Dumplings – also known as pot stickers, by the way we are going to cook them, are a traditional Chinese food made with a seasoned meat filling and wrapped in a thin flour dough wrapper. These dumpling have a pork and napa cabbage filling with ginger, garlic, green onion, soy sauce and sesame oil to give each bite a dynamic flavor!
Growing up dumplings were one of my favorite foods and still are. There’s never a wrong time to eat them! Coming home after school and need a snack, heat up some dumplings. Late nights out partying, heat up some dumplings. Need a quick dinner, heat up some dumplings. Family is coming over and you need to have an appetizer ready, heat up some dumplings! There is always an occasion for these delicious little pockets of yumminess and to make sure you have them on hand at all times, make a batch and freeze them.
How to freeze dumplings:
Fully prepare the dumplings except cooking them. Place on a baking sheet and set in the freezer to flash freeze. Once fully frozen, place dumplings into a freezer safe zip lock bag and freeze until ready to use. Will last in the freezer for 3 months.
How to cook frozen dumplings:
No need to defrost the dumplings. Cook frozen dumplings the same way you would raw dumplings that are not frozen, just add 5 – 8 more minutes during the steaming phase to the cooking time!
Pork Dumplings
*Makes about 40 – 45 dumplings
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb ground pork
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 inch ginger, minced
- 1 egg
- 4 napa cabbage leaves, thinly sliced with white stems removed
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- Dumpling wrappers – I like the Shanghai style
Instructions
- In a bowl mix together all the ingredients, except the dumpling wrappers. Making sure all the ingredients are well combined
- Place parchment paper on your counter and set up your work station – filling, wrappers, and a small bowl of water for sealing the wrapper. Place one dumpling wrapper on the parchment paper (keeping the other wrappers in the package or covered with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out) and add a teaspoon of filling in the middle. With your finger rim the outer perimeter of the wrapper with water. Fold the dumpling in half to look like a half moon, but don’t let the two halves touch yet. Begin making pleats on one side (I like to start on the left and pleat over to the right side). Continue pleating until you reach the opposite side in pleats – about 6 to 7 pleats should be made. Repeat until you are finished making all of them
- In a non stick pan with a lid add 1 tbsp of oil over medium heat to coat the bottom of the pan. Once the oil is hot add in a batch of dumplings, more than likely all the dumplings will not fit, you will have to cook in batches. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Add water to the bottom of the pan – about 1/3 cup. Place the lid on immediately, as the steam and oil will begin to splatter when the water is added. Steam for about 5 minutes or until the filling is cooked through and the wrapper becomes more transparent. Remove from pan and enjoy with dipping sauces. I like to mix together soy sauce, black vinegar, honey, and sesame oil for a tasty dipping sauce
**SEE the video on how to make pleats and fold the dumplings!
What did you think?