooth silky dough. use a very generous amount of rice flour. the dough is very soft and sticky- you cant have too much flour. any excess flour can be dusted off when the dumpling is completed.
• 8 shape the dough into a long roll (sausage) and cut it into 24 pieces. cover the dough with a damp tea-towel.
• 9 flatten each piece of dough with your hand or use a rolling pin. form a flat circle about 6 centimetres (roughly 2 inches) in diameter.
• 10 into each round -place a heaped spoonful of the cooled filling mixture into the centre. fold the dough over in half (now shaped of a semi-circle) and pinch the edges to seal. repeat until all 24 dumplings are made.
• 11 to cook: roll each dumpling in sesame seeds and deep fry them in a moderate heat until they turn a golden brown. this should only take a few minutes. the dumplings will float to the top when they are cooked.
• 12 note- cooking time does not include overnight cooling.