Discover how to cook the most delicious boiled and fried pork dumplings using an exceptional ingredient that makes all the difference..
Table of Contents
Secret to the best boiled and fried pork dumplings
Spanish pork is the secret ingredient for making the most amazing boiled and fried pork dumplings ever. And specifically Free-range Iberico pork from the southwest of Spain. Of course, if you can not get your hands on that pork, the recipe will still work. But, if you want to have the most fabulous boiled and fried pork dumplings, try to get your hands on the best quality pork you can. Trust me; it makes a life of difference. And honestly, I can say, as far as taste is concerned, my dumpling recipe is one of the best I have ever eaten.
Colour of your dumplings: a little tip
Today’s recipe will try and make green color dumplings. You might have seen dumplings of different colors served in traditional Chinese restaurants. Most of the time, these colors come from the addition of additives. But in our recipe, we will use a very healthy ingredient: spinach. The trick is to create a dough from the spinach that you can mix with regular flour dough (or use plain if you want a full green color).
Our green color will give the dumplings a jade appearance, which is a good omen if you are familiar with Chinese culture. Also, the white bottom and the green top dumplings look like Chinese cabbage with green leaves and a white stalk. For other colors, you can use different kinds of vegetables; for example, beetroots or carrots, etc.
Green color dough 
Plain dough
Preparation time for boiled & fried pork dumplings
The total preparation and cooking time is about 3 hours. I have made 110 dumplings which is the reason for the time. Of course, if you only make 50 dumplings, the time will be about an hour shorter. Dumplings are the main dish for Northern Chinese, so I make a lot of them. Of course, if you like dumplings as a side dish, you can make much less. But since we are going to use great ingredients, why not make them as your main meal. Ideally, you would involve members of your family to help you make this dish. That way, you will also enter the cultural mindset of Chinese people around making food. By the way, you can quickly watch the difference in cooking style between boiled and fried pork dumplings here.
Cooking tools
You will need:
👉 One big wok for boiling and,
👉 One big frying pan for pan fry.
If you only want to make fried pork dumplings, then only use the frying pan.
Ingredients dumpling fillings
If you coup 110 dumplings/5people as main dish
❣️ 400g of ground pork. I used the free-range Iberico pork from southwest Spain, as mentioned earlier because it’s succulent and tender. After you try this pork, I guarantee that you will never want to go back to regular pork.
❣️ 300g of king prawn without shell or tails
❣️ 50g of dry black ear fungus (soak in cold water 2hours before using)
❣️ 600g of Chinese cabbage or 500g of normal cabbage
❣️ A whole bunch of spring onions
❣️ 1 egg
❣️ 5 or 6 slices of ginger
❣️ 1 teaspoon of Chinese five-spice powder
❣️ 3 teaspoons of salt
❣️ 3 tablespoons of light color soy sauce
❣️ 5 or 6 tablespoons of roasted sesame oil
Ingredients for doughs
❣️ 800g of plain flour
❣️ 1 teaspoon of salt
❣️ 100g of fresh spinach leaves
❣️ 320ml of water
Preparation and cooking steps
Dry black ears fungus
The dry black ears fungus need to be soaked into cold water for 3 hours in advance. Then boil them for 2 minutes and drain them.
Make the doughs
Make the dough first because it needs to be set for at least 30 minutes. Note: I always make a bit more dough, as I can use the leftover dough for cooking something else. However, make sure you use all the fillings since it will be hard to handle the leftovers.
Plain dough
In a bowl, put 500g of plain flour, then add half a teaspoon of salt. Then add 250 ml of cold water little by little. Knead the dough until it is smooth, then cover with a cloth and set for 30 minutes.
Green spinach dough
Make the spinach puree first:
👉 Blanch the spinach leaves in boiling water for 5 seconds and put them into a blender.
👉 Add about 70ml of water and blend into a 150ml spinach smoothie.
👉 Add half a teaspoon of salt into the smoothie
Flour + Puree = Spinach dough
👉 In 300g of plain flour, add the spinach smoothie little by little to make a dough and knead it until it becomes smooth.
👉 Set aside for 30 minutes
Making the filling for boiled and fried pork dumplings
While waiting for the dough to be ready, make the fillings.
– First, chop the cabbage, add two teaspoons of salt and blend well.
– Set for 30 minutes to let the vegetable release the water.
– At the same time, chop the pork (skip this step if you use the ground pork), prawn, black ear fungus.
– Make ginger puree
– Add the five-spice powder, soy sauce, one teaspoon of salt, egg and sesame oil in the bowl of | – meat, prawn, and fungus |.
– Add the ginger puree slowly, mixing in one direction for 2 to 3 minutes until everything is well blended together.
IMPORTANT Note: only mix the spring onion and cabbage in the mixture right before folding the dumplings:
– Chop the spring onions
– Hand squeeze the water out of the cabbage
Making the dumplings
To be efficient, make the dumplings in 5 batches if you make a lot. Therefore, each time only use about one-fifth of plain dough and one-fifth of green dough,
👉 Roll both plain and green dough into 2cm diameter tail shapes,
👉 Flatten the green tail and place the plain tail inside the flattened green dough. Envelop the plain dough with the skin of the green dough to make a new tail.
👉 Cut the newly formed tail into 2cm long pieces. Hence with each batch you can make about 20 dumplings
You can also make a few pure green color (or plain color) dumplings if you like
👉 Roll each small piece of dough into a circle of 7cm diameter. See how to do here.
👉 Put about one and a half teaspoons of filling in the center of the circle, fold it into a dumpling. See the Simplest Way to Wrap Your Dumplings here.
Fried pork dumplings: How to
👉 Add two tablespoons of oil into the pan,
👉 Turn on the heat at medium level,
👉 Fill the dumplings in the pan,
👉 Cover the lid for 4 minutes,
👉 Add one small cup of water,
👉 Cover the lid until all the water has evaporated,
👉 Wait until you hear a sizzling sound for another 3 minutes. By this time, the bottom of the dumplings will turn to golden brown and taste crunchy and crispy.
Boiled pork dumplings: How to
👉 Boil a big wok of water at high heat,
👉 Add the dumplings in,
👉 Gently stir to avoid sticking on the bottom.
👉 Cover the lid until reboil,
👉 Stir a bit and add one small cup of cold water,
👉 Cover the lid until reboil,
👉 Repeat this step three times which means adding three cups of cold water.
👉 Open the lid, let it boil for another minute,
👉 Turn off the heat and take out the dumplings to serve.
Tips
❣️ You may dip the dumplings into vinegar and chill oil sauce or eat plain dumplings. Better if you take the first few bytes without any sauce to feel the ingredients and texture.
Fresh dumplings fried pork dumplings 
boiled pork dumplings
Full Cooking Video
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