Original subtitles

Dumplings are fun, aren't they? Yeah!

They're a really cute way to bundle lots of different ingredients

into a nice little mouthful of absolute joy.

And I have the most joyous human next to me as well,

creating dumplings with me in the kitchen today.

So, Mike, talk me through it.

You've got something really cool up your sleeve.

Well, it's one of those things I always say -

that every nation has their own version of a dish, right?

So, I want to show to you guys today the Jamaican version of a dumpling.

I'm doing an oxtail curry to stuff inside

that beautiful dough pastry round the outside,

which we shallow-fry,

'cause we don't steam in Jamaica,

we don't make it healthy, Jacq,

we bring the flavour.

So, this is going to be a different type of dumpling

for you to try, but I promise you're going to love it.

Ah, excellent!

I'm going to do an egg and mushroom potsticker-type dumpling,

but with a really basic rice-paper wrapper

instead of making one from scratch.

Make it simple, make it tasty. Beautiful!

Let's make it happen! Let's do it!

Jamaican beef dumplings, like, I love it!

And oxtail is absolutely one of my favourite cuts of meat to eat.

Are you sure? You say that about everything!

I love beef! (LAUGHS) I love beef!

But, honestly, as a secondary cut,

oxtail, or, like, a braising cut, let's say,

it's my favourite braising cut, without a shadow of doubt.

You know, I grew up eating in...

It's very traditional in the Caribbean...

Yep.

..and my parents absolutely loved it,

so I've always eaten it from a young age.

And it used to be super, super, super cheap.

It's still cheaper,

but nowhere near as cheap as it once was.

So, I'm going to start off,

basically, by browning my meat in a hot pan,

get a nice colour on there.

Jacq, if you can cut up the onion, like, fine dice...

Sure. ..chop me some ginger.

Basically, we're going to make a quick curry. I say, "Quick."

It's gonna take four hours to stew.

OK! So, not too quick but quick enough.

This is a very traditional dish in Jamaica.

Each region in the Caribbean has their own version of it,

but it's basically... it's our dumpling dish, right?

And you usually serve it with a little pot of the sauce

on the side, some rice and peas.

It's a staple in the diet.

And it's just a dry-fry with the oxtail at the start, right?

Yeah, there's enough fat there.

You don't want to add any extra oil just yet,

but I am seasoning the meat at this point,

with both salt and pepper.

It's a very emotional dish for me, because it was my childhood.

Even the smell just takes me back to, you know, my family home

and my mum cooking in the kitchen and, you know, good memories.

Absolutely.

So, it colours quite quickly

if you start with a nice high, high heat,

You can take the meat out and add it back in later.

I've got a big enough pot,

I'm going to make it easy,

I'm going to put it all in at the same time.

So, this is the stage now where we add a little bit of oil.

And start frying off the onion in there now, as well.

With any curry, you guys can adjust the heat at home.

Couldn't get a Scotch bonnet.

Traditionally, it would be done with Scotch bonnet,

which is super hot,

so we usually do, like, one per dish.

But I'm using a habanero,

which I'm just going to slice in half

and rest in there in a minute.

And that's just going to bring a nice gentle heat to the dish,

which you can then remove later.

Alright, at this stage, we're going to add the garlic in, as well.

A little bit of butter. I like my butter.

A little bit of butter!

Just... Actually, it really is just a little bit for this,

about 100g. (LAUGHS)

It smells amazing so far.

And that's just a few simple ingredients coming together

in the pan, right?

That's it.

It's the meat, like, for stewing oxtail,

it's just beautiful.

'Cause it's not a common cut of meat that people think about using,

but there are a lot of traditional dishes like this one...

Yeah.

Is it in the Greek kritharaki with the oxtail?

Yeah.

It's a beautiful way of using oxtail, as well.

And that's it. It's similar to osso bucco,

like that cut, but not, you know.

So, if you like osso bucco, you would love oxtail.

Alright, ginger goes in.

I'm gonna put my thyme in now, as well.

And my chilli.

Could you make up the stock, as well, for me, please?

I can.

I'm gonna add in some diced tomatoes.

You could use tinned tomatoes if you don't have fresh

in your fridge.

That's fine.

Beautiful.

Alright, at this stage,

I'm going to add allspice and some curry powder.

Allspice, I find, is also a spice combination

that people don't think about using much, either.

Yeah. And it's a great one. We use it a lot in the Caribbean.

It's, like, the base of things like jerk and stuff like that.

Using a good curry powder is very important

because it's going to be the, you know,

the main base of your flavour for this dish now.

I'm gonna add my tomato paste.

Now, a lot of people just stir in their tomato paste.

I like to brown it off first.

So, to cook it out... Ooh, that's a good tip!

Yeah. Cook out some of those sugars.

Deepens the flavour, deepens the colour of the sauce.

And then I'll grab that stock when you're ready, please.

We're gonna let that tick away now for about 3 to 4 hours.

If you need to top it up with more liquid, you can.

Stock is always great, but you can also just top it up with water.

Yeah, cool. All the flavour's there now.

I'm excited for the end result. Me, too.

Alright, we're gonna crack on with the dough.

It's such a simple recipe.

We're going to do some plain flour.

About 500g.

Just normal, all-purpose plain flour.

Want high protein for a nice dough.

And then, Jacq, can you add in two tablespoons of sugar, please?

Uh-huh.

Some baking powder, as well,

which is going to help with the lift.

Some salt...

..and then some water.

And I'm literally gonna use my hands just like my mama used to.

Aw, that's nice! I know, right?

And no doubt, she got you involved in the kitchen

when she was making these.

She did... Sometimes!

Sometimes?

My mum, you know, a lot of my OCD,

you see me sometimes cleaning up when I shouldn't be...

Ah! Is that what you...?

(LAUGHS) ..it comes from my mum. (BOTH LAUGH)

So, literally, we're just going to bring it together

and it's quite a, like...

It's not much liquid in there,

but if you need to adjust it -

'cause it does depend on the humidity of the day

and things like that - you can add a little bit,

but you don't want it to be a wet dough.

You want it to JUST come together.

But you know what I forgot?

The butter. (LAUGHS) Oh, not you!

There's always gotta be a little bit of butter.

Ah, thanks, Jacq. There you go.

Do you mind if you just smoosh that in for me...

Sure. ..as I keep crumbling?

So, it softens it as you put it between your fingers...

Absolutely, the heat...

..so you don't really need to worry about...

..of your hands will warm it through.

So, we're going to knead the dough now

for about 10 minutes, you want to knead it.

We're then gonna rest it,

only needs to rest for about half an hour.

We're gonna roll out,

cut out discs for the little dumplings.

We're going to pull the oxtail,

flake it through the sauce,

and then we're going to stuff the dumplings

and start cooking them.

They're good, come on! They look excellent!

They look good! Yep!

We've taken that beautiful oxtail curry,

we've pulled it,

we've mixed it through the sauce.

I reserved some of the sauce on the side,

so I'm reducing down now for the dippy-dippy.

Ooh! I mean, it's just beautiful.

And that pastry's designed to fry,

it comes up so well in that little bit of oil.

Just shallow-frying it nice and gently.

It's a different type of dumpling.

But I always say every nation has their version of a dish, you know?

Yeah.

And the Jamaican version is full of spice...

..and full of love, of course.

Of course! Of course!

And I love the reduction here.

So, that's using the braising liquid from the beef...

Exactly. ..from the oxtail?

Same sauce, reduce it down.

So, you get all of that beautiful spice,

and, I guess because of the dumpling, the pastry is a little bit drier,

so it'll moisten it up a bit, as well.

Absolutely.

Look, you can never have too much sauce!

I always say that! (BOTH LAUGH)

And then...

Oh, these are so hot, but look at that!

Ooh!

Beautiful!

Gorgeous, crispy, flaky pastry on the outside.

He's done well!

That beautiful soft, flaky meat in the middle.

I mean, I'm burning my hands... (LAUGHS)

..but it's absolutely worth it!

It's worth it!

One for you. Thanks, mate.

It is hot.

Might have to blow it for a bit.

Guys, my Jamaican oxtail dumplings.

Beautiful little curry sauce. It's banging.

Oh, wow! Ya mon!

Oh! I'm speechless, to be honest!

That is the best-tasting dumpling I think I've ever eaten!

Be hard to match, that's for sure! (LAUGHS)

I'll take that!

Chef, we have some egg and mushroom, very simple,

potsticker-style... Yum!

..dumplings today.

Now, unlike you, I don't love to make the dough.

(LAUGHS)

And I love the convenience of things like a rice-paper wrap...

Yeah. ..so they're always in the cupboard

to make up those fresh Vietnamese spring rolls,

or, in this case, the dumpling.

But I'm going to make them with lots of protein

from the eggs today

and all of those delicious flavours from the mushroom.

So, if I could get your help chopping up the shallots,

the cabbage and the mushrooms? Sure.

There's a couple of different types of mushrooms in there -

a button mushroom and an enoki mushroom.

Both bring such different flavour to the dish and I love that.

Completely different, hey? Yeah.

And also texture, and, you know, the consistency.

Yeah.

The little enoki are like little noodles to me.

They are!

The button mushrooms have so much more meatiness to them,

so they really do change up

how you experience the dumpling, as well.

I love mushrooms, they're such a great ingredient to cook with,

especially when you're looking to keep it vegetarian, right?

That's right!

And this is a really good one

because there is a really good source of protein.

So, it is something that I'd whip up to have at lunch.

Yeah.

You can keep it just as a fresh, kind of, roll

so you don't have to fry it if you don't want to,

and it works a treat.

But if you love that crispiness

that a potsticker brings to the table,

then a little bit of a fry-up and it gets a bit of crunch

on the outside...

Gives you that texture, the textural difference.

Yeah, it gives that to you.

So, I'm just coating the pan with some sesame oil

because I want to have that

beautiful flavour come into the dumplings as well.

And you need a pretty generous coating,

so that you don't have any of the omelette sticking to the pan.

It's important you have the omelette come out whole,

because once it's cooked,

we're going to roll it up and shred it

to then pop it into our dumplings.

So, there's about six eggs in here.

I love eggs, obviously everyone thinks about eggs for protein,

but eggs are also a lovely source of iron, for vitamin D,

and also for a nutrient that's not ever much spoken about,

which is choline, which is really important

for cognition and brain function.

So, lots of great nutrition in eggs.

Also just one of the simplest proteins

to get into dishes, aren't they? Absolutely.

Can't beat it. And you can get it

any time of the day. Yeah!

Like, it's not just for breakfast - lunch, dinner...

Snacks! ..I love eggs as part of any meal.

Yeah.

Alright, the omelette's basically almost ready to flip.

I'm questioning my flipping capability at this stage.

No, you can do it, Jacq.

Oh! One, two, three, whoo! Yay!

Beautiful!

And we'll pull it off because the egg will continue to cook.

It just needed a little bit of a sizzle on the other side,

it had mostly cooked on the one side.

And we'll get it over here.

So, we'll let that cool a little bit.

Keep our pan on a medium-to-high heat

and the beauty of the vegies

and how we've kept everything of a similar size,

is that they'll all cook at a similar rate,

so they really don't need much time at all in cooking here.

Just a little drizzle of olive oil in there.

Then we'll go straight in with the shallots, or spring onions,

depending on what state you're from,

the cabbage.

This is a wombok cabbage.

But you know, get creative, use whatever you've got on hand.

And then all of our mushies...

And then we'll get those enoki too, please, Chef.

Just pulled apart? Yeah, perfect.

And then the garlic and some grated ginger.

Look, I'm a big fan of ginger, I love it as a flavour,

but also the warming elements... Mm!

..it brings to a dish.

A very natural, anti-inflammatory food as well - garlic and ginger.

So, really nice one to be including in your meals.

A generous amount of garlic

and a couple of teaspoons of the fresh, grated ginger.

So we'll toss all of our ingredients together,

let it cook down, add a bit of soy sauce.

There you go. Thank you.

So, a tablespoon or so of the soy sauce,

a bit of salt and pepper for some extra seasoning.

Love that! It looks so quick and easy to cook, as well.

You've got the beautiful green vibrancy

coming through from the cabbage and the spring onions.

And the ginger! Can you smell it? The ginger, ah, it's beautiful!

I was a bit generous on the ginger today.

You can never be too generous with your ginger.

(LAUGHS) So, we'll let that cook down.

We'll slice up the omelette and then it's dumpling time.

The exciting bit, dumpling-filling time.

Ya mon! So, we've got our rice-paper wrappers

which we'll just need to soak in water.

Now for each dumpling, you'll need two.

So, you'll do your initial wrap and then you'll wrap it again

just so it's lovely and secure

because these are a little bit more fragile,

especially when they go back into the pan

with some oil to cook.

So, you just want to reinforce them, as such.

So, that's soaked and we pop it down.

Now, I have a theory.

Your first dumpling's never really your best.

(LAUGHS) Same as your first pancake.

That's right. Always sticks, right?

Lower the expectation on your first. (LAUGHS)

Just get the hang of it, so you know how much, you know,

of the mixture you're wanting to put in.

You have a little play around with your technique.

Are you an over stuffer, like me?

Sometimes. Yeah! (LAUGHS)

And it gets slippery, you know,

these things are slippery little dumplings.

So, we just want to have a little practice run for our first.

Lay it out flat, so it's like a little envelope

instead of a roll as such.

And then scoop it up tightly.

And then we get our second rice-paper wrap to reinforce it

so that when we fry, all the delicious bits in the inside

aren't exploding out the edges.

Beautiful.

OK, we'll reinforce it,

moving in the opposite direction to how we initially folded it

so that it just gets reinforcement from all sides.

Stronger. Yeah!

But you know what?

As we experience with all dumplings,

no two dumplings turn out the same... (LAUGHS)

..so you just got to play around and make them work for you.

But that one's... But that's the fun.

Yeah, that one's turned out pretty well. Beautiful.

So we'll make the rest of our dumplings,

heat up the pan with some oil and then get frying.

Alright, these are looking golden.

You're making me so hungry, Jacq! Crunchy.

There's only a few things that I fry like this, right?

Dumplings are an exception, like these.

Yeah.

But again, you could eat these without frying them, and they'd be...

Delicious! ..pretty much just as delicious.

I've been snacking on the side, to be honest.

(BOTH LAUGH)

I love doing my cauliflower schnitzel like this,

but other than that, all the oil and everything else

going on in the pan, I'll leave to, you know, you.

(LAUGHS)

Alright, we're going to mix together

a soy and hot chilli dipping sauce. Yum!

If you'd like to do that, Chef.

We'll let these cool down and then we can try them.

We've got our yummy soy

and very well-spiced...

(LAUGHS) ..dipping sauce going on there.

I like it hot. (LAUGHS) Not shy!

They are beautiful, Jacq.

Yeah, they're good fun, you know.

Good little...could be a party starter,

could be something you make on a weekend for lunch.

You know, when you always have people over

and you want those snacks on the table when everyone arrives?

It's a beautiful one for that.

Totally. Yeah.

Alright, I'm going to cut one open,

so everyone can have a little look inside.

But I don't get the feeling that's what you're gonna do.

I don't know what you're talking about.

(LAUGHS)

There's a nice bit of crispiness. Mm!

You can hear the juiciness on the inside.

There we go!

Our egg and mushroom dumplings,

made in the pan pretty easily.

Delicious, absolutely beautiful.

Yum. Mm!

So, instead of a smoothie always being in a glass,

you can do a smoothie in a bowl.

And the trick to doing it in a bowl

is to make sure that it's nice and thick by using frozen fruit,

and you can add a few ice cubes too.

So, you know when the bananas

start going a little bit too brown in the bowl,

and you're frustrated that nobody's eating them in time?

Just peel them and you can either slice them

or freeze them whole in a Ziploc bag, that's all you need to do

and then they're perfect for both smoothies and for smoothie bowls.

So, I'm using a whole frozen banana,

some frozen blueberries,

and especially in the winter months, when fresh berries start

to become really expensive,

but even in the summertime,

I find that buying a big bag of, you know,

value-added blueberries is just great for the budget.

And again, it means that you're not ever having any food waste.

I've put some frozen pineapple in there,

and then I'm going to use some almond milk,

just for those of you who do want this to be dairy-free.

But you could also, of course, just use regular milk.

And I'm going to add a couple of ice cubes first.

I'll see what it looks like

and then see if I need to add a little bit more

and then simply blend.

OK. Once you've got it blended, making sure you don't have any lumps,

just pop this off.

This has got a nifty little tool.

Pour it out into your bowl

and that gorgeous blue colour is coming from my blueberries.

And then I'm going to top it with some of this gorgeous gluten free,

for those of you who need gluten free,

so this is a dairy-free and gluten-free dish for those who need.

Gorgeous muesli on the top.

And that adds texture and crunch, which just works perfectly

with the smoothness of the fruit in the bowl.

We've got nuts in there.

We've got whole grains.

Pop that onto the side.

And then just finish,

perhaps with a little bit of extra fresh fruit on the top.

There we go.

How good does that look? Gorgeous!

A smoothie bowl and it's ready in a flash.

Captions by Red Bee Media