Steamed Pork Dumplings

Today for Cultural Connections I’ve made Chinese Steamed dumplings also called dim sum. Chinese dumplings may be round or crescent-shaped, steamed,boiled or pan-fried. There are many fillings that may be used, weather sweet or savory; vegetarian or filled with meat and vegetables. Dumplings can also be known as jiaozi (Mandarin), gau gee or gow gee (Cantonese) or gyoza (Japanese).
The wrappers can be square, round, some thin and some a little thicker. I have not made my own skins yet, (but I know there are many recipes out there if you want to give it a try!) You can usually find them in the produce section, near the tofu and refrigerated veggies. The package I bought came in 100 count and were square and thin. When I make up the dumplings you get quite a few so I freeze the rest. They freeze well. If you still have extra wrappers left, you can use them to make your own ravioli. I’ve made butternut squash ricotta and walnut ravioli. I’ve also used eggplant and portobello mushrooms, there are so many choices and here is your chance to make it the way you like it.
Okay…back to the dumplings.
I pulled out my bamboo steamer for this, and lined it with parchment paper. I have used some banana leaves from my backyard, but I know not everyone has a banana tree. Otherwise they will stick to the steamer.
This one has two layers and you can fit in quite a few even though it’s not a very large bamboo steamer. Above are some round ones…
…and here some that were folded over into the triangles, then just folded the tip over. If you don’t have a steamer you can boil them, but then they wouldn’t be steamed dumpling…:D

INGREDIENTS
100 (3.5 inch square) wonton wrappers
1 lb ground pork
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1 teaspoon grated lemongrass (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup finely shredded Chinese cabbage (I used less)

DIRECTIONS
1.In a large bowl, combine the pork, ginger, lemon grass, garlic, green onion, soy sauce, sesame oil, egg and cabbage. Stir until well mixed.
2.Place 1 heaping teaspoon of pork filling onto each wonton skin. Moisten edges with water and fold edges over to form a triangle shape. Roll edges slightly to seal in filling*. Set dumplings aside on a lightly floured surface until ready to cook.
3.To Cook: Steam dumplings in a covered bamboo or metal steamer for about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately. These also freeze well and you can heat them in a pan to make potstickers.

*The other way to make them is placing the wrapper in your palm am put the filling in the center and pull up around the edges squeezing enough to stay but not close together.
If you use the round wonton or gyoza wrappers you can pleat the edges and they look a lot neater. All the ingredients are adjustable to suit you.

Tamari sauce, toasted sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar was the dipping sauce. There are many choices you can use, like ponzu, soy sauce and mirin, or add some pepper flakes to it for a little heat! Garnished with sliced green onions. Enjoy!
Have a great weekend!!

7 Comments

Martha (MM)

These look really great Lyndsey! I’m definitely going to put this on my must try list! Still want to make the ravioli too, and the bento boxes, and … well, so much of your stuff is so interesting and yummy!!

PS – I’m hoping that I won’t have to put in too much time at work this week, still want to try to do our little beach bash soon 🙂

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