【Pan-Fried Dumplings】

【Pan-Fried Dumplings】
by MaomaoMom

Chinese people love dumplings. If you crave dumplings but don’t want to make from scratch, you can easily find store-bought wrappers. However the homemade wrappers have superior taste and texture. I made this dish for dinner as requested by my son Maomao. I used boiling water to make a hot-water dough for the wrapper – using boiling water makes the dough softer and less chewy. I use 100% extra lean ground pork instead of traditional 30% fatty ground pork, but the meat filling is so delicious and flavorful. These pan fried dumplings are very crispy at the bottom and tender soft on the top. Yummy!

Meal type: appetizer, breakfast, lunch, dinner, pork
Prepare time: 1.5 hours
Cook time: 10 minutes
Level: Medium
Serves: 10 servings

Ingredients:

Filling:
1) 400g extra lean ground pork;
2) 2 tsp cooking wine, 1.5 tbsp corn starch, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp chicken broth mix, 1/6 tsp thirteen-spice powder or white pepper powder, 1.5 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp Yummy House soy sauce, 2 green onions finely chopped, 1.5 tsp freshly minced ginger;
3) 1 head Napa cabbage 625g;
4) 10 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in warm water and rinsed;

Wrappers:
5) 2.5 cups unsifted all purpose flour (400g);
6) 1 cup + 3 tbsp hot boiling water (280g), 1 tsp corn oil;

Others:
7) 1 tbsp corn oil, 1 cup water;
8) 2 tsp corn starch, mix with 1.5 tbsp water;

Dipping sauce:
9) 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp black vinegar, 1 tbsp water, 2 tsp fine sugar, 1 tsp sesame oil.

Directions:

1: Meat filling: Cook the Napa cabbage in boiling water (Picture 1) for a minute, remove and rinse under cold water. Finely dice the Napa cabbage (Picture 2) and gently squeeze out the excess liquid. Cut the soaked mushrooms into small pieces (Picture 3). Combine all ingredients of Ingredient 1) to 4) in a large bowl (Picture 3). With a wooden spoon, stir in one direction for 3 minutes until the mixture becomes sticky (Picture 5). Cover with food wrap and place in the fridge.

2: Dough: Measure out flour into a medium sized bowl. Slowly stir in boiling water and continue to stir with chopsticks until it is well combined (Picture 6). Rinse one hand with cold water and knead to form a rough dough. Add 1 tsp corn oil (Picture 7) and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic (Picture 8). Cover with a damp cloth and let it stand for 20 minutes.

3: Wrappers: Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Cover one portion with a damp cloth while working on the other. On a floured working surface, shape half the dough into a log about 1 inch diameter. Cut into 25 equal sized portions (Picture 9). Press with your palm to flatten them. Roll out each disc into a 8 cm circle (Picture 10).

4: Dumplings: Place 1 tablespoon filling in the middle of each wrapper (Picture 11). Fold the wrapper over to form a half moon and press the center edges to seal (Picture 12). Then start from the right side, fold slightly the back side to form pleats. Work your way towards the center (Picture 13), then over to the left side (Picture 14). Repeat with the remaining slices of dough and filling.

5: Dipping sauce: In a small bowl, combine all ingredients of Ingredient 9).

6: Cooking: In a nonstick sauté pan, heat 1 tbsp corn oil over high heat. Place 8-10 dumplings in the pan. Add 3/4 cup water (Picture 15) and cover the lid. This allows the dumplings to steam and cook through. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until all the water evaporates. Reduce to medium heat, remove the lid and pour in corn starch water. Cook for another 3-4 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy.

7: Serve with dipping sauce. Yummy!!

Tips: Uncooked dumplings can be placed on a baking sheet and frozen. Then store them in a freezer in airtight containers for up to 4 months. They can be taken out of freezer and pan fried right away following the above Step 6.

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