Recipe: Rosheen Kaul’s Dumpling Salad With “Ultimate Dumpling Sauce”

Rosheen Kaul is a condiment queen. She proves it again and again in her new cookbook, Secret Sauce, where the things you drizzle and dress your dishes with are just as important as every other component on the plate. The evidence: her dumpling salad with “ultimate dumpling sauce”.

“This fun little dish casts dumplings as the protein in a fresh salad,” writes the chef and James Beard-award-winning author, who likes to pair fried Chinese dumplings with in-season baby vegetables for this recipe. “But feel free to choose whatever crunchy vegetables and herbs you fancy or have in the fridge.”

The real stars, though, are two dressings: a cumin buttermilk ranch and Kaul’s ultimate dumpling sauce. Both were favourites from her time at Etta. Here, they’re a boon for dumplings. Fried, steamed or boiled? It all works. As do momos, pierogi or even ravioli in place of Chinese dumplings. “You do you,” writes Kaul.

Rosheen Kaul’s dumpling salad with “ultimate dumpling sauce”

Serves 1
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

Dumpling salad
6-8 dumplings, cooked to your preference
2 baby cucumbers or 1 small Lebanese cucumber
3-4 baby radishes, split in half and washed
Handful of cherry tomatoes, split in half
Handful of sliced red onion
1 teaspoon sliced chives, plus extra to serve
½ cup cumin buttermilk ranch (see below)
2 tablespoons ultimate dumpling sauce (see below), plus extra to serve

“Ultimate dumpling sauce”
1 tablespoon neutral oil
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
5 cloves garlic, sliced
1 green chilli, sliced
1 red chilli, sliced
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons Chinkiang (black) vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chilli oil
½ teaspoon sliced coriander

Cumin buttermilk ranch
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon coriander seeds
⅛ teaspoon black peppercorns
½ cup crème fraîche or sour cream
¼ cup buttermilk
1½ tablespoons Japanese-style mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon sugar

Method

To make the dumpling sauce, heat oil in a medium frying pan or wok, then add the cumin seeds and garlic. Saute until fragrant, then add the chillies and fry for 1-2 minutes.

Add the sesame seeds and fry for another 30 seconds, then add the sesame oil, soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, sugar and salt, and stir well. Turn off the heat.

Let the dressing cool down and stir the chilli oil and coriander through when you’re ready to serve. This sauce will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for over a week without the fresh coriander

For the ranch dressing, toast cumin seeds, coriander seeds and peppercorns in a dry frying pan until fragrant, then crush roughly using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.

Combine in a small bowl with crème fraîche, buttermilk, mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, salt and sugar until smooth.

Check the seasoning and adjust to taste. The dressing will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge.

Finally, combine dumplings, vegetables and chives in a medium bowl with the ultimate dumpling sauce and toss to coat. Then, add buttermilk to a serving dish and arrange the vegetables and dumplings over the top. Sprinkle with more chives if you like, and a little more dumpling sauce.

This is an edited extract of Secret Sauce by Rosheen Kaul, published by Murdoch Books. RRP $39.99.

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