Pork and Dill Dumplings

I’ve been wanting to make dumplings for a while now, but I wasn’t sure what kind of dumplings I wanted to make. I knew it would have pork in it, but what else should I add to it? I didn’t want to go with the traditional dumpling ingredients, that I was certain of. Then I thought, why not put dill in it? Dill is one of my favourite herbs to use. I love adding it into my chicken noodle soups, so why not in dumplings? And the result was some pretty great tasting dumplings! I would definitely be eating this again. I made quite a bit, so I ended up freezing the rest.

INGREDIENTS

475g ground pork
1 bunch of fresh dill, leaves removed and roughly chopped
1/4 cup fried onions
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp chicken bouillon powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
1/4 cup water
1 package round dumpling wrappers

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, dill (reserve some as garnish later), fried onions, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, chicken bouillon powder, sugar salt, white pepper and water, and mix well. Set aside, and allow it to marinate for about 30 minutes.

To make the dumplings, take one of the wrappers and place it on top of your palm. Dip your finger in water and run it along the edge of the wrapper to create a sealing border. Place about 1/2 tbsp of filling in the center of the wrapper, and then fold it in half, pinching all the way around to seal it closed. Next, dab a bit of water on one corner of the dumpling. You then bring both corners of the dumpling together to seal it. They should look like the traditional korean dumplings called “mandu”.

Once you have finished making all of them, you can freeze the remainder dumplings that you don’t plan on eating. To do this, lay the dumplings on a tray and freeze them. Once frozen, place them in an air-tight bag.

To cook the dumplings, you can either pan-fry, boil, or steam. To boil, bring a pot of water over high heat. Once boiling, add in the dumplings and occasionally stir to prevent the dumplings from sticking to the bottom of the pot. After about 4-5 minutes, the dumplings should have floated to the top, which means that the pork is cooked through. Remove the dumplings with a slotted spoon.

To pan-fry, bring a pan over medium-high heat. Once heated through, add some oil to the pan and then gently put in the dumplings. Cook the dumplings for about 2 minutes, or until the bottom of the dumpling is golden brown. Then add water to the pan to fill up to 1/3 the height of the dumplings and cover the pan with a lid. This will allow the dumplings to steam. Once most of the water has evaporated, remove the lid and continue to cook until all of the water is gone. You can lower the heat to medium at this time, so that the bottom of the dumpling does not get burnt. Once cooked through, remove from pan.

For the sauce, mix soy sauce, sesame oil, black vinegar and chili oil together and adjust the sauce to your liking by tasting it. Drizzle the sauce over the dumplings and garnish with fresh dill and sprinkle on some sesame seeds. This is great as an appetizer or make it a meal on its own.

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