Once you are on a national TV show called Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and you best him with these dumplings, whatever culinary fame you aspired to is gone, and you are forever known as the Dumpling Lady. It’s an honor I will cherish forever—especially if it helps to get picky eaters like my kids to eat their dinner. I put these dumplings on my opening menu, but never did I intend to keep them on for a decade. There’s no getting rid of them now: These dumplings are the most popular item with some of our customers, including kids of all ages.
In my opinion, dumplings are one of those perfect foods that are soulful, flavorful, and comforting. Another great thing about dumplings is that you can use practically anything in the filling—and you can pan-fry them, which is what we do, or boil or deep-fry them. These particular dumplings are a hybrid of Japanese gyoza (with the thin wrapper), Korean mandoo (the use of pork, chives, and tofu, which makes them silky and less like meatballs), and Chinese dumplings (with hoisin and dark soy sauce). I add the hoisin, which I like to joke is Chinese ketchup, because it makes these dumplings a touch sweeter. I think it is actually why people go crazy for them, because the American palate craves sweet and salty. This filling also makes an awesome breakfast patty, or put it on a bun with kimchee slaw for a great pork burger slider!
Ingredients
Makes about 100 dumplings
Canola oil
1 large onion, finely diced
5 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1½ cups (85 g) finely chopped Chinese garlic chives, scallions, or regular chives
1 cup (250 g) crumbled soft tofu
⅓ to ½ cup (75 to 120 ml) hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more if needed
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds (910 g) ground pork
2 packages (14 ounces/396 g each) thin or gyoza-style dumpling wrappers
Preparation
Step 1
In a large sauté pan, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium heat and sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger until translucent and slightly caramelized. Add the chives and cook just to soften them, about 1 minute longer. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and let it cool.
Step 2
Once the onion has cooled, add the tofu, 1⁄3 cup (75 ml) of the hoisin sauce, the salt, and pepper and mix well. Add the pork to the bowl and mix it with the seasonings until you can see that the chives and tofu are evenly distributed throughout the meat.
Step 3
In a small frying pan, cook a small spoonful of the meat mixture in a little bit of oil. Taste and adjust the seasoning of the meat with more hoisin sauce and/or salt, if necessary.
Step 4
Prepare a small dish of water and line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Place about 1 tablespoon of filling in each dumpling wrapper. Using your finger, paint a little water around the edge of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half and simply pinch it closed, or crimp it. Place each finished dumpling on the baking sheet and repeat until you’ve used all the filling.
Step 5
You can freeze them directly on the baking sheet until they harden, then pack them into plastic freezer bags. (They do not refrigerate well.) They will last for 3 months.
Step 6
To cook fresh dumplings (see Cooks' Note for frozen), heat a nonstick frying pan or well- seasoned cast-iron skillet with just enough oil to coat the bottom. Add just enough dumplings so that they are not overcrowded and don’t touch. Brown the dumplings on one side, then add about 1⁄4 inch (6 mm) of water, cover, and steam the dumplings until nearly all the water evaporates.
Step 7
Remove the cover and let the dumplings begin to fry again, just long enough to crisp them slightly, then serve them immediately with the dipping sauce.
Cook's Note
Step 8
To cook frozen dumplings, follow the same procedure above for fresh dumplings, but use 1⁄3 inch (8 mm) water so they steam a little longer and cook through.
Step 9
I learned how to fold dumplings at an early age with the help of my grandmother and mother, and before we opened The Good Fork, I used to have dumpling-making parties at home. That’s how I know that making one hundred dumplings at a time sounds daunting but is the only way to do it. Gather a few friends, make the dumplings together, then you each get some to tuck away—packaged by the dozen—into the freezer for weeks to come.
