Dumpling, Pot Sticker, Gyoza | A Cook Not Mad

Dumpling

Call them what you will, dumplings are delicious! According to Beijingservice.com the dumpling “dates back 500-600 years. As the Spring Festival marks the start of a new year, people choose to eat dumplings to connote their wishes for good fortune in the new year.

Perfection

China has been perfecting the art of dumpling making since the Sung dynasty.” At the Dutch embassy, I worked with two women, Sujin and Suxia. Sujin is from Bangkok Thailand and taught me what I know about Thai cooking. Suxia, my ayi (auntie) is from Beijing China and did not cook as much as Sujin but made wicked dumplings and showed me her secrets. Since then I have made thousands of dumplings, literally, and they have always been a huge hit as an hors-d’oeuvre or main course.

Asian markets

Although dumplings are readily available in the frozen section of most Asian markets, I have always preferred to make my own because they taste much better and I know what’s in them.

vancouver skyline

Chinatown

A rainy Vancouver afternoon was a perfect time for us to make the long walk to Chinatown (Nat, who’s idea was this anyway?). Along the way we popped into our favourite, now hip, butcher shop Save On Meats to pick up a pound of pork, a strip loin, a tiny pork butt roast and a piece of black pudding. They now have a decent selection of goodies including pâté and sandwiches and a diner next door.

save on meats

T&T

T&T grocery store was our next stop. T&T has just about anything you need to make any kind of Asian food. The shelves are loaded with everything from instant ramen, noodles, rice and, spices to roast duck, fresh veggies and baked goodies as well as any condiment you can imagine.

Unusual

My favourite is always the more unusual stuff like BBQ eel sauce or lemonade with basil seeds.

T&T

Handful of staples

In minutes we filled our cart with a handful of staples like soya sauce, Sriracha hot sauce and oyster sauce as well as a selection of fresh and packaged goodies to load the cupboards including the ingredients to make dumplings. Fresh dumpling wrappers are found in the refrigerated section and extras can be frozen at home.

Laden with bags

Completely laden with bags we slinked our way back to the apartment in the pouring rain. The best part about going to Chinatown is always when you get home and see how far your dollar went to filling your cupboards with exotic flavours and ingredients, not to mention the colourful and sometimes hilarious labels.

Batch of dumplings

In the kitchen, I had everything ready to put together a batch of dumplings in no time. With the help of a food processor, the filling was done quickly and we were set to fill them.

ingredients

Pleated

A proper dumpling is pleated so that it forms a nice crescent. All that is needed to seal them up is a little water on your finger to moisten the inside edge and push the filling in place. The pleat is formed over your left thumb and then pinched.

Perfect tasting

Keep the formed dumplings under a loose piece of plastic wrap to keep them from drying out. It takes a little bit of practice but before you know it you will be whipping out perfect looking and tasting dumplings.

Shrimp and pea sprouts

Vary the filling with different meats and flavourings like shrimp and pea sprouts or duck and orange zest. Let your imagination run wild and to make sure everything is going to be tasty in the end, fry up a little piece of filling to check for seasoning and flavour before you make all your dumplings. If everything checks out and you are now ready to cook up a dumpling feast get yourself a frying pan with a tight-fitting lid.

Place dumplings carefully

Over med-high, heat up a tablespoon or so of oil, just before smoking place dumplings carefully so that they do not touch each other in the pan. Let the dumplings slightly brown on the bottoms for 3 to 4 minutes. While they brown, pour about a 1/4 cup of water into the lid of the pan. In one quick but careful move flip the lid on the pan to close it. The water will turn to steam quickly and finish cooking the dumplings. After another 4 minutes (or when the steam stops coming from the pan) remove the lid.

Firm and translucent

The dumplings should be firm, kind of translucent and most, if not all, of the water should be cooked off. Cut one in half to check if they are cooked and adjust your steaming time and amount of water if need be. Use a spatula to remove to a warm plate and then set up for another batch.

Caramelized patch

A good dumpling should be moist with a nice caramelized patch on the bottom and a highly flavoured filling. I like to pierce the dumpling with my chopstick so that when you dip it in the sauce some seeps inside.

In no time

A nice dipping sauce is required here and you can put one together in no time. I like to keep it simple with a sauce that isn’t too overpowering. Dumplings are so easy to prepare and cook that you could make up a few fillings and invite your friends over to form their own and then cook them up in minutes for everyone to enjoy.

Pork and ginger

Check out the recipes below for my pork and Thai basil dumplings with ginger, lime dipping sauce and the video of how to form a nice pleated dumpling.

Enjoy!

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PORK AND GINGER DUMPLINGS

2014-09-25 14:54:43

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Ingredients

1 package dumpling wrappers (not won ton wrappers)
1 pound pork (shoulder if you are going to grind it yourself or just ground pork)
1 inch ginger, peeled
2 cloves garlic, halved
4 green onions (green and white)
1/2 cup picked and cleaned Thai basil leaves or Coriander leaves
2 Tbsp soya sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (or to taste)

Instructions

Using a food processor drop the garlic and ginger down the shoot with the machine running.
When there in no noise add the onion and then stop the machine when they are minced.
Now add the soya sauce, hot sauce and half the pork, pulse a few times to chop the pork to a medium coarseness.
Remove the mixture to a bowl and then process the other half of the pork in the same manner with the basil or coriander.
Mix together the two batches in the bowl and the filling is done.
You can lay out a few wrappers in front of you and place about a tablespoon of filling on each and then form them quickly or work one by one.
Whatever your system keep a damp paper towel over the stack of wrappers while you work so they don't dry out.
If you're a righty, hold the dumpling in your left hand like you are going to roll a cigarette (assuming you've done this before), then dip your right finger in a little bowl of water to wet the inside lip and push the filling into place.
Form the dumpling with pleats and then place on a parchment lined pan to hold until cooking.
When ready to cook, heat up a few tablespoons of oil in a pan.
Add dumplings in one layer.
Cook a few minutes.
Add 3 Tbsp of water and cover until cooked, about 5 minutes or until bottoms are golden and crispy.

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GINGER, LIME DIPPING SAUCE

2014-09-25 14:55:40