BAB Cooks: Pork Dumplings

Make little pockets of flavour to soothe the soul from your home.

Pork dumplings, or jiaozi, first originated in China and are one of the common foods in China and other parts of East Asia. Dumpling making is also a collaborative effort, where family members come together to make and devour little pockets of goodness, especially during the Chinese New Year or winter solstice.

This easy, quick and absolutely mouth-watering dish is one to remember, these plump and juicy dumplings will leave your household wanting more!

Dumplings come in all different shapes and forms, with a vast range of fillings. Our recipe features minced pork with green onions enclosed in dumpling wrappers.

Ingredients

Pork Filling:

• 500g ground pork
• 6 stalks green onions, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2.5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoon sesame oil
• pinch of salt & pepper
• dumpling skins, either bought from your local Asian supermarket or alternatively, make them yourself in the comfort of your own home — this wrapper recipe has been tested and is truly worth the try.

Method

1. Combine minced pork, green onions and minced garlic in a bowl. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, and remaining seasonings. Mix well to obtain a slightly sticky consistency.
   Customise the filling to your tastebuds by incorporating chopped chilies for some spice or leave out a tablespoon of soy sauce for a less salty filling.
2. Once well combined, fill dumpling skins with approximately one teaspoon of pork filling. Avoid overfilling the wrappers to ensure no dumpling tearing tragedies occur.
3. Secure the filling by pinching the edges of the dumpling skins with each other, whilst folding them in one direction. Tip: Dab some water on the edge of the skin before pinching together as it acts like glue and helps the skin to stick better. If you are unfamiliar and are struggling with this method, this video provides a better visual technique. Or, you could secure the filling by closing the skin as if folding a piece of paper, making sure the edges meet, creating a simple semicircle shaped dumpling.
4. There are many ways you could cook them. Here, the dumplings are pan-fried. Add vegetable oil into a medium heated pan and place dumplings in an even layer. Fry until the bottoms are slightly golden, then add 1/3 cup of water and cover with a lid. Leave to simmer for 2 minutes on low and then uncover and increase heat to medium until water is evaporated. If you don’t have a lid, fry the dumplings on low heat and flip occasionally until skin is golden brown and leave on low for an additional 3 minutes before plating and consumption.
5. Other ways you could cook your dumplings is to deep fry, boil them in a soup or steam them.
6. Serve up your hot steamy dumplings with a side of soy sauce or black vinegar, or any sauce of your choice.

Depending on the amount of filling you put in, you may be left with leftover dumpling skins or filling. You could save up the dumpling skins in a tight container in the fridge for a week, and the filling can be made into pork balls to be paired with noodles or pan-fried and added to a bed of fluffy rice.

To store the dumplings, simply space them apart on a parchment sheet in the freezer, making sure they’re not touching, and throw them in a bag after they are frozen rock solid. These dumplings can be made ahead of time and kept for weeks, or until the next time your dumpling cravings hit.