A while back, I made the mistake of purchasing vanilla yogurt instead of plain for a curry dish I had planned to cook.  Whoops!  I ended up making something else with the chicken due to the mistake.  However, on Chopped Canada this past weekend, vanilla yogurt was part of the mandatory ingredients list for the appetizer round, along with canned salmon, parsley root and canary melon.  Even though the ingredients seem fairly simple, the yogurt is definitely a throw-off.  Sweet yogurts, especially vanilla just don’t work in savoury dishes.  Well, so we think.

What would you make with this, vanilla yogurt, parsley root and canary melon?

We saw a lot of salmon salads and salmon cakes on the show, so instead, I’d make salmon wonton, served over a bed of arugula with a melon and vanilla yogurt dip!  First, I’d chop the parsley root along with some chives, mixing it with the salmon, a bit of soya sauce, minced garlic and grated ginger, with a bit of yogurt to bind the mixture.  The filling will then be placed in wonton (or what Cantonese speakers call gao gee) wrappers, closed.  The melon will then be chopped into smaller pieces, placed in a food processor with more yogurt and a bit of hot sauce to create a dip for the dumplings.  The dumplings are then off to the deep fryer to cook for about three minutes.

If I were a contestant, three dumplings would be placed on each judge’s plate with the sauce in a small ramekin.  However, in real life, this dish could be a good hors d’oeuvre at a cocktail party, so it would likely be served on a platter (with or without the greens) with a larger ramekin or bowl of dip in the centre.  The dumplings could also be baked or panfried.  Steaming would work as well, but I would suggest a different dip as creamy, thick sauces don’t usually work well for steamed dumplings!

Image credit: Gala_Kan/Shutterstock