Pierogi Cooked Chinese Way, with Beluga Lentils, Wild Mushrooms and Ginger

I absolutely love pierogi, the Eastern European stuffed pasta I've already wrote about few months back, during the summer time. They are similar to an Italian ravioli or Chinese dim sum, and they can be boiled or boiled and then fried. I like them cooked Asian style, steamed-fried. This time I steamed my dumpling and fried them after with some thai style wok sauce. They were crunchy, little sticky and divinely delicious!

 

 

Pierogi with Beluga Lentils and Wild Mushrooms

 

wrappers

(this is my favorite recipe for wrappers, makes about 40 pcs)

300 g wheat flour

pinch of salt

125 ml boiling water

1 egg

30 g butter, melted

 

stuffing

1 cup Beluga lentils

1 cup mixed dried wild mushrooms

1 medium onion, chopped
2-4 garlic cloves, chopped 

1 small Florina pepper, finely chopped
2 cm ginger root, grated
2 tsp Harissa paste

salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for cooking

moreover
sesame oil and grape seed oil for frying dumpling
wok sauce (I used this one)
spring onion, finely chopped

 

Method :

1. Make the wrappers. In a bowl of a stand mixer combine the flour and the salt. Slowly stir in the hot water and melted butter. Bring the dough together with your hands, add the egg, and using the dough kneading attachment kneed the dough until is elastic and silky smooth. Cover and let it rest for about 30 minutes.

2. Make the filling. Place the mushrooms in the medium size bowl, cover them with water and soak for 2 hours, or overnight. After they've been soaked cooked them in the same water for about 30 min. Cool them, finely chop and set aside.
3. Cook the lentils in the salted water until tender and set aside.
4. In a large frying pan sauté the onions until tender, add Harissa paste and cook for one minute. Add the garlic, ginnger and Florina pepper, and cook for few minutes more. Add cooked lentils and mushroom to the pan and cook few couple of minutes. Take off the heat and cool slightly.
5. Divide the rested dough in 2 equal parts and shape them into balls. Working with one ball at the time, roll out until dough is about 2mm thin, dusting your work surface with flour, to keep the dough from sticking to the table.

 6. Using round cookie or pastry cutter, cut out circles. Place about 1 tablespoon of the filling in the middle of each circle, fold in half, keeping the filling from moistening the edges, and press two edges together to shape the dumpling. Place them onto floured tray and cover with kitchen towel so they don't dry out. Keep working with the rest of the dough circles and then move to the second ball, until you use all the filling.

7. Stream the dumpling in a bamboo or electric steamer for about 10 minutes.

8. In a large frying pan heat about 2 tsp of grape seed oil and few drops of sesame oil. Fry the steamed dumplings from both sides until lightly golden. Add about 2-3 tsp of the wok sauce (for 10 dumplings) and toss the dumpling until they are all covered in it. Fry them for couple of minutes until they are dark golden and sticky. Server hot sprinkled with spring onion.

  

 

 

 

                                                            
Smacznego!