DUMPLING / GYOZA

Salam.

Ramai yang suka makan dumpling kan atau kalau di Jepun namanya Gyoza. It is one of Chinese foods tapi sekarang dumpling ni di gemari bukan sahaja di kalangan orang-orang Cina malah orang Melayu and India pun suka. I punya teringin nak makan dumpling ni, I buat sendiri you... Ye lah, kebanyakkannya dumpling ni tak halal. Susah nak cari yang halal. Jadi haritu I pun buat lah dumpling ni..berintikan daging ayam.

GYOZA / DUMPLING SKIN

Ingredients

1. 2 cups of all-purpose flour
2. 1/2 cup boiled water (depends on weather, please add water if the dough too dry)
3. a pinch of salt

Method

1. Sift two cups of all-purpose flour into a large bowl and stir in a pinch of salt.

2. Add about 1/2 a cup of boiled water, little by little, using chopsticks (or wooden spatula) to stir, until you can form the mixture into a ball. Depending on the weather, you may need to add a little bit more water to reach this consistency.

3. Let the dough sit in the bowl, covered with a damp cloth, for 1 hour.

4. Shape the dough into a long log, and cut the log crosswise into 40 slices. The trick here is to get the log as cylindrical as possible, as this will help in shaping your wrappers into nice circles later on.

5. To maintain similar size in your pieces, cut the log into 4 equal pieces, and then cut each of those pieces in half, and so on. Dust each cut side with additional flour (this help prevent the surfaces from drying out).

6. Also, make sure you are using a very sharp knife to cut your log, as this will help you maintain the circular shape of your slices (otherwise they kind of mash down and turn into ovals, which is okay, but will be harder to roll out into circular wrappers).

7. Roll each piece of dough into a 3-inch disk, making the outer edge thinner than the center, then dust it liberally with additional flour, and stack them (the flour will help keep them fresh and prevent them from sticking to each other).

8. Initially your wrappers might be very funny shapes, but they’ll still taste good! The more you make, the better you’ll get at making circles. The more circular your slices are (from cutting your dough log), the more successful you will be when rolling them out.

9. If you want an easy way to cheat and get perfectly circular wrappers, grab a circular cookie cutter that is 3- to 3.5-inches in diameter, roll out your dough to a slightly larger size, and use the cutter to cut out a perfect circle.

FILLING

Ingredients

1. 1 packet minced beef or minced chicken (Ramly brand)
2. 1 stalk spring onion (chopped)
3. 100 gm cabbage (minced)
4. 3 cm carrot (tiny slices)
5. 2 cloves garlic (minced)
6. 2 tsp white pepper
7. 1 tsp salt
8. 1 tbsp sugar

Method

1. Toss the minced cabbage with the salt in a large bowl and let it sit for 10 minutes. Using both hands, or a cheese cloth, squeeze the cabbage firmly to drain and discard the excess water (prevent your dumplings from becoming mushy) and then transfer the cabbage to a deep bowl. Add the meat, garlic, spring onion, carrot, white pepper and sugar. Mix everything together with your hands until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Using your hands, scoop the mixture into a ball, lift it, and then throw it back into the bowl. Repeat several times to tenderize the meat and help the mixture stick together.

2. Have a small bowl of cold water ready. Lay a dumpling wrapper on a dry work surface, and place a heaping teaspoon of the meat mixture in the center of the wrapper. With a fingertip moistened with water, trace a line along half of the edge of the round wrapper. Fold the wrapper over to enclose the filling, and pinch the wrapper in the center to seal the edges together at that spot. Holding the filled half-circle in the left hand, pleat the top of the wrapper from the middle out, pressing it to the flat edge of the wrapper at the back. Set aside the stuffed dumpling with the pleated-wrapper edge up. Repeat to make 40 dumplings in all.

3. In a large skillet with a tight fitting lid, heat 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil over medium-high heat. Carefully place as many of the dumplings that can fit without touching in the skillet with the pleated-wrapper edge up. Cook the dumplings for 3 minutes, or until nicely browned on the bottom. Check the progress by lifting 1 or 2 dumplings by their pleated edge.

4. Once the bottoms are nicely browned, use the skillet lid to shield yourself and carefully pour in 1/4 cup of the water. When the hissing and splattering die down, drizzle in 1/2 teaspoon of the sesame oil around the edge of the skillet. Place the lid on the skillet to trap in the moisture and then quickly lower the heat to keep the liquid at a bare simmer.

5. Check the dumplings after 2 minutes. When the wrappers appear slightly translucent and the meat feels firm when pressed lightly with a spoon, remove the lid and raise the heat slightly. Continue to cook until all the water has evaporated and only the oil remains (about 2 minutes). Once you hear a sizzling sound, shake the skillet. The dumplings should slide about. If they seem to stick to the skillet, move the skillet away from the stove and replace the lid for a moment. Remove the dumplings from the skillet with a broad flexible spatula. If you’d like, flip them over so that the seared surface faces up. Cook the remaining dumplings the same way. Serve the hot dumplings accompanied by the dipping sauce.

Filling

 

Dumpling / G yoza Skin

Kenapa? Tak percaya I buat kulit dumpling sendiri. My Chinese ex-colleague cakap dia sendiri pun tak tau macam mana nak wrap dumpling ni tambah lagi kalau nak buat, lagi lah tak tau! ha ha ha.
Hantam saja lah labu... asalkan nampak bentuk dumpling.

Sebelum di masak.

Try la buat.. Bulan-bulan puasa ni makan dumpling pon sodap! Terliur dah ni... Alahai... :)

Selamat mencuba!