Jiaozi (Chinese Dumplings)

Jiaozi was one of my favorite meals while I lived abroad in Shanghai. There was this great little shop just off campus that only made dumplings so the only decisions that needed to be made were what type and how many plates of them we wanted to devour.

This recipe does not capture the flavors perfectly, but they are still pretty darn good. My husband and I made them twice this week, once for a New Years Eve party and then again tonight for dinner. They can be pretty time consuming and a little tricky to master sealing the dumpling, but they are well worth it!

Ingredients:

• 1 large package dumpling or wonton wrappers (I found them in an asian market in their frozen section, but some grocery stores may carry them as well)
• 1/2 head green cabbage
• 1 bunch green onion
• 1 lb ground pork

• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper
• 1 t ground (or fresh) ginger
• 1 1/2 t sesame oil (plus extra for coating your steamer basket)
• 1 1/2 t rice wine vinegar
• 1 T ground garlic
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c soy sauce

Makes about 75 dumplings, 10 per person is a good amount for a meal.

Set the dumpling wrappers out on the counter top to thaw while you prepare the filling. Roughly chop the cabbage and green onions. Pulse them together in a food processor until finely chopped. (or finely chop and mix together by hand).

Place pork in a large bowl. Whisk salt, pepper, ginger, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, garlic, egg and soy sauce together in separate measuring cup. 

Pour cabbage/onion mixture over pork and mix together with your hands. It gets a bit messy! Pour the liquid mixture in next and keep mixing with your hands until everything is well combined. 

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add in the pork mixture. Cook stirring until all meat is no longer pink. You want it to be cooked, but just barely. It will cook again when you steam the dumplings. 

Meanwhile, set up a large pot with a steamer basket insert (metal is just fine) on the stove with water to boil. 

Once your pork mixture is cooked, you are ready to start creating the dumplings! Set out a small bowl of water and get a table spoon to scoop out the pork. You will also need a clean surface to prepare the dumplings and leave them while they are waiting to cook and another plate to hold them once each batch is cooked.

Peel off a single dumpling wrapper and scoop a small table spoon of the pork mixture onto the wrapper. There are lots of fancy ways to seal up dumplings, but here is what we found to be easiest: wet your finger with water from your bowl and run it around the dumpling wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half, then pinch the edges closed. And tada! you will have made a dumpling! (Now make 74 more...)

Once you have a few dumplings all sealed up and your water is boiling, using a basting brush, lightly coat the steamer basket with sesame oil to prevent the dumplings from sticking. Set the dumplings in the steamer basket to cook. I put in about 5-7 at a time so that there was still plenty of holes open to allow the steam to come over the dumplings. Cook them for about 6-7 minutes or until they are a bit translucent. Scoop them out with a large spoon or spatula and cover them on a plate while you make the rest of them!

My favorite way to eat them is dipped in black vinegar with a bit of chili pepper sauce mixed in. The black vinegar has a unique flavor and is not the same as balsamic. 

Note: If you don't want to eat them all at once, they can be frozen as and saved for later. Prepare the dumplings, but instead of cooking them lay them on a cookie sheet and pop them in the freezer until hardened, then toss them in a plastic bag in the freezer for later. You can still steam them to cook them, just add on a few minutes.

I hope you enjoy!