Take a Cooking Class at Ladles & Linens

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Ready for a fun and easy way to make dinner tonight? Try Asian dumplings made by hand! 

I love dumplings! Plump potato filled pierogi from Poland, cheese filled ravioli from Italy, Mom’s chicken and dumplings in Virginia and my absolute favorite – Asian dumplings.

Recently I attended a cooking class at the downtown location of Ladles and Linens and learned how easy it is to make these little bundles of deliciousness. The class was taught by the store owner Sarah Nicholas.

Her background is impressive; she had a career as an FBI agent then decided to go to culinary school. After graduation from culinary school she hosted her own cooking show “The Story of Food” on PBS, then the opportunity to buy Ladles and Linens came her way with stores in Richmond, Lexington and Roanoke.

The store has fabulous cookware, every kitchen gadget you’ll ever need, hostess gifts plus it’s a great resource for cooks who want to expand their cooking repertoire. When you have questions about cooking or cookware I recommend talking with Valerie Angle, Manager, Ladles and Linens. She loves cooking and helping her customers have fun in the kitchen.

It’s amazing how easy it is to make dumplings. A few cookware items which Ladles and Linens carry are needed to get started. A bamboo steamer and a garlic mincer. A wok to place the bamboo steamer in is helpful but a large skillet will work.

Here’s the really cool thing about the garlic mincer. It will mince many items, much more than just garlic. Sarah used the mincer to mince the shrimp (much quicker and fine texture than chopping with a knife) in this recipe for shrimp dumplings: (All ingredients for Asian dumplings can be found in the grocery store or at the J and L Oriental Food Market 3109 Brambleton Avenue.)

Har Gow (Dim Sum Shrimp Dumplings)

  • ½ pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, minced with garlic mincer or finely diced
  • 1 teaspoon ponzu (citrus based sauce used in Japanese cooking)
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ginger, minced with garlic mincer or finely diced
  • ¼ cup bamboo shoots, finely diced
  • 2 egg whites
  • Wonton wrappers
  • Nappa cabbage

Combine shrimp, ponzu, pepper, sesame oil, salt, ginger, bamboo shoots and egg whites in a bowl. Mix to combine all ingredients. To make each dumpling, place a wonton wrapper on a flat surface and dab a little water around the edges with your fingers.

Dumplings can be shaped many different ways but the easiest is to put the filling in the middle of the wonton wrapper, fold it over to make a triangle, press the edges together, and then crimp the edges with your thumb and forefinger.

Place nappa cabbage leaves in the base of your bamboo steamer. Place steamer base over steaming water in a wok or large skillet. Cover the steamer base with the bamboo steamer top and allow to steam until the dumplings are cooked, approximately 15 – 20 minutes.

Do not remove the top of the steamer while the dumplings are cooking. Serve hot with dipping sauce.

Sarah served the Har Gow with a coconut dipping sauce but I was so busy eating the dumplings, I forgot to write down the recipe, so here are a couple of my favorite dipping sauces:

2 ingredient dipping sauce:

  • Stir together 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce with 1/4 cup apricot preserves (melt the apricot preserves in the microwave for just a few seconds so that it is easier to mix with the chili sauce.)

Coconut Curry Dipping Sauce

From: Seriouseats.com

  • 6 tablespoons coconut milk
  • 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons fresh juice from 1 lime
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons Asian fish sauce
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon grated fresh peeled ginger

Combine coconut milk and curry paste in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring, until slightly thickened and fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, combine lime juice, soy sauce, fish sauce, honey, and ginger in a small bowl. Add coconut-curry mixture and stir thoroughly to combine. Serve.

We also enjoyed Vegetarian Mushroom Gyoza and Pork Potstickers. Sarah and Valerie shared many cooking tips and hacks that even a seasoned cook like me enjoyed learning. One was how to peel ginger with the back of a spoon. Here I’ve been peeling ginger with a knife and loosing half of the ginger in the process.

Ladles and Linens is offering more cooking classes starting in August: 

August 1 – Summer Cocktails

September 5 – Coffee Recipes and Libations

October 3 – Sushi Making

December 12 – The Art of the Crostini

Classes are $40 each or $150 for the 4 class package.

All classes include fun, instruction, food and libations! Stay tuned to the ladles and linens website and Facebook for more information. You can register online, via e-mail to Roanoke@ladlesandlinens.com or in the store.

About the Writer:

Following her career in healthcare dining and nutrition management, Becky Ellis followed her passion to create Bubblybee, a champagne and food blog. Her motto is "Don't wait to celebrate! Pop the cork now!" She loves to share tips for entertaining with bubbly. Find her creative recipes and champagne tasting notes at bubblybee.net and Instagram @bubblybeeboop.