Dumplings

Pleated dumplings with a thick skin, boiled and drained, sturdy enough to fry afterwards.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains pork.

Ingredients

Dough

• 300 g plain flour
• 160 ml cold water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

• 400 g pork shoulder, minced
• 200 g Chinese chives, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 4 tablespoons cold water, for the filling

Method

1. Mix the flour, salt and COLD water into a stiff dough and knead it 8 minutes. Cold water, unlike the steamed pancakes: it keeps the gluten tight, and a tight skin is what survives boiling and then a pan.
2. Cover and rest it 40 minutes.
3. Beat the filling in one direction only, adding the 4 tablespoons of cold water a spoonful at a time, until it turns sticky and holds together. One direction: it aligns the protein and the filling binds instead of crumbling.
4. Fold the chives in last, gently. Beaten in with the rest they bleed water.
5. Roll the dough into two logs, cut 2 cm pieces, and roll each into a disc about 8 cm across, leaving the centre thicker than the rim.
6. Put a spoon of filling in the middle, fold over, and pleat one side against the other — five or six pleats, pressed firmly.
7. Boil them in plenty of water. When they rise, add a cup of cold water and bring it back; do that three times. Drain them properly and serve, or fry them flat-side down the next day.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under China · All recipes