Pork and Chive Dumplings

Ingredients:

1/2 lb fatty ground pork

1/2 Tbl Shaoxing wine

1/4 tsp Asian sesame oil

1/2 tsp Vietnamese chile-garlic sauce

1 1/2 tsp finely grated peeled ginger

1/2 tsp rice vinegar (not seasoned)

2 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Pinch of white pepper

3 Tbl finely chopped cilantro stems

3 Tbl finely chopped flat Chinese chives (garlic chives), or scallions

24 to 30 round dumpling wrappers

Recipe for dumpling sauce (recipe follows)

Garnish: thinly sliced scallions

Directions:

Combine all ingredients (except cilantro stems, chives, and wrappers) in a large bowl, then stir in cilantro stems and chives. Set bowl in a larger bowl of ice to keep chilled while forming dumplings.

Place a slightly rounded teaspoon of filling in center of a wrapper and moisten area around filling with water. Fold in half to form a crescent and press to seal. Moisten one corner and bring corners together, pressing them, to form a tortellini-shaped dumpling. Repeat with remaining filling and wrappers.

Cook dumplings in a large pot of gently simmering water until pork is just cooked, about 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a platter

 To Steam Dumplings:

Steaming requires minimum attention and effort. In Cantonese style dim sum restaurants, steamed dumplings are one the most popular dishes.

To prevent the dumplings from sticking to steamer baskets, layer of cabbage leaves under each dumpling. You may also use parchment paper or brush a thin layer of oil if using metal/plastic steamers.

Bring water to a full boil in a pot/wok, then place in the steamer baskets. Stack up 2-3 baskets and cook all at once. Cook for 10 minutes

Ingredients for the Sauce:

1 Tbl soy sauce

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

½ tsp sugar

¼ tsp black pepper

¼ red pepper flakes

Directions for the sauce:

In a small bowl add all the ingredients and stir to combine.

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