Steamed Scallop and Chive Dumplings

No Chinese New Year celebration would be complete without dumplings -- a token of good luck. These scallop and chive dumplings graced our dinner table. Sweet scallop meat, garlic chives and fragrant ginger encased in a golden wrapper. I was beginning to feel pretty darn lucky already!

Wishing you a year filled with good fortune, good luck and, of course, good eats!

Scallop and Chive Dumplings
Dumpling filling:
1 lb of bay scallops (no need to dish out the extra dough for the large ones since we'll be mincing them)
1/2 cup of garlic chives, diced finely
1 carrot, diced finely
1 tsp ginger root, minced
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp sugar (Asian cooking often uses a little sugar to balance the saltiness of the dish)
Soy sauce and white pepper to taste

3 dozen round dumpling wrappers, store bought or homemade

Pulse your filling ingredients in your food processor until incorporated. You want small chunks, not baby food. That's it. How easy is that. This filling can also be used to stuff mushrooms or simply pan fried to make scallop cakes.

The assembly: Have a little bowl of water near by. This will be your glue for your dumplings. In one hand, hold the dumpling wrapper. Use the other hand to spoon in about 1 tablespoon of filling. Using the same hand, dip one finger into the water. Wet the outer edge of one half of the wrapper. Now fold it into a semi-circle. Now I make about 3 or 4 pleats, depending on the amount of filling. I pleat both sides of the wrapper.
Place finished dumplings on a sheet lined with parchment paper. Once you're ready, the dumplings can be steamed, fried or even both for pot stickers. In the above picture, I steamed mine for about 10 minutes in a bamboo steamer lined with napa cabbage leaves.