Jiao Zi Recipe (Chinese dumplings)

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour
• Chive
• Minced pork
• Salt
• Sugar
• Sesame oil
• Cooking oil (or olive oil)
• Chinese cooking wine
• Five spices powder
• Szechuan pepper
• Cut ginger
• Cut spring onion
• Light soya sauce
• Black vinegar
  

Procedure:
Knead flour into dough and place the dough into a covered pot. Let it set for at least 30 minutes to 'strengthen' the dough.

Meanwhile, cut chive into 0.5cm pieces and add cooking oil to prevent water from oozing out.Add water to minced pork, stirring in one direction only.

Add salt, sugar, Chinese cooking wine, light soya sauce, oil, sesame oil, cut ginger and spring onion, five spices powder and Szechuan pepper to taste. Stir in one direction.

Add cut chive to meat (1:1 volume). Meat texture should be gluey.

Knead the dough into a two-finger width rod and snap into phalanx-long dough. Roll the dough into balls. Squash the balls and flatten them with a rolling pin such that the center is thicker than the edges.

Wrap the meat filling with the flatten 'skin'. Sprinkle some flour on the dumplings so that they do not stick to one another.

Add the dumplings to boiling water. Cover the pot. Add two ladles of tap water once it has started boiling. Repeat the process of adding tap water for at least four times.

Drain the cooked Jiao Zi and let them cool down.

Serve with equal volumes of black vinegar and light soya sauce diluted with water (so that the sauce does not mask the taste of Jiao Zi). Chilli oil can be added for those who like spicy food.

For those who like Guo Tie (Pan Fried Dumplings):
Fry the cooked Jiao Zi in a wok till golden brown. Add a teaspoon of water to prevent the skin from becoming too dry and cover the wok. Serve on plate.

Caution: Do not add a lot of water to hot oil. It will splash!