Pork and Chive Dumplings

Dumplings need no introduction. The crispy yet chewy wrapper and the juicy savory filling are always a crowd pleaser. All you have to do is decide what filling suits your taste for the day. Today, I chose a pretty traditional pork and chive filling because it’s a classic. This recipe, however, is rather ginger forward because I absolutely love ginger and it balances out the fattiness of the pork really well.

Side note: The most legit way to do this would be to make your own dough for the wrappers but sometimes life gets really busy and there is nothing wrong with relying on pre-made wrappers. Also, I live in a really dry climate and trying to keep dough from drying out is nothing short of a herculean task.

Side side note: My dipping sauce of choice is usually doubanjiang (spicy soy bean paste), soy sauce, and vinegar but this is entirely up to personal preference.

Filling Mix

• 1 lbs Pork Belly

• 1 lbs Pork Loin

• 3 g Sea Salt

• 10 g White Pepper

• 5 g Sugar

• 2 g MSG

• 50 g Ginger (minced)

• 25 g Shallots (minced)

• 200 g Korean Chives (chopped)

• 10 g Soy Sauce

• 20 g Taiwanese Rice Wine (a.k.a Michiu)

• 10 g Oyster Sauce

• 10 g Sesame Oil

• 1 Egg

Flour Slurry

• 50 g AP Flour

• 70 g Water

The Filling

1. Prepare a large mixing bowl that can easily hold all of the ingredients as well as being able to mix them thoroughly.

2. Cut the pork belly and pork loin into 1 inch chunks. Season the pork with the sea salt, white pepper, sugar, and MSG. Slowly feed pieces of the seasoned pork into the meat grinder. Passing the pork through the grinder only once will result in larger pieces of pork and the filling will be juicier. Catch the pork in the large mixing bowl.

3. Add in the ginger, shallots, Korean chives, soy sauce, Taiwanese rice wine, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and egg. Using your hands, mix everything until everything is well combined.

4. Make the flour slurry in a small bowl and set aside.

The Folding

1. Take a wrapper and place about 1 Tbsp of filling in the middle. It might be more or less depending on the size of your wrapper.

2. Using the back of a spoon, spread a thin layer of the flour slurry along the edge of the north half of the wrapper. Imagine the crescent moon on Sailor Moon’s forehead.

3. Bring the bottom half to meet the top half and pinch in the middle. This will be your reference point.

4. Fold three times to the left and three times to the right.

5. Pinch tightly to make sure everything is sealed properly

6. Remember to use a damp towel to drape over the folded dumplings to prevent the finished one from drying out while you keep folding.

Storage

1. This usually makes A LOT of dumplings so I tend to immediately throw them into the freezer right after folding (single layer on a tray). After they are completely frozen, I toss them into a container for easy storage and cook them from frozen whenever I want a quick meal.

The Cooking

1. Put a frying pan that has a fitted lid on medium to medium-high heat. Drizzle a little bit of vegetable oil and wait for the oil to heat up.

2. Once the pan and oil are nice and hot, place down as many dumplings as you would like. Make sure that there is a bit of space between the dumplings so they don’t stick to each other during the cooking process.

3. Evenly pour in about 100mL of water around the dumplings and IMMEDIATELY close the lid. This will trap the steam in which will help cook the dumplings.

4. Leave the dumplings to cook with the lid on for 8 - 9 minutes. After the water evaporates, the bottom will start to crisp up.

5. After 8 - 9 minutes, take off the lid and check the color of the dumplings on the bottom. If they are a nice gold brown, take them out the pan. If they still look pale, keep them in the pan a little longer and/or move them to where the pan is the hottest. Once each dumpling is golden brown on the bottom, the wrapper is semi-translucent on top, and the filling is opaque, then it’s done!