Nurturing my inner... chinese new year

A couple years ago, my coworker invited me to her house for Chinese New Year, complete with traditional Chinese fare.  (Because she's Chinese, so that made sense.)  Poached whole fish (with an eye to look at you and all), hundred year old egg (the yolk was dark green and the albumen was black from the fermenting process, but it wasn't really 100 years old - at least I hope it wasn't!) and homemade pork dumplings.  I ate it all with chopsticks, because I think we should embrace cuisine as it was meant to be eaten in that particular culture.

I got to her house just as she started to make the dumplings with her other friends and she invited me to join right in.  I like that kind of cook!  They had bought premade wrappers and were using their own homemade filling.  I decided to observe them for a bit at first.  I carefully watched how they put a wrapper in their hand, added a teaspoon of the filling and crimped it with artistic flare.  I'm an artist, so I knew I could pick up the technique.  After a couple of dumplings, I really got it down.  They said I was a natural!  I'm not sure about that, but I do think we have an amazing capacity to learn many things if we're willing to be taught and corrected when we're not doing it right.

Chinese New Year is coming up once again, this year it's in early February, and I decided I was going to make my own dumplings.

Pork and Maitake Mushroom Dumplings

1/2 lb ground pork
2 heaping tbsp fresh maitake mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp fresh ginger, rough chopped
1 tsp fresh onion, rough chopped
2 cloves of garlic, rough chopped
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp corn starch
1 egg white, beaten
Dash of salt
2 tsps fresh cilantro

I have a small food process, but it would fit the batch I needed to make.  First I put in the onion, garlic and ginger.

The ginger is key to the familiar flavor you
know and love!

I quickly hit the chop button a few times to mince it up.

Much faster than hand chopping.

I was at Wegmans yesterday, so that's where I did my shopping for the day.  The smallest package I could find was a whole pound, so I took out half for the dumplings and then froze the other half flat to make meatballs another day.

It's good to buy a little extra and plan for a
future meal.

I added that into the processor.

It's a lean meat. I like lean meat. Hope it
makes for a lean me.

It needed a veggie element and I decided mushrooms sounded about right.  They had some maitake mushrooms, also known as Hen of the Woods, and though they were $12.99 a pound fresh, I only needed a small bunch.  So it ended up to be only $1.50 for the bundle.

How fancy is that? Ah nature, you're amazing.

I cut off the base that held all the "petals" together and then gave these a chop.

Really gorgeous design.

Now what would a dumpling be without a few key flavors?  (Well, unflavorful is the answer.  Was that a trick question?)

A little of you and you and you.

While reading up on dumplings, there was an ingredient I didn't know I needed, so I'm glad I noticed before I went to the store.  Corn starch.  I think it acts as a binding agent.

Note to self: Find other recipes to use up
this container of corn starch this year.

Into the processor went the soy sauce, sesame sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, starch and salt.  Along with the egg white, which I suppose also acts as yet another binding agent.

Rough chop is fine because the processor
will mince it all up more.

Don't over pulse, just enough to blend it.

If I made a bigger batch, I would have needed
a larger processor.

Lastly, in went some fresh cilantro and mushrooms, another few pulses and done.  You could mix this all with a spoon in a bowl instead, but I wanted a finer texture to my filling, so I chose the processor method.

The green adds dimension to the fleshy color.

Just so you know, I never planned on making the dough for the wrappers from scratch.  Not when premade wrappers can be found so easily.  (Also, seeing as my Chinese friends thought premade ones were acceptable, who was I to not employ this bit of ancient Chinese wisdom.)  They sell them at all kinds of stores, probably not far from the fresh ginger.  (That's where I found them!)  They only had one pack of pot sticker wrappers that day, must be all the other people prepping for Chinese New Year, but they would suit my purposes.  I grabbed them quickly.

A real time saver.

There were about 50 in the package. 

I took out a stack.

An assembly line is the way to go.

I laid out about six wrappers.

I happened to have these small spoons that were my great aunt's.  I just got them from my cousin, who didn't want them anymore, after my last trip to Connecticut.  They were about a half teaspoon size and worked perfectly for the amount of filling I wanted to add to each wrapper.  I used a generous, well-rounded spoonful.

Don't overfill or you won't be able to seal it up.

After the dollop was on the wrapper, I had a small finger bowl with water handy.

This little wooden bowl was perfect for my
dumpling sealing task.

I dabbed a finger into the bowl and then traced it around the edge of half of the wrapper.  Note: The pot sticker wrappers were slightly oval, so I made sure to fold on the long side.

Tip: Lightly wet the edge, not too much,
or it won't seal tightly.

I pinched up the short sides and then worked my way around the silouette of the filling, making sure to get rid of any air.  Trapped air can cause dumplings to burst open.

It's craft time!

I pressed the dough all around to make a tight seal.

Looks like a pierogi at this point.

Now to add the dumpling magic design that had been taught to me.  I pinched the top of the dough and made a little pleat.

There is an art to it all.

I continued my pleating down one side and then the other.  If you prefer, you can use a plastic dumpling press, but I'm more of an arts and crafts kind of girl, so I will often choose the manual method over perceived convenience.

There is something to be said for
authenticity. And imperfection.

One after another, dollop, fold, seal, pleat and I quickly had a nice little pile of them.  I put them on a plate and into the fridgerator to keep them cool while I finshed the rest.

Not too shabby bit of work.

I learned the Chinese tradition that they randomly put a peanut in some of the dumplings and it's supposed to be good luck to the person who gets one of them.  (I don't believe in luck, but I also know they added them in enough dumplings that really, every one gets one eventually!)  I didn't have any peanuts, so as a nod to my Italian side, I put a pignoli nut in some.  I didn't want to skip out on their tradition, after all.

That seemed like a clever enough subsitute.

When I was done, I ended up with about 40 dumplings total.

I'm going into business soon.

The next quandry I was in, was how should I cook these?  Since I didn't have a bamboo steamer.  (Which I think I will get one day.)  I tried three ways.

1.) Steamed them in a veggie steamer.  Took 20 minutes.  I brushed the inside of the container with canola oil to prevent sticking and flipped them halfway through.

Steam starts quickly.

Result: Good, but maybe a tiny bit chewy.  Probably not the route I'd go again, but it was convenient.



I tried not to crowd them, so they wouldn't
stick to each other.


The grooves from the container were nice though.  Very uniform.

Looked really nice.

2.) Steamed in a pot with a metal basket.  I brushed the basket with canola oil to prevent sticking.  Placed on the lid and 20 minutes to cook.

Lined up in a row.

Result: Great. The water from the bottom boiled up some into the basket and on to the dumplings, so it kept them moist.

Perfectly steamed.

On the plate, they looked very natural.

Restaurant worthy, I'd say.

3.) Pan fried.  This officially makes this batch pot stickers.  That's what a dumpling is called when it's fried.  I guess because it sticks to the pot.  I added some butter (you can do half oil too) to the pan and only had it on medium so it wouldn't cook too quickly.



Again, no over crowding.


I cooked these for a couple minutes on the first side until brown, then flipped and cooked on the other side until brown.

Okay, so one was a little more than brown,
but I rescued it just in time!

Then I added three or four tablespoons of water (smoke will rise up at first - you've been warned) and they steam uncovered until they finish cooking and the water has evaporated.  Total cook time for pan frying was 10-12 minutes.

Result: The crispy exterior was nice and the rest of it was delightfully chewy like the steamed version.  I liked these a lot too.

I didn't know that pan frying also involved
water being added to keep them moist, but
I learned that online.

The pan fried dumplings presented extremely well on the plate because everyone loves something golden brown.

It's good to have options.

I know you realize I couldn't eat 40 dumplings in a day.  So I packaged the rest by type, labeled and froze them.  Dumplings you buy frozen are cooked and I felt that would be best for storage.  So when I want some, I can just take out a few and then heat them up again in a few minutes.

All dumplings need a good sauce, of course.

Dumpling Dipping Sauce

2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Terriyaki sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar

All the ingredients went in one bowl and I mixed them up.  I then transfered it equally into two small, delicate, asian, condiment dishes.  So, it makes about two servings good for about four to six dumplings.

A good balance of salty and smokey.

I added a couple of each type of dumpling to my plate to sample some more and make sure I had enough detailed notes.  One has to do good scientific research, after all, no matter what the sacrifice.  (Mmm, chew, chew, chew.)  And I am whole-heartedly dedicated to my work.

Which one to eat first?!?

Ever since that day at my Chinese friend's house, I have thought many times about making my own dumplings.  Too bad it took me two years to get around to it!  But better late... than even later.  And still, just in time for Chinese New Year 2011!  I think next time I will make a vegetarian dumpling.  (And I won't wait another two years to do it!)