Pork + Cabbage Dumplings

Last night we had a WRAPTASTIC party with my Pork + Cabbage Dumplings taking center stage. A mini-high school reunion of sorts, we had a great time WRAPPING dumplings & RAPPING with each other.

We wrapped over 200 dumplings last night! And the cost to make them was less than dinner for 2 at San Tung (one of my fave dumpling spots in SF)!

pork + cabbage dumplings

8 leaves Napa cabbage, washed
1 lb ground pork

8 fresh shiitake mushrooms finely chopped
2 tbs grated ginger
2 green onions finely sliced
2 tbs fish sauce

2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs toasted sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp pepper

2 tbs corn starch

1 packages of wrappers*
sea salt for curing Napa cabbage

Finely chop Napa cabbage and place in a bowl. Sprinkle 1-2 tbs of sea salt over cabbage and massage the mixture. Set aside for 30 minutes until the moisture from the cabbage is released.

Drain the cabbage juice and proceed to rinse the cabbage under cold water briefly. Do NOT over rinse as the salt imparts flavor on the vegetable.

Mix soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, sugar and pepper in a small bowl.

Combine pork, mushrooms, ginger, green onions, cabbage in a large bowl and mix well. Pour soy mixture over meat and mix. Sprinkle cornstarch over all. Continue to mix the filling until well combined.

Place 1 tbs of filling in the center of the wrapper. Using a cup of cold water, dip your finger in the water and wet the wrapper's edge. Fold the wrapper and pleat the edge as you seal the dumpling. Continue with remaining wrappers.

*A word about wrappers...

I did a comparison of wrappers some time ago and landed on Kim Hong 'Big White Skin'. I was a big fan of the New Hong Kong Brand (mom would use them all the time) and then I discovered Kim Hong 'Big White Skin'. These wrappers are super versatile, they can be boiled, pan-fried or deep fried. They freeze well and are inexpensive ($1.75/50 wrappers). They're available at May Wah Grocery on Clement Street.