Matsutake Potato Dumpling
Sherry created this dish for Top Chef ™ Season 23. Plated as her second course in the finale — a toast to Anthos and its celebration of humble ingredients — the soft, delicate potato dumpling drew unreserved praise from the judges as light, fluffy and "pretty fantastic," with the matsutake folded into the dumpling itself. This Fix-It reconstruction preserves that praised dumpling untouched while correcting only the named faults: it serves the clarified pig’s ear stock piping hot and poured tableside, and gives the honshimeji and pork-jowl garnishes crisp, dry textural contrast so the dumpling reads as the focus Sherry intended.
- Time: 300 min
Source: Relaxed Recipes
Ingredients
- FOR THE PIG'S EAR STOCK
- Pig's ears 2–3, cleaned and singed
- Pork bones or trotter – 1 lb / 450 g, for body
- Spring onions – 3, halved
- Fresh ginger – 1 in / 2.5 cm, sliced
- Garlic – 3 cloves, smashed
- Water – 3 qt / 3 L, to cover
- Kombu – 1 piece , added in the final 15 minutes
- Light soy sauce – 2 tbsp / 30 ml, to season; adjust
- Fine sea salt – to season
- FOR THE PICKLED HONSHIMEJI
- Honshimeji mushrooms – 7 oz / 200 g, bases trimmed, separated
- Rice vinegar – 1/2 cup / 120 ml
- Water – 1/2 cup / 120 ml
- Granulated sugar – 1 tbsp / 12 g
- Fine sea salt – 1 tsp / 5 g
- FOR THE POTATO DUMPLING
- Baking potatoes – 2 lb / 900 g, roughly equal size
- Unsalted butter – 1 tbsp / 15 g, for the matsutake
- Matsutake mushroom – 3 oz / 85 g, finely minced, for folding in
- Egg yolks – 2, room temperature
- Fine sea salt – 1 tsp / 5 g, plus more for the dumpling water
- Freshly grated nutmeg – 1 pinch, optional
- All-purpose flour – 3/4 cup / 100 g, plus more to adjust; do not overwork
- FOR THE GARNISH & FINISH
- Pork jowl – 5 oz / 150 g, diced small
- Neutral oil – 1 tbsp / 15 ml, for searing
- Matsutake mushroom – 3 oz / 85 g, sliced, for searing
- Chives – 1 tbsp, finely sliced
- EQUIPMENT
- Large stockpot
- Fine-mesh sieve and muslin / cheesecloth
- Potato ricer or food mill
- Baking sheet
- Heavy frying pan or skillet
- Small non-reactive saucepan and a clean jar
- Slotted spoon and bench scraper
- Warmed serving bowls