During a recent visit to Shanghai, China, a friend brought me to one of the most famous dumpling houses. They had windows into the kitchen and I was fascinated at how quickly they assembled dumplings - practice makes perfect, I guess, when you move that much dumpling filling!
These are my first attempt at home, and they were nothing short of superb. I only had square wonton wrappers (I didn't make my own dough), but you normally should buy round dumpling wrappers. No worries - they were fantastic, and I didn't need anything but a good pinch to secure them together - no egg washes or anything. I couldn't find my wok bamboo steamer so I used a vegetable steamer which worked just fine. I finished them by browning them in a bit of peanut oil - a very nice option if you should be so inclined. But be sure to serve them with a nice dipping sauce.1 lb ground pork
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
½ inch fresh ginger, minced
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
14-oz package circular dumpling (or square wonton) wrappers
Dipping Sauce:
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp red pepper flakes or chili oil
Mix together the pork and the next 5 ingredients. Wrap about 2 tsp of the pork filling into each wrapper, and pinch together either in a gathered wedge or a centralized bundle – see photos.
Steam the dumplings for about 5 minutes in whatever steaming device you have. Then transfer with tongs to a non-stick skillet, with about an eight inch of canola or peanut oil ready for frying. Brown the bottoms of each dumpling just a bit and set aside on a paper towel to drain. Meanwhile, whisk together the dipping sauce. Serve dumplings with dipping sauce.The dumplings I had in Shanghai were formed as round parcels and were only steamed, not browned.
But others I had in China were browned. Have it your way.
Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant, Shanghai, China.
No comments:
Post a Comment