Po Po’s Kitchen (婆婆廚房) — Jiaozi (餃子)

Text and Photographs by Billy Cheung

Family means the world to me. The only thing that comes second is my love of food. My passion for food began before I was even born. I was raised in a household of cooks, with my dad being a chef and my grandma, who made every dish on the table, night after night. As a child, I would join grandma in the kitchen and watch as she cooked. It was always so mesmerising to see how all these simple ingredients became some of the most delicious foods I’d eat and will have ever eaten! Things haven’t changed much even though I’m now much older, I still love to watch her work magic in the kitchen.

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This series is named Po Po’s Kitchen. Po Po (婆婆) is the Cantonese term for one’s maternal grandmother, and what I call my grandma. The name Popo’s Kitchen (婆婆廚房) brings together two of the most important things in my life. Through this series, I will be sharing some of my grandma’s top secret family recipes and my personal experiences behind these dishes so that you can also enjoy Chinese cooking and join our food family!

I want to start off the series with something everyone must have had before either at home or at a restaurant: dumplings! Jiaozi (餃子) are Chinese dumplings, typically filled with ground meat and vegetables, wrapped in a thin dough sheet. These are a staple food in my household and we always have about 50-100 dumplings frozen in my freezer ready to boil and eat!

Although jiaozi seems like an easy and simple dish to make, there are some major techniques involved, from mixing the perfect filling to creating beautiful creases in the folds of each dumpling. When folding dumplings, my grandma’s hands move like they’re dancing and as if she’s made these millions of times (which she probably has). Watching her work made me realize that you should always appreciate the simpler things in life.

“Watching her work made me realize that you should always appreciate the simpler things in life.”

— Billy Cheung

Here’s my Grandma’s Recipe for Pork and Chive Dumplings:

Ingredients:

2 pounds of ground pork

1 pound of shrimp, peeled, deveined and roughly chopped

1 pound of chinese chives, finely chopped

1 large piece of ginger, finely minced

2 tablespoons of cooking wine

2 tablespoons of light soy sauce

1.5 tablespoons of oyster sauce

1 tablespoon of sesame oil

1 tablespoon of salt

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 tablespoon of chicken bouillon

Half a tablespoon of white pepper

1 to 1.5 cups of water

100 pre-made dumpling wrappers

1. Peel, devein and roughly chop the shrimp. Finely chop Chinese chives and mince the ginger. Add the pork, shrimp, chives and ginger into a large mixing bowl.

2. Add all the seasonings into the bowl and blend together. Ensure the ingredients are blended well.

3. Once the filling is fully mixed, slowly add in the water and stir it into the mixture until the filling loosen up and become a light paste.

4.Prepare a table, a small bowl of water (to seal the dumplings) and a few trays to hold the wrapped dumplings. Using a small spoon, scoop up about a teaspoon of filling and place it inside of each wrapper.

5.With your finger, rim the surface of the wrapper close to the edge with water. For a simple seal, fold two halves of the wrapper together and press the dough to seal.

6.Once you have finished wrapping the dumplings, place in the freezer for 30 minutes. These can be kept for 1–2 months frozen.

7.To cook, heat up a pot of water. Once the water is boiling, place 10–12 dumplings into the pot. Cook for about 5–6 minutes, or until the dumplings float on the surface of the water.

8.Serve the dumplings with soy sauce, Chinese vinegar and chili oil.

About the writer, Billy Cheung

Billy is a member of the Fête Chinoise team and an enthusiast of all things related to food and cooking. His passion developed when he was young since he grew up in a family of restauranteurs and cooks. He believes food and culture go hand in hand and wants to share his stories, opinions, and passions with everyone.