If you don’t feel like cooking, but also don’t want to default to heat-and-eat or, much less, takeout… Here’s a summer-friendly recipe you can whip up in 45 minutes that makes Dim Sum into a proper main dish… And it’s ‘beginner’ easy!
There are many Thai-inspired Coconut-Lime-rooted recipes on the Internet. It’s a traditional pairing of Asian/Tropical flavours everybody seems to love. No wonder it was an instant classic when it arrived on Western shores…
How easy is it?
This dish is soooo easy, even a first-time cook can do it! Just 5 minutes prep time and 40 minutes in the oven. And you’ve got a bright, spicy, saucy Thai MAIN that needs nothing more than noodles or steamed rice to make it a meal. Of course, a side salad – how about fresh mango? – would balance the meal perfectly.
What you need
The heart and soul of this dish is easier than you might fear. Recipe contributor, cookbook author Hannah Kling says do what most modern Asian cooks do: Use frozen dumplings from your fave Asian gro-cery. She prefers Goyza dumplings. They have a mixed parentage, in as much as they originated in China as steamed Dim Sum-style treats, but have more recently been popularized as fried dump-lings in Japan. Your fave classic Chinese goody pockets will work just as well.
Enter, Soyaki Sauce…
Another pivotal ingredient is Soyaki Sauce. I hadn’t heard about it until now, either. It’s described generically as, “classic Hawaiian Teriyaki sauce, the kind of taste you’ll get from a lot of Hawaiian BBQ joints in the States as well as on the islands…”
You should be able to get jarred Soyaki Sauce at specialty shops such as Trader Joe’s or Asian grocery stores. But you can easily make your own using a few simple ingredients:
- Combine 1/4 cup of soy sauce with 3 tablespoons of brown sugar.
- Add 1 tablespoon each of sesame oil, rice vinegar, and toasted sesame seeds.
- Whisk in roughly 3 to 4 cloves of minced or pressed garlic and 1 tablespoon of minced or pressed fresh ginger.
Just stir all the ingredients together in a dish large enough to accommodate them. Today’s recipe uses 3 tablespoons.
Other ingredients include
-
- Full-fat Coconut Milk (the thick and creamy kind)
- Red Thai Curry oil, sauce or paste
- Fresh Garlic
- Fresh Spinach leaves
What you do
Mix up the sauce and pour into a large casserole dish.
Scatter the Spinach leaves over that base layer.
Arrange the dumplings crimped edge-up on top of the spinach leaves and space them a little so all sides (except, maybe, the top edge) will bathe in the sauce.
Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 350 F.
I TOLD you it was easy…
Tips and hacks…
Obviously, you can control the Thai Chili heat to suit your taste.
DON’T thaw the dumplings first. Add them straight from the freezer — they hold their shape better and won’t turn mushy while baking.
Feel free to add other veggies to the spinach layer. Asian faves such as Chinese Broccoli, thin-sliced baby Bok Choi, thin-sliced or slivered Daikon Radish and chopped scallions work well. Western veg-gies that have found their way into Asian recipes such as julienned carrots or Bell Peppers (any or all colours) will add flavour and colour.
My take
If you want fast, easy, summery and ‘different’, this is the classy family supper for you. It will also ‘wow’ your guests. It’s a great MAIN, by itself, but can also serve as a stalwart companion to Grilled Chicken.
I also think it’s a great first-dish for folks just getting into Asian cuisine!
~ Maggie J.