To celebrate and bestow prosperity for the Chinese New Year these dumplings are cooked because they symbolise golden ingots used during the Ming Dynasty. Similar to the Christmas pudding where a lucky coin is hidden inside, so too does this tradition continue with these dumplings!
It is entirely up to you what type of filling you want to use but here is our version that we cook at home and serve at Sweet Mandarin. These were also served during the cook off stages as part of the F Word Best Local Chinese restaurant competition with Gordon Ramsay in 2009. We beat 10,000 other Chinese restaurants to be crowned the winner of the Britain’s Best Local Chinese Restaurant in the UK. It was a major achievement and wonderful to be acknowledged for what we love to do.
In case you think you can’t make dough or make dumplings trust me – I’ve taught hundreds of students around the UK using this recipe and they have all passed the dumpling test – and exclaimed ‘wow I made my own dumplings!’
BUY OUR BRAND NEW DIM SUM COOKBOOK
Serves 2/Makes approx. 10
Prep time 20 minutes
Cook time 15 minutes
For the pastry
200g strong dough flour, plus extra for dusting
100ml boiling water
For the filling
200g pork mince
10 stalks of chives or 1 Chinese leaf, finely shredded
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon potato starch
drop of sesame oil
2 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon Shaoxing wine
For the dip
Malt vinegar or red vinegar
1cm piece of ginger finely sliced
To make the dumpling wrapper, in a deep bowl measure out the flour. Slowly add the boiling water bit by bit and mix using a wooden spoon. As the dough becomes remove it from the bowl and lightly dust the work surface with flour. Knead the dough using the palm of your hand to push the dough forward and folding the left and the right sides of the dough to the centre. Repeat this kneading technique for about 10 minutes and then leave the dough to rest in a bowl covered with a wet cloth.
To make the pork filling, add the minced pork and chopped chive or Chinese leaf to a bowl. Use a spoon to mash the ingredients together until they are blended.
Add the salt, sugar, potato starch, sesame oil and water and continue to lightly mash the ingredients together. The mixture is ready when it is all combined and sticks to the spoon – like making hamburger patties.
To make the Beijing dumplings, tear one 10cm piece of the dough and roll into a long 20cm roll. Chop the dough into small even sized stumps approximately 5 cm. Push down the dough stump with the palm of your hand and use a floured rolling pin to roll it out into an even circle. You can use a glass cup (with a diameter of approximately 5 cm) to trim the pastry into a nice round circle.
Take one round pastry circle and scoop 1 tablespoon of filling onto the wrapper. Dab your index finger into some cold water and wet one side of the wrapper so it becomes a semicircle. Start to close the dumpling by pinching the righthand side and close into a half-moon shape. (There are more complicated ways of closing the dumpling if you are feeling adventurous including pleating (where you plait the edge of the dumpling to create a beautiful pattern.) Repeat with the remaining dough.
Place the dumplings In a wok filled with boiling hot water and cook for 10 minutes. Serve with a vinegar dip (which is simply a vinegar of your choice with the finely sliced pieces of raw ginger in it).
To book a table at Sweet Mandarin email sweetmandarintables@gmail.com . Our opening times are Tuesday – Sunday 5-10pm.
Sweet Mandarin is a Chinese Restaurant in Manchester which serves delicious Chinese cuisine and exotic cocktails. We make our own sweet chilli sauce, bbq sauce, sweet & sour sauce which you can buy from Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Ocado, Booths, Wing Yip and Chi Yip. Sweet Mandarin Chinese Restaurant and Cookery Schoolcan cater for the gluten free, dairy free diners. We are a short 15 minute walk from the Manchester Arena. We are not based in Chinatown, but based in the trendy Northern Quarter near the Arndale Centre, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Debenhams and Primark. The nearest hotels to us are the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn Express, Premier Apartments, Blue Rainbow Aparthotels, Light Hotel and Hatters Hostel.