Pork, Cabbage & Chive Dumpling Recipe

I was missing Dumpling Club lunches with my work team during the COVID19 lockdown, and this Pork, Cabbage & Chive Dumpling recipe went some way to meeting my need for dumplings (if not the company). I was wondering what to make with a freshly harvested cabbage from my garden and saw the Chinese opera mask on my wall. This reminded my of my trip to China four years ago where I went on a day trip from Beijing to the one thousand year old Gaobeidian Village: on that trip I got to hand paint my own opera mask and learnt how to make dumplings. So I got to re-live some of my travel memories whilst I made the dumplings.

Dumplings are a bit fiddly to make but once you get going it is okay – and it is definitely worth making extra to have in the freezer. I was inspired by the cabbage that I had but you can make any combination of ingredients you like: pork, prawn and chives; chicken and mushroom; vegetarian.

300g pork mince
1.5 cups cabbage, finely chopped
1 bunch chives, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
5cm piece ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1 pinch chilli flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1 pack dumpling wrappers (~24)

Finely chop the cabbage and chives. Peel and grate the ginger.

Combine the mince, cabbage, chives, ginger, sesame oil, soy, chilli flakes and salt in a bowl.

Fill a little bowl of water for wetting the edges of the dumpling wrappers.

Take a dumpling wrapper and, using your fingers, dampen around the edges. Place a large teaspoon of filling in the middle (don’t be tempted to go too large). Bring the edges together, pressing them firmly and pleating the edge as you go.

Place on a plate, leaving a space between each so they don’t stick together. Continue until the mixture has gone or you have run out of wrappers. If not cooking immediately, cover and refrigerate. You can freeze some for using later.

When ready to cook the dumplings, put 1 tbsp oil and 100ml water in a frying pan. Add dumplings to the pan and cover with a lid. Steam over a medium heat until the water has boiled away. Remove the lid and fry until the bottom of the dumplings are golden brown.

Serve warm with a chilli dipping sauce.