Lamb and chives dumplings (餃子)

(makes 60 dumplings)

So I went to my first dumpling party on the weekend and had lots of fun learning how to make these lamb and chives dumplings from our local expert, Yuan. She's very authentic, with lots of top tips along the way, which I've included all that I could remember. Everything was rough estimates and all about tasting as you go or based on the trained eye and tongue that has had 20+ years of home-made dumpling experience. She even makes her wrappers from scratch, but that's a lesson for another day! 

I take no credit for the recipe below, but thought it would be good to share and keep a copy so that I can try it again soon, I may update this later with more accurate quantities when I try again at home and have the kitchen scales handy! Anyhow, super fun idea, and sad to miss the even bigger dumpling party happening later for our wonderful neighbour and friends birthdays/retirement/fundraising for the Bible society as they walk the Great Wall of China! 

Prep time: 30 minutes + marinating time

Cooking time: 30-60 minutes, depending on how many batches you need to make (pending pan/pot size)

Ingredients
500g lamb mince
6 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp ginger, finely diced
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
1 tsp Szechuan black pepper
1 small Chinese bowl water (200mL)
1/2 bunch shallots
1/2 big bunch of chives

60 gow gee wrappers/skins (white round wrappers)

To serve;

black vinegar

chiu chow chilli oil

Method

1. Finely chop the shallots and chives. 

2. Mix the lamb mince with soy sauce, ginger, salt and Szechuan black pepper. 

NB. Only mix in one direction as this allows the proteins to align and keeps the dumpling mixture together.

3. Add water slowly and continue stirring until the the meat is smooth and the right consistency. Add in the chopped shallots. Rest and allow the meat to marinate for at least 30 minutes, or up a few hours.

4. When ready to wrap, lay out a tray with flour or baking paper to put the completed dumplings. Prepare a small bowl of water.

5. Add one tablespoon of vegetable oil to the chives and mix through, then add the chives to the meat and gently stir through.

NB. The chives need to be added at the end. Adding oil to the chives helps to minimise the moisture that can seep out and dilute the meat mixture.

6. Start by picking up one wrapper in the middle of your hand. Scoop one heaped teaspoon of meat mixture, and wet one finger in the water and trace a semi-circle on the top inside of the wrapper. Fold in half, then place the dumpling in the middle of both palms, cupping around it. Gently push in the sides, pressing the air out of the middle and squeeze your fingers together at the top to seal around the meat mixture.

Moment-by-moment captures of the expert, but still very hard to perfect

NB. If you don't squeeze out the air, then bubbles will form inside the dumpling when cooking it and may cause it to explode out. Also, if it is not sealed, then it can also fall apart. Essentially, it looks easy, but easy to stuff up.

7. Continue folding the dumplings and place on the tray. When you've finished part or all of the dumplings then you can either boil or pan-fry them.

First batch and third batch, significant improvement with practice

8. Boiling dumplings (餃子); boil a big pot of water and place dumplings inside - do not overcrowd the pot, they should not overlap as they all need to float to the top eventually. As the water starts to boil, pour a cup of cold water in, and allow it to come back to the boil again. Repeat another two times, then the dumplings should be cooked. This should take approximately 15 minutes. Test one to ensure it's cooked.
NB. If they don't look well-sealed or that the air has been squeezed out, they should probably not be boiled.

Little A and daddy enjoying the first round

9. Pan-fry dumplings (鍋貼); heat a flat saucepan or electric frypan to medium heat. Pour in a tablespoon of water, then place the base of the dumplings in the pan, aligning them next to each other. Allow them to cook for a few minutes, then pour in enough water to cover half a centimetre of the dumplings. Close and steam the dumplings for approximately 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow it to rest for a couple of minutes before extracting it from the pot. Test to ensure one is cooked. 

10. Serve warm, with black vinegar and chilli oil, as desired. We also served with some delicious stir-fry noodle dishes and some blanched gai lan (Chinese broccoli) with oyster sauce. 

Dumplings, with noodles, vegetables, and some Charcoal BBQ chicken kebabs and corn

Store bought dessert dumplings - glutinous rice balls (湯圓),
ginger nut ice-cream and Yakult to finish the night off