Pork and Chinese Cabbage Dumplings, Jiaozi

Do you love dumplings as much as I do? Maybe, they seem to be pretty popular but do you know what? I love dumplings.
I considered moving to Shanghai so I could eat these sheng dian mantou every day. During that China trip I put on a lot of weight. I think of it as my dumpling fat.

I go to the Chinese Noodle Restaurant in Chinatown more often than I am really comfortable admitting, and seem to get more excited about dumpling outings than most others.

Why then has it taken me so long then to make some jiaozi for myself? Maybe because they look really difficult, scary and time consuming, but in reality, they aren’t any of those things. Even if you fold them totally wonkily, as I did (see picture above), they still taste delicious and the stash in the freezer means that I don’t have to leave my house to get my dumpling fix. Plus, these aren’t nearly as greasy or salty as those bought at the dingy laminate table eateries, so it is almost as though I am helping myself to lose that dumpling fat by eating dumplings. Seriously, what could be better?

I stuffed these with cabbage, pork and garlic chives, an oft repeated crowd pleasing combination that I highly recommend. 

Jiaozi (饺子)
Adapted from the recipe book “The Food of China”
The recipe said it made 50, but I only bought 30 wrappers and only used 1/3 of the mixture, so I think it should make about 90, though I filled my dumplings sparingly, not using heaped teaspoons of filling. Probably this recipe should make close to 60 dumplings.

400g Chinese Cabbage, finely chopped
1t salt
300g minced pork
2 bunches Chinese garlic chives, finely Chopped
2 1/2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
1 Tablespoon ginger, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons cornflour

round wheat dumpling wrappers (50, or 60, or 90) – I had to fight/search for them – don’t ask.

For the filling: Combine cabbage and salt in a bowl and mix to combine, leave for 30 mins. This is to get rid of excess water from the cabbage, so your dumplings aren’t soggy when cooked, and so that the filling combines easily.
After 30 mins, squeeze all the water from the cabbage and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the pork, garlic chives, soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil and conflour and stir until combined. Drain off any excess liquid.

Now comes the fun part – filling and folding the dumplings. As mine were a bit wonk you might want to check folding techniques from here or here. But here is what I did:
Place a teaspoon of the filling in the centre of each wrapper. Spread a little water around the edge of the wrapper and fold in a half moon shape, being careful to squeeze any air bubbles out as you seal your little delicious dumpling package. Make a few pleats along the sealed edge and place on a lined and cornfloured tray with the pleats facing up, like a chicken’s comb. Repeat. Work quickly, as leaving the dumplings to sit for too long will make them soggy.
I cooked a few of mine, and then froze the remainder. To freeze, place dumplings on a lined tray, not touching and put in the freezer. When they are frozen you can transfer to freezer bags or stack them in a container.

To boil: Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add dumplings (if cooking the whole amount, they will need to be boiled in batches) and stir immediately to prevent them from sticking together. Boil for 8 – 9 min, then drain and repeat with remaining dumplings.
Apparently the traditional method requires that once the dumplings have returned to the boil you add 250ml cold water, and continue to cook over high heat until the water comes back up to the boil. Then you add another 750mls of cold water and cook until the water boils again, then remove.

To pan fry: Heat 1T oil in a pan, add a single layer of dumplings and cook for a few minutes shaking the pan to ensure they don’t stick (soggy dumplings are more likely to stick), add 2/3 cup water, cover a steam for a few minutes until your dumpling skins are almost cooked in the folds. Remove lid and cook until the water has evaporated and the dumpling bottoms are crisped up. Repeat with the remaining dumplings.

Serve with chilli and vinegar, or soy sauce.