Riesling and Homemade Dumplings

If you don't like overly sweet Riesling, we are on the same channel then!  I have a love-hate relationship with Riesling.  I used to dislike Riesling since most of the Riesling I have tried before was towards the sweet end.  I don't mind the German Riesling that is a little bit sweet but has very balanced acidity, it is a great pre-dinner drink on its own.  However, some Rieslings I have tasted are just sweet and flat!  But I have changed my mind after trying an aged Riesling that a colleague ordered at a work lunch.  When the wine was poured into the wine glasses, you can immediately see the nice golden orange colour with a touch of brown.  At first, I thought it was a dessert wine, I have never seen a Riesling in that colour.  Surprisingly, it has fruity aroma together with the typical petrol smell that a Riesling gives.  I thought the fruity character would have all changed to the aged characters, but it hasn't.  Such a wonderfully balanced wine, so smooth and complex! 

My love-hate relationship with Rieslings remains, as you have to drink this wine at the PERFECT time, it has a plateau phase where the flat and dullness comes in after the initial peak, but a second peak is right at the end.  I guess if you drink the wine within 5 years, you should still be in its first peak with nice fruity characteristics.  But the question is, when is it the good time for the nice aged complex characters to develop?  It will be different from wine to wine, I guess you just have to do it with a trial and error, frustrating!  [*If you happen to come across one at its mature stage, please leave the wine and vintage in the comment box, much appreciated!]

I was still in a lazy mode towards the end of my ten days holiday, but I still wanted to cook and enjoy a glass of nice wine.  Plus, the dumpling bugs were starting to bite!  So I've decided to invite some friends over to have some fresh dumplings and Riesling.  I pulled out a bottle of Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling 2009 from my collection (too bad, just can't wait for it to age) and decided to make some steam dumplings (Chiu Chow dumplings - 潮洲粉果) that Matt Preston, the food critic said on Masterchef that it is the most difficult Dim Sim to make!  I have got a traditional home recipe, quite simple, and the dough is also easy to handle.  Since I keep getting requests from my friends for my recipes... ... ok, ok, I'll put it here!  Hope this doesn't turn into a cooking blog!


For the fillings:
Prepare 125g of mince pork, marinate with a pinch of salt, pepper and a table spoon of sesame oil; 10 bamboo shoots (available in cans); 20 water chestnuts (available in cans); 1/2 carrot; 8-10 fresh mushroom (or pre-soaked dried mushroom).  Chop all ingredients into fine dice and fry the ingredients separately, then combine all the ingredients and add 1/2 cup of chicken stock, reduce completely.  Season to taste (you can add more salt or soy if necessary).








For the dough:
Mix 1 cup of wheat starch (澄面 , you can get it from any Asian groceries) and a teaspoon of corn starch, slowly add 1 cup of hot water, little by little until all the flour combined.  (Note: you may need more or less water depend on the humidity on the day)

Then work the dough on a floured surface (using wheat starch), fold several times (careful, it's hot), then roll it out into a long tube, and cover with a wet towel (so the dough won't dry up).  Pinch a 20c coin size piece from the end and roll it into a ball.  Press to flatten it on a floured surface, sprinkle some flour/starch on top and roll it out with a rolling pin until the pastry is 2mm thick.  Repeat with the rest of your dough.

Put fillings onto the middle of the pastry, fold in half and pinch pastry together to seal.


Steaming:
Line a plate with baking paper, brush a thin layer of oil on each dumpling and space it out on the plate (be careful not to overlap the dumplings, they'll stick to one another).  Boil sufficient water in a big wok, and when the water is boiled, put the plate with dumplings on a wire rack in the wok.  Cover with a lid and steam for 6 minutes.  

When the dumplings were ready, you can see the fillings through the transparent skin calling out to us "eat me! eat me!".  We quickly sat down and took a bite, the pastry was chewy and the fillings were juicy with some crunchiness from the water chestnuts, yum!  Oh yes, back to my wine!  The nicely chilled Petaluma Riesling was fresh and crisp, a hint of citrus on the palate, so refreshing.  It is a perfect match with the dumplings with neither overpowering the other.  My favourite phase "Marinated in harmony"!  To my foody & wine lover friends, do try this combination and tell me what you think!

As you would have guessed, how can we be satisfied with just a bottle of wine!  We then opened the Little Wine Company's Merlot 2007, yes it's a Mer- lo-, I know what you're thinking, a straight Merlot, stops at mid-palate, how unsatisfactory!  This Merlot is so delicate, a nice bright cherry red colour, full of fruity aroma with soft tannins.  My friend described it as "perfume", spot on!  The smooth and fruitiness of the berries goes around and around in your mouth, who cares it stops at mid-palate.  Another great wine from the Little Wine Company, although my favourite is still the exceptional Sangiovese!