Dumplings for Lunar New Year

Every Lunar New Year (and many other special occasions), marketing and web manager Monica makes dumplings as her grandmother taught her. In lieu of an Each Peach class this year (keep an eye out though, we're making plans!), here is her Grandma Lutte's recipe for a pork filling, a vegan filling and special dumpling sauce. 

When she's feeling less ambitious , she uses pre-made dumpling wrappers. While any would do, she prefers the northern style ones, which are a little chewier and thicker. To seal, mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1/2 cup of warm water and line the edge of the dumpling wrapper before sealing. 

Start the Year of the Fire Horse right with delicious dumplings that bring lunch and fortune to any table.

Pork + Napa Cabbage Dumpling Filling
Recipe Makes 445g filling (about 30-40 dumplings)

250g (.5 lb) pork  (80/20 meat/fat ratio)
175g (2 heaping cups) Napa cabbage, thinly sliced and salted in a colander
50g (1 cup/2-3 stems) Green Onion finely chopped
20g (1inch chunk) Ginger (finely shredded)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced/grated
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1.5 tbsp Shaoxing Wine
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
½ tbsp Rice vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste

3. Rinse cabbage & squeeze out as much water as you can. Pat dry with a paper towel

4. Add to a bowl with the pork, green onion, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, cooking wine, sesame oil and rice vinegar. Stir vigorously in one direction (I always go clockwise…) until the meat looks creamy and amalgamated. 

3. Take a small portion and microwave on high or fry until cooked. Taste for seasoning and add salt/pepper and maybe more ginger, per your palate. Try to avoid adding too much more wet seasoning. 

Vegan Tofu and Vegetable Dumpling Filling
Recipe makes about 20-30 dumplings

25g dry (100g rehydrated, abt 1 cup) Wood ear mushrooms rehydrated in warm water for 30min

250g (3 cups) Napa Cabbage, finely chopped

125g (1 cup chopped, about 1) carrot, finely diced

125g (1 cup chopped, about 1 small) white onion, finely diced

125g (½ package) silken tofu - weighed down with a plate to remove excess water

22g (⅓ cup, 3-4 chopped) Scallions 

4 cloves Garlic, minced

½ tsp Ginger, minced

2 tbsp Sesame Oil

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp Soy Sauce

2 tbsp shaoxing wine/cooking sherry

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Heat vegetable oil in a pan on high until shimmering. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add garlic, cook until fragrant. Then add Napa Cabbage, carrot and wood ear mushrooms. Stir fry, moving frequently, until a lot of the water has cooked out. Add 2 tbsp cooking wine and 1 tbsp soy sauce. Cook until liquid is gone and vegetables are slightly caramelized.
   

   

2. Take off heat and put it aside in a large bowl. Add ginger, scallions, 2 tbsp sesame oil and remaining tbsp of soy sauce. Pat tofu dry and gently crumble into the mixture. Fold mixture together. Taste for salt and pepper. Be wary of adding too much more liquid, want it as dry as possible!

3. Allow to cool before wrapping dumplings. 

Dumpling Sauce 

1 tbsp Ginger (grated/smashed)

1 tbsp + 2 tsp Sugar 

¾  cup Rice Vinegar (seasoned)

2 Green onion (chopped)

2 tbsp + 1 tsp Soy sauce

1 tbsp + 2 tsp Sesame oil