Love Chinese food? It may be tempting to pick up the takeaway menu on a Friday night, but it’s much more satisfying having a go at making your own Chinese from home. These succulent pork dumplings make a delicious treat as a starter or as a light Oriental supper dish served with salad. It requires a bit of effort, but we guarantee it’ll be worth it. Accompany them with hoisin sauce as a dip for a true Chinese flavour.
Ingredients
- 115g plain flour
- 115g lean minced pork
- 1cm piece root ginger, grated
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1tbsp dry sherry
- Large pinch of 5 spice powder
- 2tbsp vegetable oil
- Chopped chives and shredded spring onion to garnish
Method
Put the flour in a bowl and gradually mix in 115ml hot water to form a dough. Turn out on to a floured surface and knead until smooth. Put back in the bowl, cover with foil and set aside for 20 mins.
In another bowl, mix together the pork, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sherry and 5 spice powder. Set aside until ready to assemble the dumplings.
Divide the dough into 16 small portions and flatten each to make a small round about 6cm in diameter. Keep the dough rounds covered with damp kitchen paper. Working on one round at a time, put a little filling in the centre, brush the edge with water and then bring up the dough round the filling and crimp and fold the edges to seal. Cover with damp paper whilst you prepare the other dumplings.
When ready to cook, heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan and add the dumplings, flat side down. Cook for 2-3mins until lightly brown on the bottoms then pour in 150ml water, cover and cook for 10mins. Remove the lid, cook for a further 2 mins until cooked through.
To serve, drain the dumplings well and arrange on a warm serving platter. Sprinkle with chopped chives and spring onions and serve immediately accompanied with hoisin sauce to dip.
Top tip for making Pot sticker pork dumplings
This is a versatile recipe which can be adapted to use any minced meat, minced prawns or minced tofu.
