Chinese Dumplings (Jiaozi) and Egg Rolls (Spring Rolls)

I searched long and hard to find a traditional dumpling like we ate on the streets of Beijing and X'ian and I think I finally found it. When we were there we bought a little dumpling press and I am ashamed to say that after almost 6 years this is the first time I've used it.

I always have to modify the recipe a bit- I omitted the pork because I wanted to do an all veggie one- and I wanted to use the same mixture for the egg rolls/spring rolls. And since I don't eat mushrooms I changed the veggies around a bit too. You can add whatever veggies or meats you like. Also, these dumplings are fried and then steamed- trying to stay authentic- but I actually prefer the taste of just fried ones, so you don't have to do the extra steaming if you like them crunchy. I primarily used this site for the recipe http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2009/01/pot-stickers.html

Dough:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup water

1/8 teaspoon salt

Filling:

grated carrots
finely chopped cabbage
fresh grated ginger root
diced red peppers

diced celery
diced onion
ground pork (I omitted)
soy sauce
hoisin sauce (use very sparingly)
chicken stock
Mix dough, kneading until smooth and set aside to rest.

I let all my veggies sit in the stock and sauces for about half an hour, then drained all the liquid out. Because I was frying & boiling I didn't pre-cook the veggies. If you're just going to fry I'd recommend frying the veggies in a wok before stuffing- just make sure to drain any liquid really well before you stuff.

Roll dough out into small circles- I had a press so it was easy to measure- but you can make them as big or small as you like. You only put about a tablespoon of filling in each dumpling otherwise the stuff will fall out when frying. Seal tightly. There are tons of youtube videos on how to properly seal a dumpling so check them out.

 

You can refrigerate or freeze until ready to fry. Heat oil in wok and fry. If you're doing traditional- dump the rest of the oil into another container and add 1/2 cup chicken stock into the wok and quickly cover with lid because it will splatter out.

For Egg Rolls or Spring Rolls- I  simply used the leftover filling and stuffed them in egg roll wrappers, rolled and fryed. Pretty simple. There is a recipe for egg rolls- that is slightly different- but I think the most authentic (which I will be adding to my recipe book) at http://steamykitchen.com/65-my-mothers-famous-chinese-egg-rolls.html