Ive been getting way into dumplings lately. Eating them around town, and talking to some buddies who are into dim sum and whatnot. After eating enough I decided to try and make my own. My mother is Japanese, and shes always made gyoza but honestly it was never very good, always just crumbly hamburger-esque meat crammed in wrappers. Ive come to realize that dumpling filling follows similar criteria to sausage making. You have to make sure to build myosin in your meat before just cramming seasoned ground meat into skins.
My first run was 2# pork shoulder and 1# pork belly. Cut into cubes and salted to let rest overnight. (10g salt to 500g meat). Then ground in my KitchenAid, followed by 1# or shrimp, soaked in baking soda of course. Doing this gave my filling a perfect bounce separated by plump shrimp bits. This round I made into siumai
My results were awesome but honestly I dont care much to grind meat in my small home kitchen. My next test was to see if I cant achieve the same texture with preground meat. So I salted the ground pork, gave it a good mix, let is sit overnight. Then paddled the meat real good in the KitchenAid to get those muscle fibers to bind. It worked like a charm. This round was lemongrass pork with birds eye chili and lots of fish sauce.
I currently have my next round of filling being salted, 2# ground lamb 1# ground beef, cumin and garlic. Ill be making my own dough this time so pictures of that project to follow. Lets see some of your dumplings!
My first run was 2# pork shoulder and 1# pork belly. Cut into cubes and salted to let rest overnight. (10g salt to 500g meat). Then ground in my KitchenAid, followed by 1# or shrimp, soaked in baking soda of course. Doing this gave my filling a perfect bounce separated by plump shrimp bits. This round I made into siumai
My results were awesome but honestly I dont care much to grind meat in my small home kitchen. My next test was to see if I cant achieve the same texture with preground meat. So I salted the ground pork, gave it a good mix, let is sit overnight. Then paddled the meat real good in the KitchenAid to get those muscle fibers to bind. It worked like a charm. This round was lemongrass pork with birds eye chili and lots of fish sauce.
I currently have my next round of filling being salted, 2# ground lamb 1# ground beef, cumin and garlic. Ill be making my own dough this time so pictures of that project to follow. Lets see some of your dumplings!
