HMOH homemaid: shrimp + bok choy dumplings

I could spend another post commenting on the freak factors I saw on my walk to work this morning, but I'm going to keep it positive.  Like about food and how awesome I am.

A few weeks ago my friends and I had a lovely little evening at Haven's Kitchen, the coolest cooking school in NYC.  We rolled up our sleeves and learned the ins and outs of Asian dumpling making and then gathered around a table to enjoy the fruits - ok, pork shumai- of our labor (see more here).  When the teacher lit a stove on fire to cook them, I simply asked how one does that in an NYC kitchen. Everyone laughed because I'm funny, but no ... seriously. 

Inspired to take my skills and apply then to my 75 ft not square kitchen and not burn the place down, I made my own variation last evening.  A real NYC kitchen, where I had to remove my dish drying rack and place it in the living room floor so I had another few inches of counter space.  Using no set recipe and groceries I picked up at a Korean grocery store this weekend, I winged it hard core.

Behold ...

STEAMED SHRIMP + BOK CHOY DUMPLINGS

You'll need: Prepared dumpling wrappers (buy at a specialty store), scallions (2 stalks), water chestnuts (half a can), baby bok choy (three heads), ginger root, uncooked shrimp (8 pieces).

how-to:  I finely chopped the ingredients I thought would go well together and placed them in a bowl.

Next, I sauteed them on my small ass gas stove so that the shrimp was cooked and the bok choy wilted.  I poured in a little (ok, prob a lot) soy sauce to give it flavor.

After the contents were cooked, I put them back into the bowl and drained the excess water... checked in on The Bachelorette Men Tell All, yep ... still stupid ... and got ready to roll.

Dumpling making is quite the craft and you need to be awesome at it.  I did much better in my class than in the comforts of my own home.  First, you dip your finger in water and wet the edges - sounds dirty right?  Take the left hand corner (right if you're a lefty) and fold in so the contents will stay.  Next you place your dumpling middle into the center and start to fold, press, fold, press.

Voila!  Dumplings ... ok, dumplings on crack.  Next I put them in my handy, dandy steamer (who needs a real kitchen when you have one of these bad boys, and cooked for about 15-20 minutes.  My bad, I lost track as I watched Chris cry AGAIN on the TV. 

Soy sauce drizzled and served with a side of seaweed salad (store bought, I'm not that awesome), I kicked back with my TV dinner stand, realized there was still another hour to go with Emily, and enjoyed.

-HMOH