'Asian on the outside, European on the inside' Dumplings

I love dumplings, I want then fried, boil, steamed. Filled with beef, prawns, veggies. When I lived in Chongqing, China, I ate dumplingsoup (wontonsoup) for breakfast. Or went to the dumpling restaurant to have lunch. And then, when having dinner, there would always appear a big steaming platter of fresh made dumpling!

When I came back to Holland I missed my dumplings. I wanted to share my new found love with my friends. The only problem, almost all my friends are vegetarians. So I had a big dilemma, how to eat lovely dumplings with my lovely friends. Around that time beetroots just got in season, so my head was busy thinking about green salads with beetroots and goat cheese. And then the magic happened. How about filling the dumpling with root vegetables and cheese?! 'Asian on the outside, European on the inside' Dumplings where born. There not only delicious but also pretty on the eyes. On the outside you see a touch of pink, but when you bite in to one, the yummy red-pinkish filling becomes visible.

Deepfried 'Asian on the outside, European on the inside' Dumplings
1 package of wonton pastry, I use the deep fry square wonton pastry
1 big or 2 small beetroots
1 small sweet potato, or purple yam
1 carrot
125 grams of soft goat cheese or 125 grams of sheep goat feta
pepper and salt

Take the wonton pastry out of the freezer and let it defrost to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 400 °F. Wash the vegetables, leaving the skin on. If the vegetables are big you can cut them in half. Put them in a baking tray and drizzle some oil. Pop them in the oven for 30-45 minutes, check if the vegetables are done by checking the softness with a fork. Let the vegetables cool down, so they're easier to work with. When manageable, peel the vegetables. Now you can choose to mash all of them or leaving some beetroot aside for some bite. Mash them with a fork, if you want cut some of the beetroots in small tiny cubes and add to the mashed mixture.
Crumble in the cheese and taste. Use salt an pepper to your liking.

Filling the dumplings is a important task. You need to fill the dumpling and seal it, otherwise all the yummy fillings will burst out while frying. Giving a big mess and probably nasty burnmarks and tears. Make a small filling station, get all your ingredients, a teaspoon, a little bowl of water, a sheet or plate for the finished dumplings. Now start filling, take one wrapper and lay it in the palm of your non-writing hand. Scope a teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper. Wet your indexfinger and swipe two sides of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper into a triangle, the wet sides on the dry sides. push them together and wave the rest a bit together. So you get a wavy effect, like you can see in the picture.

To fry the dumplings I just use a pan with sunflower oil. But a deepfryer will work the same. If you use a pan, fill that pan with around 500 ml of oil. turn on high heat and keep an eye on the oil. The moment it looks like strings are dancing inside the oil it's getting close to the right temperature.
Using the deepfryer, preheat the deepfryer to 180°C/ 350 °F.
Now it's time to fry! Let the dumplings slide into the oil, filling down and sliding away from you, so if it slashes you won't get burned. Keep an eye on the dumplings, they need to become golden brown and crispy, it will take only a few minutes. Because the filling is already cooked, it's only about making sure the wrapper pasty is crisp and cooked.

Let the fried dumplings leak in a collander with papertowels to get rid of excess oil.
Serve hot and crispy, with sweet chili sauce or Vietnamese Nouc Mam Cham (recipe will be there soon!). But most importantly, enjoy with good friends!