Chinese Cooking Was a Huge Success, and for those who asked, here is Aurora’s recipe for dumplings.
Ingredients:
- Minced pork: slightly fatty
- Pickled mustard greens (酸菜): equal weight to the pork
- Spring onions: finely chopped
- Ginger: sliced and minced (small amount)
Seasonings:
- Sichuan peppercorns
- Salt
- Cooking oil
- Five-spice powder
- White pepper powder
- Light soy sauce
- Sesame oil
Instructions:
- Soak spring onion slices, ginger slices, and Sichuan peppercorns in hot water to make a small bowl of infused water.
- Rinse the pickled mustard greens briefly in water, then squeeze out excess moisture and finely chop. Use a 1:1 ratio of greens to pork.
- Choose minced pork with a slightly higher fat content for better flavor and texture.
- Gradually add the infused water (from step 1) into the minced pork in small amounts, stirring in one direction (clockwise) to allow the water to be absorbed into the meat.
- Add light soy sauce, salt, five-spice powder, white pepper powder, minced ginger, extra finely chopped spring onions, and sesame oil.
- Heat a small amount of cooking oil until it’s smoking hot, then pour it over the mixture.
- Add the chopped pickled mustard greens.
- Mix all the ingredients in one direction until the mixture becomes glossy and well-combined. If it’s too dry, you can add a little more of the infused water or hot oil.
- Use the mixture to fill and wrap dumplings.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil, adding a small pinch of salt. Add the dumplings and cook until done.
- Dipping sauce options:
- Traditional: black vinegar + minced garlic + chili oil (garlic and chili oil are optional).
- Or create your own dipping sauce to taste.
Enjoy your homemade dumplings!