Topsy-Turvy Tummy: Asian Dumpling Soup to the Rescue

     A and I went to the World Beer Festival this past Saturday in Durham.  Besides all the different breweries that come, the coolest part about the event was that it was held in the outfield of the Durham Bulls minor league baseball stadium!  The festival was really fun and had great food, but Sunday was not as fun.

Durham Bulls' Athletic Park, baseball

Durham Bulls' Athletic Park, Beer Festival

     Sunday night's dinner needed to be easy on the tummy, but still filling.  I didn't think I could do another carb-heavy meal (we had 5 Guy's/Firehouse Deli for lunch and a brat at the festival), so I requested we make soup.  It's getting close enough to feeling like fall in NC that I figured we could egg the weather on a little and make some hearty soup to warm us up and calm my tummy.
    I like making enough that we have extras and I prefer substance over broth, so I added a few extras into our Asian Dumpling Soup.  The recipe from Real Simple only added sliced ginger, carrots, scallions, edamame, and shiitake mushrooms; we decided to vamp it up a bit and add water chestnuts, corn, extra dumplings, and extra ginger.  This soup is super easy (think "just dump everything in a let it cook") and is really fast, perfect for a Sunday night "throw-it-together meal."

Frozen Japanese Gyoza Dumplings

ASIAN DUMPLING SOUP

I am sharing this recipe as I made it, not the original Real Simple recipe so there are some extras thrown in.  You can add and subtract ingredients depending on your taste.  And I made a big pot of the soup so we'd have it for lunch and left-overs through out the week, so you might only need 2 32-oz containers of the chicken broth, instead of 3.

The Real Simple version, sans corn, etc.

Ingredients:
3 32-oz containers low-sodium chicken broth
1 3-in piece of fresh ginger root (peeled and thinly sliced)*
2 16-oz packages frozen Japanese gyoza (or pot sticker dumplings)
3 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced
8-oz shiitake mushrooms (pre-sliced is easier, then roughly cut them into smaller chunks)
2 cups frozen shelled edamame
2 cups frozen corn
2 6-oz cans of water chestnut, drained
8 scallions, sliced thinly
low sodium soy sauce
cracked red pepper
salt & pepper
*I also grated (more like zested) some of the root and put it in for flavor without having too many slices... plus slicing ginger isn't as easy as it looks (it's very fibrous and meaty).

Fresh Ginger Root

Preparation:
In a large pot, combine the broth and ginger; bring to a boil.
Add the dumplings and carrots; simmer until just tender (about 10 minutes).
Add the mushrooms, edamame, and corn and simmer until heated through (about 4 minutes).
Stir in the water chestnuts and scallions; add soy sauce, cracked red pepper, salt & pepper to taste.

Not a great picture, but
you get the idea.

And you're done... D-U-N... Done!


A and I also cut up a small French baguette and dipped slices in the broth... delicious!  As you can see it's as easy as pie (err... soup), is filling, and was exactly what the doctor ordered to calm my tummy down!


I'm having some for lunch today so I'll snap another picture!
Yum Yum Dumplings!