Pork Dumplings (Jiaozi )

Chinese new year begins February 7th. I wanted to make something that is made in every chinese home during this time of the year. So I aksed my colleague Yan for a recipe. She gave me this recipe for pork dumplings or Jiaozi. Reading up a little more about Jiaozi, I read that during the new year families in China gather and wrap dumplings together. Some believe that wrapping dumplings is equivalent to packaging luck for the new year. Dumplings are also very popular here in N America. Pan fried Jiaozi in America are known as potstickers. Here's my first attempt at making dumplings at home. Happy year of the rat everyone. Thanks to Yan for this recipe!

Ingredients

Dumpling wrappers 1 package from the Asian store (50 count)

Ingredients for dumpling filling:


ground pork 1 lb (can be substitute with ground beef, ground shrimp or turkey)
nappa bok choy cabbage about 5 leaves,chopped
chopped green onion, 4 chopped
salt to taste
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 garlic crushed
a dash of crushed ginger


Mix all filling ingredients well. Make sure the mixture does not have much water. If during mixing, water comes out, add a little flour (I did not have much water release). This is the filling.



To wrap the dumplings wet the edge of each circular wrapper with water. Add 1 heaped tsp of filling to the center of each wrapper.



Close edge in the center forming a half moon. At the edges make inwards fold and press edges together. To understand how to fold dumplings check out these two youtube videos. Wrapped dumplings can be frozen for future use.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1bViRTOSLPQ
http://youtube.com/watch?v=F6AsQB1jK-M&feature=related




Boil a pot of water. When water starts boiling, add dumplings as shown in the second video using a ladle. Don't add too many, dumplings or they'll stick together. When the dumplings emerge onto the water surface, add 1 cup of cold water. When the water boils again, add another cup of water. Wait till the water start boiling. Dumplings should be fully cooked!



Remove dumplings to a pot of cold water, then quickly remove them into a serving dish. This is to prevent the dumplings from sticking together. Remove onto a platter and serve with soy sauce. Optionally to make the dumplings taste like potstickers, pan fry cooked dumplings to give it a crispy crust.