Since my husband moved here from England, he had dearly missed the pork dumplings that his mum used to make back home which were really tasty. So I attempted my first try at making these dumplings, in the hope of satisfying the husband’s cravings for this meaty delight.
Pork Dumplings Recipe (Makes about 28-35 dumplings)
Ingredients
For the filling:
3 pieces black fungus (wood ear mushroom), soaked in hot water for 10 mins & sliced thinly
500g minced pork
200g medium-size grey prawns, shelled & deveined, chopped into small pieces
8 water chestnuts, peeled & diced
a bunch of spring onions, chopped finely
For the seasoning:
1 tbsp chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 heaped tsps chicken seasoning powder
2 tsps fish sauce
1/2 tsp salt
dash of white pepper
For the dipping sauce:
Chinkiang black vinegar
2-inch size ginger, peeled & julienned
white ‘sui kow’ dumpling skins
Instructions
1. Mix together the filling ingredients and seasonings and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
2. To assemble the dumpling, first place one sheet of dumpling skin on your palm and spoon a tablespoon-full of filling in the middle. Dab some water around the rim of the skin, fold the dumpling into half and press down the edges to ensure the filling is properly sealed. Repeat for the rest of the dumpling skins. Place the dumplings on parchment paper and cover with a damp cloth to prevent them from drying up.
3. Bring water in a deep pot to a boil. Gently drop the dumplings into the boiling water and cook till they float on the surface.
4. Serve with black vinegar and ginger.
If you have leftover chicken or vegetable soup from the night before, you can also use that to make pork dumpling rice noodles soup. If not, these pork dumplings are good enough to eat on their own.
I love the texture of the layers as you bite into each dumpling – the meat, the crunchy water chestnut & black fungus, fresh spring onions and fragrant sesame oil – all with their distinct flavours, married in a dumpling shell.
Instead of making your usual meatballs tonight, why not try this Chinese version instead? =)