On my recent work trip to Yiwu, China, there was one thing that we ate that stood out from most of the others. We may have arrived late at the food station in International Trade City – thinking we’d have nothing to choose from – but there was more than enough for a very decent lunch spread.

My hankering for dumplings resulted in eating some of the most delicious little things I’ve tried for a long time. We had no idea what the fillings were in the two varieties we bought, other than a vague ‘vegetables’ translation when asked.

Dunked into boiling water for a couple of minutes, then drained and tossed onto a hotplate, the initial bite into my first dumpling had me hooked. Silky and hot with a few burnished marks on the pastry, the filling involved two simple ingredients.

Pumpkin and ginger.

How could something so simple be so delicious? Silly question, really, but I am more accustomed to robust fillings like garlic chives, pork and cabbage. The natural, subtle sweetness of the pumpkin paired with fragrant ginger was so addictive that, I swear, I ate most of the large tub we received.

Taking this simple idea, I’ve decided to replicate those pumpkin and ginger dumplings and whip up a batch at home. Talk about an easy task.

To make life a little easier I used store-bought wonton wrappers, rather than make them. I mean honestly, would the average home cook make wonton wrappers from scratch? Nope. My lazy streak strikes again and I just don’t care.

That means all that’s involved is cooking up a bit of pumpkin and ginger and mixing a dipping sauce. Ok, maybe a little hand and finger action to shape these delicious little babies.

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Pumpkin & ginger dumplings

These pumpkin & ginger dumplings are all about simplicity. They're so easy to make!

Course

Starters

Cuisine

Chinese

Servings

dumplings

Ingredients

Filling

• 800 g kent pumpkin seeded, skinned & chopped into 2 cm thick dice
• 1 tbsp olive oil plus 2 tbsp extra, to cook
• 2 tbsp water
• 3 tbsp fresh ginger finely grated
• 1/4 cup garlic chives finely chopped
• 30 wonton wrappers

Dipping sauce

• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp chinkiang vinegar (black rice vinegar)
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 tsp fresh ginger julienned

Course Starters Cuisine Chinese Servings dumplings Ingredients Filling 800 g kent pumpkin seeded, skinned & chopped into 2 cm thick dice 1 tbsp olive oil plus 2 tbsp extra, to cook 2 tbsp water 3 tbsp fresh ginger finely grated 1/4 cup garlic chives finely chopped 30 wonton wrappers Dipping sauce 3 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp chinkiang vinegar (black rice vinegar) 1 tbsp caster sugar ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes 1 tsp fresh ginger julienned

Instructions

1. Put the chopped pumpkin, 1 tablespoon olive oil and water into a saucepan over medium heat. Allow it to cook, with a lid on, for 15 minutes. Give it a stir every couple of minutes.
2. After 15 minutes add the 3 tablespoons of grated ginger and continue cooking, uncovered, for 6 or 7 minutes. Or until most of the liquid has cooked out and the pumpkin is nice an thick. Turn off the heat.
3. Scrape the cooked pumpkin and ginger into a fine mesh sieve and put the sieve over a bowl to drain out any residual liquid. Let it sieve for a couple of hours at least, preferably overnight in the fridge. This prevents the filling of the dumplings being too soggy.
4. Mix the chopped garlic chives through the pumpkin.
5. To make the dumplings, drop a teaspoon of the chilled pumpkin onto the centre of the wonton wrapper. Lightly brush the edges of the pasty with water - or use your finger dipped in water - then fold over to form a semi-circle. Press down to seal and expel any air pockets at the same time.
6. Dab a little water on the right point of the dumpling. With the flat side of the dumpling facing away from you, bring the pointed ends together and press the left point over the right point that you've just moistened. Lightly press to seal the points together.
7. Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers.
8. To cook, steam the dumplings, in batches, for about 5 minutes.
9. While they're steaming, heat a large frying pan or hotplate over a medium-high heat.
10. Once the dumplings have steamed, pour the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil into the pan, swirl it around, then lay the steamed dumplings into the hot pan. Let them get a bit of golden colour on one side, then flip them over and colour the other side.
11. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce and julienned fresh ginger.

Sauce

1. Combine the soy, chinkiang vinegar and sugar and stir to dissolve.

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