Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Chinese Steamed Goat Dumplings (Jiaozi)


Homemade wrappers in back, store-bought in front.
Chinese dumplings are one of my favorite foods. They are simply amazing. The combination of texture, sweetness, saltiness, and juiciness make my mouth water. While I am usually somewhat picky when it comes to a food's quality, I am not at all around chinese dumplings, even when they come from a mediocre chinese restaurant. I love 'em all. It only makes sense, then, that homemade dumplings go above and beyond making me happy.
In these dumplings I used ground goat meat (with a little ground pork to add some fat) from a friend's goat that I helped butcher last week.
Ground goat meat with rib cage.
I also got to use my new bamboo steamer that I bought earlier today (for the main purpose of steaming dumplings). After soaking it in water for several hours it was ready to use and worked great. Rather than settling on just one type of dumpling wrapper, I decided to use a combination of store bought dumplings wrappers (Twin Marquis brand from my local asian market) and homemade wrappers. The homemade wrappers (flour and water) are thicker and have a better texture than the thin store bought wrappers, however both worked well and tasted good. I made a simple dipping sauce from soy sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, sugar, scallions, and hot chili oil.


Bamboo steamer 



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