Pork and Chive Dumplings
April 17, 2011 § 8 Comments
There are some things in my life that no matter how hard I try, I simply cannot be “good” at them.
Some of them (but not limited to) are:
1. Bowling
2. Folding dumplings
3. Hitting a golf ball in the air (much to the huge dismay of my family…sorry Sun’s)
—
I tried making dumplings again.
And I failed at wrapping them, again.
But it’s okay, because these are REALLY good. Like…good enough to overlook the awful hideous package it came in when I made it. (I tried my best, and that’s all that matters…;)) These dumplings are almost melt-in-your-mouth tasty.
Notes:
1. Please use good dumpling-skin. I was cheap and got the cheapest pack of dumpling skins at the Asian grocery store and suffered miserably trying to pry apart sticky wrappers. I ended up making my own dumpling wrapper.
2. I am weird about grinding my own beef, pork, chicken, etc. I just can’t buy store-ground meat! This fear probably has its roots down where I am deeply cynical of our meat-industry and the stuff that inevitably gets ground into pre-ground meat. But if you don’t mind, buying pre-ground pork for this recipe is fine. If you do mind, I bought three pounds of pork butt and trimmed it of all the fat (I hate that weird texture) and ground it a little at a time.
3. Please feel free to double this recipe, as this made only around 50 dumplings and if you are like me and like to get a whole bunch done and frozen so you can enjoy it whenever you’d like to.
4. I know that the ratio of veggies to meat is pretty equal, if not favoring the veggies a little more, and I was a little worried myself, but it turned out really great.
My Pork and Chive Dumplings Recipe
Ingredients
3 lbs pork butt, ground
3 tablespoons of canola oil
2 cups of chives, washed and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
1 1/2 large onions, chopped finely
2 heaping tablespoons of minced garlic
1 tablespoon of grated ginger
2 teaspoons of coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper
2 tablespoons of hoisin sauce
salt and pepper to taste (if needed)
50 dumpling wrappers
Directions:
1. Grind your pork, set aside.
2. In a wok, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add garlic, stir until fragrant, around 15 seconds. Add onions, saute for around two minutes until translucent, and then add the chives and ginger and lower heat to medium, and cook for around 8 minutes, or until mixture is very soft. Take off the heat and then add 2 teaspoons of salt and pepper, and then cool.
3. Add hoisin and cooled chive mixture to the pork. Mix until well-combined.
4. Take a teaspoon-amount of pork and chive mixture and cook in a fry pan to taste for seasoning. Add more salt if you would like to, I generally don’t at this point.
5. Using about a tablespoon of pork and chive mixture per dumpling, make them according to your preferred shape and place onto a floured plate or surface.
Cooking
I am a glutton for all things fried, so I like to pan-fry my dumplings.
Fried:
1. Add 3 tablespoons of oil to a large frying pan (that has a lid) and add dumplings. Cook three minutes on first side until golden brown and then flip over and cook for two minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water to the pan and put the lid on and then cook for 4 more minutes, until dumplings are cooked through.
Boiled
1. Boil 5 cups of water in a pot and add dumplings, one at a time. Cook for 10 minutes until they are done.
Steam
1. Steam for 10 minutes until they are cooked through.
Dipping sauce:
These are actually great on their own, but here is a simple and delicious dipping sauce:
1 tsp of soy sauce
1 tsp of brown rice vinegar
a pinch of hot red pepper powder
I hope you enjoy!!
my golden hour 
Lucky me, Stephanie brought these dumplings into the office and they were DELICIOUS! You are one talented lady, Miss Sun!
Thank YOU mrs. mitchell!
My mouth is watering…
Thank you for your comment, D&D master. 😉
how do you grind your own meat?
Hi Lina! I use a food processor, I posted a picture of it in my BURGERS post. It’s super-old but it still works great.
Just wanted to let you know a few moms and I are going to make this next weekend — 500 to be exact! Can’t wait!
You’ve got to be kidding me-it’s so trrntpaaensly clear now!