Given the state of the world, vis a vis the pandemic, I sure don't get over to my favorite Dim Sum restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area much. Sigh. Dim Sum - in all of its glorious variety, is one of my very favorite things on this planet. Add to this, the similarly delicious Japanese-style dumplings like Gyoza! Steamed. Fried. In a heavenly broth. All of it! And, as the weather - and season - has turned toward winter, this is sounding even better.
Plus, I'd been on a grocery run, and picked up some baby Bok Choy from my fav Asian market here in Reno, Nevada. No matter where you live, you should locate a good Asian market for things like tofu, miso, great Asian vegetables and such. The offerings at the standard grocery store will pale by comparison. BTW: for my Reno friends, you'll perhaps be a little put off by the large bags of vegetables - the baby Bok Choy, for example - at Asian 168. Don't worry! Ask for a smaller amount. They're more than happy to get you exactly how much you need and want.
You've probably seen that giant Bok Choy in your local grocery, or even what they call 'baby' Bok Choy. But, you need to go to an Asian market to get the real, serious baby Bok Choy. They're tiny little heads, and so tender and slightly sweet!
I fancied tossing some of these little, delicate morsels in with the Nasoya Vegan Tofu Vegetable Dumplings that I usually have on hand. I buy them at my local Winco market, but I hear they're also available at Raley's and other popular markets.
As I was 'on a trot' today with errands and such, I needed lunch on the table fast. These dumplings fill the bill for fast, reasonably healthy and tasty fare. They brown - without needing oil - in a good non-stick skillet. My non-stick skillet is a Fissler, because I have an induction cooktop these days. But, my old OXO 12-inch non-stick skillet, which I used with my gas cooktop was great! Alas, it wouldn't work with induction.
If you don't have the baby Bok Choy, don't worry! Use what you have: any other type of Bok Choy. And, really, any other 'greens' like kale, chard or collards would fill the bill, too.
Set up your mis-en-place: dumplings, about a ¼ cup of water laced with a splash each of Shoyu and Mirin (that's a sweet-ish rice wine), your washed and prepped 'greens' and a few red pepper flakes.
The dumplings should be lightly browned on each side - over medium-high heat. I turn them to look. That will take about two minutes per side.
Once they're browned, load the 'greens' on top of them, and splash in the liquid. Put the lid on to capture the steam.
You should have your plates all ready to go, because this doesn't take very long. A couple more minutes, in fact.
If the phone rings, and you really must 'hold' the dish, kill the heat, put the lid back on. It's fine for another five minutes or so. As you can see below, I drizzled a bit of sweet chili sauce on the whole thing. I like either Grama's or the Sky Valley.
I had this on the table in about 15 minutes. Really.
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