Well, since the Year of the Monkey started on February 8, why not use the mystery ingredients from episode 5’s second round (frozen sausage patties, Long Island Ice Tea, heirloom carrots and figs)  to make dumplings?  Not too hard to think of something, right?  And to make it more main course-like, it can be served with some noodles…zucchini noodles to make it less carb-filled.

First, the sausage patties are broken into small pieces.  The carrots are peeled and chopped into tiny pieces.  It is then mixed with the sausage, along with some chopped onions, chives as well as garlic and ginger and a bit of egg so that it would bind together.  About 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture is then placed into square or round wonton wrappers, sealed and then placed in a steaming basket, ready for the steamer.

The basket of uncooked dumplings are placed over a pot of boiling water for about 10-15 minutes (since the meat is already cooked).  While the dumplings are steaming, we can get the noodles and dipping sauce ready.  The figs are first cooked down with a bit of Long Island Iced Tea and then mixed with a bit of soy sauce and ginger, placed in small soy sauce dishes and set aside.  Add some chili sauce if desired.  Then, four or five zucchini are spiralized and placed in a pan with oil and garlic to toss along with some bean sprouts (for a lighter version, “toss” the zucchini in some chicken or vegetable broth) until soft.  The “noodles” are then placed in a shallow bowl and placed on a rectangular plate alongside the dipping sauce.

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