Pan-fried pork and chive dumplings

Victor and his team at Lee Ho Fook have worked to find a no-fail dumpling lace process, he says it can be repeated by anyone from apprentice to head chef with the same results over and over.

Credit: Frank Yang

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Dipping sauce (per person)

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• ½ tbsp chinkiang black vinegar
• ¼ tsp ginger, peeled and grated on a microplane
• chilli oil, to serve (optional)

Dumplings

• 1 packet white round dumpling wrappers (30 pcs)
• 500 g pork mince
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• small thumb ginger, grated
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• ½ bunch garlic chives - chopped salted and squeezed
• ½ cup wombok, chopped, then salted and squeezed
• 1½ tsp sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• Pinch white pepper
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp chicken stock powder
• 2 tsp Shaoxing rice wine
• Water, as needed
• 1 tsp cornstarch

Dumpling lace

• 180 ml water
• 2 tbsp (20 g) flour
• ⅓ cup (80 g) vegetable oil

Instructions

1. For the dipping sauce, mix all ingredients to combine.
2. For the dumplings, combine all ingredients (except for the dumpling wrappers) together and mix well, the mixture is ready when the filling is a little tacky
3. Place a tsp of filling into the centre of the dumpling wrapper, moisten the edges and crimp shut, repeat until the filling has been used up. Set aside in the refrigerator or freeze for a future meal.
4. For the dumpling lace, whisk all ingredients in a bowl, then add to a jar or squeeze bottle.
5. To cook the dumplings, heat a non-stick pan with a tight-fitting lid on medium-high heat, add a thin layer of dumpling lace mixture until the bottom of the pan is evenly coated, arrange in dumplings in a circular pattern on top of the mix, reduce heat to medium and cook with the lid on – check dumplings every 2-3 minutes to see if they are cooking evenly. The entire process should take 6 minutes.
6. Once the water has boiled away and there is a lace left behind, lower the heat and slowly cook until the colour is an even golden brown, turn off heat and carefully drain the oil away, flip onto a serving plate and serve with dipping sauce.

 

Victor Liong creates a Chinese banquet in Please Eat Slowly on SBS Food and SBS On Demand.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.