Anyone remember that moment in Return of the King where Aragorn looks into the Palantir and says, “Long have you sought me. Long have I eluded you…”
?
Just me? I mean, I’m not the only one who has totally memorized that movie, right?
Oh.
Well, that’s me and anything that uses GF flour and is boiled.
I have the same issue with pasta, gnocchi, and pretty much anything that is submerged in water – it comes out, well, mushy. There’s no gluten to bind it, and xantham gum just doesn’t do it here.
That being said, I have always had this weird obsession with making chicken and dumplings soup – even though I’ve never actually had it. I have no idea why, perhaps it’s that everyone around me raves about this or that chicken and dumpling soup recipe, and whenever I have tried to make anything resembling a boiled amount of flour, I have failed miserably. We always want what we can’t have, right?
So, after much experimentation, and many, many failures, I am happy to report that I figured it out! I actually came across a different recipe that said cooking the dumplings in boiling water is actually what makes them break apart – so, I simmered them (separately, since I wanted the broth for this recipe to be clear) for way longer than I thought was necessary. They ended up taking about 20 minutes to cook through, but, NO MUSH! Well, there’s mush, but the right amount.
I also added finely ground cornmeal to the AP flour to give it some crunch. With the umami-heavy broth and the cabbage, the end result was that the soup tasted like a TAMALE. Not intentional, but OMG SO GOOD (what can I say, I live in the Southwest…).
Don’t be afraid of the amount of Asian ingredients in the broth – the broth is versatile enough to be used for a variety of different flavor profiles. Dried shiitake mushrooms are incredibly affordable as well and will last for a long time on your shelf (though I tend to go through them very quickly). If you are not a fan of miso, you can definitely leave it out, though the broth isn’t very miso-y at the end.
I would definitely recommend roasting the vegetables in this recipe – it brings an extra dimension of flavor to the broth. Wait to adjust the seasoning (salt) until you have reduced the broth as much as you wanted – you don’t want a super salty broth.
If you want to skip making the broth altogether, a good vegetable broth can be used.
For the recipe in the picture, I used Lion’s Mane mushrooms (yes, you can cook with them), since I have an incredible mushroom maker (?) in my network. You can use any kind of mushrooms that you have handy!
Enjoy this hearty and comforting soup!
Accidental Vegan Tamale Dumpling Soup
Ingredients
For the Broth
- 15 cups water
- 3 tbsp miso gluten-free
- 1/4-1/3 cup olive oil
- 10 caps shiitake mushrooms dried
- 1 onion yellow
- 1 shallot large
- 1 head garlic
For the Soup
- 1 head cabbage
- 1/2 lb mushrooms sliced
- 4 tbsp non-dairy butter melted
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar per serving, for garnish
For the Dumplings
- 1/2 cup fine yellow cornmeal +2T
- 1/2 cup Gluten-Free AP Flour
- 1 tbsp egg replacer +2T water
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 6 tbsp non-dairy butter melted
Instructions
- Cut onion, shallot, and garlic head in half. Arrange on lined baking sheet with carrots (cut into chunks) and shiitake mushroom caps.
- In separate bowl, combine miso paste with olive oil. Pour over top of baking tray, and mix so that all vegetables are coated.
- Cook in 300 degree oven until vegetables start to shrivel and are fragrant (45 minutes).
- While vegetables are cooking, in pan, melt 4T non-dairy butter or olive oil in pan, and add mushrooms. Cook mushrooms on medium heat until crispy on both sides. Set aside.
- Add 15 cups of water into large stockpot, and heat water to simmer. When vegetables are ready, add to water and simmer until broth is reduced and has reached desired flavor and color. Adjust salt as needed. Strain, and return to stockpot/heat. Add cabbage, and cook until cabbage is tender.
- While broth is simmering, make dumplings. In separate bowl combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and 1tsp salt. Add in prepared egg replacer (enough for one egg - make according to instructions) and melted butter and mix until combined into dough. Form dough into 12 equal golf ball-sized balls. Place 5 dough balls at a time into simmering water (or broth, for a thicker soup), and simmer for 20 minutes, flipping at 10 minutes (dumplings will float). Watch carefully, as starch from the dumplings could cause pan to overflow. Skim as needed.
- Remove dumplings from water. Place in serving dish and cover partially with broth and cabbage. Top with mushrooms. Garnish with parsley. Serve warm.
