So last family dinner my aunt took one bite of my pork and chive dumplings and said they were like chewing on a wet sock. It stung but she wasn't wrong. The wrappers were thick and doughy in the middle and the filling was just mush. I started watching videos from a guy in Flushing who said the secret is to squeeze out all the moisture from your grated ginger and chopped chives before mixing them into the meat. I tried it last weekend and added a shot of cold water to the pork as I stirred it one direction for like 5 minutes until it got sticky. The texture difference was night and day. Has anyone else been killing their dumplings by skipping the squeeze step?
She told me to lay them out on a baking sheet for an hour in the freezer before boiling. I always just dropped them in fresh. Tried it last week and they held together way better, no burst skins. Usually I lose at least 2 or 3 per batch but this time zero. Maybe it's just me but I feel like the texture was firmer too. Anybody else do this or is it just an old timer thing?
I was over at my buddy's place last weekend in Austin, we were making pork and chive dumplings from scratch. He pulled out this nutrition app on his phone to log dinner, and I casually asked how many calories are in one wrapper. Dude says "about 50" and I laughed at him. I thought he was messing with me. Turns out those little round wrappers from the store are way denser than I realized. I did my own check on the package when I got home, and yeah, 50 calories per wrapper for the standard size. That means a plate of 12 dumplings is like 600 calories just from the dough alone, not counting the filling or dipping sauce. Has anyone else been surprised by the actual numbers on stuff they eat all the time?