Gi Dumpling Soup

Gi Dumpling soup is a traditional Mandalorian dish, and "Gi" is Mando'a for "fish," so it's literally "Fish Dumpling Soup." Sounds easy to figure out, right? Well, not too many cultures make fish dumplings, much less soup containing fish. With good reason, as it turns out. Most fish is a blank canvas for flavour, and so is soup. All of which means a large chunk of the flavour needs to come from outside the namesake.

Mandalorians are nomads, meaning a lot of ingredients are going to be what's on hand or easy to aquire, meaning no fancy fish, no fancy fruits or vegetables, and if at all possible, what you can realistically expect to find at a dollar store here on earth. So I settled on kippers.

Kippers are small herring that have been butterflied, gutted, salted, and cold smoked, resulting in a light, smokey-sweet yet distinctly fishy flavour, similar to smoked salmon without the smoked salmon price. I've found these everywhere, including the dollar store, and while they can get marginally expensive depending on where you're shopping and the brand, they're still low priced to the point it won't set your budget back too far if you were to stock up on these for a small siege or long trip.

As for the soup itself, I settled on a basic vegetable stock, preferably made from scratch to give more volume to the soup. After all, there's nothing more boring than just dumplings and water. . .

Gi Dumpling Soup V.1

• Cod (or other white meat fish)

• Salt

• Pepper

• Dumpling wrapper

• 1 Large Onion

• 3 Carrots

• 3 Stalks Celery

• ¼ ea. Red, Yellow, and Green Bell Peppers

¼ tsp each

• Parsley Flakes

• Dill Weed

• Oregano

• Ground Ginger

• Mrs Dash

Instructions:

1. Add fresh vegetables to 1 gallon boiling water for one hour.

2. Combine fresh herbs, spices, and fish in bowl.

3. Place in wrappers, fold, and press.

4. Gently place in broth.

5. Let sit for a few minutes, kill heat, and serve.

Notes:

A little Mrs. Dash goes a long way.

Try either frying or steaming oriental dumplings before adding them to the soup, OR mix basic dough dumplings with chunked fish and herbs (possibly pre-cook fish in herbs and gently tear with a fork to separate chunks and then mix into dumpling batter).

Also, maybe just let them cook for longer, and maybe on less heat.

Gi Dumpling Soup V.2

Ingredients:

Stock:

• 1 Large Onion

• 3 Carrots

• 3 Stalks Celery

• ¼ ea. Red, Yellow, and Green Bell Peppers

Dumplings:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon white sugar

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¼ tablespoon Mrs. Dash

• 1 tablespoon margarine

• ½ cup milk

• 4 cans of Kippers

Directions:

Stock:

1. Fill your stock pot with a gallon of water.

2. Set the stove to high heat.

3. Once it reaches a soft boil, add your vegetables in medium sized chunks.

4. Let cook for at least one hour.

Dumplings:

5. Combine dry ingredients.

6. Cut butter in until crumbly.

7. Add milk until soft dough forms

8. Open and drain the cans of kippers. Ensure they’re boneless.

9. Crumble into the dough, stirring often to ensure even distribution.

Soup:

10. Carefully add spoonfuls of the fish laden dough into the boiling stock.

11. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Notes: