These dumplings will be the star of your dinner table. People will ask you for the recipe – not only for the striking colour, but the amazing taste. Takes a little time, but it is definitely worth the effort.
Ingredients
1 pack LeaderBrand Baby Beets
2 cups (250g) plain flour
1/2 cup hot water, just boiled
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup corn flour or potato starch, for dusting
Pork Filling
1/8 green cabbage
1/2 tsp salt
300g lean NZ pork mince
1 spring onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
6 brown mushrooms, soaked in hot water, finely chopped (we love Meadow Mushrooms)
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons Olivado sesame oil, plus 2 teaspoons extra for cooking
Lay the unopened Baby Beets packet on a work bench and use your hand to smash the beetroot. Open the packet and pour the broken-up pieces of beetroot and juices into a sieve over a bowl, allow to drain and keep the juices and flesh separately.
Place the flour in a mixing bowl and create a well in the middle. Mix the salt into the water and stir until dissolved, then stir in the reserved beetroot juice. Add the water slowly to the flour, gradually, stirring constantly. Stir together until all the water is absorbed.
With clean hands, gather the dough into a ball. Turn it onto a clean surface and knead for ten minutes. The dough should not stick: add a small amount of flour if necessary. Split the dough into two and roll each one into a log. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes to an hour.
While the dough is resting, make the filling: slice the cabbage finely and sprinkle with salt. Toss to combine well. Leave for 10-15 minutes and then squeeze with your hands to remove any moisture. Mix together beetroot flesh, cabbage, mince, chives, garlic, mushrooms, ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and a pinch of salt in a large bowl.
Cut the two pastry logs each into 12 pieces. Dust the work surface with a little corn flour. Roll out each piece of dough separately and use a 10cm cookie cutter or a wide rim cup to cut out circles. Remove all the trim, knead it into a ball and place in the covered bowl for a few minutes. Then roll it out to create more wrappers. Dust the wrappers with corn flour before stacking them up.
With clean dry hands, place a wrapper on one hand and put 1 teaspoon filling in the centre of the wrapper. Brush edge of half the wrapper with cold water. Make a semi-circle by folding the wrapper in half. Pinch open sides of wrapper together with your fingers and seal the top.
Place a large heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat, add 2 teaspoons sesame oil and arrange all the gyoza in the pan. Add 200mls water to cover bottom of pan, cover with lid and cook on medium-high heat for 6-7 minutes or until translucent, cooked and no liquid is left in pan. Take off lid and cook for another 30-60 seconds for the bottoms to go crunchy.
Make the dipping sauce by mixing together soy sauce, chives, sesame oil and mirin. Serve dumplings hot with dipping sauce.
Chicken mince works well in this recipe too, instead of pork.
