Dumplings 3 ways

We have made dumplings before, and this time, we made both veggie and pork ones. They are great to freeze, so you can just easily have them as a meal later on (remember to separate them on a large baking sheet in the freezer so they don’t stick together; once frozen, put them in a container or bag). The three ways we ate the dumplings after we made them were 1) fry them (aka potstickers) 2) boiled in a miso soup and 3) steamed

For the vegetarian one, we followed Alton Brown’s recipe that can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/vegetarian-steamed-dumplings-recipe/index.html

Pressing and draining the tofu

The vegetarian dumpling filling

For the pork one, this was the recipe our friend gave us:

Ingredients

Makes about 80-90

Store – bought wonton wrappers

For the Filling

450/1lb Chinese leaves or white cabbage

450g/1lb minced pork

15ml/1tbsp finely chopped spring onions

5ml/1tsp finely chopped fresh root ginger

10ml/2tsp salt

5ml/1 tsp light brown sugar

30ml/2 tbsp light soy sauce

15ml/1 tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

10 ml/2 tsp sesame oil

For the dipping sauce

30 ml/ 2 tbsp red chilli oil

15 ml/1tbsp light soy sauce

15ml/1 tbsp finely chopped garlic

15 ml/1 tbsp finely chopped spring onions

1.Cut cabbage finely – or use food processor, which we did. Mix with the pork, spring onions, ginger, salt, sugar, soy sauce, wine and sesame oil.

2. Lightly dust a work surface with the flour.

3. Place about 25ml/1.5tbsp of the filling in the centre of each wrapper and fold into a corner, wetting the edges with water to seal tightly.

4. Fold the two outer edges back together and put a dab of water to seal together.

5. Make the dipping sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Serve in a small bowl with the dumplings.

The pork dumpling filling

We're ready to roll!

For the pork ones, B made them in circle wonton wrappers. He put the filling in the middle, folded them into semi-circles and pressed and folded the edges. For mine, I made mine in triangle wrappers, folded back with the 2 outside edges of the triangle

Dumplings/wontons

Veggie Dumplings

Pork dumplings

First, we made potstickers. You first heat 1 T of oil over medium-high  in a  large skillet with a tight-fitting lid. Fry some of the wontons and cook for about 1 minute per side, or until lightly browned. Flip and do the same thing (flip only once!). Then add 1/2 c of water and cover for 2-3 minutes, or until wrappers are translucent. Repeat with the remaining wontons if desired.

Potstickers with dipping sauce

The next one we did were boiled in a miso soup. We boiled water, turned it off, put the miso paste in, with green onions, carrots, and shitake mushrooms. Stir. Next, we put the dumplings in (carefully) and reboiled. Dumplings should be done when they float (around 3 minutes).

Miso soup dumplings

The final one we just steamed (put a parchment paper underneath to prevent sticking). The dumplings are done when skin is translucent, about 12 minutes. We served this with the same sauce as the potstickers.

Steamed dumplings with sauce