Chik'n n Dumplings

Is there someone out there who grew up in the South or was transplanted to the North and has a grandmother that makes the best chicken and dumpling soup in the world?? Because I need your help.  I totally forgot about this awesome soup that I made and devoured.  Don't get me wrong, it was delicious in its own right.  But! I just cannot seem to remember what the dumplings are supposed to taste like.  Here I go with the "supposed to" methods to which I subscribe.  It's a complex, I'm working on it.  Anyways, try this out see if it holds up to the standards of the soup dumpling. 

For the dumplings...

2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of silken tofu.  I bet you could use soft and it would also work out
1/2 cup of chosen milk product plus 1 Tb lemon juice
2 tsp of baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
black pepper
1/4 cup of shortening
2 Tb olive oil
pinch o' turmeric
2 Tb chopped parsley

Whisk together the tofu, milk and lemon, olive oil.  Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and turmeric.  With your hands, work the shortening into the dry ingredients until all is combined and crumbly.  Then add the liquids and stir quickly into a dough.  Fold in the parsley and there ya go! Let it rest for a minute.

Then shape your dough into about 25 dumplings.  Ones on the smaller side cook a little better I think.  But I could not help myself.






Bring a huge stockpot full of salted water to a gentle boil.  Drop each dumpling in and cover the pot for 25 minutes.  Try not to lift the cover during this time.  Trust!

While that's cooking, prepare your soup!

8 cups of broth
some mirin
a couple of whole cloves
2 bay leaves
white pepper
thyme
rosemary
tarragon
salt
Chicken like things of your choice, I used Gardein Bites! They are cute and yummy! They also do not get mushy in the soup, they just get more firm.  It's weird! Chop them up a bit because they are pretty big for bites.

Veggies: onion, carrots, garlic, turnip, celery, potatoes, peas
and finally, 4-5 Tb arrowroot, dissolved into a slurry with some broth or water. 

When the dumplings are done, take them out one by one and arrange on a plate.  I have this theory that they are more delicious if you let them cool for a few minutes and then put them all in the fridge until the rest of the soup is done.  This allows them to solidify and become their own thing. 

I wanted the soup to be gravy like which is why I added the arrowroot at the end of the cooking process.  You could also start with a roux if that's easier for you.  Don't forget to fish out the cloves and bay leaves! And also, do not boil the dumplings inside the soup, because you will end up with a nice huge bowl of starch.  Yuck. This was not yuck.  It was awesome.

Also, this made enough soup for like 8 people.  Or 4 meals. 

Goodbye cruel world!