How to make Xiao Hui Xiang dumplings?

As people's living standards improve, there are more and more ways to make and types of dumplings. In fact, the filling is very important to whether the dumplings are delicious. Fennel-filled dumplings are the most popular type of dumplings. Fennel is a very common vegetable in life. Because fennel has a special aroma, many people are not used to this smell, but some people have a special liking for fennel. So what is the method of making Xiao Huixiang dumplings?

How to make the skin

1. Kneading the dough: The most common flour is wheat flour, and buckwheat flour is used in some places. Use cool water. After kneading the dough in a bowl, let it sit for 20 minutes to allow the dough to "soften" (the water fully penetrates the flour particles). If there is too much water, the dough will be soft and easy to wrap, but will break easily when cooked. On the contrary, if there is too little water, the dough will be hard, making it difficult to roll the dough and wrap. A good taste generally requires the dough to be harder, like the saying goes: soft pancakes and hard dumplings.

2. Leatherworking:

【搟】: Put the dough with sugar on the chopping board and roll it into a cylindrical strip with a diameter of 2-3 cm. Pinch (or cut) the strips into small pieces about 1.5 cm long - dumplings. Flatten the dumplings with your hands. Use a rolling pin to roll out dumpling wrappers of moderate diameter (4-7 cm), about 0.5-1 mm thick, with the center slightly thicker. When rolling the skin, sprinkle some dry flour (floating flour) on the chopping board to prevent it from sticking to the board. Since rolling the dumpling wrappers is quite time-consuming, many handmade noodle shops today sell machine-made dumpling wrappers. When using machine-made dumpling wrappers, you usually have to dip your hands in water before kneading them.

【Pinch】: Using a rolling pin to roll out dumpling wrappers seems to be a part of urban culture. In rural areas, manual kneading is mostly used. When pinching, first knead the dumplings into a flat round shape, then pinch and press them with the fingers of both hands while rotating them. After being kneaded, the skin is bowl-shaped (while the skin of a rolled dough is flat) and contains less dry flour, so it is easier to wrap. The disadvantage is that pinching the skin takes more time than rolling the skin.

How to make the filling

1. Wash the fennel and drain the water. Chop the green onion and ginger and add them to the meat filling.

2. Add appropriate amount of salt, chicken essence, light soy sauce and five-spice powder to the meat filling. Then use the heated salad oil to add fragrance, add the sesame oil before mixing, and stir in one direction until evenly mixed.

3. Chop the drained fennel and add it to the meat filling. Use chopsticks to stir the filling evenly in one direction.

4. Then start making dumplings.

5. Heat water in a pot, and put the dumplings in after the pot boils.

Notice:

Dumpling fillings are mainly divided into meat fillings, vegetarian fillings, and meat and vegetarian fillings. Before cooking the meat filling you buy, you should first add a small amount of water to mix it, and then add chopped green onions, minced ginger, pepper powder or five-spice powder, MSG, salt, a small amount of soy sauce, cooking wine, etc. If you don’t mind it being greasy, you can also add some vegetable oil, but if the meat filling is fat enough, you can save it. Then stir it in one direction evenly and adjust the saltiness at the end. If you like, you can add sesame oil, it depends on your personal taste. After the mixed meat filling is left for a while, you can make dumplings. You can also use this method to make beef, mutton, etc.

It is best to chop meat fillings with a knife. Because the flavor substances in meat remain in the cells, when meat is minced manually, it is subjected to uneven mechanical squeezing, the muscle cells are less damaged, and some of the meat juice is still mixed in or dispersed in the meat filling. However, when meat is minced by machine, the strong force and heat generated cause the meat to denature, and the flavor substances in the cells, such as amino acids and inosinic acid, are lost in large quantities with the blood.

Vegetarian fillings should not be chopped with a knife, but should be cut with a knife instead. Chopping with a knife will chop all the chlorophyll of the vegetables onto the chopping board, while cutting with a knife will reduce a lot of it. Generally, half of the vitamins will remain after cutting with a knife, while less than 25% will remain after chopping with a knife. Therefore, the knife should not be cut too small, such as leeks should be cut at least 0.5 cm.

Vegetarian dumpling fillings are usually made with raw meat, which is more nutritious, hygienic and beneficial to the body and mind. Raw meat filling needs to be added with broth (or water), commonly known as: beating water, in order to make the meat filling fresh and tender, and the dumplings plump. Some people make meat filling without adding water, and the cooked dumplings have a "dry and woody" texture, with some of the meat breaking through the skin. The amount of water added is 3 to half a pound per catty, with a little less fat filling and a little more lean meat filling. Water should be added after the seasonings are added, otherwise the seasonings cannot penetrate into the food and the water cannot be absorbed. Add water gradually and stir in one direction. Put it in the refrigerator for one hour after beating, and then add chopped green onions when using.