Pour hot water over the glass noodles in a bowl for 5 minutes to rehydrate, then drain.
Mix tofu, shiitakes, carrots, and glass noodles in a large bowl. All pieces should be very small and of similar size. Add remaining scallion and ginger. Also add soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, white pepper, and ground Sichuan peppercorn and stir to combine. Taste to test there is enough salt in the filling. Add more flavoring if needed.
Place a dumpling skin in your palm. Scoop a dollop of filling in the center of the skin. Fold the skin in half, and pinch the top of the semicircle together. Starting from one side, pleat and pinch the edges until the filling is fully sealed and the dumpling has the shape of a crescent.
TO BOIL DUMPLINGS:
While you are wrapping, fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add the dumplings in batches of 20, and when the water returns to a boil, cook for 5 minutes. Drain and serve immediately.
TO PAN-FRY DUMPLINGS:
Heat a flat-bottomed pan and add a layer of vegetable oil to coat the bottom. Place the uncooked dumplings in a single layer on the pan, making sure that each dumpling gets a bit of oil on the bottom of it. Add hot water 3/4 of the way up the dumpling and cover for 7-8 minutes or until the water is almost evaporated out of the pan. Check the bottoms of the dumplings in the center of the pan to see if the bottoms are brown and crisp. Serve once they've reached the desired crispiness. To crisp dumplings even more, add about a tablespoon more oil around the pan.
Chile Sauce
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup oil
3 tablespoons ground dried chile peppers
PREPARATION
Heat oil in a wok for 3 minutes on high until oil is about 140 degrees Celsius. Place ground chile peppers in a heat-safe bowl. (If you like, you can also add some garlic, leek, ginger, salt, and/or coriander seeds.) Pour the hot oil over the chiles and mix thoroughly. Let cool before serving.
Cold Shredded Tofu Salad
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
3/4 pound shredded tofu skin, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 green pepper, cut into 2-inch matchsticks
1/2 medium carrot, cut into 2-inch matchsticks
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
2 scallions, chopped
1 tablespoon scallion oil (recipe below)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
1 teaspoon sesame oil
PREPARATION
In a large bowl, toss the tofu, green pepper, carrot, cilantro, scallions, ginger, and garlic. Pour the leek oil over the tofu mixture and toss.Add the salt, pepper, vinegar, and sesame oil, toss, and serve immediately.
Leek Oil
Place
1 quart cooking oil,
1 leek cut into large chunks, 5 large slices of ginger, 1 bunch of cilantro with stems and leaves roughly chopped, and 2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns in a wok and heat over medium-low. Simmer in oil until ingredients are browned, about 20 minutes.
Strain oil and discard the rest.
Note: These recipes have not been tested by the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen.
Jen Lin-Liu is the author of Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China (Harcourt) and On the Noodle Road: From Beijing to Rome with Love and Pasta (Riverhead). She is also the founder of the Beijing cooking school Black Sesame Kitchen. She lives in Chengdu, China.
