Pork, Chives & Mushroom Dumplings 猪肉韭菜香菇饺子

Was doing our weekly marketing at the supermarket when I saw chives at the vegetable section. It then came upon me that I have not made dumplings for a long long time! So let's do it!

I just wanted simple fillings for my dumplings. No prawns or shrimps. Save the shells peeling and chopping. I am lazy.

Used 3 simple mains for the dumpling. Pork and chives are the must have, and I added chinese mushrooms this time. Yummy!

Lazy me used store bought dumpling flour for the dumpling wrapper. Simply pour in water, mix, knead, rest and ready to use!

So how do you like your dumplings to be cooked?

I steam it.

And also boiling it.

Love lots of ginger and black vinegar with it.

You can also pan fry the dumplings and eat them as guo tie (pot stickers). 

Come, let's dig in! :)

Pork, Chives & Mushroom Dumplings

Wrapper
600g store bought dumpling flour
300g water

Filling
600g minced pork
300g chives, washed 3x, remove soggy and yellow parts, cut and remove stem parts
8 pcs dried chinese mushrooms, soaked till softened, remove stems and steam for 6 min on high heat till cooked, then cube into small cubes

Seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp cornflour
dash of pepper

1. Mix dumpling flour and water to form a dough, knead well till dough does not stick to hands and is soft. Cover with a clean moist cloth and set aside to rest for 30 min. This allows the dough to become smooth and stretchy, ready for use.

2. Place minced pork, chopped chives and mushroom cubes into a mixing bowl.

Add in all seasonings and mix well with a pair of chopsticks till filling mixture turns into a sticky paste. Cover with clingwrap and set in fridge for 30 min.

3. Punch down dough cut out dough into small pieces for use. I weigh each pc to be 12g round and roll them flat. Place a teaspoon heap of filling on centre of dough wrapper and wrap up. Pinch a side of dough and press tight to seal opening. Repeat till use up fillings.

Place wrapped dumplings on a plate or tray, taking care not to let them be too close and stick together. When one plate or tray is fully filled with dumplings, cover with cling wrap and leave in freezer and let dumplings freeze before removing each frozen dumpling and storing in ziplock bags. Freeze dumplings.

4. No need to thaw dumplings when you want to eat it. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add enough jiaozi to cover the base of the pot about one and a half times, stirring to make sure no dumplings stick to the base of the pot. Cover.

When it comes to a boil, add 250ml water. Cover and repeat 2 more times. When the water comes to a boil for the third time, the dumplings are ready. Scoop dumplings onto a plate and serve immediately with vinegar and shredded young ginger.


NOTE: The theory behind adding cups of water is that if you stop it before the third boil, the meat will not be cooked through. Also, if you don’t add cold water each time, the jiaozi will fill up with air and explode.

For steaming, put steamer pot filled with water and let it come to boil on high heat, place frozen dumplings into bamboo steamer basket and set in steamer pot to steam for 15min, or till done. Serve immediately.