This delicious street food speciality from Shanghai is crispy and fluffy at the same time, the filling tastes spicy and fresh. Although they are a bit of work, we can only say: it’s worth the effort! These dumplings taste best fresh from the pan.
First, we knead a dough. Using a kitchen machine, we can put all the ingredients in the bowl at the same time and then proceed on a low speed. If you knead by hand, it is best mixing the dry ingredients first and only then add water and oil little by little.
The dough gets the right consistency and elasticity if you work on it for about 10 minutes. This also applies when using a kitchen machine.
Place the dough in a lightly floured bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm place for at least an hour.
In the meantime, make the filling.
First, chop the spring onions. You can use both white and green parts. Please note that it is important for the consistency of the filling that you chop the onions very finely. The best way to do this is to first cut them in half lengthwise, then into thin strips and finally into small pieces.
We also chop coriander and put minced meat, herbs and spices in a large bowl. We also add a finely crumbled stock cube (it will dissolve during later steaming and release additional flavour into the filling and dough), grated ginger and season everything with white pepper. Then we add Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and some water.
Don’t be irritated if the mixture looks too wet at first. The meat will absorb all the liquid and ensure that the filling of your dumplings tastes particularly juicy later on.
To achieve this, you need to be patient and always stir the filling in the same direction, either with a wooden spoon or directly by hand. We recommend that you really only stir and not knead. You will notice that after a few minutes of work, the meat changes its consistency and suddenly begins to combine with the liquid. You are done when the minced meat forms light threads and the filling becomes cohesive.
Now for the creative part. When the dough has approximately doubled in size, it can be processed further.
A small rolling pin from the Asian store is best for rolling out dumplings, but here you can also use a conventional large one. The small rolling pins are very inexpensive and a good investment if you love gyoza and other small Asian dough specialties.
First, we need to let some air out of the dough again. To do this, roll it out just a little and fold it over once. Only then do we roll it out to a thickness of about 3 mm.
We then roll the dough into a cylinder. This process helps to portion the dough into evenly sized pieces. However, it also creates nice round shapes with a spiral structure, which contributes to the consistency and appearance of the dumplings.
We first divide the cylinder into four pieces. We divide each of these four pieces into five more – which results in twenty pieces in the end.
Roll out each dough spiral into a round shape about the size of the palm of your hand, which may be thinner at the edges than in the middle. Only dust the work surface with as much flour as is absolutely necessary. The dough is not very sticky, but soft and easy to shape.
Don’t be afraid of folding the dumplings. It is easier than you might think.
You can fit about two heaped teaspoons of filling on a piece of dough, with a little practice even more. Leave everything on the work surface and use your thumb and index finger to form a fold at the edge of the dough. You can add more dough with the other hand. Stick the folds together and gradually form more folds to enclose the filling like a small round bag. There will be a small hole at the top in the middle. You can fill this hole with a few sesame seeds. It looks pretty and tastes delicious.
The dumplings are first fried and then steamed, all in the same pan. First heat some neutral vegetable oil in a pan. You can place the dumplings close together with the opening facing upwards – you can easily separate them when they are done. However, if you want them to keep a perfectly round shape, you will need to give them a little more space, as they will rise and get bigger during steaming. In this case, you will either need to use two pans or process two batches one after the other.
First fry the dumplings until a nice golden-brown crust forms on the bottom.
Then carefully add enough hot water (the hot fat can splatter dangerously!) so that the dumplings are halfway in the water. Now the steaming begins. Close the lid and continue cooking over a medium heat until the water has evaporated, which can take around 10 to 12 minutes.
For a dipping sauce, mix some light soy sauce with about a third of rice vinegar. Dark rice vinegar is even better, but unfortunately we didn’t have any in the house. It tasted sensationally good anyway.
These dumplings are crispy on the bottom and fluffy on top. The filling is wonderfully spicy and not a bit dry.
Enjoy.
And may the taste be with you
Ingredients (for 20 pieces):
For the dough:
300 g wheat flour (type 550 – or all purpose flour)
20 g sugar
150 ml water
2 tsp baking powder
1 sachet of dry yeast (7 g)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp neutral vegetable oil
For the filling:
400 g minced pork
2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing)
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp fresh ginger
1 stock cube (chicken or beef stock)
1/8 l water
1 bunch finely chopped spring onions
1 bunch fresh coriander
White pepper (ground)
For the dipping sauce:
Light soy sauce
Dark rice vinegar
