Have
you ever gone out for dim sum? It’s fabulous! Servers flit around with cart
after cart of steaming dumplings, spicy bok choy and, my favourite, sesame
balls. The food just keeps coming and coming until you say stop or fall asleep.
There’s
only one problem. I have NO freaking clue how to order dim sum so that I know exactly
what I’m getting. It’s not that I’m a picky eater – I just need to know what’s
in my food. If I expect pork and bite into shrimp, the meal’s ruined. And so, I
only go for dim sum when an experienced friend can come along.
A
couple weekends ago it was Chinese New Year’s. I A) knew my dim sum friend was
busy and B) new all the great dim sum restaurants in Chinatown were packed, so
I decided to make my own dumplings.
This
recipe may look a bit lengthy and complicated, but I promise you it’s not. This
is a perfect recipe for a weekend in, with a bunch of friends and your list of
resolutions from that other New Year’s Day that you can start breaking all over
again.
Makes 40 dumplings
Filling (Adapted from Steamy Kitchen)
12 ounces cabbage leaves, roughly chopped (I used savoy cabbage)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup minced green onions (white and green parts)
2/3 pound ground pork
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (I used dry sherry)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoons Chinese 5-spice
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Put the cabbage in a
food processor and process until cabbage is finely minced. You could do this
with a chef’s knife – just put on some good tunes because it’ll take you a
while!
Transfer minced
cabbage to a large bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Let cabbage sit for 10
minutes.
In the meantime, add
add the ginger, chives, pork, pepper, soy sauce, rice wine, Chinese 5-spice and
sesame oil to the now empty food processor bowl. Pulse 5 or 6 times to mix the
ingredients well. Set aside.
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| I used PC Black Label Chinese 5-Spice |
Using your hands, grab
a handful of the cabbage and squeeze the excess moisture out into the sink. Don’t
skip this step or your dumplings will be super soggy! Place the dry cabbage
back into the large bowl and fold the pork mixture in until combined.
Wrappers (From Bon Appetit)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup water
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Place the flour in a large bowl. Stir in 1/2
cup of the water, working the water into the flour with your hands. Slowly add
more water, about 1/4 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly so the water is fully
incorporated before adding more. Stop when the dough is springy and soft, not
too dry but not slippery.
Transfer
to a clean surface and knead for 3 to 5 minutes. Cover with a damp cloth and
let sit for at least 10 minutes.
5 Slice the ropes into 1-inch-long pieces.
6 Lightly sprinkle the pieces with flour, and roll
them with one hand on the counter to form balls. Squash each ball with the
center of your palm to flatten it like a silver dollar – a reference most
people born after ’90 don’t get at all, but still, we'll keep using it.
7 Give a flour shower (aka sprinkle some flour) to the dough
and work surface. Using a rolling pin and one piece of dough at a time, start
from the center of the dough and roll outward, then roll back to the center.
Turn the dough a few degrees and roll again. Continue rolling, turning the
dough in the same direction, until you have made a full turn of the dance floor.
The dumpling skin should be flat and round and slightly bigger than your palm.
It probably won't be a perfect circle the first time you try - or the second - but your technique will improve as you go along (or you'll stop caring it's not perfect).
8 Now here’s where things got real. I stacked my
wrappers one on top of the other as I made them. BIG mistake. By the time I got
to filling them, everything after wrapper #10 was one huge congealed mess. SO –
next time, I’ll make a wrapper, fill a wrapper. Alternatively, you could do
stacks of 5. If they’re going to hang out for a while, just cover them with a
damp cloth so they don’t dry out.
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| The stack of horror |
Assembly
Take one dumpling wrapper in the palm of your hand, spoon 1
tablespoon of the pork mixture onto the middle of the wrapper.
Bring up the bottom side of the wrapper, fold up into a
semi-circle and pinch the top.
Starting at one end, pinch the dough into pleats until the
filling is completely encased.
Set dumpling aside - but make sure that the dumplings do not
touch each other!
To Cook Dumplings
While you are wrapping, fill a large pot with
water and bring it to a boil over high heat.
Add the
dumplings in batches of 20, and when the water returns to a boil, cook for 5
minutes. Drain and serve immediately with sauces below.
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| Beware: They're slippery little buggers! |
Chili Oil
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In a small, heatproof bowl, place 2 tsp chili flakes, one minced garlic clove and 2 pinches of salt
Heat 1/4 cup of chili in a frying pan until fragrant and oil appears to be rippling. Carefully pour warm oil into small bowl and let sit for at least 10 minutes for flavours to meld.
Rice Vinegar
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This one's easy. Pour some seasoned rice vinegar into a small bowl. Dip dumplings. Marvel at how this simple vinegar dip changes everything.
I'd love to hear if you tried this recipe!
