Five-Spice Roasted Shiitake Mushroom Dumplings
With Thai Curry Aioli

The idea for this recipe came about in a funny, non-linear way. It all started last week while I was testing out some Thai curry paste blends. Simmering the curry paste with vegetables and coconut milk made for a great curry, but I knew I wanted to stretch its potential even further. Thai curry aioli sounded intriguing. I put a pin in it. 

The night before that I was making dinner over at Chad’s. Chad is a good friend; we met at work in the kitchen of a restaurant cutely named All Day Darling that I started working at a few months back. That night we had gotten together to discuss our collaborative art project called The Bridge. It’s a mixed-media wild mushroom graphic novel cookbook. I’ll be teasing it out as time goes, so be sure to keep your eyes out for it.

For dinner I decided to roast us up some Brussels sprouts tossed in Chinese five-spice. I splashed in some of my burdock root vinegar that I have been playing around with. The Brussels were great. Finger-licking good, even. This ought to go up on the blog, I thought.

Days later, I was juggling Thai curry aioli, burdock root vinegar, and Chinese five-spice in my head. It was then that Brussels turned to shiitake mushrooms that are rolled into dumplings—and viola!—the idea for this recipe was born.

These are the most flavorfully complex dumplings I’ve ever had. The five-spice plays so, so well into the meaty, umami richness that is shiitake mushrooms. The Thai curry aioli almost all too easily suspends more than a dozen layers of strikingly fresh curry flavors in itself. Toasted seeds, at first serving the sole purpose of garnish, proved to be an incredible asset to the dish. The sensation you get with a mouthful of Thai curry aioli mixed with toasted seeds is so wonderful that it is difficult to put into words. It’s like tasting a grainy curried mustard from another dimension.

The entire project from start to finish took a little under three hours. However, feel free to take your time. Divide the work over a day or two. My curry paste recipe yields enough for one batch of aioli, while also leaving you with enough left over for another single use. Maybe curry. Maybe a gnarly Thai curry vinaigrette. That’s next on my list. 

For the dumpling wrappers:
(Yields 20 wrappers, at least)

• 280g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 120ml boiling water
• cornstarch, for dusting

For the mushroom dumpling filling:
(Yields approx. 1 pint)

• 200g shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed
• 100g green cabbage, finely chopped
• 50g scallions, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoon five-spice seasoning blend
• A splash of soy sauce or persimmon shoyu
• A generous glug of olive oil, to coat
• A splash of rice vinegar or burdock root vinegar

 For the Thai curry paste:
(Yields 1/4 cup)

• 8g lemongrass, tough outer parts removed, grated
• 30g ginger, peeled and grated
• 10g garlic, green germ removed, grated
• 25g shallot, grated
• 1g orange zest, grated
• 1g cumin seeds, toasted
• 1g coriander seeds, toasted
• 2g turmeric
• A pinch of salt
• A dash of lime juice

For the Thai curry aioli:
(Yields approx. 1 pint)

• 45g egg (whites and yolk)
• 20g Thai curry paste
• 6g lemon juice
• 6g Dijon mustard
• 5g kosher salt
• 300g grapeseed oil

To garnish:

• Cilantro leaves
• Toasted Seeds
• Scallions, thinly sliced

To make the dumpling wrapper dough: Stir the flour and salt together in a mixing bowl. Stir the just-boiling water slowly (and carefully) into the flour using a fork. Hydrate the dough as fully and evenly as you can. You’ll notice right away that the dough is pretty dry. Fight the temptation to add more water; the dough will hydrate further once rested. Knead the dough for a few minutes on a cornflour dusted work surface. Divide the dough in half and roll into logs. Wrap each log firmly in its own plastic; set aside in the refrigerator to rest for at least 30 minutes.

To make the mushroom filling: Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 400 F. Toss all of the mushroom filling ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Transfer the filling to a baking sheet and roast until the cabbage and scallions begin to caramelize, about 15-20 minutes. Don’t forget to check the filling occasionally as it cooks, flipping the mushrooms or stirring the scallions and cabbage to ensure even roasting. Transfer the contents of the baking sheet to a food processor, along with a splash of vinegar. Pulse a few times until you have a smooth but chunky mix. Set aside.

To make the curry paste: Use a microplane set over a mortar to finely grate the lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and shallots. Dry toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a pan until fragrant but not brown and add those to the mortar as well. Lastly, add the turmeric, salt and lemon juice. Use a pestle to combine all of the ingredients until you are left with a fragrant, homogenous paste.

To make the Thai curry aioli: In a food processor, pulse the curry paste, Dijon, lemon juice and egg together until combined. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in all of the grapeseed oil until completely emulsified. Lastly, add the salt and pulse to combine. Transfer the aioli to a squeeze bottle. If you don’t have squeeze bottles, consider picking up a few. They’re quite handy. Set aside.

To form the dumplings: Remove the plastic wrapped dough logs from the fridge and place them on a cornstarch dusted work surface. Separate the dough and the plastic. Using a sharp knife, slice the logs into thin coins. Dust the coins with cornstarch. Next, use a rolling pin to roll out the coins into proper wrappers. Dust with additional cornstarch to keep the wrappers from sticking to each other. When all of the wrappers are rolled out, it’s time to start filling. Have a bowl of water at the ready. Working with one wrapper at a time, start by using your finger to brush some drops of water around the wrapper rim. This is to help the wrapper seal. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center and fold the wrapper in half. Use pressure to seal the edges. At this point you can get creative; shape the dumplings however you'd like, or leave them be as half-moons for a minimalistic look.

To cook the dumplings: When all of your dumplings are rolled out, heat a tablespoon of oil in saute pan over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add your dumplings (It may be wise to cook the dumplings in batches depending on the size of your pan.) Let the dumplings pan fry until they develop crispy brown bottoms, between 1-3 minutes. Next, toss in a quarter cup of water and quickly place a lid over the pan. Lower the heat to medium. Let the dumplings steam for a few minutes. Check the dumplings for doneness. Repeat the steaming once more if necessary. Remove the dumplings from the pan and set aside.

To plate, form a bed of cilantro leaves. Follow with toasted seeds and thinly sliced scallions. Next, squeeze dollops of Thai curry aioli over the cilantro in a grid. Place the dumplings overtop. Finish more toasted seeds. Serve hot, with additional sides of Thai curry aioli.