“This dumpling came about by accident,” says Tony Tan. “I had leftover duck curry in the fridge one day and, because it was slightly gelatinous, I thought I could add extra gelatine to make the sauce thicker, then stuff it into dumplings. I put teaspoonfuls of the curry into gow gee wrappers, then poached them. It was a hit with friends. Foie gras shavings are a marvellous topping for this dumpling.”
Makes 20
Ingredients
20 gow gee wrappers
Duck curry filling
2 tablespoons red curry paste, or to taste
½ cup (125ml) coconut cream
500g Chinese roast duck meat, minced by hand
½ cup (125ml) coconut milk
2 makrut lime leaves, finely shredded
100g bamboo shoots or water chestnuts, finely diced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons palm sugar (or jaggery), grated
2 gelatine leaves
Curry sauce
2 cups (500ml) thin coconut milk
2–4 teaspoons red curry paste, to taste
1 teaspoon grated palm sugar (or jaggery)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 makrut lime leaves, thinly sliced, plus extra to serve
½ teaspoon paprika
Pinch of salt, or to taste
Method
For the filling, add the red curry paste and half the coconut cream to a saucepan and stir constantly over medium heat until fragrant. Stir in the duck meat, then add the remaining ingredients, except for the gelatine. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, soften the gelatine leaves in a little cold water. Squeeze out excess water from the gelatine, then stir it into the hot curry until dissolved. Remove the curry from the heat, cool, then refrigerate for 6 hours or until set. Meanwhile, for the curry sauce, combine the coconut milk, curry paste, palm sugar and fish sauce in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally. Add the lime leaves and paprika, then check the seasoning and add a little salt if you think it needs it. Keep warm.
Place the gow gee wrappers on a clean surface. Spoon 1 teaspoon filling on one half of each wrapper, brush the opposite edge with water and fold over to form a half moon. Pinch the edges together to seal. Poach the dumplings, in batches, in boiling salted water until they float to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and serve immediately with a spoonful of the curry sauce and extra sliced lime leaves. You can use the rest of the sauce as a dipping sauce.
