Dill and Pork Dumplings

Name: Dill and Pork Dumplings
Prep time: 3 h
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 3 h 10 min
Ingredients: 500 g Flour; ¼ tsp Sea salt; 250 ml Water; 750 g Minced pork; ½ cup Fragrant liquid; 3 tbsp Light soy sauce; 2 tbsp Oyster sauce; 2 tbsp Sesame oil; 1 tsp Chinese 13 spice blend; 1 tsp Sea salt; 1 tbsp Minced ginger; ¼ cup Chopped scallions; 2 Eggs; 3 cups Chopped vegetables of your choice; 2 tbsp Light soy sauce; 2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar; 1 tbsp Minced garlic; 2 tbsp Sugar; 2 tbsp Chilli oil; ½ tsp Msg; ½ tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder or oil; ½ tsp Sesame oil

AuthorYun Zhang JohnCategoryMeat, NoodlesDifficultyIntermediateRating

Yields1 Serving

Prep Time3 hrsCook Time10 minsTotal Time3 hrs 10 mins

Dill and Pork Dumplings

Chinese dumplings, or Jiaozi 餃子 are probably the most emblematic of foods to eat during Lunar New Year. It’s auspicious to start the new year with dumplings because they represent togetherness, abundance and prosperity.

Togetherness for they're often made with families gathered together around the table; abundance because numerous are often consumed in one go. And prosperity due their resemblance to gold nuggets of currency from ancient China.

Dill and Pork Dumplings

Chinese dumplings can be filled with many different things. Meats, shrimp, veggies, noodles, tofu, eggs…you name it! Our family favourites are my Pork & Cabbage Jade Dumplings 翡翠饺子 recipe and the classic chives and pork. But since I started making them, dill and pork dumplings 茴香餃子 have become a fast favourite.

Dill is not a common ingredient in Chinese cooking, and yet, here it is, wrapped into a dumpling. Although an uncommon pairing, it is one that is enjoyed by many in northern China. The anise-y fragrance of the dill brings an unique, strong flavour that works well with the mild taste of the fattier pork.

I can attest that dill and pork dumplings are not only delicious, but you need to make them at home! Simply because they're not easily found elsewhere!

Handmade dumpling wrappers

You can of course use ready-made, perfectly-round jiaozi wrappers from an Asian grocery store. Here in Canada, even mainstream grocers now carry fresh dumpling and wonton wrappers.

But I started making wrappers from scratch when I was in Switzerland, where fresh wheat dumpling wrappers weren’t readily available. And the truth is that homemade is almost, always better. My family got hooked on the chewy, robust texture of handmade wrappers and now there is no convincing them otherwise.

The dough is really basic, just flour, water and salt. However, the technique of portioning and rolling out the wrappers takes practice and patience. So share the making of these dumplings with your family and friends. Together, it can be a fun tradition to go back to year after year.

The Sauce

If I haven’t yet convinced you to make dill and pork dumplings yet, then my secret sauce certainly will. It is a simplified version of a famous dumping/jiaozi snack dish from Chengdu called Zhong Shui Jiao 钟水饺.

The sauce is a pungent combination of spicy, savoury and sweet. It may look identical to many chilli oil dumplings or wontons dishes from Chinese restaurant anywhere. But the secret to Chengdu Zhong Shui Jiao is the liberal addition of sugar….and I do mean liberal.

Adjust to your taste of course, but don’t be shy! In any other dish, this amount of sugar would be alarming, but here it just works. The added sugar actually compliments the dumplings and enhance their savouriness, making these these dumplings even more additive.

Cooking, storage and more

Boiled

1. Bring a big pot of water to a rolling boil on high heat.

2. Carefully drop in the dumplings and then stir it immediately to prevent sticking.

3. Allow them to come up to a boil. When they are a floating on top, splash with cold water.

4. Repeat this process 2 more times and when they float up to the top again, the dumplings should be cooked through.

Pan Fried

1. Get a wide pan that has a tight fitting lid.

2. Turn the heat to medium high and add some cooking oil to thinly coat the bottom of the pan.

3. Arrange dumplings to fit the pan with a bit of space in-between.

4. Add enough water so it comes half way up the dumplings and then clamp on the lid.

5. Cook on medium high heat until the water are almost all gone, then open the lid and cook uncovered until dumplings are crispy in the bottom.

Steamed

1. Get a steamer of your choice and line the bottom with some parchment paper or leafy vegetables to prevent sticking.

2. Arrange dumplings to fit the steamer with a bit of space in-between.

3. Steam on high for around 10min.

**Fresh and frozen dumplings can be cooked the same way, obviously cooking from frozen will take a few extra minutes.

Storage

These dumplings keeps really well in the freezer, so definitely make a big batch and freeze them for another day. To freeze, put them on a tray, spaced apart. Once dumplings are frozen, they can be detached from the tray individually and put into bags for easier storage.

You Will Need

Wrapper

500 g Flour

¼ tsp Sea salt

250 ml Water250-270ml, add 250 first and then add just enough water to bring the dough together

Filling

750 g Minced pork500-750g

½ cup Fragrant liquidGinger/scallion/Sichuan peppercorn water OR chicken broth

3 tbsp Light soy sauceadjust to taste and amount of meat

2 tbsp Oyster sauceadjust to taste and amount of meat

2 tbsp Sesame oil

1 tsp Chinese 13 spice blend

1 tsp Sea salt1/2 - 1 tsp, adjust to taste and amount of meat

1 tbsp Minced ginger

¼ cup Chopped scallions

2 Eggs

3 cups Chopped vegetables of your choiceie Fresh dill, napa cabbage, Chinese chives. Adjust amount to your taste.

Sauce

2 tbsp Light soy sauceadjust to taste

2 tbsp Chinese black vinegaradjust to taste

1 tbsp Minced garlic

2 tbsp Sugaradjust to taste

2 tbsp Chilli oiladjust to taste

½ tsp Msgoptional

½ tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder or oil

½ tsp Sesame oil optional

Instructions

Making dough for wrappers

To the flour, add salt and slowly stream in the water. Start to pull the dough together while adding in small bits of water as needed. The dough should not be too soft so just add enough water bring it together,

Once the dough becomes one, stop kneading, cover it and let it rest. After 10min, the dough would have relaxed and now it’ll be easy to knead it smooth. Cover it again and let to sit until really to roll the wrappers.

Making filling

Steep ginger, scallions and Sichuan peppercorn in hot water.

Cut up vegetables finely to go into the filling. Napa cabbage will need to be first salted and squeezed to rid of excess water. Also finely chop ginger and more scallions.

Add mince meat to a large bowl and season with salt and then add the fragrant liquid if using. Stir in one direction until all liquid have been absorbed into the meat.

Then season the meat with soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, white pepper and chinese 13 spice blend, ginger, scallions and eggs and stir the meat in one direction until it’s got a homogenized texture.

Finally, add in the chopped up vegetables you are using, stir again to incorporate, adjust for seasoning if needed.

Making the dumplings

Divide the dough into 4 pieces, cover the other 3 which are not being worked on and then take one piece of dough and roll it out into a long strip.

Cut the strip into smaller piece that are roughly equal in size and weight. This take a bit of practice and trial and error but I’d say each piece of dough should weight around 10g. In total, it makes 60-70 dumplings.

To roll out a wrapper, simply round out the piece of the small dough and flatten it with the palm of your hand. With a rolling pin, roll it out into a thin circle.

To make a dumpling, fill the centre of the circle dough with filling, depending on how big your circle is, you can probably fit between 1 - 2 tbsp. Then fold it by pulling the edges together and making pleads while pinching the ends closed.

Cooking

Follow the directions above for various cooking instructions

Ingredients

Wrapper

500 g Flour

¼ tsp Sea salt

250 ml Water250-270ml, add 250 first and then add just enough water to bring the dough together

Filling

750 g Minced pork500-750g

½ cup Fragrant liquidGinger/scallion/Sichuan peppercorn water OR chicken broth

3 tbsp Light soy sauceadjust to taste and amount of meat

2 tbsp Oyster sauceadjust to taste and amount of meat

2 tbsp Sesame oil

1 tsp Chinese 13 spice blend

1 tsp Sea salt1/2 - 1 tsp, adjust to taste and amount of meat

1 tbsp Minced ginger

¼ cup Chopped scallions

2 Eggs

3 cups Chopped vegetables of your choiceie Fresh dill, napa cabbage, Chinese chives. Adjust amount to your taste.

Sauce

2 tbsp Light soy sauceadjust to taste

2 tbsp Chinese black vinegaradjust to taste

1 tbsp Minced garlic

2 tbsp Sugaradjust to taste

2 tbsp Chilli oiladjust to taste

½ tsp Msgoptional

½ tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder or oil

½ tsp Sesame oil optional

Directions

Making dough for wrappers

Making filling

Steep ginger, scallions and Sichuan peppercorn in hot water.

Cut up vegetables finely to go into the filling. Napa cabbage will need to be first salted and squeezed to rid of excess water. Also finely chop ginger and more scallions.

Add mince meat to a large bowl and season with salt and then add the fragrant liquid if using. Stir in one direction until all liquid have been absorbed into the meat.

Finally, add in the chopped up vegetables you are using, stir again to incorporate, adjust for seasoning if needed.

Making the dumplings

Divide the dough into 4 pieces, cover the other 3 which are not being worked on and then take one piece of dough and roll it out into a long strip.

To roll out a wrapper, simply round out the piece of the small dough and flatten it with the palm of your hand. With a rolling pin, roll it out into a thin circle.

Cooking

Follow the directions above for various cooking instructions

Dill and Pork Dumplings

Ingredients Directions