Dinner · 75 min · chinese

Pan-Fried Pork Dumplings

A Chinese dinner built around ground pork and napa cabbage — on the table in 75 minutes. The macros do the talking: 36g protein, 47g carbs, and 14g fat in every 463-calorie serving. It scales cleanly if you are cooking for more than one.

✓ USDA-verified nutrition data

Ingredients

• 1 lb Ground pork
• 0.5 head Napa cabbage
• 32 Dumpling wrappers
• 4 Scallions
• 1 tbsp Fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp Light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp Toasted sesame oil

Steps

1. Salt the finely chopped napa cabbage and let it sit 15 minutes, then squeeze it absolutely dry in a towel. Wet cabbage is the number one cause of dumplings that burst — water turns to steam and blows the seams.
2. Mix the pork with the cabbage, minced scallions, grated ginger, soy, wine, sesame oil, and white pepper. Stir in one direction only until the mixture turns tacky and holds together — this develops the myosin, which is what makes the filling juicy instead of crumbly.
3. Hold a wrapper in your palm, spoon in a scant tablespoon of filling, and wet the edge with water. Pleat one side 5 to 6 times, pressing each pleat to the flat side to seal. Your first ten will be ugly; your last ten will be beautiful. Both taste the same.
4. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Arrange the dumplings flat-side down with a little space between them and fry 2 minutes until the bottoms are golden.
5. Pour in 1/2 cup of water and clamp the lid on immediately — stand back from the steam. Cook 6 to 7 minutes until the water evaporates, then uncover and fry 1 more minute to re-crisp the bottoms.
6. Slide onto a plate and serve with black vinegar and a few drops of chili oil. Listen for the sizzle when they hit the plate; that crisp bottom is the whole reward.

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