Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Dumplings

Of the Chinese style, suitable for steaming, frying, or potstickering. 

I started with a generous pound of ground pork, added a few chopped scallions, a handful of chopped chives, salt & pepper, a tablespoon of soy, a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil. Mixed well. 

You can sample for seasoning by frying a small patty of the filling until cooked, then adjust the seasoning if you need to.

I used dumpling wrappers from the local Korean supermarket. As you can see in the photo, they're about 3" diameter.  Brushed the surface with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with a tablespoon of water), heaped a generous teaspoon of the filling on it, folded it over, and pressed around the edges to seal well. 




I then prop them up so they sit upright on the folded edge.  You'll see in the photo below how they are sitting so that the sealed edge is on top, and the folded edge flattened as a base.  

The frill along the sealed edge isn't particularly intentional: it's the result of gently pushing down on the folded edge to flatten it while holding the corners. 

 
Important -- don't overfill them, or you will find it difficult to seal them.

The whole tray is then covered well and frozen. Once frozen, I'll put them in zip bags in the freezer, and remove them as I want them.


Oh, and note well: the tray on which I sit them for freezing is covered with a sheet of Reynold's Non-Stick Foil, modern industry's gift to humanity.  Awesome stuff.   

To cook them, I typically steam-fry in "potsticker" fashion.

Drizzle some oil in a pan, add 1/4 cup water. Arrange the dumplings in the pan. Cover. Bring to a simmer, and let steam a few minutes. (You can do this with fully frozen dumplings, but of course, they'll take a little longer.)

When the water has been absorbed and evaporated, you'll hear them starting to fry in the lingering oil. Continue until the bottoms are nicely browned.