All Entries Tagged With: "Dumpling"
Vegetarian Dumpling
Ming made this Vegetarian Dumpling in the South Arm Community Kitchen. She made it based on Vanessa’s description of the dish which Vanessa had in a restaurant. Since Ming came from Beijing, she is good at making dumpling and noodle which are the staple food of Northern China.
The dumpling is steamed and the vegetarian filing tasted pretty good.
Ingredients
For the dumpling skin:
- self rising flour
- warm water
For the filing:
- vermicelli
- cloud ear
- fried tofu puff
- shiitake mushroom
For seasoning:
- salt
- soy sauce
- sesame oil
- chicken powder
Ming made her dish by eyeball and filing, often, she cant give me the exact amount of the ingredients.
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Garlic Chives Jiaozi
At the South Arm Community Kitchen, Vanessa brought along a new friend, Ming. Ming is from Beijing and she was a chef back there. We are fortunate to learn from Ming how to make jiaozi from scratch. Yes, even the dough is made from scratch.
The timing is just right as Chinese New Year is just around the corner. Jiaozi is a traditional food during Chinese New Year. Ming enlightened us on why jiaozi is eaten during Chinese New Year. For one, the shape of jiaozi resembles the gold ingots which is a form of money used during the past. Therefore, jiaozi is believed to bring wealth in the new year. Also, the Cantonese believes that the way the filings is wrapped in a wrapper keeps the wealth within the family.
Jiaozi is also believed to get its name from the shape which resembled horn shape.
There are various filings for jiaozi. Garlic chives or also known as Chinese chives is the most common one. The mild garlicky flavour of the chives complements the flavour of the pork very well. I had blogged about other types of jiaozi here and here.
Ingredients
- ground pork (can also use ground beef or lamb), about 2 lbs
- garlic chives, 1 bundle, finely chopped
- minced ginger
- salt
- sesame oil
- cooking oil
- chicken bouillon powder (optional)
- flour
- water
The garlic chives has flat leaves unlike the regular chives which has hollow rounded leaves.
Potsticker
Julie used the same pork/chives filing and dough to make another type of dumpling called Potsticker. The only difference is the size and the shape of the dumpling and a slight variation in the way it’s cooked.
Ingredients
- refer Chives Pocket.
Instructions
 Divide the dough into one inch diameter balls. Roll the ball into an oblong shape. |
 Place two teaspoons of filings onto the dough. |
 Bring the dough together and press the edges to seal. You may leave about one cm opening at both end. |
 Repeat until all the potstickers are formed. |
 Pan fried the Potstickers on low heat, until all the sides are lightly brown.In a small bowl, mix some water with flour. Add a tablespoon or two of the mixture into the pan (this is to absorb any juice release from the Potsticker) and cover for a few minutes. Steaming will ensure the Potstickers are cooked thoroughly.Serve with your favourite dipping sauce. |
Chives Pocket
Once again, Julie shared in the South Arm Community Kitchen. Julie made two types of dumplings with chives. The first dumpling is called Chives Pocket, a giant dumpling which is pan fried. I’m not sure if I translated it correctly as it is called ‘Jiu Chai Hert Zi’ in Mandarin which literally means chives in a container.
Chives have a beneficial effect on the circulatory system, in lowering the blood pressure. Chives are also rich in vitamins A, C, and contain trace of sulfur and iron. Chives are also rich in fiber.
Chives are grown for their leaves, which are used for culinary purposes as condiment.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 bunch of chives, finely chopped
- 1 bunch of vermicelli
- 2 squares of dried spiced bean curd
- 1 piece of ginger about 1 inch, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon chicken seasoning
- 2 green onions, finely chopped (optional)
- 3 eggs
Ingredients for the dough
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (or mixture of 3 cups of all-purpose flour with 1 cup whole wheat flour)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Suey Choy Pork Dumpling
Betty made Suey Choy Pork Dumpling in the Caring Place Community Kitchen a couple weeks ago.
This is the pan fried version which I find is more tasty than the boiled version. The boiled version is best served in hot broth to keep it warm. You can check out the technique of making the boiled version at this link.
Ingredients
- 1 package of fresh dumpling skin (about 50 pieces)
- 1 lb lean ground pork
- 1 small suey choy (1 lb or more), finely chopped
- 3 green onions, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of minced ginger
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
Jiaozi (Chinese Dumpling)
Polly also showed me how to make Jiaozi (Chinese Dumpling) when she came over to make the salted mustard with pork belly dish. Polly learned how to make Jiaozi from Xiao Qin who came from Taiwan.
Jiaozi is a Chinese dumpling which consists of minced meat and chopped vegetables wrapped into a piece of thin dough. The more popular meat filings are ground pork, ground beef, ground lamb, or shrimp. The vegetables can be Chinese cabbage, green onion, leek, chives, shiitake mushroom, water chestnut, etc.
Jiaozi can be boiled or shallow-fried and then steamed. When shallow-fried and steamed, it’s call potsticker.
On Chinese New Year’s eve, making and eating dumpling is a tradition in China. Family members would get together to make jiaozi.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs lean ground pork
- 1 bunch green onions
- 8 pieces shallots
- 2 medium onions
- few celery sticks
- 10 pieces of dried shiitake mushroom, soak overnight
- 4 packages of dumpling skins, about 200 pieces
Seasoning:
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 eggs
All the ingredients except the dumpling skins and eggs have to be chopped finely. Mix all the ingredients except the dumpling skins together with the seasonings in a large bowl.
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Xiao Long Bao from Richmond Public Market
He who has burned his mouth blows his soup.
~German Proverb
We had earlier blogged about the Richmond Public Market. This week we went again to the Public Market to have a quick and small lunch because we had plans for a big dinner tonight.
Many of our Chinese friends had recommended that we try the buns from a stall called Tian Jing Northern Cuisine. The buns, called Xiao Long Bao (literally “little basket bun”), were very different in that it is not only filled with meat, it also is filled with broth! It’s amazing how they are made in such a way that the watery broth does not leak or absorb out. You gotta try it and see what I mean.
Xiao Long Bao are traditionally steamed in bamboo baskets, hence the name. It can be filled with hot soup and meat and/or vegetarian fillings, as well as other possibilities. The fillings are wrapped in something like a jiaozi wrapper that turns almost translucent after being steamed. Shanghai steamed buns can be recognized by their unique design, as the filled wrapper is gathered up into fine folds at the top, prior to steaming.
The buns we bought costs just $2.99 for six small buns. Just enough for a light lunch.
We were attracted by another type of buns in the same store which is called Gou Bu Li Bun — translated literally as “even dogs would not touch”!! It looks like ordinary buns.
These buns actually is similar to the smaller Xiao Long Bao — the filling is pork meat and has broth in it too. Unlike other types of buns, you’re advised to eat these buns with a chopstick, not with your hands. It’s because the soup/broth does spill all over your hands. The soup inside is created by placing some meat gelatin inside the dumpling before steaming. The steam heat melts the gelatin into soup.
This dish costs $4.75 for six buns and comes with a spicy and sour soup.
Personally I felt that it’s really nothing special other than the fact that it is filled with soup. It’s just OK but if I want buns I will go for char siew pau anytime.
You know what? I might just blog about making char siew pau one of these days.
