Dumpling Filling

It doesn't make sense to make dumpling skins without some filling.

Stuff you'll need

• For the filling:
  • ground pork or beef or lamb
  • Chinese chives or cabbage
  • (optional) shrimp
  • (optional) mushroom
  • (optional) carrot
  • (optional) other stuff that might taste good
• For the seasoning:
  • cooking wine
  • oil
  • soy sauce
  • salt
  • MSG
  • white pepper
  • (optional) garlic and ginger
  • (optional) other spices that go well with the meat
• For folding dumplings:
  • friends

Preparation

Seasoning the meat

Add all the seasonings to your ground meat. Since I'm Chinese, I usually use the classics: soy sauce, cooking wine, salt, MSG, white pepper. And I usually just use ground pork.

I also like to add some oil to help the resulting texture be a little more creamy. A neutral oil is fine, but something like scallion or sesame oil can also be used, to impart an extra aroma and lift to the final filling.

Emulsifying the meat

I don't know what other people say about dumpling filling, but the most important thing in my opinion is the emulsification of the meat. Ground meat is necessarily grainy, because it's meat that's pushed through small holes. But the ideal texture of the meat in a dumpling filling is creamy, rather than grainy or sandy.

So, get all your ground meat, and stir it in one direction for a while using chopsticks. Once you see that the lean meat and fat are emulsified together, where there are almost thin strands of meat left behind by the chopstick trail, you can be somewhat confident that the meat is emulsified. Stir it some more in the same direction to be sure.

Adding the other stuff

For the most part, you just need to chop up whatever ingredients you want to add really really finely, and fold it into the emulsified meat mixture. However, a few things to keep in mind:

• Don't add too many ingredients. 3 ingredients including the meat is a good amount. Think about flavor profiles when combining these ingredients. Here are some classic combinations:
  • Pork and cabbage
  • Pork and Chinese chives
  • Pork, shrimp, and Chinese chives
  • Lamb, mushroom, carrot
• For ingredients that have a lot of water, you'll need to get that moisture out first, so that the resulting filling doesn't becoming a watery mess.
  • For mushroom and carrot, you can chop it finely, and lightly fry them in some oil to sweat out the moisture.
  • For cabbage, chop it finely, and toss it in salt to draw out the moisture. Then wring the cabbage dry before folding it into the meat.

Folding dumplings

Get your friends together to fold dumplings. If you can't get a lot of friends together, like me, don't make dumplings too often. It takes too long.

I could try to describe the process of folding in writing, but I've tried to explain it to friends in person and it barely works, so I won't try. Just look up a video or something.

Cooking or freezing

One great benefit of making dumplings with friends, is that you can make a lot and save it to eat later. Or you can give it to your friends so that they'll remain your friends. Lightly dust the dumplings with flour and freeze them on a tray so that they don't stick together. Once frozen, just keep it in an airtight bag or container.

You can also cook the dumplings immediately, since you and your friends are probably hungry by now.

Final thoughts

You could totally make beef or lamb dumplings too. They're not unknown in the realm of Chinese dumplings, but I usually just make dumplings with ground pork. Of course, with different meats, different spices would complement the flavor profile of the meat. Use your feelings or understanding of different flavor profiles to come up with unique takes on dumplings! If you want to try Italian seasonings, since they've got some pretty good sausages over there, why not? I don't think dumplings are local to Chinese cuisine; there's some form of meat filling wrapped in a dough ball in every cuisine.