Our Cooking Project #3: Prawn, Pork and Garlic Chive Dumplings

So far I've avoided making dumplings (of the stuffed variety such as wonton, jiaozi and ravioli) because of they seem like so much effort to do, even with the widely available ready-made wrappers. I love eating dumplings, yet I always avoid buying the prepared ones in the supermarket because I don't know what kind of processed crap has gone into them. When Rob and I recently began doing cooking projects together, making dumplings was one of the first ideas I had because of how labour intensive they are, perfect for when you have extra hands in the kitchen.

This recipe was adapted from Rasa Malaysia's Shrimp & Chive Dumplings recipe, which was chosen because it seemed straightforward and easy to do. We included pork and black fungus in the filling for added protein and texture. The uncooked filling smelled really good as we were making the dumplings, thanks to the fragrant combination of chives and sesame oil. We panfried half of the dumplings and boiled the remaining half, and then we ate the dumplings with two dipping sauces: sweet chili sauce and a soy-vinegar sauce. The dumplings were delicious, and we thoroughly enjoyed the fruit of our labour.

Prawn, Pork and Garlic Chive Dumplings

Makes about 25 dumplings

Ingredients

140g medium to large peeled prawns/shrimps
80g minced pork
40g chives, cut into short pieces
5 g dried black fungus, rehydrated and chopped into small pieces
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornflour
a dash of shaoxing wine
some salt and pepper
Wonton skin
oil for pan-frying

Method

1. Cut the prawns into small pieces, about 3 pieces per prawn.
2. Combine prawn pieces, minced pork, chives, and the rest of the ingredients together and mix well. Leave it to marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
3. To panfry:
i) Lay a wonton skin on a flat surface and add a teaspoon of the filling in the middle of the skin. Dab some water along the outer edges of the wonton skin and fold the skin towards the middle, sealing tight. Repeat until all the filling is used up.
ii) Heat a pan on medium low heat, and panfry dumplings on one side for a few minutes until golden brown. Turn over to cook the other side.

Filling on the wrapper; and the folded dumpling for panfrying:


4. To boil:
i) Make dumplings by placing the filling on one wonton skin, dabbing water along the edges, and placing another wrapper on top to seal tightly.
ii) Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and put in dumplings one by one. Stir gently to prevent dumplings from sticking together and to the bottom of the pot. Bring to boil again, reduce heat and continue cooking until dumpling is cooked (when the wonton wrapper appears translucent and the dumplings are floating). Remove the dumplings and place in a serving bowl.

Panfried dumplings; and the boiled version:


Enjoy dumplings with sweet chili sauce and/or soy-vinegar dipping sauce (equal parts soy sauce and black vinegar).