Pork and Chinese Chives Dumplings in chicken broth

Time flies.  It’s June now, it’s the examination period.  When I was young, my mom always let me have pork with Chinese chives dumplings and a glass of fresh soya bean milk for my breakfast during the examination period.  I like dumplings a lot but it is very difficult to buy some freshly made here.  The dumplings I found in the supermarkets are frozen and the meat is hard and dry.  This morning I bought fresh chives in a Chinese supermarket and made some savory and juicy dumplings for brunch. 

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serve: 2 (10 pieces)

Ingredients:

-      100g minced pork (10% fat)

-      70g Chinese chives (finely chopped)

-      10 wrappers (round-shaped)

-      4 tsp water

-      3 tsp light soy sauce

-      4 tsp sugar            

-      6g ginger (mashed)

-      A drizzle of sesame oil

-      A pinch of pepper

-      1 spring onion (chopped)

-      50 ml water

Soup:

-      2 cups homemade chicken broth* or ready-made chicken broth

*Refer to the recipe of making Cantonese Wonton Soup (May 2017)

Method:

1.	In a big mixing bowl, marinate the minced pork with mashed ginger, 4 tsp water, sesame oil, pepper, light soy sauce and sugar for 10 minutes.
2.	Add chives and mix well with the marinated pork.
3.	Wrap dumplings: Fill a small bowl with water.  Use a spoon to scoop out 1-1.5 tablespoons of filling mixture in the center of the wrapper.  Wet the finger and run a little water around the edges of the wrapper.  Fold the sides together.  Then press the wrapper firmly around the filling mixture.   Repeat wrapping the others  until all filling mixtures are used.
	The above-mentioned is the easiest way but there are some other ways of wrapping dumplings.
4.	In a saucepan, add and boil the ready-made/homemade chicken broth over medium heat.  Place dumplings inside for 5-6 minutes until they float.  Remove from heat.
5.	Drizzle sesame oil in a serving bowl. Place in the cooked dumplings and chicken broth.
6.	Garnish with spring onion and ready to serve.
	Tips:
i.	You can make more dumplings and keep them into freezer for further use.
ii.	There are three to four ways to wrap dumplings.  I only suggest using the simplest way to do it.
iii.	If you like, you can steam or pan-fry the dumplings instead of cooking them in soup.   For steaming: Preheat the steamer, place in the dumplings and steam them for 5-6 minutes.   For pan-trying: Add 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat, place in the dumplings and pan-fry them for about 2-3 minutes until a bit golden brown.  Reduce to low heat.  Then add ¼ cup of water and 1 tsp vinegar, cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes until it dries up.  It is ready to serve.

Steamed Cheung Fun with dried shrimps and spring onion

Cheung Fun is one of my favorite Cantonese dishes in Chinese restaurants.  It is the steamed rice rolls. There are different flavors of cheung fun, they may include fillings, like fresh shrimps, BBQ pork (Cha Siu), minced beef and; dried shrimps and spring onions.  They are either served as dim sum in Chinese restaurants or a snack (street food) in local food stalls in Hong Kong.

I took a dim sum class and learned how to make this dish four months ago.  The class teacher is a chef in a Chinese restaurant in London.  I have tried twice and modified the recipe.  I am so excited about making this.  If you like cheung fun, try this recipe and add different fillings you like inside.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serve: 2-3

Ingredients:

-         160g rice flour

-         50g wheat starch

-         50g corn flour

-         650 ml water

-         2 tbsp vegetable oil

-         ⅛ tsp salt

-         35g dried shrimp (soaked and minced)

-         1 spring onion (green part, finely sliced)

-         1 tsp white sesame seeds

Tools:

-         2 square non-stick cake tins (19cm x 19 cm)

-         Rubber spatula / scrapper

Sweet Soy Sauce:

-         12 tbsp hot water

-         2 tbsp brown sugar

-         1 tbsp light soy sauce

-          

-         1 tbsp dark soy sauce

-         1 tsp sesame oil

Method:

1.	In a big mixing bowl, add rice flour, wheat starch, corn flour and salt and mix all well.  Sieve the flour mixture.  In the meantime, add ½ tbsp oil and water into the flour mixture and stir it well to become a silky batter.  Set aside for about 20 minutes.
2.	Pre-heat the oven at 160°c and toast the white sesame seeds for 6 minutes.
3.	In a small mixing bowl, add hot water and sugar and stir it well until the sugar dissolved.  Then add dark soy sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil, stir it well.
4.	Steam the minced dried shrimp for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.
5.	Boil water in a wok and place a rack in it.  Brush some vegetable oil in a square cake tin.  Put the tin on the rack, cover and heat it for 2 minutes over high heat.
6.	Stir the batter well and pour ¼ cup of it evenly in the tin. Swirl the batter evenly around the tin in order to coat the bottom of the entire tin.  Once it is set, add 1 tsp dried shrimp and 1 tsp spring onion evenly all over the top of the batter.  Cover and steam for 2 minutes.
7.	Use a spatula to release the edge of one side and roll it from one side to another side into a roll.  Set the roll aside on a serving plate.
8.	Repeat the step 5-7 until use up all the batter, dried shrimps and spring onion.  Clean the tin as necessary and re-grease the tin between uses.   Remember to stir the batter well every time before pouring it into the tin.
9.	Cut each roll into 5-6 pieces.  Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on the steamed cheung fun.  Pour the sweet soy sauce over the rolls and ready to serve.