Chinese Chives and Pork Dumplings (Jiaozi) Recipe

BACKLOG!! Ok, that exclamation has zero relation to this post on Chinese dumplings. With the year drawing to a close, one would expect things to wind down but quite the contrary, I am swamped.

There are many things to settle and close before 2013 is over and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly. As the apt saying goes, 先苦后甜 "bitterness first, sweetness after", I am eagerly anticipating my gush of "sweetness" after all this crazy work is over!

I love Chinese dumplings ever since staying in Beijing for a couple months. There are many flavours available and people eat them as a main. You can dip them in simple black vinegar or mixed with some sesame oil and chilli oil. It's a great dish to make during these rainy months and it's a fun activity for the whole family to just gather around and make dumplings.



This recipe isn't going to provide you with specific measurements - proportions will be provided instead. Reason being is that you can adjust the serving size depending on how many people you want to feed.

Ingredients

For dumpling skin (makes about 15)
150g plain flour
3/4 cup cold water

For dumpling filling
50:50 minced pork and fatty minced pork
Chinese chives or "ku cai"
Oyster sauce
Soy sauce
Pepper
Sesame oil

Method
1. To make the dumpling skin, make a hole in the centre of the flour and add the cold water slowly. Mix well and knead for about 5 minutes. Leave dough to rest for 30 minutes

2. Cut Chinese chives into small bits and mix with pork. Add in seasoning, starting with 1 tbsp of oyster sauce, soy sauce. Add more as deemed necessary. Add in dash of pepper and drizzle of sesame oil. Leave meat to marinate for 4-5 hours

3. Divide dumpling skin dough evenly into smaller portions. Roll and flatten each portion into a small circle. Place some meat filling and press the sides together. The dough should be sticky enough to seal onto itself. Otherwise, you can use some water or beaten egg to seal the dumpling shut

4. Add dumplings into a pot of boiling water. Dumplings are ready when they float upwards

Tips
1. It is important for the dough to rest! Otherwise, the dough will be very difficult to handle

2. There are various techniques to fold dumplings. I press the two folds together for simplicity