beef dumplings

dumplings are out of my cultural lane, so im not sure how authentic these are but they tasted really, really good. probably top 5 on my gastro accomplishment list. the dough was tender with a nice chew. the meat is moist and flavourful, and when biting into it, it releases a broth that gets encapsulated in the dumpling. THIS BROTH. its beefy, its herby, its gingery and shit, it is fresh!

flour, 250g

water, 136g

minced beef, 500g

carrot, 1 medium

white onion, 0.5 small

fresh ginger, about a 2 inch nub (lots)

cilantro, a handfull

mint, a small handfull

soy sauce, 3 tbsp

sesame oil, 1 tbsp

extra flour, for surface while rolling out dough

salt, for boiling water

1. mix flour and water in a bowl until shaggy dough and knead for 10 minutes (surprise, its arm day!). after kneading, it will be smooth, kinda hard and will spring back when you poke it. put it in a container, cover with a damp cloth, cover container, and let sit on countertop for ~ 2 hours.

2. in a blender that purees things, add in beef, carrot, onion, ginger, cilantro, mint, soy sauce, sesame oil and blend to a fine emulsion. put it in a container and let sit in the fridge to marinate, ~ 2hours

3. once your dough has sat, take it out of the container, it should not spring up when you poke it anymore and it should be quite soft. knead it on your counter for another 3-5 minutes and let sit for another 30 minutes.

4. cut the dough into three sections with a bench scraper, you want to work in parts because this dough is very susceptible to drying out so when you arent working with the dough, put it under a kitchen towel.

5. roll the section it into a log about 3/4 inch thick and cut into 11g pieces (i weighed it because i wanted the same size dumplings, you dont have to care if you dont want to, imperfection is beauty). then you want to roll out your 11g ball very thin rounds. this is your dumpling wrapper. if you are stacking your dumpling wrappers like i did in my photo, use flour to cover the surface to avoid sticking. (watch this video if you need a visual, this is what i used.

6. now its time to wrap: place meat right in the centre of your circle. gently lift two opposite sides of the wrapper and use water them together, creating a half moon shape, then do it to the perpendicular ends. its going to look like the ball of meat is in a sack. grab as much the dough possible, pinch it tight and twist it about 180 degrees. if you have extra dough in your hand because your pinch, just cut it off with a scissor. repeat this step for all dumplings.

7. put a pot of water to boil and salt it heavily. when your water is boiling, put the dumplings in for about 4-5 minutes and remove.

8. i put chilli oil on mine but soy sauce or no sauce would be fine. it is already super flavorful.

recipe inspiration from omnivors cookbook