Chinese New Year may have come and gone, but remember Chinese food is not just for Chinese New Year; it's for life! I've loved Chinese food since I was old enough to make my own decisions about what I want to eat.
I never really been 'into' cooking Chinese, being more of a Chinese restaurant enthusiast. But recently I find that I'm doing more cooking of it at home. I would probably put it all down to Momofuku. That's right Momofuku made me do it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
I'm a huge fan of smoked flavours in food and drink. After playing around with recipes from Momofuku, I've become slightly obsessed in using smoked flavours in food where it would not normally be found.
In this recipe I combine smoked chicken with pork to make an Chinese dumpling. If you can cold smoke your own chicken legs, by all means go ahead, But I get my smoked chicken legs from the local Polish supermarket. If you can't find smoked chicken legs, use 2 chicken thighs and a couple of smoked streaky bacon rashers.
These are lazy-man dumpling, meaning that I leave them open around the sides kind of like a taco. If you are more of a aesthetically purist dumpling lover take the time to crimp and seal them properly.
Smoked Chicken & Pork Dumplings
1 smoked chicken leg (meat and skin)
150g minced pork
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tbs rice wine, sake or dry sherry
1 tsp soy sauce
25g Chinese chives, finely chopped
1 tbs corn flour
1 egg separated
pinch ground black pepper
1 pack of round dumpling skins (about 12)
2 tbs vegetable oil
Dipping Sauce
2 tbs light soy sauce
2 tbs rice wine vinegar
2 tbs sesame oil
1/2 tsp finely minced ginger
1/2 tsp finely minced garlic
1/2 tsp sugar
For the Dipping sauce:
combine all of the ingredients in a glass jar with a lid. Secure the lid and give a good shake to mix the ingredients. The dipping sauce will keep ion the fridge for up to a week. Left over sauce makes a great dressing for baby salad leaves.
For the Dumplings:
Skin and roughly chop the chicken meat. Place the chicken in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse once or twice. Add the pork, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice wine, chives, corn flour, egg white and pepper and pulse 3 or 4 times till combined. Don't over process, you want to have some texture left in the filling.
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| The smoked chicken leg | Making a little sausage of the filling | A little sausage waiting for the wrap |
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| Dumplings ready to be cooked | Into the fry-pan | Crispy first sides |
Over a medium high heat, warm a small about of oil in a nonstick frying pan. Add the dumplings and cook until golden and crispy. Flip them over and cook for a moment or two more. With a lid that fits the fry-pan at hand, add a tablespoon of water to the pan, then quickly put the lid on it. Let the dumpling steam for 3 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to cook till the water is gone and the dumplings begin to crisp again. Be careful not to burn them, no one loves burnt and smoked food.
Repeat with the rest if necessary. Serve with the dipping sauce and enjoy!
