Crazy variations on the soup dumpling? Fudge? Quail egg?

Hi All,

Every Valentine's Day I cook a "creative" meal for my wife. We both love Shanghai soup dumplings, where a frozen cube of soup is put inside a dumpling, which turns into a gush of flavor as you bite into the cooked dumpling.

So, how about variations? I think you could make a dessert dumpling using frozen ganache. I'm not sure what to put on the outside to make the dumpling skin sweet, though.

I was really hoping to do a soup dumpling with quail egg, too, but I think that may not be possible. The wonton skins I'm using probably need to be well cooked to palatable, and that would yield a hard-boiled egg. Anyone know how to make a dish "stuffed" with a poached quail egg?

Walt

[Robin Garr]

I was really hoping to do a soup dumpling with quail egg, too, but I think that may not be possible. The wonton skins I'm using probably need to be well cooked to palatable, and that would yield a hard-boiled egg. Anyone know how to make a dish "stuffed" with a poached quail egg?

Thinking out loud here, how about steaming or poaching the wonton skin until it's partially cooked. Let it cool, then cup it in the palm of your hand, drop in the raw quail egg, pull the top together and steam to finish the pastry and poach the egg?

There you go! I think that's a good idea. I'll cook the skins till almost done, and as long as I oil the bottoms, I should be able to assemble them afterwards.

I also found this neat little canape from Eric Ripert, with quail eggs sitting in baked brioche: http://aveceric.com/wp/recipes/get-toas ... on-toasts/

Walt

[Jenise]

I'm thinking that getting a pre-cooked skin to close might be a problem.

Two alternatives that spring to mind: one, buy thinner wrappers. The thinnest are called Hong Kong style and in your area they won't be hard to find. Second idea: use what you have, but roll them out thinner for quicker cooking.

I think you could make a dessert dumpling using frozen ganache. I'm not sure what to put on the outside to make the dumpling skin sweet, though.

Hm, maybe something with fruit leather?

Jenise, you were right. Even an egg white sealing around the edges wouldn't keep the soup in. Luckily, the quail yolks by themselves were pretty good, so it turned out okay.

My dessert was outstanding, though. I made a fried fudge sundae, using Pillsbury canned dough as the outside, and a chocolate-coated ball of ice cream inside. I should write up a recipe, because it turned out really well. Crispy on the outside, warm chocolate sauce, and cold ice cream.

Walt

[Jenise]

Your dessert sounds really cool--pretty nervy to attempt fried ice cream too. Hats off to you! (And a confession: I really like canned biscuits, at least the Pillsubury super flakey ones called 'Grands' I think.)