INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Here is the way I make dumplings (not wonton soup) at home.  Serves a
full meal 2-3 depending on how much each person eats.  Prepare the
sauce: Depending on how spicy you like it, adjust.  We  like it VERY
HOT. Warning: I don't normally measure, I just taste and  keep adding
on, so normally I end up with 2 1/2 times as much sauce  as we need.
WONTONS & FILLING Put the ground pork in a bowl and press  it into a
flattened ball. Sprinkle half of the salt lightly over it,  flip the
meat over and then do the same on the other side. Mix it in  well, then
do the same for the sugar. When you sprinkle salt and  sugar on, make
it look like lightly powdered sugar sprinkled over a  cake. If you want
pepper of any kind, add it in the same way. Add in  the soy sauce. I
like the meat to have a taste of its own, and for me  the color of the
meat should be somewhat darker than the color of the  meat after adding
the soy sauce. If you are afraid it may be salty  for you, measure it
in smaller quantities and smell it to test the  saltiness.  Also, you
can drop a small ball of it into boiling water  to cook it and test its
saltiness at any stage.  I always peel off the outside layer of
cabbage, then cut off the big  stem at the bottom enough to easily peel
off a couple more leaves.  The amount of cabbage you put in depends on
how much you like it.  I  generally chop about 3-5 leaves of a small
head of cabbage and then  whatever I don't use I just throw away.  DO
NOT chop a whole head and  waste your energy; not even 1/4 of a head,
because once it's chopped  up and squeezed to get the water out, it
will dry out in the fridge.  Note:  The cabbage must be chopped really,
really finely.  It normally  takes me quite a long time to hand-chop
it.  I have never used a food  processor, that makes it too watery.  If
you sit down and go at it,  it may take you 20-30 minutes depending on
how much excess you end up  chopping and not needing.  Don't dump in
all the cabbage you chopped.  Pick up a handful and squeeze out the
water, then dump the squeezed  cabbage into the measuring cup and press
it down tightly.  Mix the  cabbage evenly into the meat.  You can start
a pot of water boiling now (depending on your  patience), and use a big
pot so you can boil more at once.  Sprinkle the cornstarch heavily and
mix in well.  You can't overmix.  Depending on how soft you want the
meat inside to be, add more to  make it softer.  We like our dumplings
moderately soft, so this is  about what we put in.  Again, you can test
it to see how soft it will  be when finished if you drop a small amount
into boiling water to  test it.  When you're tired of mixing in the
cornstarch and it's really  sticking to your hands, add the sesame oil
and handle the meat  lightly.  You want just enough so that it's not
too sticky.  Make the  dumplings by putting about 1 1/2 tsp into the
center of the wonton.  Use the water to wet the edges and fold the
skins over into a  triangle.  This is enough but if you fold the two 45
degree-angled  corners overlapping and stick them together, they are
less likely to  fall apart when you cook them.  The boiling water is
only for cooking the dumplings.  It is not for  soup and we throw away
at the end, although I use some water to  dilute my sauce (personal
preference; it can get spicy).  Put some  dumplings in boiling water,
uncovered (don't stuff too many in or  they will stick together). Time
the clock for 5 minutes, until  they're floating, and then remove them
into a bowl.  I sometimes put  them into room-temperature water to keep
them from sticking or  overcooking; but when you store them if you keep
them in water, they  will bloat up.  It's better to make only what you
can eat. Leftovers  should be stored without any water, just in a bowl
and covered so  they don't dry out.  You may need to add water that was
used up by the previous batch.  Let the water boil again each time
before putting in the new batch.  Continue to cook all the dumplings
this way.  Usually they're best when hot so we eat while we're cooking!
Have a good dinner, Tina Mongkolsmai  From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster
collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 717
Calories From Fat: 331
Total Fat: 36g
Cholesterol: 113.4mg
Sodium: 1031.7mg
Potassium: 695.8mg
Carbohydrates: 66.7g
Fiber: 1.5g
Sugar: 2.2g
Protein: 29.2g