JIAOZI DUMPLINGS RECIPES

Steps:

• Mix 1/2 cup cold water and cornstarch in a bowl until combined. Combine the filling: pork, shrimp, cabbage, chives, onions, ginger, garlic, cornstarch paste, wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and mix well.
• Mix flour and remaining water and knead the dough into a smooth ball. Use extra water/flour to get a slightly smooth and sticky ball. Let sit for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into little balls that roll out into 4-inch diameter circles. You will have about 30 dough circles.
• Place 2 teaspoons of the filling onto the middle of each of the dough circles.
• Wrap by folding the dough circles with filling in the middle in half and pinching the edges to seal.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Gently add about 10 dumplings into the boiling water. Bring the water back to a boil and add 1/2 cup more cold water. Repeat this twice before taking the dumplings out to serve; the pork filling should no longer be pink and shrimp should be firm. Repeat the boiling and adding of cold water with each batch of dumplings. Adding the cold water between boils reduces the starch buildup in the water.

Steps:

• To make the dough, put the flour in a big bowl. Add ½ tsp of salt and the oil. Gradually pour in 175-200ml of cold water, mixing with chopsticks or a spatula to form a dough. Cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes. * To make the dumpling wrappers green, follow the recipe tip in the intro above.
• While the dough is resting, prepare the filling. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan and fry the garlic for 1 minute until just turning golden. Add the vegetables, fungus, noodles, chestnuts, pepper, sesame oil and 2 tsp of salt, and stir-fry for 5 minutes until softened. Add the cornflour with 1 tbsp water and mix well. Leave to cool.
• Knead the dough in the bowl until you have a smooth ball. Roll the dough on a floured worksurface into a long cylinder, 3cm in diameter. Divide into 20-25 pieces. Roll each piece flat into a 7-8cm circle. Put a heaped teaspoon of the filling into the middle of a wrapper. Wet the sides with water, fold the wrapper over the filling into a half moon shape, pinch the sides to seal and put onto a baking tray dusted with flour. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.
• Boil a large pan of salted water, then add half the dumplings, stirring gently, so they don’t stick together. Bring the water to the boil again, then add 120ml of cold water. Cover and return to the boil. Once boiling for the third time, strain and put the dumplings on a serving plate. Serve immediately with chilli oil, soy sauce or black vinegar, topped with the crushed garlic, spring onions and sesame seeds. Repeat with the remaining dumplings.