Something Different This Week!

I prepared a wonderful three course Chinese dinner last night that was not a low-carb meal and it was wonderful. I managed my portion control, one of my three simple steps in managing your diabetes and losing weight, and checked my two hour blood glucose after I ate. My level showed that I did not even spike at all. Now, the portion control was a major contributing factor in this achievement and I am very proud of that. I am going to do something a little bit different this week as I have been requested by several people to share my three Chinese style recipes with you and offer tips to show you how you can make some simple substitutions and classic cooking techniques in innovative ways to make these recipes reduced in carbohydrates. These are the other steps in my simple Three Step Management in Diabetic Cooking. The nutrition information has been intentionally left out because the original recipes are not low in carbohydrate or calories and do contain gluten's. In general, these recipes will serve anywhere from 4 to 6 people.

~ Shu Mai ~

Pork and Shrimp Steamed Dumplings

Ingredients:

1/2 package of wonton wrappers, cut into circles with a biscuit or cookie cutter

1/2 lb. ground pork, substitute ground turkey

1/2 lb. shrimp, cleaned and deveined, chopped very fine

1 Tbsp. soy sauce, substitute reduced sodium soy sauce

1 tsp. grated ginger root

1 tsp. sesame oil

1/4 tsp. white pepper

1 egg, beaten well, substitute two egg whites

Optional garnish; black sesame seeds, dry sherry

In a large bowl mix the pork, shrimp, soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil and pepper. Place about one heaping teaspoonful of the mixture in the center of the wonton wrapper. Lightly brush the edges of the wonton wrapper with the beaten egg. Draw the wrapper up around the filling, leaving the top open and the filling exposed, and make several pinches in the wrapper to tighten around the filling. Gently rap on the counter or other surface to form a flat base. Sprinkle with optional black sesame seeds and a very light dash of dry sherry if desired. Repeat until all wrappers are used. This is enough filling for two dozen pieces.

Place a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of your steamer basket and working in batches, steam the dumplings for about 12 to 15 minutes. 

Note ~ Each dumpling wrapper has about 4 grams of carbohydrate. For my personal diabetic portion I ate two pieces of Shu Mai with the other two courses in my dinner.