Tomato Egg Dumplings

New year, still making dumplings.

I hope your 2024 has been off to a good start! I was fairly successful with my goal of being somewhat offline for the holidays, in an attempt to r e l a x … something I’m not very good at but hope to be better at this year. Relaxing looked like hosting my in-laws and cooking meals that didn’t need to be shared on the internet, flying home to Ohio to exchange Christmas presents and celebrate my Pau Pau’s 91st birthday with a dim sum party (I also watched The Iron Claw which was not very relaxing but it’s been a while since I’ve had a good public cry in a dark movie theater so it was somewhat cathartic), and kayaking in the Bay to commemorate a whole decade of living in the Bay Area.

Much like everyone, I get extra sentimental and reflective around New Years. Instead of resolutions, here’s a list of some things I’m really excited about for 2024:

1. Staying home. With all the construction at our house last year and moving around, I’m really looking forward to staying put, nesting, and knowing where my offset spatulas are.

2. Weddings! We are going to a wedding in Copenhagen in April and then my brother’s wedding in May. I love weddings and wouldn’t mind a few more to go to this year.

3. Cookbook #2! I don’t think I can share the title of my next cookbook with you yet, but when I get the green light I’ll give you all the details! I’m somehow more nervous about launching this book into the world than my first one. This next book is deeply personal to me, which feels very vulnerable and very scary. But I’m super proud of it and think every recipe is delicious, so I hope you will love it too.

4. Eating more vegetables, especially ones that I grow myself. I feel myself going deeper and deeper into my Asian Gardening Auntie Era and I love it. I have big plans for the garden this year (like getting a sign and calling it Olive’s Garden) and think 2024 will finally be the year I’ll successfully grow a winter melon and my Pau Pau’s long beans.

5. Feeling less afraid of imperfection. For much of 2023 I felt so much anxiety about making sure everything I shared was “perfect” or fit the mold of something that would “perform well”. It was paralyzing and it held me back from sharing dozen of recipes that I spent time developing and genuinely enjoyed eating and cooking... only because I wasn’t sure if it was good enough for people on the internet. During my time offline over the holidays, I reflected on how living to “perform well” for others is ridiculous and no way to live. Here’s to making the food you love no matter what other people think!

Thank you for indulging me in that New Year’s listicle. Let’s discuss these Tomato Egg Dumplings, shall we? One constant in my life is that I know I’ll always be happy making dumplings. One of the best meals I had in 2023 was at New Dumpling in El Cerrito, California. I’ve been telling all my friends about it (and now you) because I need more excuses to run over there and order platter after platter of their perfectly plump and simple dumplings. They specialize in Northern Chinese-style boiled dumplings and my favorite out of all their offerings are the Tomato Egg Dumplings (I also adore their green onion pancakes and pig ear salad). I love a pan-fried dumpling with a crispy bottom as much as the next person, but there is something so beautiful about an excellent boiled dumpling. A boiled dumpling has nothing to hide!

Tomato Egg is one of my ultimate home cooked comfort meals. Somehow, I never thought to incorporate its cozy flavors into a dumpling. The ones at New Dumpling are so light and fresh. They have a perfect ratio of tomato to egg and it’s seasoned just right to allow the sweetness of the tomatoes to shine and compliment the richness of the eggs. The waiter at New Dumpling gave me no clues on how to replicate this dumpling, so I went forth into my kitchen and tinkered away with the best winter tomatoes California could offer me (which are admittedly still pretty good).

I found that winter tomatoes are actually perfect for this dumpling. A good dumpling filling can’t be too wet because it will just make it a pain when you go to fill and pleat them. Tomatoes are mostly water, so a winter tomato is great because they are somewhat on the drier side. It’s still important to salt the tomatoes to draw out even more moisture. Drain that excess tomato juice and what you’re left with is well seasoned, non-soupy tomato to mix in with tender curds of scrambled eggs. The eggs themselves have a little cornstarch in them, which is just a trick to stabilize the moisture in the egg.

These dumplings truly don’t need any fancy toppings and shouldn’t be drowned in sauce. They taste amazing on their own. However, for a little dipping action, I think a 50/50 blend of rice vinegar and dark soy sauce is the perfect sweet and tangy accompaniment that won’t overpowering the flavor of this simple dumpling. I highly recommend starting the year by making dumplings, it’s the most meditative and delicious practice!

Tomato Egg Dumplings

makes 32 dumplings

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Dough:

300g (2 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

160g (2/3 cups) hot water

Filling:

300g (about 1 large heirloom or 3 roma) tomatoes, finely diced

1 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt, divided

6 large eggs

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 tsp white pepper

2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger

1 1/2 tsp chili oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Make the dough (or use store-bought dumpling wrappers):

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt, then pour in the hot water. With a flexible spatula, mix to form a shaggy dough, less than a minute. In the bowl or on the counter, knead until you have a smoothish dough (it should be tacky but not stick to your hands), 5 to 6 minutes. If the dough feels too dry, add a tablespoon of hot water (or a little more if needed); if it’s too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour (or a little more if needed). Form the dough into a ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.

Make the filling:

1. Transfer the tomatoes to a bowl and toss with 1 teaspoon of salt. Allow the tomatoes to sit on the counter for 20 minutes. During this time, moisture will be pulled from the tomatoes. Drain the liquid from the tomatoes, either through a strainer or simply by pouring out of the bowl while holding tomatoes back with a large spoon.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk to combine eggs, cornstarch, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and white pepper. Melt butter in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Once the pan is warm, add the eggs and then gently stir with a flexible spatula to create small curds of cooked eggs. Once the scrambled eggs are just set, transfer to a large bowl and allow the eggs to cool to room temperature.

3. Add the tomatoes, ginger, chili oil, sesame oil, and sugar to the eggs and mix to combine. If filling dumplings later, cover the bowl and chill in the fridge until ready, up to 3 days.

Assemble the dumplings:

1. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap the dough and divide it in half; rewrap one half and set aside. Form the other half into a 1-inch-thick (2.5 cm) log. With a bench scraper or knife, divide the log into 16 equal pieces by continuing to divide the dough in half.

2. Working with one piece of dough at a time (keep the remaining pieces covered with a clean towel), pinch the dough into a round resembling a thick coin. On a work surface lightly dusted with flour, flatten the dough with your palm, then use a dowel rolling pin to roll it into a 3-inch round. Lift the dough round off the work surface (use the bench scraper to help, if needed) and hold it in the palm of your non-dominant hand. Place a heaping teaspoon of the filling in the center. Carefully bring the edges of the dough together and pleat to enclose the filling, then place the dumpling on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.

Boil the dumplings: 

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a batch of dumplings to the water (the number depends on the size of your pot, but I normally do 8 to 10 at a time—try not to add too many, which will bring down the water temperature too much). Stir the pot so the dumplings don’t stick to the bottom. Boil until the dumplings start to float, 4 to 5 minutes. Scoop the dumplings out of the water with a spider, shake off any excess water, and transfer to a platter to cool for a few minutes. Repeat with the remaining dumplings, adding more water to the pot if needed.

2. Serve with your favorite chili oil or a 50/50 blend of rice vinegar and dark soy sauce.