One Pan Red Curry Dumplings

I love one dish meals, so was intrigued by the number of one pan dumpling recipes circulating on social media.  A few weeks ago I tried one, but it just didn't have the depth of flavor I was looking for. So back to searching.  For round two of experimentation, I am working with one I found on All Recipes. It is credited to Nicole McLaughlin.

What drew me to try this version was the 5 cups of bok choy and the addition of fresh garlic and ginger. The recipe could not be easier to throw together and pop in the oven, well if you have all the ingredients on hand. Today I didn't, but my store run snagged things for a couple dinners so that's not too bad.  

I always make changes.  Sometimes it isn't to make the dish taste better, it's to make it healthier - less fat or more veggies for example.  To make this one healthier, I didn't want to use the full-fat coconut milk or cream. As a sub I would use either choice is light coconut milk or fat-free cream. You lose the creaminess and the sauce is thinner, but a trade off I can live with.  However for entertaining I would use the more delicious full fat options. 

My other thought is to add a tiny bit of nut butter or seed butter. I did take a taste of the sauce and felt this ingredient would add an extra flavor note that would hopefully replace what was lost by using the lite coconut milk.  In the end, I did enjoy this version more that the previous, especially the abundance of bok choy, but I think it could have used a bit more sauce.  And yes it would be nice if the sauce was thicker.  Also be careful about overcooking. My dumpling were a little gummy this time. 

I am going to stick with this recipe and continue to tweak it each time I make it. Any changes that work will be noted below as they arise. Enjoy!

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One Pan Red Curry Dumplings
Serves 4

Ingredients -

2 cloves              Fresh garlic, minced
1 T                      Fresh ginger, minced
3 T                      Soy sauce (or alternative such as Naked & Saucy Soy Free) 
1 T                      Rice vinegar
2 tsp                    Toasted sesame oil
2 T                      Red curry paste
1/2 C                  Full-fat coconut milk or cream (OR sub light coconut milk or non-fat cream)
1/2 C                  Water
5 C                     Chopped bok choy
25                       Frozen chicken/vegetable, or pork/vegetable dumplings

Toppings - 

3 T                      Chopped cilantro
1/4 C                  Thinly sliced green onion
2 tsp                    Toasted sesame seeds
chili crunch oil (optional)

Directions -

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Stir together garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, curry paste, coconut milk, and water in a casserole dish until well combined. Add bok choy and toss lightly. Top with dumplings and cover casserole with foil.

Bake in the preheated oven until dumplings are heated through at the center, about 25 minutes.  In the original recipe, they plated, then drizzled sauce from the pan on top. I then tossed all the ingredients in the pan until well combined and everything was coated with sauce. 

If you tossed in the pan, you can sprinkle the toppings on the casserole and let guests serve themselves. If you plated first, then you would drizzle with sauce from the pan, then sprinkle evenly with cilantro, green onions, sesame seeds, and drizzle with chili crunch oil.