Jiaozi

[Jason Perlow]

Making Jiaozi Album

A few months back we made Jiaozi at a friend's house -- for the filling we used

Ground Pork

Cellophane Noodle (cooked)

Firm or Pressed Tofu

Scallion

Ginger

Soy Sauce

Sesame Oil

Greens (We used "Shepherds Purse" greens but it could be spinach or any other type of Chinese green)

The dough was a simple mixture of flour and water, but if you are too lazy to make your own, use wonton skins.

To cook, steam until done or pan fry.

[jo-mel]

Good pictures! I like that marble board. The dough looks good enough to eat raw. (but then, I'm a raw dough nut)

I've never used Shepherds Purse. Is it sharp like watercress, or bland like spinach?

When I don't make my own dough, I prefer Gyoza wrappers rather than wonton. The Gyoza have more body -- even more than the Shanghai-style wonton wrapper. They also have a 'not quite round' shape that makes pleating easier.

(Pretty ring!)

[Jason Perlow]

I found the Shepherds Purse to taste very similar to Lambs Quarters, if you have ever had that. Slightly on the bitter side but not unpleasantly so.

[Dejah]

Jiaozi. . . deep fried? What is the dough like after deep frying?

I have only had them boiled.

Won ton wrappers would end up bubbly and crispy. But with this dough?

The filling sounds great. I'll have to try that sometime.

Thanks Jason!

[Transparent]

Wow! Great pictures. Do you know any picture tutorials for making steamed bao? My mom and I have been trying to figure it out for a while, and it has us stumped. Oh, is there any way to sort the pictures by name?

Edited September 26, 2004 by Transparent (log)

[Jason Perlow]

Jiaozi. . . deep fried?  What is the dough like after deep frying?

I have only had them boiled.

Won ton wrappers would end up bubbly and crispy. But with this dough?

The filling sounds great. I'll have to try that sometime.

Thanks Jason!

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Sorry, I meant pan-fry, but really that only makes sense if you use wonton skins.

[kangarool]

Looks beautiful... the shot of the filling looks fantastic. A question about the filling: Did you buy pre-minced pork, or did you buy a cut and have it minced for you, or minced it yourself?

The reason I ask is that, I’ve bought pork shoulder (and had the butcher mince it) my last batch of dumplings. I didn’t (forgot to, actually) add any pork fat to it at all, and predictably, the filling came out with very little flavour, and the texture was too crumbly, almost dry tasting, even after steaming or boiling. You didn’t mention adding any pork fat, so wonder if you found the same result?

Also curious if there’s A) a "right" cut of pork to buy that has the right ratio of meat and fat for juicy dumplings, or B) is there a right ratio of meat to fat, if you’re adding pork fat to relatively lean meat.

thanks for the pics!

[Jason Perlow]

I think it was just regular ground pork that was purchased.

[jo-mel]

Also curious if there’s A) a "right" cut of pork to buy that has the right ratio of meat and fat for juicy dumplings, or B) is there a right ratio of meat to fat, if you’re adding pork fat to relatively lean meat.

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When I get my ground pork from a Chinese store, there are usually a couple of selections ---- both have some fat, but one has more than the other. I've used both, but the fattier one usually makes a juicier dumpling -- of course.

[hzrt8w]

Also curious if there’s A) a "right" cut of pork to buy that has the right ratio of meat and fat for juicy dumplings, or B) is there a right ratio of meat to fat, if you’re adding pork fat to relatively lean meat.

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The pre-ground pork sold at the butcher usually has a label on the fat/meat ratio, something like 15%, 20%, etc.. I think between 15% to 20% would be a good ratio for making jiaozi. If you don't see a label, you can roughly guess by looking at the ground pork and see how many "white dots" there are. Lean pork is pink. Fat is white. For ground pork, the whiter the mix, the fattier it is. Ground pork from 100% lean cut would almost bear no white dot at all.

My wife and I usually avoid fat as much as we could. We mix some 15% fat ground pork with some all lean ground pork to get the lean ratio that we like to make jiaozi.

Jason's recipe is pretty good. For my taste, though, I would add some ground white peppers and some XiaoXing cooking wine. And I don't usually put in tofu or Cellophane Noodle in my recipe.

If you find your filling mix too crumbly, here is a tip for you: After you mix the ground pork with the seasoning, put it in a food processor and grind it one more time -- about 1 minute for each batch. Your ground pork would turn into a paste instead of staying crumbs. Then you mix your paste with the vegetable. (I think I blended the vegetable with the ground pork together once and the vegetable "dissolved" -- not good. Can't taste their texture.) This way, I have a pretty good, sticky, pasty filling even when using 100% lean pork.

[Gary Soup]

My wife always chops her own "ground" pork with a cleaver. She doesn't trust the ground pork at the markets, and I think it makes for a better texture. She usually uses lean pork loin; the juiciness isn't really an issue as she always boils her jiaozi.

I've never heard of bean thread or tofu being used, but doufu gan might make an interesting extender.

Ju Ju also like to make jiaozi with a mostly jiu cai (gau choy) filler. Mixed with dry tofu, it might make a nice vegetarian version.

[Jason Perlow]

I'll add here that these Jiaozi are made by a person from Northern China. Apparently, this is her mother's recipe.

[kangarool]

If you find your filling mix too crumbly, here is a tip for you:  After you mix the ground pork with the seasoning, put it in a food processor and grind it one more time -- about 1 minute for each batch.  Your ground pork would turn into a paste instead of staying crumbs.

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Thanks for the tip. There's a cooking show here in Australia wherein the woman who was making dumplings picked up the handful of minced pork, and repeatedly threw it back into the bowl, I mean just really hurled the thing, again and again, breaking down the fibres and "pieces" of mince ... likely to the same general effect as what you described with the food processor.

I'm making jiao zi tonight!

[hzrt8w]

Thanks for the tip. There's a cooking show here in Australia wherein the woman who was making dumplings picked up the handful of minced pork, and repeatedly threw it back into the bowl, I mean just really hurled the thing, again and again, breaking down the fibres and "pieces" of mince ... likely to the same general effect as what you described with the food processor.

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Yes, that's a classic technique... throw a handful of ground meat smashing against the bowl. Chinese make some meatballs and fishballs that way. To modernize this process, we actually make machines that go through the hammering motion with a big flat plate in a bucket full of ground meat/fish. That's the same as people say "stir in one direction only". With a food processor, that's a given. I just like using a food processor because it's more convenient, as well as more elegant.

Actually, in order to save time you can use the food processor to mix the vegetable with the pork paste too. Just don't blend it for too long. While you blend the ground pork for a full minute, at the end you can add your chopped vegetable to the pork and just blend it (pulse it) for, say, 5 to 10 seconds. The idea is to preserve the texture of your vegetable while mixing it into the paste. I tried it with chive green and the result was good.

Edited September 28, 2004 by hzrt8w (log)

[jo-mel]

Yes, that's a classic technique... throw a handful of ground meat smashing against the bowl.  Chinese make some meatballs and fishballs that way.  To modernize this process, we actually make machines that go through the hammering motion with a big flat plate in a bucket full of ground meat/fish.  That's the same as people say "stir in one direction only".  With a food processor, that's a given.  I just like using a food processor because it's more convenient, as well as more elegant. 

Actually, in order to save time you can use the food processor to mix the vegetable with the pork paste too.  Just don't blend it for too long.  While you blend the ground pork for a full minute, at the end you can add your chopped vegetable to the pork and just blend it (pulse it) for, say, 5 to 10 seconds.  The idea is to preserve the texture of your vegetable while mixing it into the paste.  I tried it with chive green and the result was good.

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I'm with you on the vegetables. I want their flavor, of course, but I also want their texture. I want the crunch of the waterchestnuts, and I delight at a bite of ginger.

[bleudauvergne]

I made jiaozi on Sunday. If I can't get to chinatown for the ground pork that has lots of fat, I add fat. I have used duck and goose fat with great success. I also use ginger. This time I included re-hydrated black free fungus. I am also from the school that makes their own skins. Wow Jason it looks like you had lots of fun! I love your pictures.

[JasonTrue]

I am vegetarian, but that doesn't stop me from indulging in jiaozi on a regular basis. Until recently, I tended to partially cook or blanch the vegetables unless I was using pickled vegetables, but this time I followed advice to massage salt into the vegetables and rinse, allowing the vegetables to shrink a bit without requiring any advance cooking.

Mustard Greens and Tofu Jiaozi (Blog Entry)

The filling: mustard greens, tofu, ginger, beansprouts, adjusted salt. Next time I think I'll sneak in a bit of vinegar.

The finished jiaozi

[Arianna]

Those look amazing, Jason! I would love to see a recipe. I am a vegetarian as well, but I LOVE dumplings!!!!!

[JasonTrue]

Usually I'm not so precise about measuring things when cooking, especially with Chinese, Japanese or Korean dishes. But my blog explicates the process in a bit more detail.

I used roughly one bunch of mustard greens (which can vary substantially in size, of course) and something like 3/4 lb. of medium-firm tofu, an unmeasured portion of ginger, and after combining the rinsed salted vegetables I tweaked the salt.

If you've made any other type of jiaozi, it's pretty much the same: you can boil them, steam them on cabbage leaves in a bamboo steamer, or you can pan-fry a few minutes and add in some water, then cover.

[AzianBrewer]

Looks great!!! Correct me if I am wrong...this is actually "Wor-Tip" or "Gwor-Tiea" (potstickers) and only steamed or boiled dumplings are called Jiaozi.

Edited November 4, 2005 by AzianBrewer (log)

[hzrt8w]

Fabulous pictures!

This is a very good example of how tofu and gluten can be used to substitute for meat in many Chinese dishes. Chinese monks eat a lot of tofu.

Jason: One suggestion that I have is to season the tofu first before mixing with the mustard greens to make the filling. (e.g. with sesame oil, light soy sauce and ground white pepper?)

[torakris]

Jason, those really look good and I am not a vegetarian!

What are the differences between the Chinese jiaozi and Japanese gyoza? are there any?

the gyoza thread

vegetarian gyoza by easternsun

[JasonTrue]

Jason:  One suggestion that I have is to season the tofu first before mixing with the mustard greens to make the filling.  (e.g. with sesame oil, light soy sauce and ground white pepper?)

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This is a good suggestion. If I was using eggs in the filling I'd probably season those similarly, save perhaps the sesame oil. I usually don't need tofu to be too heavily seasoned but it makes sense in such a context to give it a little more base complexity.

I often like to pair the tofu with kimchi instead, which is salty enough that the tofu doesn't need a lot of extra help. So it didn't occur to me to season the tofu separately.

On the term "Wor-Tip" or "Gwor-Tiea" (potstickers):

Not being an expert in Chinese language, I just know when I've gathered together with Chinese friends to "make jiaozi" the end result could be steamed, boiled, or potsticker style, or some combination thereof; by the time we finish cooking, we don't worry about what it is called. We just eat.

[browniebaker]

Jason, those dumplings look amazing!

When you put both kimchee and tofu in the filling, it gets awfully close to Korean mandu.

Looks great!!!  Correct me if I am wrong...this is actually "Wor-Tip" or "Gwor-Tiea" (potstickers) and only steamed or boiled dumplings are called Jiaozi.

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All I know is, whether my mom boiled them or pan-fried them, we called them jiaozi (in our native dialect of Taiwanese, tsui-giao).

[JasonTrue]

Jason, those dumplings look amazing!

When you put both kimchee and tofu in the filling, it gets awfully close to Korean  mandu. 

Yes, when I make kimchi tofu jiaozi, I call them kimchi dubu mandu. I like that combination best steamed, but I certainly make them pan-fried sometimes.

I tend to call jiaozi mandu if they are made with Korean style fillings. I remember seeing "piza-mandu" (pizza dumplings) (mozzarella, tomato, herbs, textured soy protein) in a Korean market's frozen foods, but if I was making them from scratch, I am not sure I'd be brave enough to call them "mandu" unless explaining them to Korean guests.

I only call my jiaozi "gyouza" when I have a Japanese audience. If I refer to boiled ones, I call them sui-gyouza; steamed ones are mushi-gyouza.