dim sum to touch your heart :)

from top left clockwise: it takes ages...but the flavour........

From the Japanese Gyoza to the Cantonese Dim Sum and their northern counterpart Baozi, Jiaozi, Tang bao…the choice is endless. Learning how to make dumplings from scratch it has been a challenge to me. Too  thin, too thick, too sticky, too big, too small – but I’ve eventually nailed it. My dumplings may not be 100% authentic but they look terrific and my friends love it, which is good enough to me. Another good reason to learn to make your own dumplings is saving money. When I checked the price of the frozen pack at my local Asian grocery I nearly hit the roof. GBP13,00 for a handful of dumplings (5 har gao + 5 xiu mai)!!  If you want to venture into the lovely world of dim sum get yourself a couple of good bamboo steamers and let’s rock the kitchen!  Today I am making some boiled pork dumplings and some fusion-style steam fried chicken gyoza. Here's what you need: 

Meats: 100 grams minced pork, 100 grams minced chicken

1 thumb size piece of ginger, 2 spring onion, 2 tbs sesame oil, 2 tbs light soy sauce, 4 cabbage leaves, fresh coriander and dumplings’ wrappers (skins). Wrappers are usually found in the frozen section on Asian groceries.

Make your dumpling factory ready: a little cup of water, two separate bowls for the different fillings (pork and chicken) a large tray, frozen wrappers, some flour and a damp cloth to prevent the wrapped up dumplings to dry out before before cooking.

 Once you’ve got everything ready, blanch the cabbage leaves until wilted in boiling water. Drain, let cool then squeeze hard to get out as much water as possible, then chop and keep aside: I only use the cabbage for the Gyoza. Finely chop the spring green onions and coriander, peel and grate the ginger then add sesame oil and soy sauce to the mixture and keep aside. This will be “the base” to go with each single filling choice.  Finally add “the base” to the pork, prawn and chicken and add the cabbage to the minced chicken only. Let the fillings marinate in their relative bowls for about 30 mins. This will give time to your wrappers to defrost at room temperature.  

The process is the same for all style of dumplings:  Put a skin on your palm and wet half of the edge with water. Put a teaspoonful of filling right in the middle (not too much or you'll have trouble closing them up). Fold over in half and pinch firmly in the edges. Once you assemble a dumpling sprinkle a bit of flour on top to prevent sticking to each other and cover with the damp cloth.  To cook, half-fill a large pot with water and bring to boil. When boiling, and gently slide in the dumplings. When water returns to a boil, turn heat to a simmer and gently cook for 6-8 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and repeat with remaining dumplings.

Gyoza dumplings: (optional, I sometimes brush the gyoza with an egg yolk to achieve a crispier consistency) To steam-fry the dumplings, heat up a non-stick pan with a vegetable oil Put the dumplings flat side down into the pan, slightly overlapping. Cook over high heat for a couple of minutes until the bottoms have started to crisp up. Lower the heat to low. Add 1/2 cup of water, and immediately cover with a lid. Let the dumplings cook on low for about 10 minutes, until the tops looks sort of transparent and puffy (when you un-lid the pan the dumplings will rapidly un-puff.) Finally turn the heat up to high to evaporate the rest and really crisp up the bottoms. Pry the dumplings carefully off the pan with a spatula and serve crispy side up on a plate.