Cheese of any variety is not a typical ingredient in
chinese cooking, but
cream cheese works amazingly well with these deep-fried dumplings.
Ingredients:
125g (about 4 oz) cream cheese (if it isn't the spreadable kind, let it soften at room temperature)
3 chopped green onion stalks
1/2 t minced ginger
about 30 dumpling wrappers (you can find these in the frozen foods section of big supermarkets - they might also be called wonton wrappers.)
Directions:
1. In a bowl, mix the green onion and ginger in to the cream cheese. Using a butter knife with cutting motions is the fastest way I've found.
2. Place a small amount of the filling in each wrapper, and fold it up. (There are various techniques for this, depending on what shape the wrapper is. However you do it, make sure you pinch firmly any seams so that the cream cheese doesn't escape during cooking. I like to plop the filling in the middle of the wrapper, and gather up the corners and scrunch them together.)
3. Heat about 3 cups of oil (I use canola.) in a deep pot until hot but not smoking. Carefully drop two or three dumplings in at a time and remove when they are crispy and nicely browned. Drain on paper towels.
These are very rich and a bit greasy - I like to serve them with chopped raw vegetables to balance them out. Yum.