Good Dumplings

Ingredients:

• If using Chinese or 00 flours: 300g flour, ¾ tsp salt, 150g water
• If using Bob’s Red Mill AP: 305g flour, ¾ tsp salt, 140g water
• If using King Arthur flour: 300g flour, ¾ tsp salt, 156g water

Process:

1. 1. Make the autolyse. Combine the salt with the flour, slowly drizzle in the water while stirring. Once you have those scraggily bits, smush it all together into a ball. Rest for 20 minutes. Note that if using Chinese or 00 flour, you probably will not need this step.
2. 2. Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes. You can also use a stand mixer on speed three. Rest for fifteen minutes.
3. 3. Break the dough into four logs, then divide into 9-10g balls. Thoroughly flour, then smush into a disc.
4. 4. Roll out the wrapper by rolling from the edge into the center, twisting the wrapper as you go. You should roll ~16 times to get something ~2.5 inches in diameter.

DUMPLING FILLING

Ingredients:

* Ginger-Sichuan peppercorn water: Sichuan peppercorns, ½ tbsp; ginger, ~1 inch smashed; 2/3 cup of hot, boiled water
* Napa cabbage , 300g
* Salt, to purge the napa: ½ tbsp
* Ground Pork belly (or pork leg/ham, or fatty pre-ground pork), 300g
* Seasoning for the pork: salt, 1 tsp; five spice, 1 tsp; chicken bouillon powder, 1 tsp; cornstarch, 1 tsp; soy sauce, 1 tsp; liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine, 1 tsp; ginger-Sichuan peppercorn water from above
* Oil to coat everything: Peanut oil, 2 tbsp; toasted sesame oil, 1 tsp -or- seasoned oil from below, ~1/4 cup

(Note: when using unseasoned oil, I tend to like going lighter on the oil. You can also add more oil if you prefer)

Process:

1. Steep the ginger and the Sichuan peppercorn with the hot, boiled water for ~30 minutes. Strain when cool.
2. Mince the napa cabbage, then mix with the salt. Let sit for 10-15 minutes. Squeeze out the liquid, then transfer to a tofu or cheesecloth to squeeze out even more. Set aside.
3. Mix the seasoning for the pork, then slowly drizzle in the ginger-Sichuan peppercorn water, stirring constantly. The water adding process should take about 3-5 minutes, the pork should feel slightly sticky in the end. Optionally ‘dat’ by slamming the mixture into the bowl 3-4 times to develop a little spring.
4. When the dumplings are *just* ready to wrap, mix together the cabbage and the pork mixture. Add the oil.

SEASONED OIL

This will make for a larger batch than you need for this recipe. Note that in the north they would usually use Dacong - Allium fistulosum – for this oil, which we are substituting with scallion and white onion.

* Peanut oil, 1.5 cups
* Scallion, 100g
* Celery, preferably Chinese celery, 50g
* Onion, ¼ medium
* Garlic, 4 cloves
* Ginger, ~1 inch
* Spices: cinnamon stick, ½ stick; star anise, 2; fennel seed, ¼ tsp

1. Steep the spices in water for ~10 minutes before cooking. This will prevent the spices from scorching.
2. Roughly mince the rest of the ingredients.
3. Slowly fry the minced aromatics and steeped spices in the oil over a medium flame. This will take a bit – around 20 minutes or so. You want the onion to be *every* so slightly starting to brown, but you want to stop before things get to the golden brown stage.
4. Dip everything into a bowl while still hot, then cover. Let it steep overnight.
5. Next day, strain out the spices and aromatics.