Chinese steamed dumpling
INGREDIENTS:
For the dough:
160 g all-purpose flour
100 ml water
½ teaspoon salt
For the filling:
150 g minced pork meat
80 g shiitake mushrooms
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 not full tablespoon sugar
6 tablespoons dark soy sauce
3 tablespoons finely cut green onion or chives
300 g raw sticky Asian rice (~900 g when boiled)
a handful of frozen peas for decoration
For the caramel sauce:
60 g sugar
100 ml water
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
½ teaspoon chili paprika
½ teaspoon ground ginger
For the light sauce:
100 ml light soy sauce
1-2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
PREPARATION:
Dough
Put the flour into a bowl and make an indentation in its center. Pour the water and salt into it and knead. If needed add a little more flour. Divide the dough into 20 walnut-sized balls and put them into a floured baking tray. Cover them with plastic wrap and leave them to rest for about half an hour.
Sticky rice
Soak the rice in lots of cold water for at least a whole night. Drain it from the water, put it into a bamboo steamer and cook it for about 40-45 minutes. If you don’t have such a steamer or another suitable bowl for steaming you can boil the rice in water. The proportions should be 1 : 1 ¾. If you can’t find a sticky Asian rice swap it with sushi rice.
Filling
Cut the mushrooms into very small cubes. If using dry shiitake mushrooms soak them in warm water for a few hours beforehand. Mix the minced meat, mushrooms, sugar and dark soy sauce. Put the mixture into a pan with heated sunflower oil. Fry for a few minutes while stirring. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the boiled rice and onion.
Grab one ball of the dough, press on it with your hand and roll it out into a circle that has a diameter of about 10 cm. While rolling add flour so that it doesn’t stick. Do the same for the other balls. Put them into a baking tray covered with plastic wrap and a wet towel so that they don’t dry.
Place about 1 ½ tablespoon of the filling in the center of each circle and fold the ends of the circle to the center.
If you wish you can cut the excess dough at the ends with scissors. Put them onto a piece of baking paper and in a steamer. Place a pea grain onto each one as decoration. Steam for about 10-12 minutes and serve with the sauces.
Caramel sauce
Caramelize the sugar in a small saucepan. Add the heated water, ground ginger and hot paprika and stir until the caramel dissolves. Remove from the heat and add the fish sauce and soy sauce.
Light sauce
Mix the light soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil.
