Recipes to Rival - Dumpling Challenge

This month Heather of Randomosity and the Girl & Temperance of High of the Hog challenged us to make Chinese dumplings (I would normally call these potstickers but the challenge calls them dumplings). We had to use the Hot Water Dough recipe that was posted but were free to fill the dumplings with whatever we wanted. We could also pan fry or steam the dumplings.

A few years back my friend Gabbi & I took a class in Chinese appetizers at Home Chef so I was pretty confident I could remember how to make these. We decided to go with a pork filling based on the one I had made in that class.

Pork Filling
(from Home Chef Dim Sum Workshop)

5 - 6 cabbage leaves (we used savoy)
1/2 T freshly grated ginger
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
3/4 T soy sauce
1/2 T rice wine
1/2 T sesame oil
1 t cornstarch
4 oz ground pork

Chop the cabbage coarsely in a food processor. Gather it in a clean dish towel & squeeze out as much liquid as possible. (You should end up with a little over 1 cup of cabbage).

Combine everything together in a mixing bowl.

Fills about 12 dumplings.

(We served ours with chive pancakes & sesame green beans)

I was a little worried the dough might be hard to work with but once it rested for an hour it was quite easy. The hardest thing was getting it thin enough, you want the edges of the circles to be thinner than the center. We thought we did ok but the edges were still a little thick once cooked. These dumpling were no where as thin as the pre-made wrappers you buy in the store.

It took me a little while to get the hang of pleating the edges of the dumpling. I needed to lay them on the counter to do it. Matt on the other hand was a pro, he was able to fill & pleat the dumplings all in his hand like he had seen Anthony Bourdain do on TV.

We pan-fried & then steamed the dumpling. This allows the filling to cook & gives you a nice crispy bottom.

Cooking the Dumplings

Heat 2 T of peanut oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange the dumplings in the skillet slightly touching each other. Fry until the bottoms are light brown, a minute or two. Add enough water to cover the dumplings halfway. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer & cover. Cook until the water has been absorbed about 7 minutes. Remove the cover & finish cooking over high heat to evaporate any remaining liquid & crisp the bottoms.

We served them with two different dipping sauces. The soy sauce & vinegar based sauce we were given in the challenge & then a mustard dipping sauce. The mustard went so well with the pork.

Mustard Dipping Sauce
(make this sauce hotter by adjusting the amount of hot mustard to Dijon)

1 t hot Chinese mustard
2 T Dijon mustard
1 T water
1 t sugar
1 t soy sauce
1/2 t chili sauce
1 t oil

Matt & I really enjoyed doing this challenge together. It made for a fun afternoon in the kitchen. I can see making our own dumplings again & mixing up the shapes & fillings. Visit Recipes to Rival to see what other people did with their dumplings.