Dumpling School #3 | Sichuan Zhong Dumplings | 钟水饺 | Easy Chinese Food

So far at Dumpling School we've done the classic jiaozi or sui jiao. We've also done our fragrant red chilli oil and today I'm going to show you what I think is not just one of the best dumplings in all of China but also one of the easiest to make and that's a fantastic combination. These are Sichuan's zhong dumplings. Zhong dumplings were named for the people who first made it in a little shop on Lai Chi Lane in Chengdu more than a hundred years ago and they are now one of Sichuan's most famous foods of all time. They're great for beginner dumpling makers as well because they're simple. You know, the ingredients that go into the filling are very simple. There's no vegetables, no fancy cutting techniques, there's no fancy folding either. They're just a half moon crescent dumpling and I'm going to use pre-made dumpling skins as well so you don't need to make your own wrappers for these either. There's kind of three elements to it. There's the dumpling obviously, there's the red oil so if you want the recipe for that go check that out at the link above and then as well there's a sweet aromatic soy sauce. So the ingredients that kind of go together for the zhong dumpling, the dumplings, the soy sauce and the oil all come together for a fantastic Chengdu street snack. We'll start with the aromatic soy sauce. Really really simple. About three quarters of a cup of water, dark soy sauce, some light soy sauce, some rock sugar and the rock sugar should be about the same proportion as the soy sauce by volume. Got about three tablespoons of dark soy sauce, two tablespoons of light soy sauce and so this should be about five tablespoons of rock sugar. If you don't have yellow rock sugar like this easily you could just use some regular old white sugar. Some aromatics as well, a bit of cassia bark, a star anise, a couple of bay leaves and then because it's Sichuan, some Sichuan peppercorns of course. Just put this onto the stove for about 15 minutes or so until the sugar's dissolved. It's a little bit reduced and that'll be our fantastic aromatic soy sauce. With the aromatic soy sauce done it's time to make the dumpling filling and this is a really really simple one. Just need a bit of ginger, a few slices of that, quite thick. Then I just want to bruise them and they just go into a bit of cold water to infuse as well as some peppercorns. Now for the meat. I've got some fatty pork mince here. I'm doing this in a pot because I always prefer to make dumpling fillings in a pot. It's not that it's going on the heat because it's not but a pot has very high sides and they're very straight so when you're stirring the filling in a pot it's much easier. You've also got a handle to hold on to. If you're using a bowl sometimes the filling can kind of jump out so a pot, heavy base, is certainly the best thing to do this in. Into that just some Shaoxing wine, some salt and I'll crack in an egg. Now just to mix it all together, remembering of course to mix only in one direction and if you don't know why, go back and watch the first video of Dumpling School and all will be revealed. After the ginger and pepper have been infused into the water for about five minutes we can start to strain some of the water into the dumpling mix. Now you can see that this is going to create a really wet and kind of pasty dumpling filling and that's exactly what you're going for with your zhong dumplings. That looks pretty good now so I can come out onto my dumpling bowl and you can really see the nice texture that that gives when you do mix the dumplings only in one direction. There's quite a lot of water going in there so it'll be quite moist but it's still really kind of springy. To make it a little easier to work with I'm going to put that in the fridge for about 15 minutes. So now it's time to fold the dumplings. I'm using pre-made wrappers. These are just gaoji wrappers, circular white wrappers. You could easily make your own. Just follow the first video in Dumpling School and make either a hot water or a cold water dough and roll it out but I just really want to show you how easy this can be. Just one dumpling skin, a bit of cold water around the edge and then a pretty generous amount of our filling into the centre. Fold that over into a half moon and really do pinch the edge as well. That's why I like this dumpling, you know, it's no more difficult than that. You're not making any fancy pleats, that is one zhong dumpling. Just a half moon that's nicely sealed because these are going to be a boiled dumpling so really do make sure you're pinching well around the edges so it is nicely sealed and not opening up into a tray. Continue with the rest of the filling. All of this filling will make about 50 dumplings but I've got enough here to show you how to boil them so rather than you guys just standing there and watching me fold dumplings for the next 45 minutes, let's boil them and finish off one plate and we'll see how it's done. Zhong dumplings are a boiled dumpling so just bring some water to the boil, no salt or anything and throw them in. Important thing to know though, you don't want to vigorously boil the dumplings because that can split the skins. It's not so common with pre-made skins but if you're making your own sometimes they can split if you haven't done it right. So when it comes back to the boil, a little bit of extra cold water just to bring the temperature down a touch. When the dumplings rise to the surface, give them another 30 seconds to a minute and they're done. The only other thing we need to serve the dumplings is some very finely minced garlic. Really, really simple. So now just to finish them off, we'll take just a little bit of our red oil, some of our aromatic soy sauce, touch of raw garlic, optional of course, a few sesame seeds as well. One of Chengdu's favourite snacks, zhong dumplings.