Pork Dumplings

I absolutely love dumplings, but as always, with some dishes, I'm a bit intimidated by the thought of making them myself, and so I steer clear.

Well last week while making the new menu plan, I decided that I needed to conquer this fear.  Actually it seems that lately I've been conquering quite a few cooking fears, here and there.  It's a good thing, and I'm really determined to stop being so scared of trying new dishes and to just jump right in and go for it.  What's the worse that could happen?  I have to remake it again?

I actually found this recipe on Tasty.  If you don't know what Tasty is, you have to get on the ball, you can find them all over Facebook, Internet, Youtube and so on.

This was super simple to make, and the only real change I will be putting in effect next time I make these, is that I found the dough a bit too thick and I didn't put quite near enough filling because once it's cooked it tends to shrink. I also need to practice the art of pleating and folding a dumpling, which I am terrible at.

Other than that, they were delicious, with a very big Capital D.

Pork Dumplings

Source:  Tasty

Servings: makes 24-32 dumplings

4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1¼ cups warm water
2 cups red cabbage
2 cups green onions, sliced
cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons ginger, minced
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 pound ground pork
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt


¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes


PREPARATION

1. Combine the flour, salt, and warm water and mix until well combined.
2. Roll out dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth.

3. Separate the dough into 4 equal parts.
4. Roll out the piece into a thin log and divide into 6 or 8 pieces depend on the size of dumplings you want.

5. Lightly flour the divided piece of dough and roll out piece to a thin circle roughly 4-inches in diameter.
6. Keep the dumpling wrappers separated with parchment paper, and repeat with remaining dough.

7. Combine cabbage, green onions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil and mix until well incorporated. Add pork, salt and pepper. 
8. To assembly dumplings, add roughly 1 heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of a dumpling wrapper.

9. With your finger lightly coat 1 half of the outside of the wrapper with water.
10. Seal the dumplings using your preferred method.
11. With pleating, start from one side and pleat the half of the dumpling closest to you, keeping the other half still.

12. Heat oil on medium high in a pan and add a few dumplings, cooking them in batches.
13. Once the bottom of the dumplings start to brown, add in a splash of water and cover with a lid.
14. Steam for roughly 5 minutes, or until dumplings are cooked and water has evaporated.

Enjoy!