Dim Sum Recipe

Sauce:
1 c Soy Sauce
1/4 c OJ Concentrate
1 Tbsp Minced Ginger Root

Mix all ingredients and allow them to sit for at least an hour.

Wrappers:
2.5 c Flour ( we used 1/2 white wheat and 1/2 bread flour, but all purpose will do just fine)
1 c almost boiling water

If you are blending flours, mix them together before adding water. Drizzle water into flour and stir until the dough starts pulling together. Knead until you have a soft dough ball. Place in ziplock bag and let rest for at least 15 minutes. The dough can rest for at least 2 hours. It should be as soft as your earlobe when you squeeze the bag.

***NOTE**** Our dough today was crazy tough. I messed up the water amount somehow. We still had dough, but your dough from THIS recipe will me much softer and delicate than what we were working with.


Filling:
1 pound ground pork
1 medium carrot - grated finely
2 scallions - diced small
1 tsp Chinese Five Spice
2 Tbsp Shortening (crisco)

Mix all filling ingredients in a bowl. Make sure you don't have any brown blobs of five spice hiding in the meat. It should all look the same.

Assembly:
Break off chunks of dough that are about the size of a walnut and roll them into a 3" diameter circle. Fill with the meat mixture and seal the dumplings.

Cooking:

Steam 6 dumplings at a time for 12 minutes until done. They should be firm in the middle when you poke them with a careful finger. Steam burns hurt, people. Be careful. Cut the first dumpling to be sure it is cooked all the way through and adjust your timing to suit your needs.

Serve:
Pour some sauce over your lovely cooked dumplings and chow down. I suggest steamed broccoli on the side to make a well balanced healthy meal.