Steamed dumplings with young and fresh cabbage and chimichurri sauce

For me, every recipe, every dish starts with a conversation. Thought thrown in the conversation takes root, grows, matures, and the idea becomes a reality.

I don’t know if you even bother to read these stories, but today I will offer you three. Because today’s entry is the three separate recipes, three stories, which became a feast.

It started with my eyes fixed on the young cabbage. There they are handsome, exuberant, showing off their freshness, and the only thing I could think of was that I admire my mom. Because I, my dear readers, I was an absolute nightmare. I didn’t like buckwheat, spinach, sweet cheese, baked apples, green beans, liver, potato pancakes, and, of course, the cabbage. While I liked sauerkraut – boiled, stewed, fried – its fresh sibling make me scream in absolute disgust. And my holy mother cooked two types of cabbage – fresh and sauerkraut. Just because her nightmarish kid didn’t like it.

These thoughts and memories, of course, led to the fact that instead of cauliflower, I bought cabbage.

And so I stood over it in my kitchen, overwhelmed by guilt and I made ​​a decision – I will eat this monstrosity. And I will enjoy it. 🙂

But with what? Because, the decision is the decision, but the same cabbage with cabbage, I probably did not make through it, told my horrified brain.

Do you know what Cha Siu Bao are? They’re steamed buns (baozi) stuffed with pork in barbecue sauce. Traditionally served during y , which means morning or afternoon tea.

For various reasons my mind refused to even think about pork or barbecue sauce, but the dim sum? Stuffed sweet, fresh, young and Polish cabbage? Yes, the vision of the feast was becoming more real.

And then I looked in the refrigerator, where it was waiting for me ” zapomnianka” (the forgotten surprise). A few days earlier I got from my sister’s bouquet of parsley  Not normal, but curly parsley garnish, which my sister got from my aunt, who is (thank you!) growing this miracle in her garden.

And if parsley – fragrant, green, tempting – then the chimichurri sauce. It’s very herbal, light sauce used for grilled meat. The base is the parsley (you can replace it with coriander or shiso), garlic, olive oil and oregano.

And suddenly everything worked out like a puzzle .

Steamed baozi with young cabbage and chimichurri sauce. Isn’t it the perfect meal? 🙂

Ingredients:

the baozi dough:

2/3 cups water (boiled, at room temperature)

1/3 cup juice from pears

20g of fresh yeast

1 cup bread flour

1.5 cups rye flour

3 tablespoons flour besan (chickpea)

1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed

1 tablespoon coconut oil (liquid)

cabbage stuffing:

1 head cabbage – about 1 kg

1 tablespoon light soy sauce (reduced sodium content)

1 tablespoon of buckwheat honey

0.5 cups of boiling water

zest and juice of one lime

freshly ground green pepper

2 tablespoons toasted sunflower seeds

chimichurri sauce:

bunch of parsley

1/4 cup oregano leaves

1/4 cup basil leaves

2 cloves of garlic

1 green pepper

1 green onion (scallion with stems)

juice of one lime + zest (optional)

2 – 3 tablespoons of olive oil

Preparations:

• In a small bowl, mix the water and the juice of pears. The fluid should be at room temperature. Add the yeast – leave it aside to ferment.
• Sift the flours into a bowl. Add salt, flaxseed, coconut oil and the juice with yeast. Quickly knead the dough. Let it stand in a warm place to rise, for about 2 hours.
• Wash the cabbage, cut into quarters. Then chop cabbage.  If necessary, rinse with cold water and after draining move into the pot.
• Melt the honey in boiling water, add to the cabbage. Add the soy sauce and pepper. Cook for 7 – 10 minutes on a fairly high heat, with the lid, until the cabbage softens.
• At the end of cooking, reduce the heat, add the zest and lime juice, boil to evaporate liquid.
• Add the sunflower seeds, stir and leave to cool.
• Ingredients for the sauce translate into a blender and mix. If it is too thick – carefully add the water, but then you will need stir sauce before serving.
• Portion the dough into 16 – 20 parts. Form each into round shape.
• At the center of each circle put a tablespoon (or two) of cabbage stuffing and wrap the edges to the center, creating a pouch. Wrap gently the dough, so baozi did not open.
• Leave buns for 15 minutes to rise a little, and then steam them for 20 minutes.
• Remember line steamer with slightly damp gauze.

Serve baozi hot (be careful, because stuffing is also very hot, so it is good idea to wait several minutes to prevent burning), and the sauce in a separate bowl.

Enjoy it!