Dumplings: Tips, Techniques, Recipes

[herbacidal]

Dumpling Festival?  Can someone explain the origin of that term?  I thought it was Duanwujie, or the Double Fifth Festival, and sometimes, Dragon Boat Festival.  I'd love to take a quick straw poll on where "Dumpling Festival" is used.  The dumplings/tamales typically eaten on this day are called zongzi. 

For my vote, I'll go with sweet...I haven't quite learned to love the salty, fatty meat and glutinous rice combination.  However, in baozi, jiaozi, and dim sum, it's a different story...

there's probably all kinds of names, as far as english.

If you think about it, for many Chinese terms (ingredients, occasions, etc.), there's names that have emerged as romanized pronounciations and others that have emerged as something closer to translations.

For the former, think tofu, for the latter, bean curd.

there's another chinese name i think i remember learning for Dumpling/Duanwujie Festival, just can't remember specifically what it was.

just think about Mooncake Festival, or based on the translation, Mid-Autumn Festival.

[Shiewie]

Dumpling Festival?  Can someone explain the origin of that term?  I thought it was Duanwujie, or the Double Fifth Festival, and sometimes, Dragon Boat Festival.  I'd love to take a quick straw poll on where "Dumpling Festival" is used.  The dumplings/tamales typically eaten on this day are called zongzi. 

The term Dumpling Festival probably originated from a combination of the various Chinese dialects and colloquial English spoken in Malaysia and Singapore. Zong / chung / chang is commonly known as dumplings here - don't think many here would have heard of tamales. Dumpling Festival is probably a literal translation of "Chung Cheet" in Cantonese.

[Ruth]

I cannot recall ever having met a well-made Chinese dumpling I did not like. Favorites? Yes, the soup dumplings, particularly the shrimp ball soup dumplings I had in Shanghai and have found nowhere else, but also chive dumplings with that special kick that makes them unique.

[gus_tatory]

i also don't think there's a dumpling i wouldn't eat--such a pleasure.

i love the crowd-pleasers: shiu mai, har gau, but i also love another 6-8 ones i don't know names for...

question: the "soup dumplings" people so often speak about--what is it about the anglicized name? are they dumplings eaten *with* soup? i have not been lucky enough to try them. description?

thanks!

[Shiewie]

question: the "soup dumplings" people so often speak about--what is it about the anglicized name? are they dumplings eaten *with* soup? i have not been lucky enough to try them. description?

Soup dumplings are also known as Xiao Long Bao (or Siu Loong Bao in Cantonese). They are little Shanghainese steamed pork (or pork and shrimp) dumplings filled with soup. The soup squirts out when you bite into them. They're usually eaten with julienned ginger and black vinegar.

[gus_tatory]

oh my, thanks!

must try those the first chance i get--!

Edited July 11, 2003 by gus_tatory (log)

[dumpling]

question: the "soup dumplings" people so often speak about--what is it about the anglicized name? are they dumplings eaten *with* soup? i have not been lucky enough to try them. description?

Soup dumplings are also known as Xiao Long Bao (or Siu Loong Bao in Cantonese). They are little Shanghainese steamed pork (or pork and shrimp) dumplings filled with soup. The soup squirts out when you bite into them. They're usually eaten with julienned ginger and black vinegar.

They are truly wonderful, gus.

Some other dumplings-

yu chi gau-shark's fin dumpling made with shrimp and pork

gai choy gau-chive dumpling which also may have bits of shrimp and/or ham

fun kor- shrimp, veggies and peanuts

Other dim sum-

pai gwot- steamed spareribs

seen jook gun - pork in bean curd skin and a beautiful sauce

lo bot go - turnip cake

ha chow fan - shrimp wrapped in rice noodle

sai choy nlao yook- beef ball

char shiu bao - roast pork bun

jook - congee

fung jao - chicken feet

There are plenty of good places in New York for them if you are ever there.

There's also a great dumpling at Tai Hong Lau (Mott street New York Chinatown) that comes served in a soup. It's called con poy- and is made with dried scallop and other seafood, as well as the strips of ginger and a vinegar on the side.

[Jon Tseng]

question: the "soup dumplings" people so often speak about--what is it about the anglicized name? are they dumplings eaten *with* soup? i have not been lucky enough to try them. description?

Soup dumplings are also known as Xiao Long Bao (or Siu Loong Bao in Cantonese). They are little Shanghainese steamed pork (or pork and shrimp) dumplings filled with soup. The soup squirts out when you bite into them. They're usually eaten with julienned ginger and black vinegar.

Cool website

Literal translation is "Little Dragon Dumplings"

J

[project]

Looking to get started making steamed Chinese dumplings. Yes,

the variety of such dumplings is staggering.

Not trying to equal in subtlety, originality, or variety the

work of an expert that has been making dozens of varieties of

dumplings for years in a high end Hong Kong hotel. Instead,

just want to get started and, hopefully, improve on what is

commonly available for sale frozen loosely in bags.

Guessing that would like to get started with a combination of

three main ingredients: pork, cabbage, and scallions. Of

course, could add soy sauce, sesame oil, black mushrooms, wood

ears, etc., but really would just like to get started with

something decent on flavor, nutrition, and preparation time.

Would like to freeze the result in freezer bags and have them

available for steaming (or boiling) quickly for snacks or

lunches.

Do have a dipping sauce I like:

2 T minced fresh strong garlic

2 1/2 T Chinese Rice Vinegar

4 T Chinese Pearl River Bridge Light Soy Sauce

1 t Sesame oil

1 t Chinese style hot oil

but eager to hear comments and suggestions for changes. Have

not been adding any sugar. Would consider using scallions or

ginger with or in place of the garlic.

For the wrappers, do intend to make those. So, understand

that the ingredients for these are quite simple, just flour

and water; in particular, no oil, egg, or milk. Do understand

that mostly there are two proportions: (1) relatively wet for

use as 'pot stickers' and (2) less wet for use as just steamed

dumplings. Then I would be pursuing the less wet wrappers.

Understand that the way to make the dough is to use hands to

roll the dough to a cylinder maybe one foot long and one inch

in diameter. One purpose of this cylinder is to ease

separating the dough into pieces with one piece the right size

for one wrapper.

Questions that come to mind:

Q. So, what would be a good wrapper recipe? For

wrappers, say, 3 inches in diameter, how many would

one recipe make?

Q. Is working the dough to 'develop the gluten'

important for wrappers for steamed dumplings?

Q. For the pork, would grocery store ground pork be

good or acceptable? Or is it important to buy a

piece of fresh pork, say, front shoulder, and chop

own, say, with a cleaver or chef's knife? If chop

fresh pork, how finely chopped should the result be?

What would be an appropriate fraction of fat?

Q. For the cabbage, is standard US 'green cabbage'

okay, or is it important to use some variety of

Chinese cabbage, say, 'Napa' cabbage?

Q. For the cabbage, how is the cabbage to be handled?

That is, should the cabbage just be rinsed, drained,

raw, and chopped or should there be some other

processing first?

Q. How finely chopped should the cabbage be?

Q. Is a combination of mostly just pork, cabbage, and

scallion promising?

Q. How is the common 'crescent' dumpling shape formed?

Q. Is there a clever way to measure and shape the right

amount of filling for one dumpling?

Q. Is there a clever way to moisten the dough when

sealing the closure?

Q. What would be good ingredients and proportions for

the filling?

Q. If the dumplings are to be frozen for heating later,

should they be frozen with raw ingredients or should

the dumplings be cooked before freezing?

[jo-mel]

Sounds to me that you should just jump in and do it.

Find a book, whose directions appeal to you as far as 'how to' and ingredients that you might like. Allow yourself to learn by your own mistakes. Keep notes.

AFA ground pork ---- I live near some great Chinese supermarkets/grocers, so I buy their meat. I like the course grind of their pork, and the choice of lean or less lean. I also have the choice to select pieces to be freshly ground. I've never used regular supermarket ground pork.

[herbacidal]

    Q.  For the cabbage, is standard US 'green cabbage'

          okay, or is it important to use some variety of

          Chinese cabbage, say, 'Napa' cabbage?

    Q.  For the cabbage, how is the cabbage to be handled?

          That is, should the cabbage just be rinsed, drained,

          raw, and chopped or should there be some other

          processing first?

    Q.  How finely chopped should the cabbage be?

    Q.  Is a combination of mostly just pork, cabbage, and

          scallion promising?

    Q.  How is the common 'crescent' dumpling shape formed?

    Q.  Is there a clever way to measure and shape the right

          amount of filling for one dumpling?

    Q.  Is there a clever way to moisten the dough when

          sealing the closure?

    Q.  What would be good ingredients and proportions for

          the filling?

    Q.  If the dumplings are to be frozen for heating later,

          should they be frozen with raw ingredients or should

          the dumplings be cooked before freezing?

okay, you've bitten off a lot. not that you shouldn't do it, but just understand that.

might be advisable to try making dumplings once with store bought stuff, just to see what they're like.

then afterwards, start making filling/wrapper from scratch, then both filling and wrapper from scratch.

and as jo-mel said, make plenty of mistakes, and learn from them.

that being said, here:

cabbage isn't so common, IMO. that's more along the lines of egg rolls, although others can correct me if they've seen otherwise.

if you want to use it for a vegetable dumpling though, that's fine.

cabbage, pork, and scallion sounds like a fine recipe.

dumpling wrappers are traditionally round, and folded in half to make the semi-circle. the edges are sealed with either hands or a fork.

to moisten the dough, you can use egg or water.

[Gary Soup]

Project, I assume you are talking about jiaozi of the shuijiao variety, which are actually boiled, not steamed (the guotie, or potsticker, variety are actually steamed and fried in one process).

I disagree with Herbacidal on the cabbage. Most such dumplings I have had used at least a small quantity of (napa) cabbage. My wife also adds finely chopped donggu (shiitake) mushrooms. She also makes a variety that is filled largely with jiu cai (aka gau choy) which mostly makes me belch, but I won't talk about those.

Since Mrs. Soup does the cooking and I do the eating, I'm just guessing here, but:

- The dough doesn't need much working, the boiling brings out the gluten.

- The cabbage should be raw, though if you use round cabbage instead, it might need some parboiling.

- The proportions of ingredients vary infinitely, according to your whim and tastes.

- Definitely freeze them uncooked. They take quite well to freezing. I can't imagine what freezing them after boiling them would do to them.

Above all, as Jo-Mel suggested, don't be so technical in your approach. You undoubtedly have an idea of what you want to end up with, and just keep tweaking until you get there.

[Shiewie]

IMHO cabbage is used for Northern Chinese dumplings like jiaozi but like Herbacidal said they are not common for Southern Chinese ones like har gau, siu mai or sui gau. I'm ethnically Chinese but only read about and then made dumplings with Napa Cabbage in it after reading an issue of Savuer! .

Adding some Napa cabbage does make it a lighter dumpling and I guess it was used in the old days to bulk up the filling as meat would've been expensive.

Making the wrappers yourself can be tricky. I'd suggest that you start by using store-bought wantan skins as dumpling wrappers first before trying to make it from scratch yourself.

Cabbage - I've used Napa cabbage in dumplings but not others.

Wash each cabbage leaf, blanch it to soften it (recipe in Saveur said to blanch it so I did but I've also seen recipes which says add it raw), drain then chop finely (I just cut them into strips of 1-inch by 1/8-inch).

The combination of cabbage, pork and scallions sounds fine. Other items you could use are dried shitake mushrooms (soaked, drained and diced finely), diced carrots, shrimp, scallops, minced water chestnuts...basically whatever you like. You might like to add some sesame oil besides salt and pepper to season it (I sometimes use some oyster sauce, soy sauce and mirin too if I feel like it).

The crescent shape seen in dumplings like har gau takes a lot of skill so what I do is just bring the ends of the wrappers to meet and seal them with little folds (if they're round wrappers) or bring the corners to meet if they are square. Have a small bowl water when you're wrapping the dumplings and seal them with a dab of water.

How much filling goes into each wrapper would depend on the size of your wrappers. Make sure it's not too full though otherwise they'll split open during cooking.

I've freezed uncooked dumpling filling and they're fine. I haven't tried freezing wrapped dumplings or cooked ones before.

Edit - Forgot to mention this, if you're steaming the dumplings, don't forget to brush the bottom of the steamer with a bit of oil, otherwise the dumplings might stick.

Edited November 20, 2003 by Shiewie (log)

[dumpling]

Echo most of the other points made.

I can appreciate the desire to make the whole thing from scratch. May be a little challenging if you haven't done before, but hey, rock on!

I too would add the sesame oil.

There are different things you can do and add, but try that first.

Another suggestion- try at least a third of the meat being fatty ground pork. So if you get it from the Chinese store they will have lean ground and fatty ground. Some fatty ground mixed in will kick up the flavor a bit.

[jo-mel]

You might consider a chive filling. or a combo chive and cabbage. A 'google' search will give you recipes.

Prepared 'gyoza' wrappers need to be sealed with egg or water. (I use water)You just wet the perimeter where the dough meets. Pleating them is tricky. Look for a book or some drawings on line to guide you. Once you've done 2 or 3, you will get the idea. As Shiewie said, it takes some skill. Only one side is pleated, but it is the dexterity that is needed. I freeze these successfully.

Homemade dough wrappers need just to be pinched to seal. They freeze nicely, also. I freeze them uncooked.

If you are steaming them, leave a bit of space between them. In pan/frying, as with pot stickers, they can be crowded/touching. When boiling them, cold water needs to be added to the boiling water, to control wild boiling. You want them to cook, but not fall part.

Are you using any particular books to guide you?

[herbacidal]

IMHO cabbage is used for Northern Chinese dumplings like jiaozi but like Herbacidal said they are not common for Southern Chinese ones like har gau, siu mai or sui gau. I'm ethnically Chinese but only read about and then made dumplings with Napa Cabbage in it after reading an issue of Savuer! .

thanks. that's what i was unsure about. Cantonese don't use cabbage in their dumplings.

i made turkey dumplings once, and by no means was that intended to be traditional.

[Gary Soup]

IMHO cabbage is used for Northern Chinese dumplings like jiaozi but like Herbacidal said they are not common for Southern Chinese ones like har gau, siu mai or sui gau. I'm ethnically Chinese but only read about and then made dumplings with Napa Cabbage in it after reading an issue of Savuer!  .

Adding some Napa cabbage does make it a lighter dumpling and I guess it was used in the old days to bulk up the filling as meat would've been expensive. 

As I mentioned, I assumed the poster was talking about jiaozi (note reference to "crescent shape", sealing the wrapper, etc.). Except for the jiu cai (garlic chive) variety they almost always have cabbage.

It's not simply a matter of filler for the sake of economy. If you used meat only, you might end up with a dough-wrapped chewy meatball and perhaps shrinkage. Use of raw cabbage not only adds texture, but keeps the shape nicely plump as it absorbs water.

My wife is not only ethnically Chinese but learned all her cooking in Shanghai, and has never read a recipe in her life. She wouldn't think of making a pork jiaozi without cabbage. She learned her jiaozi-making from a neighbor from Shandong. When she's really into it, she takes the trouble to use her special tapered jiaozi rolling pin to make wrappers that are thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges. Things of beauty, her jiaozi are.

[herbacidal]

Things of beauty, her jiaozi are.

she's looking over your shoulder, isn't she?

[Shiewie]

My wife is not only ethnically Chinese but learned all her cooking in Shanghai, and has never read a recipe in her life.  She wouldn't think of making a pork jiaozi without cabbage.  She learned her jiaozi-making from a neighbor from Shandong.  When she's really into it,  she takes the trouble to use her special tapered jiaozi rolling pin to make wrappers that are thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges.  Things of beauty, her jiaozi are. 

I'm sure her jiaozi are gorgeous and would love to try some!

Was trying to explain that Northern and Southern Chinese food can be quite different and that since I am of Southern Chinese descent, cabbage in dumplings are not the kind of dumplings I grew up with.

[eatingwitheddie]

NORTHERN STYLE DUMPLING FILLING

(Pork - Fried, Steamed or Boiled)

This is the sort of recipe we would use in a restaurant. It has most of the same ingredients as other recipes just with a few nuances such as a little water added (juicier), fresh waterchestnuts (adds crunch/texture), corntarch and egg white (to hold verything together well), and a good jolt of ginger and scallion (to make it tasty). I haven't measured everything out so you may need to make a few adjustments - just make sure to make a sample dumpling so you can test and adjust the flavorings. By the way, I'm not reluctant to start with pork pieces and trimmings and hand chop this sort of filling

1/2 lb. coarsely ground pork

1/4 lb. coarsely ground pork, fat and lean mixed

1 generous tablespoon minced ginger

1/2 cup finely chopped scallions

1/2 cup finely chopped Napa cabbage

4 dried black mushrooms, soaked, water pressed out, then finely chopped

4 fresh water chestnuts, peeled, washed, flattened with the side of a cleaver and chopped into rice shaped pieces (canned work fine)

2 T soy sauce (I would use Kikkoman)

1 T shaoshing rice wine or dry sherry

salt (generous amount) 1-2 teaspoons

1 t sugar

1/2 t finely ground white pepper

1/2 t MSG (opt)

1/4 cup water

1 egg white

2 T cornstarch

1 T sesame oil

Procedure:

Put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and using a wooden spoon vigorously stir the filling in the same circular direction for about 5 minutes. This mixing is very important and gives the filling its distinctive texture. When possible I like to prepare the filling a couple of hours ahead so the flavors have a chance to mingle.

Test the filling: Fill one skin with a generous tablespoon of the mixture, seal the dumpling and boil gently until it floats and is cooked through: about 3-4 minutes. Remove, let it cool briefly, and taste the filling for seasoning: you may want to add more salt, soy, ginger or scallion.

Form and cook the dumplings as desired.

Yield: 3 dozen (or a few more)

[project]

Thanks for all the comments.

Intend to give more feedback after more efforts.

Quickly for now:

Good to hear that I can use ground pork -- don't have to get a

live hog, two Chinese cleavers, a slice of a 400 years old

tree trunk for a chopping block, and chop my own pork while

listening to chants of monks! Would be nice to have Sagwa

around, though!

For chopping the cabbage, just use my chef's knife and cutting

board? So, I should julienne, cut across those strips to make

fine dice, and then mince the dice a little?

Do I need to convert the cabbage nearly to mush or is an

ordinary 'mincing' okay?

I'm lost on the cabbage:

What's the deal with 'Napa' cabbage? Centers are really thick

and stiff, and the leaves are really thin and flimsy. Is Napa

cabbage really an advantage?

Common coleslaw uses ordinary US spherical 'green' cabbage,

just shredded, raw -- no blanching. So, maybe blanching is

not necessary? And, without blanching, can get some possibly

desirable 'texture'?

So, somehow 'texture' is an important issue in the filling?

So, we mix the filling by stirring in one direction for five

minutes to make the meat 'stringy'? Does stirring also serve

to mash the cabbage, scallions, etc.?

Can more be said about what 'texture' we are looking for?

The purpose of this 'texture' is to have the filling hold

together? For 'mouth feel'? Something else?

Glad to stir for five minutes once to see the texture before

looking for mechanical aids!

I do have an old mostly cast aluminum home meat grinding set,

perhaps 60 years old, inherited from parents. There is an

approximate picture in one of the photographs of E. Shapiro's

elegant Mongolian garden party 'On the Steppes of Central

Asia' (A. Borodin music, please)! So, maybe this meat

grinding set could be used in some way?

Hmm, the mixture as squeezed by the rotating screw, chopped by

the blade, and pressed through the holes give the right

'texture'?

How about using an electric mixer?

Also getting the impression that need to work to get some

'bright' aromatic flavors and that keys here are the

scallions, ginger, and alcohol?

So, it seems to be common to freeze these dumplings with the

filling raw? Was wondering about that.

In cooking these dumplings via boiling, apparently when the

dumplings float, that is a sign of something significant. So,

why do they float? That is, what about the heating makes the

dumplings less dense? Are we looking for some 'lightness' in

the filling once it is hot?

Still in doubt about closing the dough wrappers: So, somehow

supposed to pleat one side. So, say I start with a wrapper

that is a circle 3 inches in diameter. I get some filling,

perhaps shape it a little like a small US football, maybe 1.5

inches long, make the long axis north-south, and place the

center of the football where? I'm guessing I could place the

center on the east-west diameter a little to the west of

center and then lift the eastern-most edge of the dough, wrap

it over the football, make the first contact with the western

side at the east-west centerline, and make pleats (only in the

part from the eastern-most edge of the circle) and contact

with the rest of the western part of the edge until the

filling is fully enclosed?

Is that what's going on?

The dumplings I've gotten in restaurants and loose in frozen

bags have varied widely. Finally I'm concluding that for

something reasonably good, I should just make my own.

Some of the best I have gotten -- in one restaurant -- seemed

to have a lot of scallion, and I liked that. Your proportions

with 1/2 C scallion may achieve this effect. But, good to see

that there can be enormous variety in the filling -- including

some of minced raw shrimp, leeks, etc.

Gee, we could do 'fusion' and include some drops of truffle

oil! Fois gras anyone?

The last bag of frozen dumplings I got listed cabbage as the

first ingredient -- hmm!

But, that last bag has a terrible problem: The wrappers, once

cooked, are very shiny, quite thin, nearly translucent, quite

wet, quite weak, very sticky, and are a mess to handle and eat

hot. Really, the cooked wrappers just fall apart.

Essentially these dumplings don't work. Maybe they are

intended only for frying as 'pot stickers' and should not be

boiled or steamed, but the bag instructions specify only

boiling.

To get more predictability and control, I do intend to make my

own wrappers. One source says that the dough is easier to

handle if relatively dry and firm. So, one stab at

proportions is

     8 cups all purpose flour

     2 1/2 cups cold water

Do these proportions sound about right?

Thanks for all the comments!

[snowangel]

I make these all of the time. My comments:

Start with pre-made wrappers. Try and find the ones that have the highest count per ounce. Some wrappers sold in the U. S. are too thick for my liking. I've only made wrappers once; my local market has wrappers I really like, and although they are frozen, they have high turnover so the edges of the wrappers aren't freezer-burned.

Cabbage. Napa it is. I chop it and then salt it lightly and let it set in colander, then sqeeze dry. Water chestnuts are great for some textural interest.

Pork. Regular grocery store ground pork tends to be too finely ground for my liking, so I go to my asian market. Often my grocery has "ground pork for chow mein" which is more coarsely ground, but quite a bit more expensive than at my asian market.

Barbara Tropp's Modern Art of Chinese Cooking has some pretty good directions on folding to get pleats (if your library has a copy, check it out). I am a master pleater, and can easily get 6 or more pleats per side. I start by folding the dumpling up, giving it a small pinch in the center, pleat the left side, then the right side, and nudge it more fully into that half-moon shape. Tropp also does a good job of explaining the adding cold water if you are boiling them. There are probably other good books out there, but that's the one I have. My Taiwanese cookbooks (Wei Chuan and Pei Mei) assume quite a bit of prior knowledge.

My recipe is almost identical to Eddie's, and I totally agree with the stirring instructions. Don't use the mixer. I use my hands.

I often make far more than I intend to cook at one time. Put them on cookie sheets, freeze and then put in plastic bags. You don't need to thaw them before cooking, just add a bit of cooking time.

And, I have on occasion frozen the filling (went into hard labor while making dumplings once and hadn't gotten to the filling them part).

Typically, when I serve them for dinner, I steam some and use some as pot stickers -- we are a house divided. I like both versions; Paul, Peter and Heidi prefer them steamed; and Diana prefers pot stickers. A good side is the spinach and charred garlic from Tropp's book.

As an interesting side note, if I have leftovers, Diana takes them for school lunch. One of her teachers had a microwave in her office, and was willing to let Diana microwave them (they aren't nearly as good as freshly-cooked, but sure beat elementary school cafeteria food) in exchange for a few.

Gee. We're expecting a snow storm on Sunday. Note to self to stop and pick up ingredients and spend the afternoon making dumplings with the kids.

[jo-mel]

Snowangle's directions for pleating are good, as is her recommendation of Tropp's book, Barbara Tropp speaks as tho she is standing behind you -- guiding you. All her directions are quite detailed and complete.

When I am teaching someone to pleat and they are all thumbs, I suggest they start with one pleat on each side of center -- just to get the hang of it. Once they get the feel for it, they can add 2 to each side, and then on to 3 -- on each side of center, the other side of the half-moon has no pleats.

Again on Tropp -- she details the feel of dough you would need for particular dumplings. As snowangel said -- other books may deal with dumplings and doughs, but Tropp's book is really complete in this matter. Another good one is Florence Lin's "Complete Book of Chinese Noodles, Dumplings and Breads. Lin's book is one of my Bibles on doughy things.

I googled this pictorial link on pleating. It may give you some idea.

http://www.digsmagazine.com/nourish/nourish_dumplings4.htm

On stirring in one direction -- I wrote this out years ago. It was talking of shrimp paste, but the same would apply to other meat fillings. By stirring in one direction, you are lining all the meat fibers up. when you change directions, it is like matting hair.

STIRRING IN ONE DIRECTION:

1 - Evenness of texture

2- Eliminates air spaces

3 - ?Superstition?

Stirring shrimp paste in one direction creates even texture and eliminates air spaces. The result is a homogenous elastic mixture. Do not change direction, for that would create rough spots with pockets of air, undoing earlier work.

[snowangel]

Is there an auspicious or prefered number of pleats?

[herbacidal]

Quickly for now:

Good to hear that I can use ground pork -- don't have to get a

live hog, two Chinese cleavers, a slice of a 400 years old

tree trunk for a chopping block, and chop my own pork while

listening to chants of monks! Would be nice to have Sagwa

around, though!

that was quick?

but it tastes so much better with live hog.

and lest we forget our pioneer roots, a tree trunk makes an ideal chopping surface.

if you get the right kind, there's even grooves for the juice to run along.