Shu Mei

Photo: flickr user drs2biz

Ingredients

2 pounds Turkey, ground

teaspoon Cornstarch (cornflour)

teaspoon Sherry, dry

3 tablespoons Light soy sauce

1 tablespoon Ginger, grated or finely chopped

6 Green onions, chopped

6 Garlic cloves, crushed, minced or pressed

1 tablespoon Brown sugar

1 tablespoon Sesame oil

1 pkt Wonton wrappers

Peanut oil

cup Fish sauce (You may want to dilute this with water, d

1 cup Vinegar

1 cup Sugar

6 Garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed

1 tablespoon Ginger, finely minced or grated

1 tablespoon Red pepper, crushed

Preparation

Make the dipping sauce by mixing together all of its ingredients. Store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

Stir together everything but the wrappers and the peanut oil. Mix vigorously by hand until it begins to bind together. (About 1 minute or so.)

Place about 1 1/2 - 2 T of filling in the middle of a wonton wrapper. Fold the sides up around the meat so that you have a little bag or cup. Press the bottom flat so that the bag doesn't fall over.

Oil racks of the steamer with peanut oil. Place dumplings in racks. Steam for 15 to 20 minutes in covered rack over boiling water. Serve hot with dipping sauce.

NOTES:* Steamed dumplings (meatballs) -

This recipe is an adaptation of the onein "The Frugal Gourmet" by Jeff Smith. The bigger the batch, the better.

There are never leftovers.

Yield: makes 35-40.

* These little gems would probably go just fine with a favorite hoisin or chili dipping sauce.

* The steamer racks I recommend are the Chinese bamboo ones. You can stack them quite nicely (I find that three racks work well) and they sit at just the right height above the boiling water in a wok. The real advantage is that water will not condense on your food if you use a bamboo steamer.

* The dipping sauce is an adaption of one served at the Phoenix Vietnamese restaurant in Saint Paul Minnesota; it was originally served with egg rolls, but works splendidly with these dumplings.

* The original recipe calls for ground pork, but I find ground turkey preferable. The flavor is lighter and the calories far fewer. Pork is fine, though, and even hamburger could be used in a pinch.

Difficulty: easy, but tedious.

Time: 45 minutes preparation, 15-20 minutes cooking.

Precision: approximate measurement OK.