Chinese Pastries: Jiaozi Panfried 饺子 - hot water dough

What're u bingeing? 又在吃什么?

吃不饱的.

A bundle of catalysts

 

Hot water dough....I'm back with another recipe for this technique. Jiaozi, commonly eaten boiled in China and the preparation method is usually the use of tap water to mix with the plain flour to form a dough. Boiled jiaozi has a layer of slogginess on the surface while I prefer a one with a soft QQ and smoothier surface which is a characteristic of gyoza. Preparation time is shorter for boiling method but you 'll get a slacken taste. More effort is required in this recipe: partially cook the flours with boiling water followed by panfrying the uncooked dumplings and then steaming them in some water. Level of water not exceeding half height of dumpling. All in all - 3 cooking techniques and the result is a  delightfully, light golden crispy bottom complementing the rest of the steamed dumpling skin and a sensational experience swirling in your head when eaten with a ginger vinegar sauce.

My first encounter with these little ones goes back to the year 1994 before the influx of China immigrants, these delicious dumplings were found in very few chinese restaurants in Chinatown @ xx prices. A business trip then took me to Beijing and Shanghai for a week and got me into a frenzy indulgence there. They're the staple of every individual as I saw a plate of them at almost every dining table. Even so in workers' canteens , a bowl of steaming jiaozi was a happy meal for them. Finally, I begged my China collegeaues to share the recipe. "Easy easy easy to make!" all said so. "Add water to flour only". "how  much to add ? i asked. " Until you get a dough." That's was the recipe.

The weekend upon return was "jiaozi playtime" figuring out the proportion of water to flour. The final finding is 1 cup flour to 1/3 cup water. Am i spoonfeeding here ? Happy to do so...it is also a personal reference when memory fail me one day. I've also simplified the preparation of the pork / vegetable filling...skip the osmosis process for the vegetables. Cut the vegetables finely and mix with the  marinated pork works perfectly. The squeezing of water from the vegetables far too cumbersome and loses some good nutrients as well. Let the vegetables sweat in the minced pork and the fluid makes the dumplings juicy.

Recipe:

Filling:

• 200g minced pork
• 5 springs ku chai - chinese chives
• 1 big leaf pak choy
• 5 pcs carrots
• 1 stalk chinese leek (white portion)
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp soya sauce
• 2 tsp chinese wine
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp corn flour

1. Shred the vegetables finely
2. Marinate the pork with all the rest.
3. Combine vegetables and pork and mix well.
4. Set aside for 1- 2 hours and proceed to prepare dough.

Dough:

• 100g Top flour
• 65g hot water + 1/2 tsp cooking wine
• 1/2 tbsp oil
• 1/8 tsp salt

1. Dissolve salt an wine in hot water
2. Pour hot water all over flour
3. Mix them gradually with chopsticks
4. Cool 5 mins
5. Use hands and drizzle 1 tbsp oil and knead till smooth dough
6. Rest 1/2 hour
7. Divide into 15g balls
8. Flour the ball before you roll into small circle
9. Fill and seal. see shape above

15g each

Finale:

1. Heat oil in non stick pan first.
2. Place dumplings with a gap between them
3. Fry over medium low fire 3 mins
4. Pour warm water over them and cover.
5. Steam 15 mins.
6. Lift up cover , low fire, cook till water dries up
7. Serve with ginger vinegar sauce.

Ginger Vinegar Sauce:

• lots of young ginger thinly sliced
• black vinegar to cover ginger
• a big pinch sugar
• few drops sesame oil
• few dashes chinese wine, soya sauce
• szechuan chilli sauce (optional)

Cook's pointers:

• Use extra fine flour
• Avoid hard stem of vegetables.
• Prefer use of non stick pan for frying dumplings.
• Pour warm water up to half height of dumpling.
• Cover during steaming.
• Glutinous rice wine - my fave

Workshop @ Palate Sensations Singapore - 65-6589 8843
food quote:  哑巴吃饺子,心里有数 (yǎ ba chī jiǎo zi, xīn lǐ yǒu shù) - When a mute person eats dumplings ( 饺子 jiaozi), he knows how many he has eaten, even though he cannot speak. We use this saying to point someone knowing the situation quite well, yet saying nothing.


Cook as to how you like to eat it, join me if we share the same taste. PaulaCookingFingers