real life test kitchen: pork dumplings
While I do enjoy the meaty little inside of a dumpling, it’s the crispy-soft, doughy wrapping that’s the basis of my affection. I’ve always thought pork dumplings would be difficult to make, but I decide to give it a go anyway, aided by my roommate Allison K., who is always whipping up delicious dishes. The filling is basically a mix of Napa cabbage (which smells slightly buttery when chopped), ground pork, and sesame-seed oil. I got carried away and made enough for around 35 dumplings; fortunately, they’re freezable. Click through to the next page for complete instructions and to see step-by-step photos.— Bunny W.
Allison shows me how to wrap the meat-cabbage stuffing: Dip your finger in a small bowl of water, run it around the edge of the wrapper, place a spoonful of filling in the center, and then press the edges of the wrapping together, adding fancy pleats if you like. After heating 2 tablespoons oil in a frying pan (Allison later tells me I probably could have used a tad less oil), we drop the dumplings in, then add 1/3-cup water and cover the pan. The result: They’re slightly fried on bottom, with steamed tops. The fact that I used plain old chives rather than Chinese chives gives them a different flavor than is standard, but I’m happy. Allison points out that it’s easy to substitute whatever filling you’d like—vegetables, beef, and so on.
1. Place a spoonful of stuffing in the center of the wrapper.
2. Wrap together and add pleats if you like.
3. Add dumplings to heated oil, add water.
4. Cook with lid on until bottoms are golden.
Have you ever made dumplings? Please let me know your technique! — Bunny W.
Yum, now I’m craving dumplings! I basically do the same thing, except I brown the bottoms in just oil first, then add water so that the dumplings are about 1/2 covered, then simmer away. After the water has boiled off, I re-crisp the bottoms by adding a bit of sesame oil. I’ll try your technique next time, it seems easier.
These look restaurant-worthy, B.! I’m very impressed. I might have to seek out some dim sum later.
I have to agree with Megan- I’m very impressed! So now that you’ve got me craving homemade dumplings I have an important questions… What recipe did you use? I want to get the ratio of ingredients for the filling correct. Do you have to cook the filling before you make them? Or maybe all the cooking happens once inside?
For folks looking for recipes, Alton Brown’s is tasty…and now I can’t stop thinking about making these tonight. When I was a kid, my family would have gyoza-making nights (“gyoza” is the Japanese name for potstickers) and to help our little hands, we had plastic presses. SO EASY. You slap a wrapper on the little form, brush it with a pastry brush dipped in water, drop a teaspoon of filling, and close the press. We’d fry a ton up and eat them for dinner — just plates and plates of gyoza — and freeze the rest. YUM!