wolffyluna

In my recent travels across the internet ~~[cough] youtube shorts~~ I found out about Ukrainian strawberry dumplings, which are often served with sour cream. And I thought, hey, those sound pretty tasty, I should try making them. I found this recipe and got to experimenting.

Now, I will admit, when I first looked at that recipe, I was filled with a deep sense of "ughhhhh" about the wrapper making step. I wanted dumplings now, or failing that in like, 15 minutes. I didn't have time to knead or rest dough! But I looked at that wrapping recipe, and I realised something: the recipe from the wrapping is weirdly similar to wonton wrappers? Not the same, the Ukrainian dumplings have more oil content, but I thought "hey. this sub might work." Now, I imagine if I showed any Ukrainian grandmothers what I made, they would be horrified, but I can say that wonton based strawberry dumplings are tasty.
The recipe assumes you are using fresh strawberries. However, if you take frozen strawberries, and separate them into more or less liquid sections, you can put the less liquid part in the wrappers, and then steam them so you don't have to worry about them leaking as much. You can then combine the strawberry juice with starch, sugar, lemon juice over a gentle heat to make a simple strawberry sauce that goes really well with the dumplings and sour cream.
This last experiment, I must warn you, is ridiculous. Decadent. I made it, and immediately summoned a black goat to my kitchen, that asked me if I wanted to live deliciously. And I told that goat: thanks for the offer, but I don't need the taste of butter to do that. I have these mutant strawberry dumplings. Take some small fresh strawberries. Cut off the top, and cut into quarters. Keep those four quarters together. Put those strawberry quarters on a wonton wrapper (optional: add a smear of strawberry jam as 'glue.') Slot between those quarters a single dark chocolate button. Wrap the wrapper, and steam for six minutes. Serve piping hot with sour cream, and experience a glimpse of heaven in the form of hot strawberries and melted chocolate.