Low-carb dumplings
recently I ’ ve received a request on Instagram from one of my readers. They asked if I can introduce a recipe for dumplings without using flour-based wrappers. Yes ! here you are : chinese steamed boodle rolls filled with pork barrel and mushroom. Pretty, tasty & low-carb ! We have an concern name in Chinese for this cup of tea : Fei Cui Bao Rou ( 翡翠包肉 ) which means “ Jade wrapped meat ”.
simple cook steps
Let ’ s begin with the cook procedures. Simple and straightforward, here are five steps to follow :
- Briefly cook cabbage leaves & carrot strips in boiling water until wilted.
- Mix the filling which contains minced meat (pork, beef or chicken), shiitake mushrooms & seasonings.
- Wrap the filling with cabbage leaves then tie with carrot strips.
- Steam for 10 mins.
- Make the sauce with mushroom water, oyster sauce & cornstarch. Pour it over the rolls. Enjoy!
Prepare the cabbage wrappers
To make perfect wrappers, your boodle leaves should meet three criteria : large enough to hold the filling, pliable to fold easily, resistant to tearing. To achieve these goals, make sure you follow two basic rules :
Choose the right type of cabbage
For shooting this recipe, I used savoy cabbage. Their leaves are loosely layer making it easy to peel off without tearing. It besides has a pretty curly count. sometimes I use the leafy part of a Napa cabbage ( aka Chinese cabbage ) rather. It has a offer texture and a adorable hint of pleasantness .
For this recipe, I don’t recommend green and red cabbage which are tightly layered and require a much longer meter to cook .
Cook the leaves to the right texture
Before wrapping the rolls, you need to cook the pilfer leaves to make them more bendable. Bring a potentiometer of water to a full churn. Add in the leaves. Take them out as soon as they begin to wilt. That is to say, no more than 20 seconds if using savoy cabbage. Reduce the fourth dimension to 10 seconds if using Napa cabbage leaves .
Use carrot strips as ribbons
Love to make this dish even prettier ? You can use carrot slices as ribbons to tie the rolls. Choose a long carrot. Use a regular vegetable peeler to peel off long strips. As they are brittle when raw, you need to soften them in boiling body of water. A few seconds would do the flim-flam .
Make a tasty occupy
I use a very bare fill up for my cabbage rolls. The ingredients include mince meat, shiitake mushrooms, scallions & a few seasonings. It ’ s a classical combination that ’ s much found in chinese dumplings .
Minced meat
You are free to choose your preferable mince meat. Pork, beef, chicken, turkey all work fine. If you have read my Ultimate Guide on “ How to make great dumpling fillings ”, you might have noticed that I always emphasize on adding liquid to the kernel filling to make it juicy. This international relations and security network ’ triiodothyronine necessary for my pilfer axial rotation filling. The steaming process will extract some of the moisture from the boodle thus making the fill extra damp .
Shiitake mushrooms
Thanks to their impregnable umami sample, shiitake mushrooms make a capital addition to fillings of all kinds. I prefer dry ones for their more intense flavor than fresh ones. Wash then soak them in cold water for at least 8 hours to rehydrate .
A special trick: Don ’ t discard the body of water in which the shiitake are soaked ! It has absorbed bang-up season from the mushrooms and will be used to make a delectable sauce for the cabbage rolls .
How to wrap the rolls
A simple way to steam
now we are cook to cook the rolls. Place them on a serving plate that is modest enough to fit into your steamer. It will take 10 mins to cook. If the rolls are to be served later, you can keep them in the electric refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Extend the steamer time to 12 minutes if just taken out from the electric refrigerator .
What if you don’t own a steamer ? here is my easy solution : Put a minor bowl in the in-between of a big pot/wok. Fill the pot/wok with water ( not over the bowl ). then place the serving plate on circus tent of the bowl. Steam the common way ( Please refer to the tutorial video in the recipe card ) .
top with a delectable sauce
These cabbage rolls are delicious on their own. But a sauce would make them even tastier. Use some of the mushroom body of water you saved earlier. Add some oyster sauce and corn starch. Mix then heat in a saucepan for a few seconds until it thickens. Pour it over the cook rolls. enjoy !
Steamed cabbage rolls (翡翠包肉)
A tasty filling wrapped with cabbage leaves and served with a delicious sauce, steamed cabbage rolls are pretty, low-carb and very simple to make.
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Prep:
15
minutes
Cook:
10
minutes
Total:
25
minutes
Servings:
2
servings
Ingredients
For the wrappers
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8 savoy cabbage leaves, see note 1
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1 hanker carrot, optional
For the filling
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4 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated in urine
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200 g minced pork/beef/chicken, 7oz
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1 stalk scallions, finely chopped
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2 teaspoon light soy sauce Use gluten-free soy sauce sauce to make the dish gluten-free
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1 pilfer Chines five-spice powder
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1 touch sugar
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1 smash sesame oil
For the sauce
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3 tablespoon mushroom water, see note 2
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1 tablespoon oyster sauce
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½ teaspoon cornstarch
5 Secrets of Authentic Chinese CookingGet the guide for FREE
Instructions
Prepare the wrappers
-
Blanch cabbage leaves in boiling water until they begin to wilt (it should take no more than 20 seconds). Drain and set aside.
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Use a vegetable peeler to peel off 8 narrow strips of carrots. Blanch for a few seconds then drain (carrot is purely for an aesthetic reason so it’s optional).
Mix the filling
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Squeeze out excess water in shiitakes mushrooms (keep the water in which the mushrooms are soaked for later use). Chop them into tiny pieces.
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Put mushrooms, minced meat and all the seasonings into a bowl. Mix well.
Assemble the rolls
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Place ⅛ of the filling in the middle of a cabbage leaf. Wrap it into a cylinder shape.
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Tie the roll with a strip of carrot (please refer to my tutorial video below). Repeat to finish the rest.
Steam the rolls
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Place the rolls into a serving plate then put into a steamer. Steam for 10 minutes.
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If you don’t have a steamer, see note 3 for an alternative solution which is also demonstrated in my tutorial video below.
Make the sauce
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While waiting for the rolled to cook, mix 3 tablespoons of the mushroom water with oyster sauce and cornstarch. Stir well.
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Heat up the sauce over high heat. Remove as soon as it thickens. Pour it over the rolls. Serve warm.
Make in advance
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You may keep raw, wrapped cabbage rolls in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Extend the steaming time to 12 minutes if just taken out from the fridge.
Video
NOTES
1. I use savoy cabbage cabbage for this dish. The leafy part of Napa pilfer ( aka Chinese cabbage ) works very well excessively .
2. The water in which the shiitake mushrooms are soaked is very aromatic so it adds great umami taste to the sauce. You may besides use standard if you wish .
3. How to steam without a steamer ? Put a small bowling ball in the middle of a large pot/wok. Fill the pot/wok with water ( not over the bowl ). then place the serving plate on top of the bowl. Steam the usual means ( Please refer to the video above ) .
CALORIES
Serving:
1
serving
|
Calories:
234
kcal
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Author:
Wei Guo
Hope you ’ ve enjoy reading my low-carb version of chinese dumplings. Want to discover more dishes that are low-carb ? Have a look at these recipes :
happy cook !
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