Foodists

Truffled Jiaozi: Pan-fried Pork & Veal Dumplings with Chinese Truffles

Truffled Jiaozi: Pan-fried Pork & Veal Dumplings with Chinese Truffles

During our Foodists launch at South China Seas it was unanimous that Don and Joyce’s recipe for jiaozi with Chinese black truffles and ginger was the best we had ever tried, and their cooking method was backwards from the way many of us have always done it: Now we fry first and steam second.

The other thing we learned was that most black truffles, unless outrageously expensive, are Chinese truffles, no matter how they’re labeled. That French paté is probably not flecked with real French black truffles.

Just love these jiaozi though. Recipe makes 36.

1-1/2 cups  Chinese cabbage, minced
1 tsp  salt
6 oz  ground pork
6 oz  ground veal
1/4 cup  Chinese black truffles, cut into a fine dice
2 Tbsp  ginger, finely minced
2 Tbsps  Black winter truffle oil
1-1/2 Tbsp  Japanese dark soy
1 Tbsp  Shaoshing rice wine
2 tsp  tapioca starch
2 – 3 Tbsp  chicken stock
36  dumpling wrappers
peanut oil (for frying)
cold water (for steaming)

Method
Mix 1 teaspoon of salt with the cabbage and set aside in a colander. Measure and assemble the other filling ingredients. Prepare the dipping sauce (recipe follows). When you are ready to make the dumplings, squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the cabbage and combine it well with the meat, truffles, ginger, truffle oil, soy, rice wine and starch and mix well. Moisten with chicken stock as necessary – the mixture should hold its shape, but not be too stiff.
Pan-fry a pinch of the filling and, when cooked, taste and adjust seasonings as required.
Place a rounded teaspoon of filling on the center of each wrapper. Use your finger to brush a drop of water (or beaten egg white) around the edge of each wrapper and fold it over the filling. Pinch the edges together, making small pleats to gather the dough around the filling and make a tight seal.
To pan-fry the dumplings, heat a few tablespoons of peanut oil in a skillet over high heat until hot, but not smoking. Place half of the dumplings in the skillet, just touching each other, in three neat rows of six, and fry for about three minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water, cover and cook until the water evaporates. Lower the heat and continue to cook until the bottoms are browned. Remove to paper towels and repeat with the other half. Serve on a heated platter with dipping sauce.
These dumplings may also be boiled. place half of them in a large pot of gently boiling water. When the water returns to a boil and the dumplings float to the top, add a cup of cold water. When the water again returns to a boil, add a second cup of cold water. Repeat with a third cup of cold water. When the water returns to a boil after the third cup, remove the dumplings to drain.

Truffled Dipping Sauce.
Combine one-quarter cup of Japanese dark soy, one-quarter cup of red rice vinegar, two tablespoons of Chinese truffles and one tablespoon of ginger cut into skinny matchsticks, one and a half tablespoons of black truffle oil and one teaspoon of chile oil.

Serve jiaozi with Truffled Dipping Sauce.

Recipe Copyright © 2008, Don Dickson / South China Seas Trading Co. Limited