Crispy pork dumplings

Makes 60

My kids absolutely love dumplings. These are their go-to snack for after school or sport. They are filling and delicious, so seem to hit the spot no matter what the time of day. We can eat them for breakfast or dinner, and the kids will often cook themselves a plateful for afternoon tea. We love them with pork the most, although the sweetness of red bean paste is a favourite for the boys, too. You will be surprised at how super-easy they are to make, and the kids love to help.

With regards to the seasonings, don’t panic if you don’t have all of these. Basically you want something salty, and most people will have soy sauce. The sesame oil gives it a nutty Asian kick; use peanut oil if you have it and want a substitute. The sake is something I add for a little sweetness and depth of flavour. You could add a Chinese rice wine instead, or even 2 tsp rice wine vinegar and 1 tsp sugar. The rice flour pulls the ingredients together, so if you need to you can substitute with potato starch or cornflour.

Ingredients

• 1 packet round dumpling wrappers (usually 60 in a pack)
• ¼ red cabbage (or green)
• a bunch of fresh coriander, roots and leaves
• 1 red chilli
• 2cm ginger
• 1 clove garlic
• 200g pork mince
• cooking oil, for frying

Seasonings

• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp cooking sake (or mirin)
• 1 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp rice flour

Method

Hand-chop the cabbage into small pieces. I don’t like to use a food processor, as it minces it too finely so that it loses the textural crunch. Finely chop the coriander roots and a handful of the leaves. Chop the red chilli (and choose large or small, depending on whether your children can handle heat well). Peel the ginger and chop finely. Crush the garlic clove. Mix everything together in a bowl with the pork mince.

Measure out your seasonings and add to the bowl.

Take the dumpling wrappers and have a small bowl of room-temperature fresh water in front of you.

Take a small teaspoon-size of the mixture and place in the centre of the dumpling wrapper. Wet your index finger in the water and run it around the edge of the wrapper. Pinch the wrapper closed to seal the edges. You can try to pleat it, or simply close it — this is only a presentation difference and will not affect the taste.

There are many different ways to cook dumplings, and I use different ways depending on where I am, how many I am trying to cook, or what end result I am trying to achieve. My kids cook their own dumplings, so I am going to give you their method because this is probably the best for 1 or 2 serves (around 12–15 dumplings) and is simple and effective.

Take a flat-based frying pan with a decent deep side. Drop in enough oil to just cover the base of the pan. Heat the oil until it shimmers, and then carefully pop in the dumplings. Make sure each dumpling has its own space. You can fit them all in lined up, but not on top of each other! Now pour in enough water to add 1cm of liquid into the pan. Have the heat on a medium temperature, and pop a lid over the top. Allow the dumplings to cook for 4 minutes. Remove the lid and cook until the water has evaporated in the pan. If you leave them in for a few extra minutes at the end, the leftover oil should caramelise on
the bases of the dumplings. The insides will have cooked in the steam, and you will have a perfect dumpling. Serve on their own or with extra soy or chilli sauce.

Top tips:

•      These dumplings can be steamed or boiled also.

•      You can make the dumplings, and then freeze them in rows, uncooked. Once frozen, you can throw them into zip-lock bags for the kids to find. Cook them directly from frozen, and add a couple of extra minutes to the steaming time.

•      You can make the dumplings in the morning, and keep them in the fridge to cook up later in the day.

Fast fact:

•      Whether you call them gyoza, ravioli, pot stickers or pelmeni, the idea of wrapping flavourful fillings in moreish little pockets of dough is an idea that translates in any language. They may be sweet, savoury, hot, cold, spicy or creamy; filled with meat, vegetables, beans, herbs, cheese or any combination thereof. Once you start, it will be hard not to crave them for your table.

Helpers can:

… make everything as above.

… pinch the dumplings into shape — let them!

… enjoy the cooking process, too — but watch them at the stove if they are little.

… get their hands into the mixture and mix it all together for you.

… measure out the miniature spoonfuls and place them into the centre of the wrappers.

This receipe is from the book The Fearless Kitchen.