Pork Chive Dumplings

Step 1

To a small saucepan over medium heat, add the oil, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and garlic cloves. Heat the oil and allow the spices to infuse it for about 5 minutes, until the garlic cloves are lightly browned. Remove from the heat and let it cool.

Step 2

Add the water, ginger, and scallions to a food processor. Puree until smooth.

Step 3

Add the ground pork to a mixing bowl. Add the ginger scallion puree to the pork in three batches, whipping in one direction until the pork completely absorbs the liquid puree each time before adding the next batch.

Step 4

Next, add the oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, white pepper, five spice powder, and salt. Mix well, whipping the filling in one direction until the mixture resembles a paste.

Step 5

In a separate bowl, mix together the finely chopped garlic chives (you must finely chop them, or the filling may not bind together as well) and the infused oil (pour it in through a strainer). Combine the chives with the meat mixture, and whip until well-combined. Now you are ready to wrap the dumplings!

Step 6

Set up a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, a small bowl of water, and keep your dumpling wrappers under a damp paper towel to prevent them from drying out. To assemble a dumpling, dip your finger into the water, and wet the outer edges of the round wrapper. Add about 1 tablespoon of filling to the center of the wrapper, and pleat closed, making sure that the dumpling is tightly sealed. (Learn how to pleat dumplings here.) Place on the parchment-lined sheet pan so the dumplings are spaced slightly apart, and repeat until you’ve run out of filling/wrappers.