Delectable Pork Dumplings

 One of my favorite foods to eat is dumplings. Dumplings have so many universal recipes. It seems that no matter what you stuff them with, they will always be amazing… well almost always. Unless you are the guys from Good Mythical Morning who have their “Will It Dumpling” video. They are not as fortunate.

I always knew I wanted to try to make dumplings one day. And that I wanted to make everything from scratch. Including the wrappers! My friends and family thought I was crazy and taking a huge risk but boy, were they impressed to find out I could do it. However, I will say it does take a lot of work to make these beauties. But my fellow foodies it is so, so worth it!

One type of dumpling I have always adored is the pork dumpling. My husband and I could eat a buffet full of these pillows if we were given the option. And once you try out this recipe, you too will be ready and willing to eat hundreds…no thousands! Of dumplings. Here is my take on this lovely creation.

Ingredients

1.       Dough recipe

·         2 cups of all-purpose flour

·         1 cup of hot water

·         1 tsp salt

 

2.       Filling recipe

·         1 and ½ pounds of ground pork

·         1/3 of a head of Napa cabbage (large cabbage), finely chopped

·         1 heaping tsp of salt

·         ½ tbsp. of white pepper

·         1 tsp of ground black pepper

·         2 tbsp minced ginger

·         4 cloves of minced garlic

·         4 green onions finely chopped

·         Light sprinkle of dried chili flakes

·         1 tbsp sesame oil

·         2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce

·         1 tsp of coconut sugar

Preparation

Okay! Time to get your hands dirty! First, make your dough. You will want to mix your salt into the flour so that it is evenly incorporated. Then add in your hot water and fold until the dough is well formed. Make sure you end up with a clean bowl, then you know your dough is ready to knead. If you are struggling with overly sticky dough, you can add in small amounts of flour until the dough looks similar to the picture below. Warning! Please be careful when using hot water! Do not burn your precious hands! Otherwise someone may need to hand feed the dumplings to you!

When it comes to figuring out the duration for kneading dough, it really depends on your own strength. You can knead in 5 minutes or 20 minutes. You basically want the dough to feel nice and bouncy when you press a finger into it. Once your dough is done being formed, let it stand for at least 10 minutes to give the gluten some time to relax. This allows the dough to be easier to roll out when ready.

Next, comes your filling. As you can see in the following photo, you can basically just throw all your ingredients into a bowl once they have been prepared. You want to ensure that the ginger, cabbage, garlic and onions are all finely chopped. It would not be very pleasant to bite into a huge chunk of garlic, or have an unbalanced amount of cabbage to pork in one dumpling. I find it easiest to use my hands when mixing the filling. Just make sure you wash your hands BEFORE and AFTER you work with the raw ingredients to avoid contaminations.

Mix these ingredients together until they are well combined and now you are ready to roll out your dough! Form small balls of dough in your hand before rolling them into discs with a rolling pin. Or another technique is to roll the dough out completely until it is about ½ an inch thick. Then grab a large circular glass to cut out the shapes of the dough. If you make individual balls before rolling the dough then please ensure they are approximately half the size of a ping pong ball…unless you want really big dumplings.

When I formed my cut-out dough, I still needed to roll out the individual circles a little more before they were the appropriate size. Now for the fun part! Forming the dumplings. Take a small spoon and use it to scoop some filling into your wrappers. You also will want to make sure you have a bowl of warm water beside you! This is because you will need to apply a small amount of water to line one of the sides of the dumpling, making it stick to its opposite side.

Nowadays there are so many different techniques to forming dumplings. You can keep it simple without any folds, but you will need to be careful that the dumpling is well sealed so that no filling is able to burst out. Or you can research different folding techniques. This is where dumplings truly become a work of art. There are so many stunning designs out there. They are all so inspiring and incredibly appetizing. I would say they are almost too gorgeous to eat….almost…

When you are coming close to finishing the formation of your dumplings (and trust me, you will have many) you want to fill a large frying pan with water and set it to a high heat on your stove top. You want the water to be at a rolling boil if you are using a bamboo steamer like me. If you do not have a bamboo steamer, you can pour water into the pan to make a shallow bath for the dumplings and cover to steam them directly in the pan instead. Another delicious option, after the dumplings are steamed and the water is evaporated, is to crisp up the bottoms of the dumplings, by frying them with a little bit of sesame oil. This will give it that wonderfully balanced texture of both soft and crunchy all in one dumpling. However, this time I only steamed my dumplings.

When steaming your dumplings, you will want them to cook for at least 25 minutes. I always break one open to double check that the meat is fully cooked on the inside. You do not want to take any risks with under-cooked pork.

It is hard to say how many dumplings this recipe will make because it all depends on how big you want them. I was able to form about 30 dumplings.

Now for my favourite part….eating!

Taste Test

Oh my goodness! These were so packed full of flavour! And the aromas that will fill your kitchen are astounding. Especially if you are steaming these packages in a bamboo steamer. This type of device carries out a warm, woody and almost perfume-like smell. It is magnificent.

And when you take that first bite you will be absolutely wowed by the complexity of flavours. As your teeth sink into that delicate, soft pillow, the meat and the dough will be so moist they disintegrate in your mouth. You don’t even need teeth to eat them. These gifts will burst in your mouth as you bite into them, creating an explosion of succulent meat juices. Honestly, these dumplings will blow your mind.

The meat is so savoury, with a slight sweetness from the sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Complimented by the pureness of the cabbage, the sharpness of the ginger, and the heat from the pepper. Followed next with the beautifully balanced pungency of the green onions. All of the ingredients work together as a prize worthy masterpiece. And when paired with a fabulous dipping sauce, they will be so addicting you will continue to want more. These, truly, are noodle pockets of delight!

Therefore, my friends, please bless your household with these dumplings. You will not regret it. And will be tempted to make them over, and over again.

Enjoy!