Tuesday Dinners

Pork Dumplings

Everyone’s (or at least my) favorite part of take out.

⏲️ Prep Time
45 minutes (+30 rest)

⏲️ Cook Time
5 minutes (per batch)

🍴 Makes
40-50

Ingredients

Wrappers

  • 2 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup hot water
  • Pinch of salt

Filling

  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 egg
  • 1 bunch green onion
  • 1/2 head cabbage
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup seasame oil
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ground ginger

Directions

Wrappers

  1. Heat your water until it’s near boiling
  2. Combine salt, flour and water in a bowl
  3. Mix until just combined
  4. Knead until smooth, then cover and rest for at least 30 minutes

Filling

  1. Finely shred/chop garlic, ginger, cabbage, green onion
  2. Add egg and pork to veggies
  3. Add soy sauce and oil and mix well

Dumplings

  1. Divide dough into fourths, take one fourth and roll into a snake/worm with about an inch diameter
  2. Cut snake into 1 inch long pieces (about 10-15)
  3. On a floured surface roll out the dough pieces until they are a circle or square with a diameter/edge length of about 3 to 4 inches
  4. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center and wrap the edges around the fillings, making sure all air escapes from interior and there are no gaps in edge
  5. Repeat until filling and dough is used up
  6. Cook using preferred method

Step By Step Directions

Place your flour and salt in a bowl. Add some hot water to the mixture. The reason to use hot water is to encourage the gluten to form when combined with the flour. You can use regular water but you will just need to work harder to form your wrappers later on.

Mix together the water and flour until it forms a loose structure (you should be able to pick it up as one piece but it will look butt ugly). Turn it out onto a flat surface.

Knead the dough until it takes on a smooth texture, then place it back in your bowl, cover and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

Shred up all your vegetables, add your meat and egg (used to bind the other ingredients), add your sauce and oil (the slightly darker cabbage in the upper right of the bowl).

Mix everything together until it has a relatively even mix of all the ingredients.

Now it’s time to assemble the dumplings.

*Note: This is easier with a group of people so that you’re not constantly switching between different tasks (and you can make fun of your friends that don’t know what hey’re doing).

Divide your dough into fourths, this is just so it’s easier to work with. With your fourth roll out your dough into a snake/worm/log/cylinder. Your dough should be about 10 inches long and roughly 1 inch in diameter. Divide your dough into 10 roughly equal pieces.

Either roll out or press out your dough (almost like a pizza) into the shape you want for your dumpling. Taking a teaspoon of the filling add your filling to the center of your dough and then take your edges and pinch them together, making sure to get all the air out of your interior and that the edges are sealed.

This part may feel frustrating if it’s your first time doing it. Remember that cooking is supposed to be fun and to make sure the people around you don’t starve to death. If you can make a bunch of pretty pleats in the dough then go ahead and do that, if you accidentally get a tear in your dough and it’s not salvageable then remember that the filling is the part that tastes the best and prepare to make scrambled dumplings.

Now all that’s left to do is cook (and eat) them. There are multiple methods for cooking dumplings:

  • Pan Frying – add a little oil to the bottom of a pan, toss your dumplings in and then turn them once they’ve browned.
  • Steaming – If you have a steamer then ideally you would want to cook them for 15-20 minutes.
  • Boiling – This works well if you’re sure about the integrity of your edges, boil a pot of water and then throw your dumplings in. Drain and serve.
  • The Oven – A little unconventional, but if your oven is at 400 degrees then you can cook them for 15-20 minutes or until crispy.

Enjoy.

Variations

  • Vary the meat used. Ground beef also works, or if you want to use bok choy instead of cabbage.
  • Use store bought wrappers, the odds are that you will need to use a little water to close them properly but you can’t get more consistent.
  • Don’t make dumplings. Cook your filling in a pot and chop up your dough thinly. It will still taste good and you will likely be done faster.

Unsolicited Feedback

  • NP: You really don’t know what you’re doing, do you?
  • TF: It tastes better at the restaurant.
  • FA: Why did you only make 50?