1. Cut a napa cabbage crosswise into halves, rinse the leafy part under cold running water, shake off the excess moisture. Wrap the white steam part with plastic wrap, keep it in the fridge for future use. Mince the leafy part by cutting the napa leaves into thin slices lengthwise, and cutting crosswise to mince them. Set aside.
2. Wipe shiitake mushrooms with a damp paper towel, chop them into tiny pieces. Mince ginger and finely chop green onions with a knife or a food processor.
3. Preheat a wok or frying pan over medium high heat for 1 minute, add in 3 tbsps of cooking oil, dump in the ground pork, stir fry. Optionally scoop out the excess grease (you can skip this step if you like the flavor of the grease).
4. Once the pork is cooked through and it stops to release more grease, add in another 3 tbsp of cooking oil and 1 tbsp of sesame oil, stir to mix well. Add chopped shiitake mushrooms and minced ginger to the pork, stir fry until the mushrooms turn soft and the pork turns slightly brown. Add chopped napa cabbages and green onions, stir fry until well mixed.
5. Add in seasonings (salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce, chicken powder, cooking wine, sugar, Sichuan peppercorn powder, white pepper powder) and 1 large egg, stir fry until well mixed. Taste and add more seasonings if it’s needed.
6. Dissolve 1 tbsp of cornstarch with 2 tbsps of cold water, pour the cornstarch water to the dumpling filling, stir fry until there is no liquid in bottom of the wok.
7. Transfer to a large bowl, let cool to room temperature. Wrap with dumpling wrappers. Check out my cute colorful dumpling recipe here!
Why you should pre cook your pork dumpling filling?
When the meat reaches at 285 °F (140°C) or higher, Maillard reaction occurs as the meat is getting browning.
We all know that water boils at 212 °F (100°C), which is much lower than Maillard reaction’s happening temperature. Therefore, if we wrap our dumplings with raw meat, the Maillard reaction won’t occur to the filling, no matter you boil or steam the dumplings.
While according to devour.asia, stir frying temperature is at least 450°F. Probably why stir fried or roasted meat always has more flavors than boiled or steamed one.
Dumpling filling is very easy to make – you basically just need to finely chop and mix everything together in a large bowl.
The only tricky part of making dumpling filling is how to season it. If you make raw dumpling fillings, you won’t be able to tell how it tastes until you finally get to taste the final product – the dumplings.
Obviously, by following my pork dumpling filing recipe, you can taste and adjust the seasoning as soon as the pork is fully cooked.
Different from beef, raw pork or undercooked pork are unsafe to eat, because the parasites, like roundworms or tapeworms, in raw pork can make you sick.
When you boil dumplings that are made with raw pork fillings, it is very likely that the dumpling wrappers are already broken while the fillings are still pink.
Especially when you store your dumplings in the freezer, you will need to boil them for about 10 minutes to make sure that the pork filling is fully cooked.
Nevertheless, we will only need to boil our precooked-filling dumplings for about 3 minutes, no matter they are frozen or freshly made.
This recipe ensures that the pork is fully cooked and the dumplings won’t get mushy or fall apart due to the long cooking time.
Can you pre cook dumpling filling?
My answer is absolutely yes!
I have tried so many raw dumpling filling recipes, none of them taste as good as my mom’s precooked pork dumpling filling.
Although there’s nearly no recipes on Internet teaching you how to pre cook your dumpling filling, and many posts are here telling you not to do it, I still insist that precooked pork filling tastes much butter than raw fillings!
6 Secrets to Juicy Pork Dumplings (Perfect Gyoza!)
FAQ
Do you put raw or cooked meat in dumplings?
Can pork in dumplings be pink?
Is my pork dumpling cooked?
Can you eat undercooked pork dumplings?
Can you use ground pork in dumplings?
Ground pork is my favorite dumpling filling but of course, you can use other ground meats as well. Choose one with a mild flavor so you don’t overpower the other flavors in the filling. I’ve made this recipe with ground chicken successfully as well. Cabbage adds bulk and texture to the mixture.
Can one eat pork?
A cooked, medium pork cutlet or steak provides 239 calories, 34 grams protein, 10 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 697 milligrams sodium, and 0 grams carbohydrate, if you eat only the lean part of the steak. Pork contains many of the micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) found in beef and it is high in protein, but can be lower in fat than beef—depending on cut and preparation. Meat from any kind of mammal, including pork, can cause an allergic reaction (and some people who are allergic to mammalian meat also react to poultry).
What is a pork dumpling?
Pork Dumplings use a pork mixture wrapped in a dumpling, pan fried until golden brown on the outside & soft on the inside. Serve with soy sauce for dipping!
Are pork dumplings good?
While dumplings are delicious, they are also super fun and creative. That’s why making our tasty pork dumpling recipe is a great way to gather with the ones you love, get your hands messy, and make fun memories. My dad and I have always enjoyed working to improve both our dumpling recipe and our folding abilities.