Pork dumplings

This pork dumpling recipe is from Home Bao founder, Tina Leong, and is the ultimate weekend cooking project. They freeze very well, so you can stock your freezer for the next time a dumpling craving hits.

1. To make the filling, place the pork mince, soya sauce, egg, ginger, rice wine, sugar, salt and pork broth in a bowl. Using your fingers or a pair of chopsticks, mix in the same direction for 5 minutes or until the ingredients become sticky.

2. Mix in the vegetables and sesame oil.

3. Chill for 30 minutes before using.

4. To make the dough, mix the flour, cornflour and salt. Add half the hot water and all the oil and mix well. Slowly drizzle the remaining the hot water into the mixture until it forms a dry dough. It should be the same consistency as the bottom of your earlobe! Knead the dough for roughly 5 minutes. Don’t worry if it’s looking a little dry and tough at this point. Cover it with a wet cloth and let it rest for 15 minutes.

5. Knead the dough for a further 5 minutes. It should be softer now and easier to work with. If it’s still tough and not pliable, sprinkle over a teaspoon of cold water. Knead the water into the dough. It should now should be soft and pliable and the surface should be smooth.

6. Dust the dough with extra cornflour and cut it into 2 portions. Pass each portion through a pasta roller on the thickest setting. Fold up the resulting sheet and pass it through the pasta roller again. Continue passing each sheet through the pasta roller and reduce the thickness setting until it is 2 mm thick. Dust with cornflour if it sticks to the roller. Lay out the thin sheets on the counter and use an 8 cm round cookie cutter to cut out circles. They should weigh 10 g each. You should have 20–30 wrappers.

7. To assemble the dumplings, dust a baking tray with cornflour. Have the bowl of filling and another small bowl of water at hand.

8. Place 1 T  filling in the centre of each wrapper. Use your index fingertip to wet the top half edges of each wrapper to “glue” it. Fold each dumpling wrapper in half over the filling and pinch it closed at the top in the middle. Make 3 or 4 pleats on either side, pinching them tightly to seal. Place the folded potstickers on the baking tray.

9: To cook the dumplings: Coat a pan with cooking oil. Turn the stove on to high. PRO TIP: It is important that your pan is non-stick and has a lid – preferably one you can see through.

10. Mix together the water, cornflour and cooking oil. When the pan is smoking hot, add your potstickers. Space them out in a single layer. Pour the cornflour mixture into the pan. There should be enough liquid to cover the bases of the potstickers. Immediately put on the lid.

11. Wait for roughly 3 minutes, then take the lid off. Most of the cornflour mixture should have evaporated by this stage – wait a few minutes longer until you see a beautiful golden brown lace around the potstickers. Position a dinner plate over the pan and quickly flip it upside down.

12. To make the dipping sauce, mix the soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil with grated ginger and finely chopped spring onion.

Cook's note: Keep your folded potstickers on the floured tray so that they don’t stick together. You can carry the tray over to your pan or place it in the freezer to save for later. Freeze them in the tray until hard before packing them in a Tupperware.

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