Ham Sui Gok, 咸水角 (Fried pork dumplings)

 It's hard to find these made to the perfection you want them. How I like my ham sui gok: crispy on the outside, the right thickness walls, not too thick not too skinny, its gotta have that squidgy slightly sweet  inner wall, with gorgeous savory pork filling on the inside with that bit of sauce. MMMM mama knoooows. 

Recipe

Filling

Ingredients:

• Pork fillet (minced and chopped into small pieces)
• Salt
• Oyster sauce
• Soy sauce
• Corn flour
• Sugar
• Cooking oil
• Rice wine
• Fish sauce
• Sesame oil
• Dried black fungus (diced finely)
• Onion (diced finely)
• Spring onion (chopped)
• Carrots (diced finely)
• Water Chesnuts (diced finely)

Directions:

1. Marinate pork with salt, oyster sauce, soy sauce, corn flour and sugar for around 20 mins.
2. In a pan heat up cooking oil, add onion and spring onions.
3. Fry until lightly browned.
4. Then add in marinated pork and fry until almost cooked.
5. Add in fungus, carrots and water chesnuts.
6. Add rice wine, oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil and salt.
7. Stir.
8. Mix some corn flour with a bit of water in a bowl and stir into the mixture, to create a sauce.
9. Take off heat and put into container (and cover) to cool. 
10. You can leave in fridge until ready to use.

Dumpling Dough

Makes 10 dumplings.

(When I say cup here, I'm referring to a rice cup, cup, not a normal measuring cup, cup. This is because at the time I perfected this recipe, I thought that rice cups and measuring cups were the same, little did i know... xD FYI- 1 rice cup= 3/4 normal measuring cup)

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup of wheat starch
• 1/3 cup boiling hot water
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup glutinous rice flour
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. Add hot water and wheat starch and stir.
2. Add in sugar and stir.
3. Add rice flour and stir enough water in the mix to form a dough (this is roughly 1/2 cup)
4. Split dough up into 10 pieces (or however big you want your dumplings)
5. Shape each piece into a ball and squash down into a circle, form a circle around 7cm in diameter. 
6. Put a bit of filling into the dough and pinch to seal. 
7. Carefully shape the dumpling into traditional dumpling shape. 
8. Repeat with rest of the dough pieces. 
9. Deep fry the dumplings until golden brown/light yellow (about 10 mins) Turning over occasionally. 
10. Remove from oil and on to kitchen paper to absorb extra oil.
11. Serve! :)
12. Even taste nice when cold

  Dumplings getting deep fried. Bubbly bubbly.  

  Ready to serve ;D

I love these dumplings! They are crisp to the bite, cushioned with the squidgy interior wall and a soft meat/crunchy veg filling. There are a range of contrasting yet complimentary tastes and textures: Crispy outer wall, soft inner wall. Sweet shell, salty filling. Soft meat, crunchy veg. I am simply in love! 

I will try 2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar next time as the chewy wall was a touch sweet. 

Sorry for anyone that is following the recipe on the filling, I know I don't have exact measurements. When I first made the filling for this, I actually made way too much, but the filling is very versatile in that you can add it to most dishes, for example, on top of steamed vegetables to make it more tasty! And as far as marinating and seasoning the filling, i'm pretty pro at it :P I never have to measure anything out, just taste and adjust! :)

But for those who want my exact measurements please leave a comment and I will do my best to write them out! :)

I have never tried re heating them, as I always manage to eat some straight away and eat the rest cold, but I guess you could heat them up in the oven to maintain that crispy exterior. Alternatively microwave them, but I am thinking this will make the outside soft.... But, experiment away!

For my calorie counting friends, these lil treats come to roughly 100kcal per dumpling. And don't worry I always over estimate my calories!