Recipe
March 19, 2018
Ask A Chef: Chicken Dumplings With Truffle & Bamboo
Prep Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 1/2 hours
Chef Eric Chong of Toronto restaurant R&D shares his recipe for Grandpa’s Fun Guo — chicken dumplings with truffle and bamboo.
Q: I recently ate at R&D and had the most wonderful meal. We ordered the Fun Guo and, sadly, I had to share with my friends. (I could have eaten it all myself!) I would love to recreate this dish at home. Can you track down the recipe? — Sara, Toronto
A: Grandpa’s Fun Guo is one of the most popular dishes at Toronto’s R&D. Chef de cuisine Eric Chong has “cheffed up” this traditional family recipe by pairing the expected flavors of sesame, garlic and soy with his secret ingredient, black truffles, elevating these classic dumplings to another level.
Directions
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Make Filling
- Dice chicken into 1-centimeter cubes. Cubes should be small enough to fit inside your dumpling; if pieces are too big they’ll poke through the skin of the wrapper.
- In bowl, whisk 1⁄4 cup sesame oil with 1⁄4 cup potato starch. Add diced chicken and toss to coat.
- Transfer to refrigerator and marinate for 30 minutes; this will help tenderize chicken thighs.
- Boil a large pot of water. Remove chicken from the refrigerator and place into the boiling water for 1 minute to partially cook. Strain and set aside.
- In large skillet over high heat, add 2 tbsp sesame oil. Add carrots, bamboo shoots and garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, until vegetables are tender. Add chicken and sauté until meat is fully cooked. Stir in truffle oil, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and pepper.
- In small bowl, mix 2 tbsp potato starch with 1 tbsp water to make a slurry. Add enough slurry to skillet mixture to thicken so liquid in filling is no longer runny (a loose filling will make folding dumplings difficult). Allow filling to cool, then grate in black truffle. Stir to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Make Dough
- Bring 2 cups of water to boil. In bowl, mix together wheat starch, tapioca starch and salt. Add 1 1⁄2 cups of boiling water to starch mixture. Mix well with spoon until it looks like starch has mostly dissolved.
- Take hot dough out of bowl and knead on countertop to combine ingredients. Only knead until dough looks uniform; ingredients should be combined with no lumps. Knead in oil until it’s worked into dough. Press dough into disc and tightly wrap in plastic wrap. Allow to rest until ready to use.
Assemble Fun Guo
- In large pot or wok that fits a perforated steaming tray (or something that can elevate a plate for steaming the dumplings), boil some water.
- Portion dough into 1″ balls. With tortilla press, press balls as thinly as possible, making sure wrapper has even thickness. If you don’t have a tortilla press, press with bottom of heavy pot between two layers of plastic wrap.
- Fill dumpling with about 1 tbsp cooled filling. Fold over and seal edges by applying gentle pressure. Make sure to keep edges dry so dumpling dough sticks to itself.
Cook Fun Guo
- Line steaming tray with piece of greased, perforated parchment paper. Set folded dumplings on parchment. Place tray over boiling water and cover. Steam for approximately 6 to 8 minutes, or until dough becomes translucent. Serve immediately.