Shanghai Soup Dumplings with Pork Aspic

What you need

• 250 g (9 oz) pork skin
• 1 l (4 cups) chicken stock
• 2 slices fresh ginger, for the aspic
• 3 scallions, 1 for the aspic, 2 finely chopped for the filling
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine, divided
• 250 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour, or bread flour
• 3/4 tsp salt, divided
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) warm water
• 300 g (10 oz) fatty minced pork
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated, for the filling
• 4 tbsp Chinese black vinegar, for serving
• 2.5 cm (1 in) fresh ginger, cut into fine shreds, for serving

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Put the pork skin in a pot of cold water, bring to a boil and blanch for 5 min. Drain and rinse.

2. 2

   Scrape any fat off the underside with a knife and cut the skin into thin strips.

3. 3

   Simmer the strips in the chicken stock with the ginger slices, 1 scallion and 1 tbsp of the Shaoxing wine, partly covered, until the skin is very soft and the liquid has reduced to about 500 ml, about 2 h.

4. 4

   Strain into a shallow dish, discard the solids and chill until firmly set, at least 4 h.

5. 5

   Mix the flour with a pinch of the salt, then add the warm water a little at a time, stirring with chopsticks into shaggy crumbs.

6. 6

   Knead into a smooth, fairly firm dough, 8-10 min. Cover and leave to rest for 30 min.

7. 7

   Put the pork in a bowl with the remaining Shaoxing wine, both soy sauces, the sugar, the remaining salt, the white pepper, sesame oil, grated ginger and the chopped scallions.

8. 8

   Stir hard in one direction until the mixture turns sticky and springy, 2-3 min.

9. 9

   Cut 250 g of the set aspic into small dice and fold it into the filling. Chill the filling for 15 min to firm it up.

10. 10

    Roll the dough into a long rope and cut it into 40 pieces of about 9 g. Keep them covered.

11. 11

    Roll each piece into a round about 8 cm (3 in) across, with the edges thinner than the centre.

12. 12

    Put a heaped teaspoon of filling in the middle. Pleat the edge all the way round with 14-18 small folds and twist the top shut.

13. 13

    Line a bamboo steamer with perforated baking paper and set the dumplings in it about 2 cm apart.

14. 14

    Steam over rapidly boiling water until the wrappers look translucent and the filling is cooked through, 8-10 min.

15. 15

    Serve straight from the steamer with the black vinegar and shredded ginger for dipping. Bite a small hole and sip the soup first, as it is very hot.

Imported from cookcoda.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.