Chinese Pork Dumplings- Cooking with Lei

Lei's Chinese Dumplings

Doug and I were graciously invited to our friend, Lei's, house for a traditional Chinese dinner.

Then after dinner, she demonstrated how to make dumplings.  This is one of my favorite Chinese dishes, so I welcomed the chance to learn how to make them.  They are very delicious.  By all means, give them a try.  It may take me some time to master the beautiful shape that Lei has so skillfully prepared, but it will be fun sampling them on your way to perfection.

Ingredients:

• Dough, flour and water
• Ground pork
• Chinese cabbage
• Green onion
• Soy sauce

The dough is made by adding water to flour gradually.  Mix and knead by hand to form a soft dough.

 The dough has been mixed and kneaded and formed into a ball.  

The dough is covered and then set aside for about an hour. 

 The meat mixture was prepared with ground pork, shredded Chinese cabbage, 

chopped green onion, and soy sauce.

 The meat and cabbage and onion are thoroughly mixed together.

 Take a portion of the dough.

Form into a long roll.

 Tear off pieces that are uniform in size, about 1 tablespoon.

 Roll out each ball into thin rounds on a floured surface.

 Spoon a small amount of meat mixture onto the dough circle.

  Wrap into a half moon shape 

and  pinch the edges together making sure to seal the entire edge.

This is Lei's perfectly shaped dumpling.

 I am trying my hand at this.

 My patient teacher.

 My very first dumpling!

 Arrange on a floured pan until you have all of them prepared.

 This is a work of art.  It takes practice to make them this beautiful.

 Prepare a pot of boiling water.

Then, drop the dumplings individually into the pan.

(These are cooked in water, not chicken stock.)

Bring to a boil once the dumplings are added to the pot.

 Cover and cook 2-3 minutes.

 Remove the lid, and add 1/2 a glass of cold water.

 Bring to a boil again and continue cooking.

 Repeat the process of boiling the water 

and then adding cold water and bringing to a boil again, 3 times.

 The dumplings are cooked when they float.

 This is the traditional recipe from Northern China, prepared with cabbage and pork.

You could vary these by using ground shrimp.

These are dipped into a dark vinegar.

 Delicious!

 Enjoy!

Thank you, Lei, for a wonderful Chinese dinner.

Chinese Dumpling (JiaoZi)

Introduction of Chinese Dumpling:

Dumplings with meat and vegetable fillings, is very popular at the Chinese new year and at other festivals. It tops the list of delicacies of people in north china, where people eat dumpling at midnight on new year‘s eve and for breakfast on new year’s day. The history of dumpling dates back to ancient time. But the custom of making dumpling a special dish during spring festival, started in the Ming dynasty, some 500 years ago. The reason is simple. The appearance of dumpling looks like the V shape gold or silver ingot used as money in ancient china. As the spring festival marks the start of a new year, people choose to eat dumpling to connote their wishes for good fortune in the new year. Although Times has changed, the tradition has remained. But today, dumpling is considered more as a sign of propitious blessing than of fortune. as china is a country with a vast territory, there are great differences in various regions in ways of making dumpling or even serving it. There is no set rule as to what makes dumpling filling, they can be anything from vegetables, meat to seafood. Whatever the fillings, the wrapping skill needs to be exquisite to make dumpling look attractive. Ways of serving dumpling also vary from place to place. Generally, dumpling are boiled in water and served with vinegar or soy sauce.

(from beijing-travels.com)

Introduction of Chinese Dumpling:

Dumplings with meat and vegetable fillings, is very popular at the Chinese new year and at other festivals. It tops the list of delicacies of people in north china, where people eat dumpling at midnight on new year‘s eve and for breakfast on new year’s day. The history of dumpling dates back to ancient time. But the custom of making dumpling a special dish during spring festival, started in the Ming dynasty, some 500 years ago. The reason is simple. The appearance of dumpling looks like the V shape gold or silver ingot used as money in ancient china. As the spring festival marks the start of a new year, people choose to eat dumpling to connote their wishes for good fortune in the new year. Although Times has changed, the tradition has remained.

But today, dumpling is considered more as a sign of propitious blessing than of fortune. as china is a country with a vast territory, there are great differences in various regions in ways of making dumpling or even serving it. There is no set rule as to what makes dumpling filling, they can be anything from vegetables, meat to seafood. Whatever the fillings, the wrapping skill needs to be exquisite to make dumpling look attractive. Ways of serving dumpling also vary from place to place. Generally, dumpling are boiled in water and served with vinegar or soy sauce.