Grandma’s Pork Dumplings

Preparation

Make Dumpling Wrappers

Make classic wrapper recipe or use store bought, make filling while dough is resting.

Prep Cabbage

Place cabbage into a large mixing bowl, throw in 1/2 tsp of kosher salt and mix with fingers, incorporating salt throughout. Let cabbage sweat out water for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, put the ground pork, chopped scallions, grated ginger and garlic, salt, light brown sugar, sesame oil and chicken broth into a large bowl.

Make Filling

After the cabbage has sweated out all its water, place onto a thin dish towel or a few layers of thick paper towels and wrap around the cabbage to enclose. Using your hands and brute strength, squeeze out as much excess water from the cabbage as you can through the towel. Transfer cabbage to the rest of the filling mixture and use fingers to mix all that juicy meat mixture goodness together. Use a circular motion with your fingers until the filling looks homogenous and sticky, about 3 minutes.

Assemble Dumpling

Place a small dab of meat (about a third of the size of the wrapper) into the middle. Dip your finger in a little bowl of water and lightly wet the edges of the wrapper. Seal the dumpling together by carefully pleating one half of the dumpling and attaching it to the other half. Repeat until you've run out of filling or wrappers.

Cook Dumplings

If Steam-Frying — Add a tablespoon of vegetable or olive oil and place dumplings bottoms down and fry on medium heat until bottoms have lightly browned, around 1-2 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup-ish of water and place a lid on top (be careful as it will splatter). Steam for 6-7 minutes on medium high heat covered. If water evaporates before the dumplings have cooked, add a tablespoon of water. Once the water has evaporated, carefully scrape the dumplings out of the pan and serve.

If Boiling — Place dumplings in a pot of boiling water. Let sit for a couple minutes until the water is boiling again. Pour a 1/2 cup of cold water into the pot to settle the boiling water back down (this will allow the filling to cook without having the wrappers break apart) Wait again until the water is boiling and dumpling start to float. Your dumplings should be ready to eat on the second boil (check one to make sure filling is cooked). If not just add another 1/2 cup of water and repeat process until dumplings are floating and water is boiling. Fetch those little guys out with a strainer to serve.