Hello everyone!
For today we have really Authentic Chinese Dumplings Recipe from a very dear friend from Tianjin, China. š When I first knew Aunty Zhang, my mandarin was so bad that we literally communicated through sign language and random sounds! It was really like a duck trying to talk to a chicken! But through the years, it’s gotten much better! I say “ä½ å„½!” and she says “HI!” haha. Compromise/ Assimilation, aye. š
There is so much she has taught me as well but a particular event stands out in my mind. A mutual friend brought up a particularly gruesome topic. Apparently, some guy from China was skinning an animal alive for its fur and we were discussing how terrible it all was. I think someone brought up the question ‘why are the Chinese so terrible and disgusting?! How can they do that?!’ and Aunty Zang replied, ‘China is very big and by virtue of it’s size, it’s going to have a lot more people that would do strange stuff than other countries. It doesn’t mean that it’s representative of the whole country.’ And it has really stayed in my mind. I’ve since learned to keep an open mind about certain news and people objectively. I think sometimes we are too quick to tar every one with the same brush and often forget that there are a lot of people out there as well who are not the terrible stereotypes we’ve unjustly labelled them with. Also, I deeply admire her love for her daughter, their willingness to leave their comfort zones and survive together in a foreign land. Their tenacity, perseverance and sheer determination to succeed is really something we can all learn a little of. š
Okay, enough talk š Here’s the recipe and tutorial for the Chinese Dumplings! š I love these dumplings! They are so good and they are coloured with vegetable juice and not unnatural food colouring! Aunty Zang said that when her daughter was young, she would make these dumplings in all sort of different colours and her daughter would have rainbow dumplings to eat! Awww! So cute!
Ingredients:
Filling
350gm of minced pork
3 Carrots
1 Pack Endives (or any other vegetable)
1 tsp oil
1 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp salt
Dumpling Skin
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2-1 cup water
1. Chop up/ grate carrots and endives into small little pieces.
(The smaller the better. The carrots were actually pulsed through a food processor for this recipe)
2. Pour oil into a wok
3. Fry grated carrots till fragrant
4. Remove from heat and transfer carrots into a bowl
5. Chop endives into small pieces
6. Squeeze endive juice into a bowl
7. Place dried endives into a bowl
8. Divide the meat into half and mix in with the carrots in one bowl and the endives in another bowl
(Note: If making only one type of dumpling, just mix desired fillings together)
9. Set aside.
10. Pour flour into a mixing bowl
11. Pour veg juice/ water and knead until dough becomes smooth and easy to manipulate
12. Roll dough into a long ‘snake’ and twist to break apart into small balls
13. Flatten small balls with palm
14. Using a rolling pin, roll ball into a flat circle
15. Fill circle with filling of choice
16. Fold skin into half and pinch to seal
Watch the video! 
17. Pour water into a pot till 3/4 full
18. Allow water to come to a bowl and place several dumplings to cook
19.
Allow water to come to a boil again and put in a table spoon of tap
water till water ceases bubling. Repeat x3 and dumplings are done! š
Serve with slices of ginger and vinegar.
Enjoy! š
Looks scrummy but a hell lot of prep work. But knowing the stuff you put in it rather than some kind of mystery ingredients as sold outside makes it worth while. Have a great weekend!