This is a special dish I created to celebrate the Chinese (Lunar) New Year. It has a slightly oriental touch thanks to the spices I used.
I made my own Five Spices powder using a spice grinder and organic cloves, fennel seeds, star anise, cinnamon and Sichuan peppercorns. I also powdered some dehydrated orange peel from the organic, untreated oranges. Both spices are easily available from Asian grocers but not always in organic quality so I prefer to make my own.
For the dumplings I used the golden beets. The filling is slightly spicy and sweet. Each dumpling is made of two slices of beet. I used a pasta stamp to make the slices stick a bit better together.
The dumplings are perfect on their own but if you like you can make a "dipping" sauce. You will not be able to really dip the dumplings the way you would the pan stickers, but you can drizzle some sauce on them if you want to.
Ingredients:
- 1 large golden beet per person
for the filling
- 1 cup walnuts soaked in water overnight and dehydrated
- 2 medjool dates soaked in water overnight (this makes them very soft)
- 2 sun dried tomatoes, re-hydrated
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped
- 1 tsp Chinese Five Spices Powder
- 1 tsp powdered dried orange peel
- 1 tsp nama shoyu or tamari
- 1 tsp cold pressed sesame oil or mild virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp orange zest, optional
- 1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt to balance the flavors
for the sauce
- 1/3 cup nama shoyu (unpasteurized soy sauce) or tamari
- 1 Tbsp cold pressed sesame oil
- 1 hot bird chili pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp crushed white sesame seeds
Method:
- In a food processor pulse blend all the ingredients for the filling. The filling should be like a slightly coarse but rather sticky paste. Adjust the taste as needed.
- Transfer the filling into a bowl, cover and set aside.
- Wash and peel the beets. Using a mandolin or a very sharp knife cut the beets into very thin slices. To make the slices perfectly round you may want to use a cookie cutter on each slice. If the beet slices feel too hard and rigid, you may want to soften them by mixing them with a pinch of salt and a little lemon juice, and allowing to sit for a few minutes. You can rinse off the excess salt as soon as the feel soft and pliable.
- To make the sauce whisk the soy sauce with sesame oil, add sliced chili pepper and green onion. Portion out the sauce in individual dipping dishes. Add a little crushed sesame seeds to each and keep ready for serving.
- To make the dumplings place a beet slice on a flat surface, add about 1 teaspoon of the filling and another slice on top and press the edges. You may want to use a pasta stamp to do this. Set aside and continue until you run out of the filling or the beet slices. With the amount of filling you should be able to make at least 16 dumplings.
- Arrange the dumplings on a large platter or portion them out on individual plates. Serve with the dipping sauce. Enjoy in good company!
Wishing everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous Year of the Snake!
Happy start into a New Lunar Year!
In radiant health, passionately raw - Dominique
Dominique Allmon©2025