Slow Roasted Momofuku Style Pulled Pork & Apple Dumplings

Makes 30-40 dumplings

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I asked you guys over on my Instagram to let me know anything and everything you wanted me to make, first suggestion up was Wagamama pulled pork dumplings. Since I had no clue what they tasted like or what was in them, I figured I'd do a little research on my favourite pork dumplings and see if I couldn't put together something just as, if not more, delicious. I came across RecipeTin Eats recipe for Momofuku Bossam Pork and my god it looked delicious, I knew the simple flavours would be a perfect base for a dumpling so I ran straight to the grocery store to pick up the most gigantic pork shoulder I could find. Now, I hate working with big slabs of meat; i'm not a vegan but I do struggle with raw meat from time to time, so it's always easier when it doesn't resemble an animal that much... However, I knew this would be feeding my family for at least two lunches and maybe even a dinner so it was worth it.

This recipe truly is a labour of love and will take you a lot of prepping and forward thinking but it is totally worth it. If you, like me, find a sense of achievement in making something that makes people say 'wow' then seriously, look no further. This pork is cured for 25-40 hours, roasted for 5, crusted with brown sugar, pulled apart, and finally, mixed with loads of delicious flavours and stuffed into a dumpling wrapper. There couldn't be more wow if you tried.

If anyone wants to take a day to themselves, slow roast a pork, drink a few glasses of wine, learn how to crimp a dumpling (I tried and failed at that hurdle), and feed your family and then some - this is the recipe for you!

PRO TIPS

• If you are looking for a quick way to make these (as quick as possible) buy yourself some ready-made pulled pork or some ground pork. If you are buying ground pork, you don't have to cook it before you put it in the dumpling wrappers.

• I kept my filling simple, but if you're looking to add more stuff to it, you can grate a carrot, dice some mushrooms, or choose a completely different flavour profile altogether!

• If you don't have a non-stick pan, I would stick to just steaming the dumplings as the dumplings might stick to the pan.

• If you are vegan or vegetarian, sub-in pulled jackfruit for the pork.

• I strongly urge you to buy ready-made dumpling wrappers (not wonton) because I made mine by hand and they took hours!! However, if you have the time to kill --> I used China Sichuan Food's recipe.

Recipe

Ingredients

Slow Cooked Pork

• 2-3.5kg pork shoulder (pork butt)

• 1/2 cup of white sugar

• 1/2 cup of kocher or cooking salt (not table salt)

• 7 tablespoons of brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon of kocher or cooking salt

Dumplings

• 1x pack of 40 dumpling wrappers

• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons of sesame oil

• 1 green apple, peeled and grated

• 1 tablespoon of grated ginger

• 1 tablespoon of crushed garlic

• 1/2 cup of chopped spring onions

• 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper

Easy Sweet Dipping Sauce

• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon of chinese vinegar

• 1/2 cup of Thai sweet chilli sauce

Method

Slow Cooked Pork

• I used RecipeTin Eats pulled pork recipe for this. If you don't want to go through the long process of curing and cooking the pork, you can often buy ready-made pulled pork at a grocery store. Alternatively, you can buy ready-made pulled jackfruit as well.

• Click on this to get the link to the recipe, bearing in mind you will need to buy the pork 2 days prior to cooking it so it has time to cure.

Dumplings

1. Shred your pulled pork as much as you can and then mix it in a large bowl with the soy sauce, sesame oil, grated green apple, ginger, garlic, spring onions, and white pepper.

2. Using a bit of water on your finger, wet the circumference of a dumpling wrapper.

3. Place 2 teaspoons of filling into the centre. Press the two wet edges together (folding the circle in half). Firmly press the edges together or crimp the dumpling edge. Make sure to gently press out any air-pockets in the dumpling.

4. Repeat steps 2-3 until you have finished your dumpling wrappers.

5. Heat up a non-stick frying pan or skillet on a medium-high heat. Add in a tablespoon of rice bran oil or any other mild cooking oil.

6. Once the oil is hot, place your dumplings in the pan seam-side up - don't overcrowd it! You may have to do a few batches. Once the bottoms of the dumplings are golden (about 3 minutes), pour in some cold water until it reaches halfway up the dumplings. Cover with a lid and turn the heat down to a simmer.

7. Once all the liquid has evaporated (about 12 minutes) leave the dumplings on the pan for a further 30 seconds to a minute to crisp up the bottoms again.

8. To make the dipping sauce, simply mix the chilli sauce, soy sauce, and vinegar together.

9. Serve the dumplings with my easy sweet dipping sauce and a sprinkle of sesame seeds and spring onions (if you want to make it pretty). ENJOYYYY!

Stay Salty

Romy xx