Homemade Dumplings with Dipping Sauce & Garlic Greens

Name: Homemade Dumplings with Dipping Sauce & Garlic Greens
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 200 g plain flour; 100 ml hot water; 1 pinch fine sea salt; 300 g pork mince; 1 tbsp fresh ginger (finely grated); 2 tbsp chives (finely chopped); 1 tbsp light soy sauce; 2 tsp fish sauce; 1 tbsp rice wine (Shaoxing); 1 pinch fine sea salt; 2 tbsp spring onion (finely chopped); 1 small red chilli (finely chopped); 2 tbsp vegetable oil (or groundnut oil); 4 tbsp light soy sauce; 1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar (or mix 1 tsp rice vinegar with 1 tsp balsamic vinegar); 1 tsp honey; 1 tbsp vegetable oil (or groundnut oil); 2 cloves garlic (finely sliced); 400 g bok choy; 1 tbsp light soy sauce; 1 tsp sesame oil

45 mins

388 cals per serving

Donal's Notes

Dumplings can seem to be a very daunting recipe to take on, but having it broken down step by step makes it much more manageable! Piece of advice, don’t tackle this recipe any old evening in a rush, dedicate the time and care it requires.

Equipment

Mixing bowl

Small pan

Rolling pin

Baking parchment

Pot with steamer attachment

Method

Firstly, make the dough. Put the flour in a bowl and pour in the very hot water and mix with a fork until it is shaggy and rough. Stand for 10 minutes then turn out and knead to a smooth ball. Cover with an upturned bowl and leave to stand for an hour.

Meanwhile, make the dipping sauce. Finely slice the spring onions and finely chop the chilli. Put the spring onion and chilli in a small bowl.

Heat the oil in a small pan. Once heated, pour the oil over the spring onion and red chilli, then add the soy sauce, vinegar and honey.

For the filling start by grating the ginger and finely chopping the chives.

Mix all the ingredients together: ginger, chives, pork mince, soy sauce, fish sauce, rice wine and season with salt.

Divide the dough into two lumps and roll each into an equal sized rope, then cut each into 12 equal sized pieces, so 24 pieces total.

Using cornflour to dust the surface and rolling pin, roll each into a 10cm disc and keep under a barely damp tea towel. This keeps the dough from drying out.

Put a spoonful of filling onto each disc, rub a little water over one edge, then use your fingers to pleat and squeeze the edges closed. There are lots of methods for shaping dumplings and they take a little bit of practice to get right but even if your dumplings are imperfect, they will still taste fantastic! A good starter method is to use your fingers to pleat around the edge, bringing it together, to form a neat little bun with a pointed top. You can also just pinch the two sides together with no pleat!

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and put a layer of baking paper into the bottom of a double steamer. Place the dumplings in the steamer and place over the pan and cook for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the greens, heat the oil in a pan and add the sliced garlic, pak choi and and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the soy and sesame oil and cook for a minute more.