Wednesday, Nov. 4, 1992 - North Shore News - 48 Dabbling in dumplings | HAVE a dumpling addic- tion. Just the thought of a Chinese dumpling filled with ginger, or an Italian ravioli sitting in truffle but- ter, or a Greek rice-filled grape leaf sends me to the kitchen with the shakes. The dumpling was probably first seen in China, though at that time it was a crude food product. Around 3,000 years ago grains were pounded coarsely and roasted before being mixed with tea or water to make a4 primitive type of dumpling. This may be the oldest surviving form of pasta. The Chinese seem to be the most creative at preparing these gems. The flavorings and fillings, as well as the types of flour used for casings, seem endless in China. In Italy dumplings do not have such a wide range. Ravioli and tortellini seem to be the most popular. Don't put these recipes aside because of the time involved in preparation. They are worth the effort. . WONTON DUMPLINGS (Makes about 50 wontons, enough for 8 hungry people) This is the basis of a very famous and simply delicicus soup, but I have certainly had some unworthy versions of this classic little Cantonese dumpling. Make your own and you will understand. THE FILLING: 1 pound fresh-ground lean pork or beef 2 tablespoons light soy sauce 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry teaspoon sugar 2 green onions, chopped i teaspoon freshly grated pinger 2 cloves gariic, crushed Ginger wakes up tastebuds with aroma and warmth inquisitive Cook ANNE : GARDINER < £SON po es a: eee oY THE FRUGAL GOURMET 8 water chestnuts, chopped very coarsely I teaspoon sesame oif lege i tablespoon cornstarch THE NOODLE: t pound fresh wonton wrappers from the Chinese market THE SOUP: 3 cups fresh or canned soup stock Yq cup chopped Chinese bok choy or mustard green from the super- market or 1 10-ounce package frozen peas Leftover sticed barbecued pork or roast side of pork (optional) GARNISH: 1} tablespoon sesame oil 2 grecn onivns, chopped Pinch ground white pepper For the filling, mix all together, and mix well! Place a teaspoon of the filling on each noodle and fightly moisten two joining edges of the noodle. Fold over on the wet edges, forming a triangle. Be sure to press out all the air so there is a good seal on the noodle. Place the dumplings on waxed paper until all are filled. Do not stack them on top of one another. Bring the soup stock to a boil and drop in the wontons. Boil for about 10 minutes, uncovered, or until they float and look a bit wrinkled on the outside. They should be tender but not mushy. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, bring up to heat and place in a serving bow!. Add the garnishes and serve. CHICKEN AND SPINACH RAVIOLI (Makes 60 ravioli) I don’t suppose any dumplings from Italy are more famous than the wonderful ravioli. They can be made in any size, stuffed with any filling and covered with just about any sauce. THE RAVIOLI DOUGH: 3 Equal amount of water 4 cups reguiar flour 1 teaspoon salt . Crack the eggs into a 2-cup measuring glass and add an equal amount of water. Place the flour in a mixing bowl, stir in the salt and mix in the egg-water mixture and flour, pinching and stirring until you have a dough that can be knead- Knead this for about 5 minutes. Roll out the dough and prepare two sheets, each of the same size. The thickness of the dough is up to you, but I like mine rather light and thin. Don’t worry about rerolling the dough that needs to be cut away in this process. It will work fine. Use about % of the dough for GINGER IS known as one of the world’s great roots. This versatile spice has spent 3,000 years wending its «ay from Asia into an impressive variety of dishes. Now it’s equally comfortable in a gingerbread house and in a pungent chutney, or paired with garlic in a glorious stir-fry. Ginger may look like a root, but it’s really a rhizome, or thick part of an underground stem. When fresh, this knobby plant is also known as green ginger. It's dug, washed and dried for a day or two and can then be stored for several months under controlled conditions. At home, it keeps approximate- ly two weeks in the refrigerator stored in a paper bag (plastic doesn't allow the root to breathe in China. this step and thus prepare four batches of ravioli for cutting. If you use a ravioli press just foliow the instructions. I use a small watercoloring brush to brush a bit of water around the filling so the dumipl- ings will seal properly. Dust each with flour and set on a cookie sheet while you prepare the rest of the dinner. THE FILLING: 2 cups poached chicken, skinless and boneless 1 10-ounce package frozen ckop- ped spinach, thawed and the water carefully squeezed out (1 use a potato ricer for this) 2 eggs, beaten ¥% cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley Y% teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg Y% teaspoon whole marjoram Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste TOPPING: Toss with as much melted butter and Parmesan cheese as you like. Italian parsley, chopped, is great on top. Or you mzy use a tomato-based sauce. Using the fine blade of your meat grinder, grind the chicken and spinach, which has been squeezed well to drain moisture. sufficiently so it tends to sweat and deteriorate more quickly). Add a paper towel to absorb extra moisture and prevent mould. Or store ginger in a dark, cool cupboard for up to a month. As with most living things, ginger toughens as it ages. Its skin wrinkles as moisture escapes and its flesh becomes more fibrous and difficult to grate or chop. Also with age, the skin darkens to a deeper hue and flavors become stronger. You'll recognize baby ginger in markets by its paper-thin skin. Its flavor is delicate and it’s fleshy, moist and snappy. People are sometimes stymied about how to cut fresh ginger. If it’s very young, it doesn’t need peeling. For mature ginger, simply peel the skin away with a sharp paring Mg Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Fill the ravioli as above and seal. Boil for about 8 minutes in ample water ard toss with the melted butter and cheese. HINT: Freeze your own ravioli. Ic is simple and makes the next meal a breeze. Freeze them raw and use self-sealing freezer bags. GNOCCHI WITH CHEESE (Serves 8-10 as part of a regular meal or as a pasta appetizer) This dish sounds so simple, but it takes time to prepare. It re- minds us again that in the Old World the cook spent a great deal of time preparing even the most basic and inexpensive dishes. This one is worth the effort. . 2 pouads baking potatocs, washed but anced Legg yolk 3 cegs regular flour 3 tablespoons semoliaa flour ¥Y2 teaspoon salt SAUCE: % pound butter, melted 1 cup freshly grated Parmeszn or Romano chrese Boil the potatoes, skin on, urtil they are fork-tender. Drain them well and allow to cool just so you can touch them. Peel and mn them through a potato ricer. Place the potatoes in the bowl from your electric mixer and deat in the egg yolk. Add the flour, knife, then slice and chop finely. Grating is fiddly and flavorsome juices are easily fost. If ginger is to be dried, it’s usually left in the ground a little extra time to develop pungency. But it’s still best to crush or bruise dried ginger to release flavor. Powdered ginger gives the warm hue and familiar bite to what’s fondly referred to as ‘‘the oldest sweet cake in the world.’’ Ginger- bread, warm and moist, is real comfort food. Ginger plays a discreet role equally well as one of the many spices in blends of curry powder. Preserved in sugar syrup, ginger becomes soft, tender and plump as the heavy syrup diffuses by osmosis into the ginger. Sugar, a potent preservative, enables it to keep six months. Candied and coated with semolina and salt and mix just until you have a smooth dough. Roll the dough into long cylinders the thickness of your finger. Cut into %-inch-thick slices. Roll each piece a bit on the rough side of a vegetable grater to give the dumpling some texture. Roll each piece quickly and set on a tray to dry a bit. You can forget about the rolling if you wish and just allow the dumplings to dry a bit before you boil them. Flouring the dumplings before you put each on a tray will help keep them separated when they cook. Bring 8 quarts of water to a boil and add about % of the batch. Boil gently until the gnoc- chi float to the top. Continue to boil for one minute, then, using a strainer, remove them from the pot to a warm bowl. Continue cooking until all are done, then toss the dumplings with the butter and cheese. Serve as a pasta or starch dish with almost any meal. HINT: Freeze a batch of gnocchi in preparation for your dinner party. Just roll them and flour. them. Place them in a plastic self-sealing bag and freeze. Boil them without even defrosting. crystallized sugar, ginger keeps indefinitely as a confection. Try it finely chopped and whipped with cream cheese as a topping for special breads at brunch. Pickled ginger in paper-thin slices adds zip to sushi. It turns slightly pink as acids in the brine, rice wine or vinegar react with the enzymes of fresh, young ginger. If it’s a vibrant, deep pink, it may have been ar- tificially colored. As a genera! rule, don’t substitute one form of ginger for another. Pickled ginger is quite different in both taste and con- sistency from its powdered form! As ginger wakes up the tastebuds with its aroma and warmth, in appetizers, main courses and desserts, we can ap- preciate why it has enjoyed such longevity. NEWS photo fi Lucente DUMPLING FLAVORINGS and fillings, as well as the types of flour used for casings, seem endless