ok by request from @prokrastina:
cyan's chive dumpling recipe(?)
please note that I have almost no exact measurements for anything because I was taught to make dumplings by my grandfather who doesn't believe in measuring things :')
also, he taught me a napa cabbage recipe, which I have adapted for chives. he has his own chives dumpling recipe which he has not taught me, but which I believe is probably similar
ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
1 egg
a bundle of chinese chives at least uhhh an inch and a half in diameter? and a little over a foot in length. minced fine
about 3 inches of ginger root about an inch in diameter, peeled and minced fine
a heaping tablespoon of salt
a slightly less heaping tablespoon of sugar
a generous pour of cooking wine (like, let it glug out for about 3 seconds?)
a slightly less generous pour of light soy sauce (only like 2 seconds of glugging)
sesame oil (same amount as soy sauce, or slightly less)
the number of dumpling skins you need to use up the filling. i used about 1 store-bought pack of the shanghai round ones, which I think contain 40-some? but i did overstuff them, so next time I would probably get two packs and make smaller dumplings. you can also make your own skins, which is very excellent, but also much more laborious.
procedure:
mix all the filling stuff together, order doesn't matter, just make sure it's all well-combined, fairly homogeneous etc.
wrap dumplings in the style you prefer, idk look up a tutorial there's a million ways
cook them however you like, eat with whatever sauce you like, i prefer the gold plum chinkiang vinegar
a couple methods:
boil: put them in when the water is rolling and wait until they float, stir to make sure they don't stick to the pot
steam: i don't do this like ever but like. idk use your best judgment?? steam them like you'd steam anything? just make sure they're fully cooked
pan fry: put down a layer of your oil of choice, high heat, put in the dumplings and wait until it sizzles. add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan in about uhhh idk, half an inch? cover and turn down to low/low-medium heat. wait til the water is almost gone and then take off the lid and then just check until they're fried to the point where you like it.
a note on freezing:
whatever dumplings you don't eat immediately you can freeze, but make sure you freeze them all laid out on a plate or something so they don't get squashed into a giant dumpling boulder (very sad, tragic occurrence, yes i speak from personal experience). my family reuses styrofoam trays that come with groceries, but if you don't have those, you can just use plates. HOWEVER, if you're using plates, make sure you flour them!!! otherwise they will stick and that is also very sad :C
once they are completely frozen, they can be bagged up to save space but make sure they really are frozen!! or again: dumpling boulder.
cooking processes for frozen dumplings are the same as for fresh ones, it might just take more time.
recipe theoretically scales up or down linearly. you might remember my endless dumpling hell from february which was probably the result of like, idk, 5lbs of meat with the napa cabbage recipe. i think i had about 12lbs of filling to get through. ._. my grandfather does not understand moderation.
