Pre-Preparation

Season the meat 2 hours ahead of time

Special Equipment

Rolling Pin
Pestle or Chopping Knife for grounding mince meat
78mm Round Cutter
Fry Pan

Ingredients

500g of Pork Mince, try for a fattier version if possible (use Lean if preferred)
1 teaspoon of Salt
1/2 teaspoons of Raw Sugar
1/4 teaspoon of White Pepper
1/2 teaspoon of Chicken Powder*
2 Garlic cloves, chopped finely
2 tablespoons of fresh grated Ginger
1 tablespoon of Cornflour
1/2 tablespoon of Soy Sauce
1/2 tablespoon of Oyster Sauce
1/2 tablespoon of Sesame Oil
1 cup of Spinach leaves

1pkt of Wonton Wrappers*, plain and white in colour (non-Egg type) or Gyoza Wrappers
Water for sealing dumplings
Black Vinegar for dipping*
1 teaspoon of Ginger, grated for sauce

Vegetable Oil
Extra Salt

Create

Using a Pestle, give the Pork Mince a bit of a pounding to ‘mash’ up the meat a bit more. If no pestle, then grab a knife and give the Mince an extra round on the chopping board.

In a bowl, add the Mince and all the seasonings: Salt, Sugar, Pepper, Chicken Powder, chopped Garlic, grated Ginger, Cornflour, Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce and Sesame Oil.

Clean the Spinach and quickly blanch in boiling water, drain and squeeze out the excess water. Chop finely and add to the meat mixture. Let the seasonings work into the meat by setting aside (in fridge) for 2 hours before wrapping.

If the Wonton Wrappers are square in shape, you will need a round cutter to cut the pastry into rounds. I have used a 58mm cutter size in this recipe to produce 58mm sized wrappers in diameter.

Prepare a small dish of water to be used as a sealant for the dumpling. Add one heaped teaspoon of meat into the centre of the circular wrapper. Dab a bit of water around half of the edge of the wrapper and fold up the other half and seal the dumpling around the edges. With 2 fingers, add pleats around the edge of the dumpling. Repeat for the other dumplings.

The first step is steam the dumplings and then pan fry them to add that extra crisp to the skin.

In a steamer, steam the dumplings for 10 minutes. Oil the bottom of any dish used so that the dumplings don’t stick. Once these are ready, take off the heat.

Heat up a Fry Pan with enough Vegetable Oil to lightly cover the base of the Fry Pan. Add a little sprinkling of salt. When Pan is hot, add the dumplings to sear on both sides. Reduce heat and let the dumplings cook until a nice brown colour is achieved on the skin.

In a small bowl, add enough Black Vinegar for the dipping sauce and top with the extra grated Ginger.

Serve the dumplings with the Sauce together.

Makes approx 50 Dumplings.

*Refer ‘ The Asian Pantry’