Ingredients
| 1 leek | |
| 8 shiitake mushrooms, quartered | |
| 8 button mushrooms, quartered | |
| 2½ cm piece kelp (or use dried wakame) | |
| â…“ cup white wine vinegar | |
| ½ cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon extra | |
| 1 cup red wine (old wine that no one wants to drink is perfect) | |
| 2 tablespoons oil, for frying | |
| 2 tablespoons soy sauce | |
| 1 handful (roughly 30g) garlic chives, including flowers | |
| 100ml rice bran oil | |
| 8 large collard or silverbeet leaves |
This dish utilises every last bit, using mushrooms and leek first to flavour the broth, then to fill the dumplings.
Instructions
| 1. | BROTH |
| 2. | Slice the green half of the leek. |
| 3. | Heat a pot and add the mushrooms and sliced leek but no oil. |
| 4. | Add a few pinches of salt and move the veges around, then just let them sit there to build up a nice bit of caramelisation on the bottom of the pot. |
| 5. | Just before golden brown turns to burnt, pour in 2 litres cold water, scraping up the golden brown bits with a wooden spoon. |
| 6. | Add the kelp and plenty of salt and pepper. |
| 7. | Simmer for at least 30 minutes – the longer the time, the deeper the flavour. |
| 8. | Pour through a fine strainer and set aside both the broth and the strainings. |
| 9. | DUMPLING FILLING |
| 10. | Cut the rest of the leek into a fine dice. |
| 11. | Bring the vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, ¾ cup water and 1 teaspoon salt to the boil and pour it over the leek. |
| 12. | Set aside to pickle, about 20 minutes. |
| 13. | Bring the wine and ½ cup of sugar to the boil and reduce by half. |
| 14. | Discard the kelp and put the rest of the broth strainings into a blender or food processor. Pulse until it has a texture similar to mince. |
| 15. | Heat the oil in a pan and add this mixture. |
| 16. | Cook most of the moisture out of the mix by moving it around and letting the steam escape. |
| 17. | Once it is drier and less gluggy, stir in the soy sauce and the reduced wine. |
| 18. | Let it simmer for a moment then remove from the heat. |
| 19. | Add 6 tablespoons of drained pickled leek and season to taste. |
| 20. | CHARRED GARLIC CHIVE OIL |
| 21. | Chop the garlic chives into 2½cm-long pieces and lay on a roasting tray. |
| 22. | Use a blowtorch (if you have one) to singe them. If not, put them under a super-hot grill to hit them quick and hard, pressing a toasty char into the surface but retaining some of the freshness to keep the oniony bite. |
| 23. | Transfer to a blender with the rice bran oil, blend for a few minutes and strain through a fine cloth. |
| 24. | TO SERVE |
| 25. | Heat the oven to 180°C. |
| 26. | Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and get a bowl of iced water ready. |
| 27. | Prepare the collard leaves by trimming out the stalks and dividing each side into 2 or 3 square-ish dumpling wrappers. |
| 28. | A few at a time, dunk the collards into the boiling water for a few moments, then straight into the iced water. You’re not cooking them at this point, just rendering them malleable. |
| 29. | Drain and lay out on a towel. |
| 30. | Spoon about a teaspoon of filling into the centre of each wrapper, and roll them up by carefully gathering each corner and tucking them all tightly underneath. |
| 31. | Place the dumplings on a tray and put into the oven for a few minutes to warm through. |
| 32. | Put 5 dumplings in each bowl, pour over hot broth and add garlic chive oil in and around. |
| 33. | I use garlic chive flowers to garnish. |
Recipes & food styling Plabita Florence / Photography Tony Nyberg
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