Lunar New Year 2016

Chinese New Year of the Monkey 猴

Egg drop soup (蛋花湯)
Adapted from Steamy Kitchen

Shouwen’s Pork dumplings (餃子)

500 g pork belly
500 g Napa cabbage
1 kg flour
10 g ginger, grated
2 scallions, diced fine
light soy sauce (mandatory)
dark soy sauce (optional)
salt (mandatory)
Hua Diao wine (mandatory)
sesame oil (mandatory)
five spice powder (mandatory)
ginger (mandatory)
scallion (mandatory)
garlic (depend on what sauce you would like)
dry chilli powder
Chinese black vinegar
sesame oil or chili oil

Mix flour with water into a dough, then cover it with a wet cloth.
Mince the pork. Chop ginger and scallion fine. Marinate meat with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Hua Diao wine, five spice powder (a little). Add ginger and scallion. Mix in sesame oil and cover for 10 minutes.
While the meat is marinating, chop the cabbage very fine, then add a little salt to get rid of excess water. Squeeze out excess liquid. Note: please don’t over salt. But if you have, just reduce the salt for the meat.
After 30 minutes, the dough is ready. Make the skins (aka wrappers) by cutting off a piece, rolling it into a long strip, and cutting off ball shaped pieces. Flatten these with a rolling pin, working the edges flat in a circular motion.
Mix the cabbage with the marinated meat, and start wrapping. Some can make the wrappers, others can wrap the fillings. Seal dumpling edge with a cornstarch slurry (1 cornstarch : 2 water).
Boil the dumplings about 5 – 7 minutes, or 1 minute extra after they float to the surface. Serve immediately.
For the dipping sauce, I chop some garlic, boil some peanut oil, then add the garlic to the oil. Pour the sizzling garlic oil on the dry chilli powder.