Sweet and Sour Pork & Cabbage Dumplings

Fresh chewy dumplings with a slightly sweet pork filling.

Truth be told, I don’t celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day. No offense to those who love the holiday, it’s just not for me. In fact, the only reason why, I partake in ANY Saint Patrick’s Day activities is for the food. As you can imagine that doesn’t make my Irish husband very happy. However, after years of eating corned beef and cabbage I decided to spice things up a bit and celebrate with these green sweet and sour pork and cabbage dumplings. Okay it’s not Irish, but it’s green and isn’t that half of the celebration? These green sweet and sour dumplings / potstickers require a little elbow grease however the end product is worth it. This recipe yields 25-30 dumplings, which should feed 4-5 people however if you eat dumplings like me it might not go as far.

*This post is sponsored by Ty Ling, as always all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for your support!

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE DUMPLING WRAPPERS

I know what you are thinking. You want me to make homemade dumpling wrappers? Yes. While store bought dumpling skins are sufficient, and you can even find vegetable dyed dumpling wrappers online or at your specialty Asian market, nothing beats the chewy texture, and fresh taste of homemade wrappers. While the task may seem daunting it isn’t. If you can make pasta you can make dumpling wrappers. There are a few things to take into consideration though:

• Dumpling dough is made similarly to pasta. Add water to flour, mix and knead. This can be made in a stand mixer, but I found it easier to do by hand. Mixing and kneading by hand also prevents the likelihood of over kneading.
• The temperature of the water is super important here. Thin dumpling wrappers are created from adding boiling water to flour. These wrappers are ideal for potstickers, or steamed dumplings. Cold water is used for boiled dumplings. With this said the recipe below is for potstickers, so it calls for the water to be boiled beforehand.
• Thirdly, make the dough when you are ready to have dumplings. Dumpling dough is best fresh. If you don’t have time to roll, stuff, and cook the same day it can be stored in plastic wrap for 1 day in the fridge before rolling. DO NOT ROLL THEN STORE. Even with a generous amount of flour they will stick to each other.

LET’S TALK ROLLING

• The ideal size for these wrappers is 1 3/4 inch rounds. Below are the two easy ways to roll these dumplings:
  • By Hand – Divide the dough into 25 evenly sized pieces. On a floured surface roll out to 1 ¾ inch rounds, rotating the dough several times to achieve a rough wrapper.
  • Pasta Machine – My preferred method. Divide the dough into 4 sections. Run each section through the pasta machine starting on the widest setting and working your way down to a medium thickness. (setting 5 on an electric pasta roller). Once rolled out cut using a 1 ¾ biscuit or cookie cutter. Combine excess dough to roll again to get approx. 25 wrappers.
• Keep in mind in both scenarios once rolled the dumpling wrappers tend to dry out fast. Cover with parchment and plastic wrap as you work through the dough.

LETS TALK FILLING

What is better than corned beef and cabbage on Saint Patrick’s day? Um hello pork and cabbage dumplings! This pork and cabbage dumpling filling is made with basic ingredients you would find in a typical dumpling (pork, cabbage, ginger, garlic, ect…). What makes these so great is the addition of Ty Ling sweet and sour sauce IN the filling adding another dimension of flavor.

I love using Ty Ling products in my Asian recipes. For starters the Ty Ling provides great quality products. Secondary the convenience, Ty Ling products can be found at a variety of supermarkets which means no need to travel to the specialty Asian market to get Asian staples. The Ty Ling product line is also expansive with a complete line of sauces, oils, noodles, and vegetables. Find out where you can find Ty Ling products by you OR get inspired by their extensive list of recipes check them out on their SITE HERE!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED FOR SWEET + SOUR DUMPLINGS

GREEN SPINACH DUMPLING DOUGH

• Flour– All purpose.
• Water – As I mention below the temperature of the water is important. The instructions below call to boil the water BEFORE adding it to the spinach. This not only cooks the spinach but, also attributes to a thinner dumpling skin which is what you want for pan fried/steamed dumplings.
• Spinach – Fresh!
• Salt – I used a fine kosher salt. Any fine salt will work.

SWEET + SOUR PORK FILLING

• Ground Pork – Plain old ground pork. Please don’t accidentally buy sausage.
• Napa Cabbage
• Ginger – Fresh only.
• Garlic– Fresh only. Do not use pre cut refrigerated garlic.
• Ty Ling Sweet & Sour Sauce – aka the secret ingredient.
• Ty Ling Sesame Oil
• Soy Sauce
• Salt

Did I mention Ty Ling Sweet & Sour Sauce is a great dipping sauce for these?

HOW TO MAKE SWEET AND SOUR PORK DUMPLINGS

So, you have made it this far. By now you know how to make the dumpling dough and how to fill them. Below are what to do once they are pressed and folded.

Option 1 Boiling – This method is straight forward. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil a few at a time, careful to not overcrowd the pot. Cook for a few minutes until the float, strain out and continue to cook the rest until all are cooked.

Option 2 Pan Fry – Add 1 tbsp of oil to a frying pan over medium-low heat. Once oil has heated up add several dumplings to the frying pan making sure you do not overcrowd the pan. Fry for approx. 3 minutes until bottoms are brown. Add ¼ cup of water to frying pan and cover with lid. The water will steam the dumplings. Remove lid after 3-4 minutes and let the rest of the water evaporate. Dumplings are done once water evaporates but always check to make sure the pork is cooked through before removing.