Lobster Dumplings

This was an interesting dinner! Usually, I make these dumplings with ground pork or chicken but considering our Veggie Monster ways thru Lent, we went with a crustacean.  We purchased two lobster tails [fully cooked] from Seaport Fish at Fiddlehead Marketplace.  We nearly fainted because it was $34.99/lb...good thing we only needed a small amount of meat for the dumplings.  I get my dumpling wrappers from Lo's Seafood & Oriental Market in the freezer section of the store.  I really love the vegetable [green] wrappers but they only have those at another Korean market somewhere in MA, if you can get your hands on these, go for it, they are delish!  A good friend of mine taught me how to make these and her specific ingredients but the vegetables, spices and other ingredients are listed in the package of dumplings wrappers.  Basically I use a mixture of shredded zucchini, red bell pepper, carrot, diced green and white onion.

 You'll need one egg, sesame oil, soy sauce and cayenne pepper or chili pepper for some heat.  Take the dumpling wrappers and place a small amount in the middle and use your finger and some water to bind the edges together. Fold all the edges together securely so the filling doesn't seep out when you drop them into the water.  There are a couple of ways to fold the dough, find something that works for you, play around with a few designs but I start by folding the dough in half and folding the corners in, towards the filling [see dumplings below on the left]. 

Bring a pot, half filled with water to a boil, drop the dumplings in and when they start to rise to the top, pour a cup of cool water into the pot and wait for the dumplings to start to boil and rise again, repeat as needed. If your meat is raw, you'll want to repeat this 3-4 times. It's important to stay attentive to the dumplings, if you cook them too long the dough with start to get soggy and pull apart.  You know the filling is cooked when the dumpling dough "puckers" and the filling feels firm. 

Spoon dumplings out with a slotted spoon and place on a plate.  Toss with soy sauce, sesame seeds and hot sauce [if desired].  We love to try new ethnic foods!  You can also fry these dumplings in a saucepan but go for the healthier version my cooking friends, I won't even tell you how to do it!