International Recipes
Chinese Dumplings
Yield: 60
Ingredients
Wrappers
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups ice water
- Extra flour (for rolling)
Filling
- 5 cups finely chopped Chinese (Napa) cabbage
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound ground pork
- 2 cups finely chopped Chinese garlic chives or 1 cup finely chopped leeks mixed with 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon rice wine or sake
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch, or more if needed
- 1 cup cold water
Instructions
Wrappers
- In a bowl, stir the flour and salt. Stir in the water a little at a time, adding only as much as you need to form a smooth dough. Knead the dough for a few minutes until it can be formed into a smooth ball. Cover the dough with a clean cloth; let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
- Knead the dough until it forms a smooth ball, adding flour to the counter if necessary. Halve the dough and form each piece into a long, snakelike roll about 1 inch in diameter. Cut each roll into 30 pieces. Roll the pieces into balls and then press each one into a circle.
- Using a small rolling pin, short dowel, or lightly floured tortilla press, roll out each piece on a lightly floured surface to form a 3 inch circle. Cover the circles with a clean cloth.
Filling
- In a large bowl, combine the cabbage and salt. Toss lightly to mix it evenly. Set aside for 30 minutes.
- Take a handful of the cabbage and squeeze out as much water as possible. Place the squeezed cabbage in a clean bowl. Continue with the remaining cabbage. Stir the ground pork into the cabbage with the chives or leeks and garlic.
- Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine or sake, ginger, garlic and 1 tablespoon cornstarch, stirring vigorously in one direction to combine the mixture evenly. If the mixture seems loose, add an additional 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.
- Place about 1 tablespoon of filling into the middle of each wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrappers with water. Fold the dough over the filling into a half-moon shape and pinch the edges to seal them.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add half the dumplings, giving them a gentle stir so they don't stick together. When the water returns to a boil again, add 1/2 cup of cold water. Let the water return to a boil again, and add another 1/2 cup of cold water. Heat to a boil again.
- When the dumplings have returned to a boil three times, they are ready. Drain and remove.
- Cook the remaining dumplings in the same way. (This is the traditional method of cooking dumplings; for a simpler method, boil them for about 8 minutes, uncovered, over high heat.)
- Serve with black vinegar.