Homemade Dumplings. Overweight Dumplings.

Making dumplings might be a little bit troublesome as a dinner choice,
It requires a tremendous amount of work, such as washing vegetables, chopping ingredients, wrapping stuffing, and cleaning up.

Why not just pay a visit to the grocery store and pick among more than ten different brands in the fridge?
I can't. I just can't.
I'm spoiled by my mom's homemade dumplings,
Using all the top quality ingredients, each dumpling skin was stretched to 100% capacity in order to stuff everything inside.
I called it "overweight dumplings."

However, my mom is currently far far away in the other side of the Pacific ocean,
Now I have to depend on myself to make those fat dumplings by tracing memories.

Ingredients (For About 50 Dumplings)?

4 stalks of scallion (chopped)
1/2 cabbage (chopped)
1 ginger (grated)
1 pound of ground pork
20 medium size shrimps (chopped)
2 eggs
50 dumpling skin
Sesame oil
Roasted sesame seeds
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
White pepper
1/2 cup of chicken stock

How?

First we need to prepare all the ingredients, mix them well and transfer to the fridge overnight.
For the mixture, we need to stir fried the eggs first.
Beat two eggs and stir fried it in a pan with some olive oil till cooked.
Remember to chop it into small pieces with the spatula while cooking.

Next, we'll combine all the chopped ingredients together (eggs, cabbage, scallion, shrimps) along with the ground pork, grated ginger, 3 tablespoons of salt, 1 tablespoon of white pepper, 1/2 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1/2 tablespoon of sesame seeds, and 1/2 cup of chicken stock.

Mix them well, cover with foil and into the fridge for at least 6 hours.
I usually leave it overnight.


Now it's the fun part-wrapping the dumplings.
I buy the dumpling skin instead of making it, which can be a big time saver.
After so many times of trial and error,
Buying a good dumpling skin can save a lot of energy.
Even though the price may be a little bit more expensive (usually no more than a dollar),
Trust me, it's definitely worth it.
The skin won't break easily, that means it'll stretch better if you attempt to stuff more ingredients in it, like my mom.

Simply scoop a small spoonful of the mixture into the center of the skin,
Wet half of the skin edge with water and press the sides together,
Just play with it and I believe you'll eventually get a feeling of how to make a perfect shaped dumpling.

This one...mmm.....the shape is not perfect, but at least it reached my goal, semi-overweight dumpling-


Still not as good as the one my mom made though,
Nothing beats mom's homemade food!

Suggestion for sauce:
Soy sauce, ponzu sauce, a little bit of chopped chilies, minced garlic, sesame oil, vinegar.
You have to mix and match to find out your own perfect combination!

Cindy's Rating: 7