Seems like all my friends are going crazy over eating dumplings lately, or to be precise the fried version Pot Stickers.

I'm totally fine with that as I love them, although, like most meals I eat when out, unless its one of my go to favourite restaurants I always think to myself, I could definitely make these in the house and be getting way more for my money.

Don't get me wrong there are a couple of amazing places that are reasonably priced but dumplings are super easy and cheap to make yourself and the beauty of them is you can put anything you want in. Also they are a really fun way to spend an evening with friends making dinner together.

My favourite type of dumpling is tofu and crunchy vegetables. I like to keep it really simple as it carries whatever dipping sauce you use well.

Ingredients

For the dumplings:

250g of firm smoked tofu

(I use Engine Shed brand, which is a local Edinburgh company)

1 red onion

1 carrot

4 mushrooms

2 red chillies

1 bunch of pak choi

4 cloves of garlic

1 Tbsp of fresh ginger

3 Tbsp of toasted sesame oil

3 Tbsp of tamari or soya sauce

1 small bunch of coriander

1 packet of round gyoza/dumpling wraps (Available from most Asian supermarkets)

Vegetable oil

For the dipping sauce:

1 cup of sweet chilli sauce

1 cup of tamari or soya sauce

(Mix together and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.)

Method

1 Roughly chop all ingredients apart from the gyoza wraps and pop them in a blender. If you don't have a blender then as small dice as you can, chop all ingredients up and crumble the tofu in.

2 Mix it all together and add the tamari and sesame oil.

3 In a wok or a non-stick frying pan add a little oil and sauté the mix just until it starts to soften.

4 Once your mix cools using the gyoza wraps spoon a tablespoon of mix onto each centre and keeping the bottom flat, coat the ends with a little water and pinch together to seal. Do this to all and double check before you fry that they are tightly sealed as you don't want them bursting in the pan.

5 Now in a pre heated pan coat with a little bit of oil and place the dumplings in bottom side first. Once the bottoms get nice and brown add half a cup of water and cover. This will steam the rest of the dumplings. Keep an eye on them and if you have to give the pan a little shoogle.

6 Once the water has evaporated let them fry a touch longer to crisp up again and immediately serve with the dipping sauce.

Super easy home made pot sticker dumplings, once you have mastered them you can try out all different fillings and dips.