Woznation

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! Chinese (or lunar) new years that is.  We have not cleaned the house, painted anything red, resolved any debts or had a fancy dinner,  but we did make dumplings!!!!  This is the year of the rabbit; according to http://www.c-c-c.org – the chinese cultural center of san fransisco:

“People born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract. They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise.”

So our child will be good at gambling but wont gamble?!?!  I dont think phil and I will stand for that.

Anyway.  Lets make some dumplings.  Here is our cast of characters:

We got pork, eggs, scallions, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and wonton wrappers.  In contrast to many recipes out there, I am using cooked pork.  Many other pork dumpling recipes call for uncooked, ground pork  but this past weekend I cooked up a 7.5 lb pork shoulder and have needed to use up the leftovers.  So cooked pork it is.  I had about 2 cups of packed pull pork.  So go ahead and throw that into a food processor.  Next, chop up 2 scallions (about 2 tablespoons).  I usually only use the bottom 2/3 of a scallion and discard the very ends.

Dont worry too much about how small you chop them – you’re going to blend this filling to smithereens anyway.  So throw in those scallions along with 2 cloves of garlic (about 2 teaspoons).  Next add about 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger.  I have one large piece of ginger that I keep in the freezer.  Whenever I need ginger – I peel off the skin with a potato peeler and use a microplane to shave off the amount I need.

If you do not have fresh ginger and want to use dried ginger, DO NOT USE 1 teaspoon.  Fresh ginger and dried ginger are totally different beasts.  I would only use like 1/8 of a teaspoon of dried ginger, tops.  Lastly, add your wet ingredients:  2 egg whites, 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil.  Now everyone is in the pool:

Now let ‘er rip!  Action shot!!

So now that the filling is ready, you are ready to assemble the dumplings.  Im using won-ton wrappers found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store near the produce.  If you’re feeling particularly hardcore – you could make your own dough for wrappers.  I was not feeling hardcore tonight.  I was feeling cheap and easy. So first I set up my steamer.  I do not have a bamboo steamer, but my normal veggie steamer seems to work just fine.

[Yikes. I need to clean my stove top.]  Next, I set up a little assembling area and got to work. Put about a teaspoon of filling in the middle of the won-ton wrapper.  Using your finger, brush all sides of the won-ton with water.  Fold up opposite edges on both sides to form a 4 cornered pouch, making sure you seal all sides tightly together.

Woo!  Nice job.  Now do that like 40 more times.  Yeah, its kind of a pain in the ass, but its relatively easy and goes fast – especially if you have a hungry helper.  In fact, I usually cook in batches, so as soon as I have a few ready to go, I start steaming.  So make sure you have your steamer going and there is a low boil going on underneath your steaming basket – and then put a few dumplings down and cover.

See the steam starting to fill in?  (No?)  Steam for 4-5 minutes.  This is slightly less time than other recipes call for, because, again, you are using cooked pork.  So really, all that needs cooking are the egg whites.  After a few minutes of steamin you are done!

I serve these with some sort of asian inspired dipping sauce.  Usually soy, with a splash of rice wine vinegar, few drops of sesame oil and some chopped scallions.  Or whatever asian bottle we have in the fridge.  But they are perfectly delicious as is.  So there you go.  Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Here is any easy copy/paste version of the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked pulled pork

2 tablespoons scallion

2 teaspoons garlic

1 teaspoon fresh ground ginger (or 1/8 teaspoon dried ginger)

2 egg whites

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

40-50 won-ton wrappers

Pulse first 7 ingredients in a food processor until well combined.  Place 1 teaspoon of filling into center of won-ton wrapper.  Brush all sides of won-ton wrapper with water.  Fold all corners together to form a pouch, making sure to stick all the corners together tightly together.  Place dumplings, in batches, into steamer.  Do not crowd – you do not want them touching each other or they will stick together!  Cover and steam 4-5 minutes.  Done!