Easy Chinese Dumpling Soup

The great news is that none of the pictures on this blog will be pilfered. The not-so-great news is that that means that the pictures will be, well, not-so-great. But that's okay! In three years we will all look back and laugh at what a novice photographer I was! Certainly I will learn and grow in three years, right? And it's also pretty likely that my pictures will all have an eerie orange-ish hue since we never eat dinner before about 7PM, and while I don't know much about photography, I do know that 7PM in a darkened kitchen is not really ideal lighting. And also, I feel like it is only fair to point out that it is *highly* likely that I will never post pictures of the process of preparing the recipes. I'm sorry, is it just me or would that be really hard? I mean I can barely prepare a meal without wanting to put all three of my kids up for adoption, I can only imagine if I added an hour to the process by washing my hands, posing my food, click, rinse, repeat. Please forgive me.

It should be pretty easy to forgive me because this soup comes together in about seven minutes and tastes divine! The broth is so delicious, the ginger really gives it a nice flavor, the perfect comfort food! Plus, can life be any better than when you have a package of frozen potstickers in your fridge? I think not.

Easy Chinese Dumpling Soup

adapted slightly from www.soupchick.com

4 cups chicken stock
1 slice fresh ginger root, 1/4 inch thick, peeled but left whole
2 scallions sliced (or three green onions thinly sliced)
1 tablespoon shao hsing wine (I used rice vinegar with good results)
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
kosher salt, to taste
fresh black pepper, to taste
15 frozen chinese dumplings (potstickers)with filling of your choice (do not defrost)
hoisin sauce for garnish (optional)

In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the chicken stock, ginger root, scallions, shao hsing wine and dark soy sauce. Bring to a boil, then simmer 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Add frozen dumplings, and when the soup returns to boiling, reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes. Divide evenly in to serving bowls and drizzle a bit of hoisin on the dumplings, if desired.

*Kristi's notes: The original recipe calls for 24 Chinese dumplings. When I made it I put in 20, my husband and I still felt like there were too many dumplings for the amount of broth there was. I suggest either reducing the dumplings to 15, or doubling the broth and keeping the original 25-30 dumplings. I would plan on each adult wanting about 4 dumplings.