Description
The dumplings have a hint of sweetness from the carrots and peas, a little bit of crunch from the wood ear fungus and plenty of umami from the oyster sauce. They offer a striking balance of flavors that you’ll want seconds of.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/2 pound of ground pork
- 2 stalks of green onion, finely minced
- 1 inch of ginger, grated
- 1/2 pound of shrimp, shelled, deveined, dried well and chopped into small pieces
- 1 small carrot, grated
- A small handful of cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup dried wood ear fungus, rehydrated, drained and chopped into thin strips
- 1/2 cup of frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper
- Dumpling (水餃) wrappers
Instructions
- Make the filling. Place the ground pork, green onion, ginger, shrimp, carrot, cilantro, wood ear fungus and frozen peas into a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, mix together the oyster sauce, salt, white pepper and a 1/4 cup of water. Add this seasoning sauce into the large mixing bowl. Mix, fold, whatever it takes until everything is thoroughly combined. It will feel wet and sticky and that’s okay. Allow the filling to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes or in the fridge covered until you’re ready to assemble.
- Assemble the dumplings. In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup of water. Wet one of your fingers with water and dab it on the edge of half a wrapper. Add a scoop of filling to the center of the wrapper. With the wet edge on top, seal the dumpling by bringing the dry edge up to touch the wet edge to create a half circle. Do your best to remove any extra air pockets trapped inside the dumpling as you’re sealing.
- Place the dumpling on a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap. Repeat until you run out of filling or wrappers. Keep the dumplings separated on the baking sheet so that they don’t stick to each other.
- Cook the dumplings. If you’re eating the dumplings immediately, cook them in a sufficient amount of boiling water so there’s room for all of the pieces to move around. Allow them to cook under a gentle boil for five minutes. Strain them from the boiling liquid, add them to a hot broth and serve.
- If you’re eating them later on, freeze the baking sheet of dumplings. Transfer them to a storage medium once frozen. They’ll be great in the freezer for up to two months, but I’m sure you’ll eat all of them before then!
Notes
Dumpling (水餃) wrappers are different from wonton (雲吞) and potsticker (鍋貼) wrappers. They’re thinner than potsticker wrappers and typically circular whereas wonton wrappers are oftentimes square.