Papa C. Kitchen: Dumplings

Dumplings take a good half day to make, but you end up with about ten meals' worth of food (you can freeze them and they'll last for a couple of weeks). The key is to get a really dense, pasty filling; the cabbage will release a lot of water once you shred it, so make sure you squeeze as much water out of it as possible--just ball it up and squeeze (girls may not have the upper body strength).

Ingredients:

3 pounds ground pork

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons + 1/4 cup sesame oil

2 teaspoons + 1 tablespoon white pepper

1 head cabbage

1 bunch scallions

1 bunch chives

2 ounces ginger

1/2 cup soy paste

1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorn powder

1 pound dumpling wrappers

Directions:

In a bowl, mix ground pork, soy sauce, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, and 2 teaspoons white pepper, and set aside. Meanwhile, in a food processor, shred cabbage, scallions, chives, and ginger. Squeeze as much water out of the cabbage as possible, then combine vegetables and pork in a large bowl. Add remaining sesame oil and white pepper, soy paste, and peppercorn powder, and mix well.

To wrap your dumplings:

Place about two teaspoons of filling onto the center of a wrapper. Dab water on the perimeter and fold the wrapper, pinching the middle. Make three folds on each side, with the last fold closing each end.

To boil dumplings:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add your dumplings. When the water starts to boil, add a half cup of cold water to stop the boiling. Your dumplings are done when the wrappers start to look puffy.

To pan fry/steam dumplings:
Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat, then add your dumplings. When the bottoms are browned, add a half cup of water, then cover to let steam. Your dumplings are done when the water has evaporated.