Easy Pork Dumplings

Easy Pork Dumplings

While dumplings are now widely available in supermarkets around the world in the frozen section, there’s nothing like the taste, texture and aroma of freshly made pork dumplings. With a little time and patience, these dumplings will go as fast as you can make them. If you create an assembly line, this can be a fun recipe to make with a small group of family or friends.

Ingredients

1 pound ground pork

8 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 1/2 tablespoons ginger, finely minced

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/4 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine (xiaoxing wine)

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 scallions, finely chopped

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 large eggs, 1 lightly beaten for wrapper sealing and 1 for pork mixture

All purpose flour for dusting

1 package of round wonton wrappers

Small bowl of cold water + water for cooking

Vegetable oil

For the Sauce:

1/4 cup Chinese black vinegar

1/4 cup sweet soy sauce

2 tablespoons spicy chili sauce

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Method

In a large mixing bowl, mix the pork, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, Chinese wine, peppers, salt, scallions, cornstarch and 1 egg thoroughly; set aside.

Lightly dust a non-stick baking sheet with flour. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining egg.

With one wrapper in your hand, place a small spoonful of pork mixture in the middle and flatten a little so it’s not a huge mound. Dip your fingers into the egg wash and drag around 3/4 of the perimeter of the wrapper; then fold wrapper over so it forms a half moon shape; press gently but firmly around the edges so the egg wash seals the wrapper together; lay the dumpling on the non-stick baking sheet. Repeat until the pork mixture is used up.

In a non-stick skillet heat enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the skillet on medium high. Make sure the oil is hot enough before placing the dumplings in; (regularly sized skillets will allow for approximately 10 dumplings to cook at once); place dumplings round side down first.

Pan-fry for approximately 2 minutes until golden brown then flip over to the flat side and cook for another 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

With a lid in one hand ready to cover the skillet immediately, carefully and quickly pour 1/4 cup water and close the skillet immediately to avoid the splattering oil; cook for 2 minutes and drain on paper towel. Repeat steps 5 to 7 until all dumplings are cooked.

In a small bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients together. Serve the dumplings warm with the dipping sauce.