antipinkkitten This week we move on to China, where we are making steamed pork dumplings. This is one of those recipes that I have made before on my own and didn’t even realize I was using entirely accurate ingredients for the time period.
The dumpling has its origins in the Eastern Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE), as an invention by a Chinese Medicine practitioner, Zhang Zhongjing. It was believed that it was used to treat colds, by filling these little dumplings with spices, that were warm enough to fight off the chill of Autumn/Winter.
The recipe is very simple, full of ginger, garlic, pork mince and bok choy – Everything you need to get pumped. But, I did still struggle with this recipe. That’s not to say it didn’t taste good (unlike our Dan Dan Noodles mishap); it actually tasted great – but the appearance of these was something to be desired.
This is likely due to my inexperience with dumplings; specifically steaming them. Typically, I would have fried them in oil, then lightly steamed them. This time though, I really wanted to use our Bamboo steamers that I bought 5 years ago and have only used 3 times.
Steamed pork dumplings
Ingredients
- 1lb of Pork Mince
- 1 baby bok choy, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tbsp of minced ginger
- 1/4 tsp of fish sauce
- 1 tsp of soy sauce
- 15 dumpling wrappers (Flour, water ingredients only)
Instructions
- Finely chop up the baby bok choy leaves and add to a bowl with the pork mince, fish sauce and soy sauce.
- Mince the garlic and ginger, add to bowl. Mix ingredients together and form balls of meat mixture.
- Place a ball of the meat mixture into the center of each dumpling wrapping. Close the wrapping around the dumpling.
- Place into lined steamer basket, around 5 to a basket.
- Place steamer over a pot or wok, with water boiling. Note: Do not let the water touch the steamer.
- Steam the dumplings for 15 minutes, then remove from basket.
Notes
We used the wrong sized wrappers for our dumplings, so the wrapping methods wouldn’t work. Make sure to get dumpling-wrappers if you chose not to make them yourself.
Reviews
Meghan’s Review
4 out of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this recipe and I didn’t mind that it didn’t have chilies or anything like that. My only complaint is that I over-steamed these, leading to them all looking like wrinkly, little brains. I also used the wrong sized/type of wrappers, causing them look less dumpling-like, and more brain like. They tasted great though!
Brad’s Review
4 out of 5 stars
Tonight’s dinner was amazing! I mean come on, it’s dumplings. The only real complaint I have about it, is I wish we had made a side of rice or something like that. The meal just felt like it was missing that little extra. I know in the podcast we mentioned that it was going to be in a soup, and I am glad that we chose not to do that and if you want to find out why then check out the podcast. I would give tonight’s dinner 4 out of 5 wonton wrappers.
