Preparation time: 1 hour 30 minutes, plus resting
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 20-25 dumplings
Ingredients:
1 Chinese leaf lettuce
5 salad onions, finely sliced
250g pork mince
1 red chili, finely chopped and deseeded if preferred
2 garlic cloves, chopped
25g fresh root ginger, finely grated
11⁄2 tbsp light soy sauce
11⁄2 tbsp Waitrose Cook’ Ingredients Chinese rice vinegar (or sherry vinegar)
1 tsp Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients Shaoxing rice wine (or dry sherry, such as Amontillado)
1⁄2 tbsp caster sugar
1⁄2 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
For the dumpling dough:
200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1⁄4 tsp salt
Groundnut oil, for greasing
For the soy-vinegar dipping sauce:
15g fresh root ginger, grated
11⁄2 tbsp light soy sauce
11⁄2 tbsp Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients Chinese rice vinegar (or sherry vinegar)
1⁄2 tbsp Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients shaoxing rice wine (or dry sherry)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp caster sugar
Method:
1. Start with the dumpling dough. In a bowl, mix the flour and salt with 110ml just-boiled water; using a spoon, bring together to a dough.
Cool for a few minutes, then knead for 5 minutes, until smooth. Coat with a little groundnut oil, wrap in cling film and rest for 30 minutes.
2. Remove 6 leaves from the Chinese leaf lettuce; set aside. Finely shred the rest; toss with a big pinch of salt. Set aside for 20 minutes. Rinse well; squeeze out the excess liquid. Reserving the salad onion tops, mix the lettuce with the remaining ingredients; cover and chill.
3. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface as thinly as you can, thinner than 0.1cm if possible; it may be easier to do in batches, or using a pasta machine. Using a 9cm cookie cutter, stamp out as many small circles as you can, layering them up between squares of baking parchment, before covering with a tea towel. Re-roll any scraps; you should get about 20-25 wrappers in total.
4. Place a heaped teaspoon of filling into the centre of a wrapper. Fold in half, crimping one of the edges to create a pleated effect, before pressing firmly together and expelling as much air as possible from around the meat. (Dampen the inner edge with a little water if it doesn’t stick naturally.) Repeat with the remaining ingredients, setting the dumplings on a flour-dusted tray as you go.
5. Prepare a steamer with simmering water and put 2-3 lettuce leaves (or circles of baking parchment) on the bases of the steamer layers. Steam the dumplings, in batches, for 10-12 minutes, until piping hot.
6. Mix the sauce ingredients and serve with the dumplings, scattered with the reserved salad onion tops, and toasted sesame seeds.