Pat O'brien's Chinese Steamed Dumplings
INGREDIENTS
- THE DOUGH:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- THE FILLING:
- 1 1/2 lb ground pork (with a little bit of fat) (ask butcher for chili grindâ„¢)
- 1/2 Chinese cabbage (Napa), finely chopped
- 4 to 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 to 5 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 3 tablespoons white cooking wine or rice vinegar
- (Note: Instead of pork, you can use fish, shrimp, chicken, spinach, tofu, eggs, spinach, or anything else you like. Be creative!)
- DIPPING SAUCE:
- Mix soy sauce and sesame oil and rice vinegar to taste. (Optional extras include garlic juice, Chinese chili paste, molasses, Chinese mustard, etc.)
DIRECTIONS
- THE DOUGH
- Mix everything in a large bowl, kneading the dough well until you have a flat ball. It is good to refrigerate the dough for 1 to 2 hours, but this is optional. On a flour-sprinkled work area, roll some of the dough into a roll about 1 inch diameter. Then, cut off 1-inch slices and flatten with a small rolling pin. You should end up with a circle of dough (approx. 3 inch diameter).
- THE FILLING
- Mix everything well in a large bowl, add a little water. Fill the dough discs and crimp the edges shut.
- COOKING:
- Put a bamboo steamer in a wok with boiling water. Put a cabbage leaf on the floor of each container and load with dumplings. Steam for 8 minutes. (They can also be pan fried in a skillet with hot oil.) Enjoy!!