Pork Soup Dumplings

My boyfriend gave me a DIY soup dumplings kit with instructions and agar agar powder included, I followed that. A few notes:

• The flavor itself is a little bland. Next time I will double the meat filling flavor and use stock or bouillon cube instead of chicken stock.

• My first attempt in making dough turned out very dry, I think it because I was too slow, so I started doing the whole assembly in batches.

• My dumplings turned out too big, will make it in smaller portions next time.

• I used my pasta roller to make the wrappers. you can also use rolling pin for this.

• You can freeze your dumplings to steam some other time! I followed this guide.

• Equipment: Bamboo steamer, 8x8 baking pan, Rolling pin (I used my pasta roller instead), Skillet or pan wide enough for the bamboo steamer to fit.

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Recipe

SOUP BROTH

serves: 24 | prep: 5 mins | cook: 10 mins | idle: 35 - 55 mins

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp diced bacon

• 1 inch ginger, peeled and sliced

• 1 stalk green onion, chopped

• 1.3 cup chicken broth (I will use something stronger next time)

• 1/2 tsp agar-agar powder

Directions

1. Combine broth, bacon, green onion, and ginger in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, for about eight minutes, or until the stock has reduced by half. You should end up with around 2/3 cup. Taste, and adjust with salt if needed.

2. Strain the soup, discard the solids, and set aside to cool and concentrate for 15 minutes.

3. Return the broth to the saucepan and sprinkle in the agar agar powder. Stir the soup until the agar agar dissolves over medium-high heat.

4. Bring the stock to a boil then turn off the heat. Pour mixture into an 8 x 8 baking pan to make a thin layer that will cool quickly and be easy to cut up. Refrigerate for 20 - 40 mins (or overnight if making night before, just cover pan in plastic wrap).

5. Peel the cooled mixture from pan and chop into small cubes. Refrigerate again until ready to mix with meat.

DUMPLING DOUGH

serves: 24 | prep: 15 mins | idle: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 cup bread flour

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 7 tbsp water, just boiled

• 1.5 tsp oil

Directions

1. Combine the two flours in a mixing bowl. Combine boiled water and the oil in a separate dish.

2. Add the water-and-oil mixture to the flour and knead using stand mixer (or by hand). The result will be a soft, warm, stretchy dough. I added 1 tbsp extra water since the dough seemed too dry.

3. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let dough rest at room temperature for 1 hr. You can refrigerate the dough overnight but it needs to go back in room temperature before using in assembly.

MEAT FILLING

serves: 24 | prep: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 1/3 pound ground pork1/2 inch ginger, peeled and grated

• 1 stalk green onion, thinly sliced

• 1 tbsp Shaohshing rice wine, or dry sherry (I used mirin)

• 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil (I would go for 2 tsp)

• 1 tsp soy sauce (I would go for 1.5 tsp)

• 1 1/2 tsp sugar

• 1/2 tsp salt (I would go for 1 tsp)

• 1/3 tsp white pepper powder (I would go for 1.5 tsp)

Directions

1. Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well.

2. Add jelly cubes (soup broth) and mix evenly with filling. Refrigerate until ready for assembly

ASSEMBLY

Directions

1. Remove the sticky dough from the plastic wrap. Shape dough into a ball on a floured surface. Cut ball in half and wrap half back in plastic wrap.

2. Roll the other half into a 10–12 inches log. Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each into balls and flatten into a disk with your palm.With rolling pin, roll out each disk into until it's about 1/8 inches thin and 4 inches in diameter (I used my pasta roller in flattening out the dough).

3. Delicately take a wrapper and hold it in your slightly cupped hand. Scoop up about a tablespoon of filling and place in center and press.

4. Use both sets of index fingers and thumbs to pleat and pinch the rim of the dough together to form a closed satchel. Pinch and twist the top to seal.

5. Bring approx. 2 inches of water to a boil in a skillet or pan. Place each finished dumpling in a steamer tray with parchment liner. Make sure each dumpling is 1 inch apart. Place the steamer tray on the skillet/pan with boiling water. Steam each batch of for 6-8 mins. Serve immediately.