Last weekend I learnt how to cook Chinese dumplings. For those who might not be familiar with these tiny parcels of deliciousness, a dumpling consists of minced meat and chopped vegetables wrapped into a piece of dough and then boiled, fried or steamed.
There are also sweet varieties but I made the traditional type.
Pretty simple but somehow I don’t think Jamie Oliver has anything to worry about!
Ingredients needed:
- Minced pork (about 1:1 ratio with vegetables)
- Spring onion & cabbage finely chopped
- Soy sauce & rice wine (or vinegar)
- Dumpling pancakes (some people make their own but it was too much hassle for me)
Instructions:
- Mix together the minced pork and chopped vegetables with a drizzle of soy sauce and rice wine
- Place a small amount of mixture in the middle of each pancake and seal the sides with water
- Boil the dumplings for 3 minutes being careful not to let them stick to the sides of the pan
- Drain the water and serve plain or with hot chili sauce
These are just the most simple type of dumplings to make – there are many more shapes and varieties with different fillings. Take a look at these great guides for more inspiration (1, 2). You’ll see that dumpling making is a pretty serious business!
This looks fun and tasty! I’d have a word with your tailor though, he appears to have dressed you in a t-shirt 2 sizes too big with a large pink motif 😛 (forgive me)
Yeah, that was the printing mistake I mentioned. Turns out Chinese sizes are quite different from English ones!
Impressed with your excellent dumplings! And thank you for linking back to my post. Now I want to make these tomorrow…
Thanks Helen, although I think your how-to guide was far more comprehensive 🙂 Next time I’ll have to try making the dumpling wrappers/pancakes myself.
优秀谢谢
Actually,we Chinese don’t need water in step 2.(^_^)