Dumplings All Day Wong by Lee Ann Wong - book review and recipe!

I received the book Dumplings All Day Wong free of charge.  All opinions of the book are my own.  This post contains affiliate links.

I have always loved the idea of dumplings.  Little bits of tasty foods secured together in a soft shell and then steamed, boiled or fried to perfection.  Mmmm... so good.  If you love dumplings, you will want to check out celebrity chef and TV personality Lee Ann Wong's new book Dumplings All Day Wong.  

I was given this awesome cookbook to review and have been having a lot of fun with it!  I have learned so much already and I haven't even scratched the surface.  The book is filled with so many different recipes, styles and techniques for making dumplings.  It also has a lot of side dish and sauce recipes to complete any dumpling meal you may want to have.

So far, I have successfully made the recipe for Toasted Almond Cookie Dumplings, and they were DELICIOUS.  Yes, I meant to have my caps lock on with that word.  THEY WERE DELICIOUS.  

As you know, I never, ever have all the right ingredients in my house for any given recipe.  But I made an exception with this one and took a specific trip to the grocery store to purchase every ingredient exactly.  

...Well, so I thought.  When I got home, I realized I didn't have almond extract so I had to borrow it from my neighbor friend Kate.  But otherwise?  I was golden.  Here's the recipe:

Toasted Almond Cookie Dumplings

• 8 tbsp (115 g) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes 
• 3⁄4 cup (100 g) confectioners’ sugar 
• 3⁄4 cup (75 g) almond meal or almond flour* 
• 1 large egg 
• 1½ tbsp (15 g) cornstarch 
• 1 tsp (5 ml) almond extract 
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract 
• ¼ tsp salt 
• ½ cup (85 g) lightly toasted sliced almonds 
• 40 round or square dumpling wrappers 
• Oil for deep frying 
• Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter on low speed until soft and whipped. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat on high for 30 seconds. Add the almond meal and beat for 30 seconds more. Add the egg, cornstarch, almond and vanilla extracts, and salt. Mix on low speed until well incorporated, about 1 minute. Fold in the toasted sliced almonds using a spatula. Cover and refrigerate the filling for at least an hour.
Place 1 tablespoon (12 g) of filling in the middle of a square wrapper and wet the edges of the wrapper using a pastry brush or your finger. Bring the two opposite corners together over the filling, using water to pinch the two corners together. Bring the remaining two corners to the center and seal all the edges together with a gentle pinch. You may use this technique with round wrappers also to achieve either a square (four seams) or a triangle (three seams).
Preheat a few inches of oil to 340°F/170°C in a heavy-bottomed pot. Add the dumplings a few pieces at a time. Gently turn the dumplings in the oil, cooking until all sides are golden brown, about 3 minutes. Drain the dumplings on paper towels.
Make sure the heat of the oil stays at 340°F/170°C while frying the dumplings, and return the oil to this temperature before adding new dumplings. Serve warm, dusted with confectioners’ sugar.

 Because I am new to dumpling making, I followed every direction exactly and didn't go off on my usual tangent when making anything in the kitchen.  Delicious.

If you'd like to check out the book for yourself, here's a link for ya:   

                                                                          

Thanks for checking it out!