Whenever I think about preparing a quick snack or think about instant ulam, dumplings are usually one of my top choices because: (1) they're easy to prepare - boiled, pan fried, and;
(2) they're versatile - can be eaten with rice, noodles, soup, or even just eaten alone.
My favorite dumplings will always be the vegetable dumplings that Mom used to buy from a small restaurant called Mien San along Gilmore Ave. It's been a while since I had them so I cannot really recall what's inside and it wasn't until recently that I found out that Kuchay (Chinese Chives or Korean Chives) is one of the main ingredients.
With that, I decided to experiment. This came out good - not the same as Mien San's, but tasty nevertheless - and the best part is that since it's home made (except for the wrappers), it's not riddled with preservatives.
1 lb ground pork
4 pcs dried mushrooms, rehydrated and chopped
12 pcs chives (full stalks), chopped - could add more
1 egg
1 tbsp sesame oil
pepper to taste
2 tsp salt
dimsum wrapper (used Cantonese style)
To seal the dumplings - mixture of 1 tsp cornstarch, 2 tbsp water
Mix the ingredients together and form into dumplings. Dumplings could be steamed or pan fried. You could also store leftover dumplings in the freezer. Arrange them in a plate or container such that they do not touch each other, put the in the freezer - do not put them in a freezer bag or let them touch each other until they are frozen so that they do not stick together.
*This recipe made 46 dumplings.
