Lazy Pork Dumplings – Now with 100% Less Pleating

What started as an attempt to streamline the fabrication of pork dumplings, ended as a pretty decent shortcut version for making Xiao Long Bao. If you’ve ever had soup dumplings, you know there’s nothing quite like them. The way the rich, meaty juices gush out when you bite in, is one of the world’s great eating experiences, and while these don’t provide quite the same sensation, if served in a broth, they’re close enough for me.

Even if you don’t serve them in a soup, this much quicker, and casual production method will work just as well, whether they get steamed, boiled, or fried. And don’t feel like you have to stay with the Asian theme here. I’m really hoping someone does an Italian twist, using some type of meat-based ravioli filling.

If you’re going to freeze these for future use, be sure to do that while they’re sitting on a lightly floured tray. Then, once frozen, you can transfer them into zip-top bags. If you try to bag them, and then freeze, you may go back to having one giant dumpling.  Anyway, whether you’re planning on eating these now, or later, or both, I really do hope you give them a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 32 Lazy Pork Dumplings (4 servings):

For the filling:

1 pound ground pork

4 cloves minced garlic

1 tablespoon very finely minced or grated ginger

1/3 cup sliced green onions

1/4 cup sliced chives

2 teaspoons kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon fine salt)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon Korean chili flakes

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

For the broth (1 cup broth per serving):

4 cups chicken broth

1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar, or to taste

3 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste

1 teaspoon Korean chili flakes

For the dough (enough to wrap 2 batches of dumplings):

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

3/4 cup warm water

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

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Sweet Potato Pan-Dumplings with Bacon Butter – Good Save

What started out as a tragic, waterlogged disaster of a sweet potato dumpling attempt, turned into a triumph we’re calling  “pan-dumplings.” As usual, I did little to no research, so someone may have already invented pan-dumplings, but until I hear from you, I’ll be taking the credit.

I really liked being able to spoon the dough/batter directly into the pan, and cutting out the boiling step made these faster, and we have one less pot to wash. The bacon butter was very nice, but I can think of a dozen sauces that would work with these. If you’re doing it as a main course, anything goes, but as a side dish, I’d keep it simple, as we did here.

Since this was sort of an experiment, I wasn’t paying too close to the exact amounts, but the list below must be pretty close. You can play around with more or less flour, and/or cheese, and cook test dumplings until you lock it in. I wanted something with the taste of roasted sweet potatoes, but with more of a gnocchi-like texture, and I think this was pretty close, which is why I hope you give these pan-dumplings a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 large or 4 smaller portions:

12 ounces cooked sweet potato

1 large egg

1/4 cup goat cheese or cream cheese, plus more to garnish

1/2 cup *self -rising flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

freshly ground black pepper and cayenne to taste

sliced green onions to top

* To make your own SRF, for every cup of all-purpose flour combine 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon fine table salt.