“What do you get when you combine grilled cheese and tomato soup with a dumpling?” asked no one ever. So welcome to this episode of You Can Do This, where the tomato-soup dumpling comes to life, spiritually combined with a dash of fried mozzarella cheese sticks for good measure. (If you’ve ever wondered if the ideas for this series come at 1 a.m., then this episode is your answer — a definitive yes.)
The main challenge is getting the soup inside the dumpling. This technique leans on the classic soup dumpling preparation, which uses gelatin. But since this is a vegetarian soup — thus avoiding the natural collagen found in animal-based broths — the effect can be mimicked with powdered gelatin. As soon as this gelatin hits heat, it will melt and return the filling back to liquid form.
The second hurdle to overcome is the cheese dumpling wrapper. To do this, use fresh, hand-pulled mozzarella, which can be very stretchy — kind of like dough — when heated to around 180° F. Work very quickly when making the dumplings: a normal, cold dough wrapper won’t melt the jelly, but this will.
Then just like all great things, finish it with a fry. But make sure the cheese has set in the fridge, or even freeze the dumpling first: Fry while it’s hot, and it will explode. So make in advance, get them cold, come home after a late night and fry these up and become the post-party hero you deserve to be.
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