Kitajski pečeni cmočki / Potsticker dumplings

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Teli cmočki so bili zelo dolgo na mojem kuharske seznamu, ampak nikoli niso ugledali luči dneva. Če sem čisto iskrena, smo jih z družino vedno naročali v Kitajski restavraciji in se kregali, kdo dobi zadnjega. Zdelo se mi je, da se ne bom mogla niti približati okusu, ki ga dobiš v restavraciji in da je potemtakem ta recept že vnaprej obsojen na propad.

O, kako sem se motila!

Ne samo, da priprava ni bila tako zakomplicirana kot se mi je zdelo na začetku, ampak so cmočki celotno stanovanje napolnili z omamnim vonjem. Še zdaj, ko pišem o tem, se mi cedijo sline.

Za izhodišče sem vzela recept na Youtube kanalu Jamie Oliverja, kjer pripravo demonstrirata tako imenovani Dumpling Sisters (prevod: Cmoček sestri?). Vendar pa je čar cmočkov ravno v tem, da lahko nadev pripraviš čisto po svojih željah in to sem tudi storila.

Za testo:

³  300g univerzalne moke

³  220ml vrele vode 

Postopek za pripravo testa se je meni, ki nisem ravno ekspert, zdel enostaven. Moko in vodo sem preprosto zmešala v kuhinjskem robotu. Ko se je testo dovolj ohladilo (zaradi vrele vode je na začetku zelo zelo vroče) sem testo dokončno zgnetla še na roke, da dobiš res gladko maso. Nato pa je testo počivalo kakšno uro – priznam, da ne vem koliko točno, ker smo vmes gledali božični film. Važno je, da je testo ves čas pokrito, da ne izgubi vlage.

Za nadev:

³  400g mletega mesa

³  Čebula

³  Sezamovo olje

³  Soda bikarbona

³  Sladkor

³  Temna in svetla sojina omaka

³  Poper

Čebulo sem nasekljala na majhne koščke, ampak res na majhne, ker sem se bala, da bi se preveč čutila v nadevu. Nato pa sem vse sestavine samo združila v večji posodi in dobro premešala. Rekla bi, da sem vsake sestavine (sojina omaka, sezamovo olje, soda bikarbona, sladkor, poper) dodala približno žlico, tako da je pokrila vso meso, hkrati pa ni nobena stvar prevladala nad drugo.

Nato pa pride na vrsto razdelitev testa in valjanje. Meni je metoda prikazana v videu povsem uspela, tako da res priporočam, da si za postopek oblikovanja testa pogledate video (med 2:39 in 4:00).

Nato pa nam ostane samo še peka oz. kuhanje. Na ponvi segrejemo žlico olja, tako da se nam cmočki ne bodo prijemali. Cmočke zložimo v ponev in pečemo približno 2 minuti. Svetujem, da enega dvignete med pečenjem in pogledate, če se je naredila zlata skorjica. Ko zagledate skorjico, je čas, da cmočke zalijete s 100ml vode in pokrijete ponev. Ko voda izpari, so cmočki kuhani.

Dober tek!

Potsticker dumplings

Dumplings were on my cooking list for so long, but they never saw the light of day. If I’m being honest, my family and I always fought over the last dumpling in a Chinese restaurant. How could I make anything that would taste as good as those dumplings in a restaurant? I assumed that making them at home was destined to fail.

O, how wrong I was!

The preparation isn’t as hard as I assumed from the beginning. And after I was done making them the whole apartment was filled with this rich, amazing smell. Even now, just writing about this, is making me salivate.  

I decided to follow a recipe posted on Jamie Oliver’s Youtube account where the Dumpling Sisters demonstrate the preparation. However, the best thing about dumplings is that you can tailor the filling to your wishes. That’s exactly what I did.

For the dough:

³  300g all-purpose flour

³  220ml boiling water

I am no expert at making a dough, and even I thought it was fairly easy to make. I put the flour and boiling water into my Kitchen Aid. When the dough has cold down enough, I proceeded to knead it with my hands. When my dough became smooth, I covered it with plastic foil and let it rest while watching a Christmas movie. The key here is to not lose the moisture in the dough!

For the filling:

³  400g minced meat

³  Medium large onion

³  Sesame oil (tablespoon)

³  Baking soda (tablespoon)

³  Sugar (tablespoon)

³  Dark and light soy sauce (tablespoon each)

³  Pepper (tablespoon) 

I finely chopped the onion, really finely, because I was afraid it would be overpowering in the filling. In the bigger bowl I mixed all the ingredients together, and that was it for the filling.

Next you need to roll out the dough and fill the dumplings. I followed the instructions in the video (watch from 2:39 to 4:00) and it work wonderfully. I recommend that you follow them along!

All that’s left is cooking our homemade dumplings. Add a tablespoon of oil to a pan. Add the dumplings in the pain and wait until the golden crust forms on the. You should pick one up, to check for the crust on the bottom. When you see the crust has forms add 100ml of water to your pan and cover it with lid. Once the water has evaporated, your dumplings are done.

Bon Appétit!