But day-old dumplings can be a bit of a drag. Much like French fries, once they get cold, they're not as good and it's hard to revive them. My solution: soup. I had about a cup of leftover pork-leek mixture, and I chopped and froze two leeks while making the dumplings yesterday. I recently read an article from America's Test Kitchen about making a flavorful broth in half the time using ground meat instead of scraps. It all came out of the freezer and became a delicious soup for lunch.
Dumpling Filling:
1 lb. ground pork
1 leek, washed and finely chopped
Scallions, chopped, to taste
2 T minced ginger
2 cloves minced garlic
2 T soy sauce
Combine all ingredients until uniform; cover and store until you're ready to assemble your dumplings.
Dumpling Wrappers:
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 c water
Mix water and flour until a tight dough forms. Knead with well-floured hands until elastic and springy. Wrap tightly and let rest for 10 minutes, or until ready to assemble dumplings. Make as little or as many dumplings as you like, just remember the 7:2 flour-water ratio.
When ready to assemble dumplings, you're going to want some help. This works best if one person is rolling out the wrappers and another is filling the dumplings. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, on a floured surface divide the dough. This recipe easly makes 32 wrappers. Remember to keep the dough you're not working covered tightly, because dry dough is too tight to roll out.
Take one small chunk of dough and roll it out very, very thin. Put a lump of pork-leek filling in the center of the dough; dip the tips of your finger in water and lightly wet the edges of the wrapper. Fold the edges so they meet at the top, forming a package around the filling. If you want to make the soup, reserve at least a half-cup of the filling.
Once your dumplings are assembled, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook in small batches for about 6 minutes. Remove to a plate to cool, then to a serving dish. They are ready to enjoy with the sauce of your choice! (WCFoodies recommends a sauce with chopped scallions, ginger matchsticks, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar.) And the next day....
For the broth:
1/2 cup or more reserved pork-leek mixture
1 leek, washed and finely chopped
In a large pot over medium heat, lightly brown your pork mixture. Once the mixture is browned, add 3-4 cups of water and simmer 10-15 minutes, or until broth is lightly colored and flavored. (At this point, the Test Kitchen recommends straining the meat from the broth. I left it in. Your choice.) Add chopped leeks, simmer 5-10 minutes until leeks are soft. Season to taste with rice wine vinegar and soy sauce. Add leftover dumplings; simmer until dumplings are warmed through, about 5 minutes. Enjoy!
