DUMPLING

餃子 gaau2 zi2

Ingredients:

(Makes around 40 dumplings)

For marinating the meat:

Instructions

  1. 1.Marinate the pork with the soy sauce, sugar, white pepper and cornflour. Leave for 15 minutes.
  2. 2.Prepare the vegetables:
    • Dice the vegetable of your choice
      (Cabbage / Chives)
    • Mince the garlics (optional)
    • Dice the onion (optional)
  3. 3.Mix the filling:
    1. Combine the pork and vegetables
    2. Add the followings:
      • Soy sauce 6 tbsp
      • Oyster sauce 2 tbsp
        (optional)
      • White pepper a bit
      • Sesame oil 1 tsp (optional)
    3. Mix everything thoroughly
  4. 4.Stuff the dumplings
    1. Prepare a small bowl of water
    2. Take 1 slice of wrappers and place 2 tsp of the filling in the centre of the wrapper
    3. Dip your fingertip in water, and moisten the edge of the wrapper (Water acts as a glue to seal the dumpling)
    4. Fold and seal the dumpling (Be creative! As long as the filling doesn't leak out, they will taste amazing in any shape!)
  5. 5.Pan the dumplings
    1. Heat some oil in a pan over medium heat.
    2. Place the dumplings in the pan and cook until the bottoms are golden brown.
    3. Add 1/4 cup of water and cover with a lid
    4. Let the dumplings steam until you can see all the water has evaporated, then it's ready to eat.

Side notes:

You can see that quite a few ingredients are optional. These optionals add extra flavour to the dish but it still works without them. You can also replace the pork with chicken, or use Chinese cabbage or bok choy instead of cabbage or chives. All roads lead to Rome! Just keep in mind the meat-veggies ratio shouldn't be higher than 1:1. You need a certain amount of meat to let the filling stick together.

SERIOUS Disclaimer: 👷‍♀️

Although I am a Hongkonger (aka ASIAN!), cooking is not my profession. I enjoy cooking because I love food. There are certainly different recipes with different ingredients and instructions for the same dish on the internet or from your Asian friends. My recipes come from my mum or friends, none of us are professional chefs, and they are tailored to our own preferences. They are "authentic" to me because they are comfort food I cook and eat at home. Enjoy cooking and eating!