Steamed Dumplings
Steamed dumplings-One way to make the yummiest Chinese dumplings at home-This simple, easy to follow, homemade recipe of Chinese Steamed Dumplings will give you the most delicious Steamed Dumplings ever!! The grains of pork and shrimps steamed in a bamboo steamer for this Steamed Dumplings are really addictive, healthy and tasty.
THE FLAWLESS AND MEANINGFUL STEAMED DUMPLINGS
Steamed dumplings are just one of the many kinds of Chinese Dumplings. Chinese Dumplings are one of the most favorite dishes in many Chinese Restaurants around the world. Chinese Dumplings have a long history in Chinese Cuisine. In China, especially the people in the Northern part, dumplings are usually served on Winter Solstice, December 22 of each year. Extended family member gather together to make dumplings.
When talking about dumplings, people usually refer to boiled dumplings, but as you may already know, dumplings can be not only boiled but also fried and of course, steamed. While talking about dumpling, it is also unavoidable not to talk about the popular ground meat filling and for Chinese Dumplings most of the time the ground meat filling is pork .But, you may also use beef or chicken as substitutes if you want to.
Besides only using ground meat filling, you can also mix the ground meat filling with some vegetables. Several well-known mixtures include pork with spring onion, pork with garlic chives, and pork with Chinese cabbage. Filling mixtures can be different from one to another depending on personal taste, season or region. Dumplings are usually served with a dipping sauce made of vinegar, chili oil, and soy sauce.
Talking more about Chinese Dumplings, people usually talk about wonton and its difference with a common Chinese dumpling, jiaozi. Well, wonton actually is just another kind of dumpling. The differences between wonton and dumpling are the skin wrapper and the way they are wrapped. Wonton is also more popular in Southern part, like Shanghai, than in the Northern part of China. No matter what, wonton and jiaozi are inseparable. They are under the same big umbrella of Chinese Dumplings.
There are some other kinds of Chinese dumplings such as the glutinous rice dumplings and soup dumplings. The glutinous rice dumplings have 2 common variants, the sweet and non-sweet. The sweet glutinous rice dumplings are usually filled with sweet sesame, peanut and red bean paste while the non-sweet glutinous rice dumplings are usually filled with Chinese dates or cured meat and red bean paste. So, as you can see the sweet and non sweet glutinous rice dumplings have one thing in common for the filling, that is red bean paste. The sweet glutinous rice dumplings called Tangyuan may also be served without filling.
Another kind of Chinese dumplings is goutie, commonly known as “potstickers”. This kind of dumpling is cooked slightly different from a common Chinese dumpling, jiaozi. If Jiaozi are just steamed or boiled, goutie or potstickers will be fried in oil after the water has been evaporated.
After talking so much about different kinds of Chinese Dumplings, now let’s focus on The Steamed Dumplings.
HOW DO YOU MAKE STEAMED DUMPLINGS?
It is that not that difficult to make dumplings. You can find and buy the ingredients, such as dumplings wrappers, ground pork, shrimp and several other ingredients at regular sores or at the nearest supermarket and don’t forget to prepare a bamboo steamer.
Maybe, a little challenge for you when making dumplings is folding the dumplings using dumplings wrappers. As a beginner, you just fold the dumplings into half moon shape. Don’t you worry, by persistent will and strong determination, it won’t take a long time for you to have the skill of folding the dumplings. Practice is all you need and remember, practice makes perfect.
WHAT IS THE BEST FILLING FOR STEAMED DUMPLINGS?
Some people are wondering what to have for the ground meat filling for their steamed dumplings.
Well, as mentioned above, there are some options for the filling for Steamed Dumplings. The most common ones are ground pork and shrimp. However, if you are allergic to shrimp it’s still fine to have the ground pork only or you may have chicken or beef to add the amount of protein to your Steamed Dumpling.
HOW DO YOU KNOW YOUR DUMPLINGS ARE WELL-COOKED?
Just use a toothpick and run the toothpick through one of the dumplings. Your delicious and healthy Dumplings are ready to be served if the toothpick comes out clean.
WHAT MEALS TO SERVE WITH THE STEAMED DUMPLINGS?
Some other meals such as Chicken stir-fried noodles, tea leaf eggs, or Chicken Siu Mai can be served together with this meal for more complete weekday lunch or weeknight dinner.
HOW MANY CALORIES PER SERVING?
This meal has only 332 calories preserving
COURSE : MAIN COURSE
CUISINE : ASIAN
KEYWORD : STEAMED DUMPLINGS
PREP TIME : 20 MINUTES
COOK TIME : 10 MINUTES
TOTAL TIME : 30 MINUTES
SERVING SIZE : 6 PEOPLE
CALORIES : 332 CALORIES
INGREDIENTS :
- ½ pound of ground pork
- 8-10 peeled, deveined ,small pieces of shrimp
- 1 stalk finely chopped of scallion
- 3 dashes of white pepper
- 1 teaspoon of wine or sherry (optional)
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- ½ teaspoon of soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon of sesame oil
- 1 inch of peeled and grated ginger
- 1 pack of dumpling wrappers
INSTRUCTIONS :
- Prepare a bowl. And then, all the seasonings and chopped scallion, ginger, ground pork and shrimp are mixed together in the bowl. Mix them well and put them aside.
- Prepare a piece of dumpling wrapper. In the center of the dumpling wrapper, put into a small spoonful of the filling to make the dumplings. With your finger, dab a little amount of water and circle around the edge of the skin. Next, the dumpling is folded accordingly. Does the same for the rest.
- Prepare a bamboo steamer. In the bamboo steamer, lined with parchment paper at the bottom, the dumplings are arranged. Finally, steam the dumplings for about 8-10 minutes and Voila, your steamed dumplings are ready and with black vinegar dipping sauce, quickly serve the steamed dumplings. Enjoy!!