Happy NaNoWriMo everyone!
Since I've tried and failed many times to complete this challenge, I thought this November, I might take it in a different direction: NaNoFooBloWriMo! (National November Food Blog Writing Month!) I'm going to buckle down and actually revamp/restart my food blog. Time to get a regular posting schedule going.
Well, what better way to come back from a long hiatus than with an original dumpling recipe!
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| Homemade with love. |
I've been making dumplings and wonton all my life under my mom's close supervision but I only started making them on my own about a year ago. After two or three failed attempts, I started to get the hang of it and have since, tweaked my mom's recipe to better suit my geographical location...
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| Granted we're in the slightly more populous suburban areas around these farms... Still, it's a far cry from NYC. |
When you move to a fairly Chinese-desolate area, you learn to make do with what ingredients you can find. There are two Asian supermarkets nearby that offer the basics but they cater mostly to the Vietnamese population. No water chestnuts to be found there! The only Chinese "restaurants" in the neighborhood are crappy buffets and take out places. General Tso's chicken, anyone? Sigh.
Oh, how I miss the Asian culinary paradise of Flushing, Queens, NY!
So without access to certain ingredients, I've simplified the recipe to its bare bones. If you'd like to add more flavor/texture/pizzazz and have the luxury of a good Asian supermarket in your neighborhood, I recommend you play with combinations of some traditional dumpling ingredients: water chestnuts (adds crunch and loosens/softens filling), shepherd's purse (aromatic), Chinese chives or "jiu cai" (aromatic), shitake mushrooms (umami flavor), Enokitake mushrooms (umami flavor), dry/pressed tofu or "doufu gan" (texture, flavor, and loosens filling), baby bamboo (texture, flavor, and loosens filling), vermicelli (texture and loosens/softens filling), and the list goes on. There are also plenty of other meat options, and of course, you can go without meat.
But, seeing as how those ingredients were all ridiculously hard to find, here's the bare-bones ingredients list I used:
**Note: I have a terrible habit of measuring by eye and not by spoon so these numbers are all approximations. Don't worry, dumpling filling isn't something that needs to be super precise. As long as you know which flavors you want to dominate the mix and adjust the proportions accordingly, all will be peachy!
Serves: 4 (or less if you're really hungry), makes 50-60 dumplings
1 lb ground pork
Diced napa cabbage (2:1 ratio, pork to cabbage)
1.5 Tbs rice cooking wine
4 tsp sesame oil
Diced napa cabbage (2:1 ratio, pork to cabbage)
1.5 Tbs rice cooking wine
4 tsp sesame oil
7 tsp soy sauce
1 large egg, beaten
1 Tbs white pepper powder
1 Tbs white pepper powder
1-1.5 Tbs minced ginger
1 Tbs minced garlic
1.5-2 Tbs finely sliced scallions
1 Tbs minced garlic
1.5-2 Tbs finely sliced scallions
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Some notes on the ingredients above:
(1) The ratio of pork to cabbage is purely a matter of preference. Adjust accordingly.
(2) You can either dice the cabbage by hand or run it through a food processor. I like to do it by hand simply to reduce the amount of cleanup. Also, do not substitute the napa with regular cabbage. They have two entirely different textures and tastes. Napa is slightly sweeter and much softer/leafier than regular cabbage.
(3) If you've never worked with scallions before, here's a hot tip: don't use a knife. Even if you have a really sharp, high quality one, using a pair of kitchen scissors will save you a lot of aggravation when trying to slice them this thin.
(4) I prefer to use a sweeter Vietnamese soy sauce both for the filling and the dipping sauce: Tuong Gia Vi.
(5) Do NOT substitute other cooking wines for the rice cooking wine. One of the first things you learn when working with pork dishes in Chinese cuisine is that you MUST use rice cooking wine. It brings out the best flavors in the pork and eliminates ones that are less desirable. There's really no other way to describe the magic that is this pairing.
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| Now, dump all the ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly! |
At a later date, I will write a post to teach you braver folk how to undertake the tedious task of making and rolling out your own dumpling wrappers, but today, I'm feeling lazy so I'll cheat with some pre-made ones. It doesn't really matter what brand of wrappers you get as long as they're clearly marked dumpling (not wonton) wrappers. I tend to prefer Korean style ones cause they're round and slightly chewier. With practice and experience, you'll learn which brands work best for you.
To wrap the dumplings, you'll need about 50-60 wrappers (depends on the size of your wrappers, the amount of filling you like in each, etc.), a small bowl of water, some silicone mats or cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and your bowl of mixed dumpling filling.
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| My preferred method of wrapping dumplings >> clicky clicky |
There are many ways to wrap dumplings and the prettier ways require quite a bit of skill. I prefer this method. It's easy enough for a novice to learn and looks nice enough to pass for intermediate work!
(1) Spoon approx 1 tsp filling (adjust according to wrapper size) onto a wrapper.
(2) Wet the edges of the wrapper with the water.
(3) Wrap the dumpling however you'd like. Just make sure they're pinched tightly closed and won't open up when they're cooked.
(4) Lay them out on a non-stick surface. I like to use silicone mats cause they've never failed me when I've needed something non-stick, but parchment paper on cookie sheets or any heavily floured surface works well too.
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| My precioussss. |
If you don't think you can finish all the dumplings you've wrapped, place the remaining ones in the freezer and pop them in the steamer/pan wherever you're craving some. Just remember to add 5-7 minutes to the cook time to compensate for the frozen state. I don't recommend defrosting before cooking cause the dumpling wrappers may get sticky and break when you lift them.
So, at this point in the game, you get to choose how you want your dumplings cooked. You can steam, boil, or pan-fry them. Or all three!
Steaming will give you the most delicate, well-balanced result (soft, chewy skin and tender but not overly moist center), but it takes longer than boiling and requires a steamer. Pan-frying will give you a nice crisp to the wrapper but the filling dries out a bit. This is why I recommend flash boiling your dumplings before frying to add some moisture.
I decided to steam the first batch.
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| Into the industrial sized steamer they go! Seriously, if you have the cash, get yourself one of these stainless steel, 3-tiered beauties. |
Here are some recommendations and cooking times for the three methods:
Steaming -- (7-12 min, depending on size) Put down some napa cabbage leaves or cheesecloth to prevent sticking.
Boiling -- (approx 5-10 min or until they float) Instead of timing, I usually like to use the "boil thrice" method: bring the water to a boil, drop in dumplings, wait for water to boil again, pour in another cup of cold water, wait for boil, another cup cold water, and one more boil. If you use this method, remember to keep the fire at the highest setting possible.
Pan-frying -- (approx 10-12 min if frying from a raw state) I recommend flash boiling before frying but you can also steam or simply fry them raw. If you opt to fry them raw, be sure to add approx 2 Tbs water to the oil in the pan and cover the pan with a lid of some sort (to simulate steaming while frying). This will help ensure the pork cooks thoroughly. You may use any oil you want but I recommend using something that isn't strongly aromatic, like olive oil. I usually just go with corn/vegetable oil. Also, remember to keep an eye on the dumplings and turn/flip them when they've browned sufficiently on one side. Different stoves/pans fry at different rates.
Carefully lift the dumplings out of the steamer, pot, or pan and serve!
For the dipping sauce, I like to use a simple mix of Tuong Gia Vi soy sauce and sesame oil at a 3:1 ratio. To jazz it up a bit, you can add some shredded ginger, chili peppers if you like spice, or use black vinegar as a base (great for soup dumplings). There are many options out there for dipping sauces and recipes are easy to find. For something simple though, soy sauce and sesame oil is always a winner.
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| These disappeared so quickly, I barely had time to snap a photo! |
For the second batch, I decided to steam then fry, but as expected, the filling dried out more than I would've liked. Flash boiling is truly the way to go for fried dumplings.
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| Still, they didn't last long on that plate... |
If you have any leftover dumpling filling, you can always mix it with some veggies and make some delicious impromptu stir-fry as a side dish!
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| Sichuan string beans (or "si ji dou") and ground pork is a classic Southern Chinese dish but I couldn't find any Sichuan string beans so I had to make do with the regular ones. |
And that's all folks!
Go have yourself some dumpling adventures!!
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P. S. We've got some furry buddies in the house now...
Say "hi" to the newest additions to this foodie family, Scotch and Whiskey!
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| "Is dinner ready yet?" (They even have a brother who guards the dining table...) |
P. P. S. AG finished making this gorgeous dining table for our dining room earlier this Fall and I have yet to mention it here, so voila!
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| If you're curious about his woodworking and metalworking, please check out his Instagram, @diffferentday, or his Blogger (still a work in progress). |
It features a solid maple butcher block top, sanded down, stained, and re-purposed from a table we found on craigslist. The legs are made from gas piping. What a beauty!
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| "Meow!" Translation: "Until next time!" |
