Jiaozi

Thin wheat dough wrappers pleated around a filling of minced pork, cabbage, ginger and sesame: boiled, steamed or fried until the bottoms become crackling gold and the tops remain silky. Jiaozi are the New Year dumplings of Northern China, shaped like ancient gold ingots to bring prosperity, and among the most perfect things wheat flour has ever been used to create.

Origin: Northern China

From the journey of Wheat.

Chinese dumplings, jiaozi in the north, wonton in the south, represent one of the most technically refined uses of wheat dough in world cuisine. The thin, even skin (皮, pí) is achieved by hand-rolling each wrapper to a precise thickness: thick at the centre to hold the filling, thin at the edges to seal cleanly. Archaeological evidence suggests dumplings date to the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). The tradition of eating jiaozi at Chinese New Year is ancient: families make them together on New Year's Eve, sometimes hiding a coin inside for luck. The shape, a half-moon pleat, mimics the gold ingots (元宝) used as currency in imperial China.

Ingredients

  • 300 g plain flour
  • 150 ml boiling water
  • 400 g minced pork
  • 300 g chinese cabbage (napa), finely chopped and salted
  • 2 tsp ginger, grated
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
  • 3 Spring onion, finely sliced
  • 0.5 tsp white pepper

Method

  1. Make the dough: pour boiling water into the flour gradually, mixing with chopsticks until it comes together. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
  2. Salt the chopped cabbage, leave 10 minutes, then squeeze out all moisture in a cloth. Combine with pork, ginger, garlic, soy, sesame oil, rice wine, spring onion and white pepper. Mix in one direction until sticky.
  3. Roll the dough into a rope, cut into 40 pieces. Roll each into a thin 8cm circle; thinner at the edges than the centre.
  4. Place 1 tsp filling in the centre. Fold and pleat: pinch the centre, then make 3 pleats on each side folding toward the centre. Press firmly to seal.
  5. To boil: drop into boiling water in batches, stir gently, cook until they float then 2 minutes more.
  6. To pan-fry (potstickers): heat oil in a flat pan, place dumplings, add water to come 1cm up, cover and steam 5 minutes, then uncover until bottoms are golden.
The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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