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Danjiao (蛋饺) Egg Dumplings ft. Pork and Ramps

Author: Zoe Yang | The Mala Market

Equipment

  • ladle

Ingredients

For the filling:

  • 250 grams ground pork
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
  • ½ tablespoon any rice cooking wine (liaojiu)
  • 1 tablespoon Chinese light soy sauce (Zhongba preferred)
  • 5-10 ramp leaves, washed, dried and finely chopped sub. jiucai (garlic chives)
  • small thumb fresh ginger, minced approx. 1 teaspoon
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (Cuizi preferred)
  • ½ cup water

For the soup:

  • 2 servings dried noodles of choice
  • 2 quarts chicken stock or water
  • 1 piece dried dulse or other seaweed optional
  • 3-5 dried shiitake mushrooms (xianggu), soaked sub. fresh mushrooms
  • baby bokchoy or other leafy greens for garnish, optional
  • salt and pepper, to taste

For the egg wrappers:

  • 8 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons any rice cooking wine (liaojiu)
  • 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon MSG
  • ½ teaspoon ground white pepper

Instructions

Prepare the filling:

  • Place ground pork in a bowl and mix in water vigorously, little by little, using your hand or a spatula. You want to really emulsify the pork with the water until the filling becomes light pink and very fluffy, and the sides of the bowl are smeared with fat (my cooking school instructor in Nanjing said it should look like snot!). Take your time and use some elbow grease—or a stand mixer with a beater attachment. 
  • Once the filling has achieved the right texture, add in salt, sugar and white pepper, and mix again thoroughly. Next, add in Shaoxing wine/liaojiu and soy sauce and repeat. Finally, add minced ramp leaves, ginger and sesame oil, and mix again. Adding ingredients in these stages ensures you are incorporating everything thoroughly and maintaining that bouncy texture.
  • Check your work! Fry a little piece of filling in a frying pan and taste; adjust seasonings as needed.

Prepare the soup:

  • Add chicken stock or water to a pot (a Chinese clay pot or Japanese donabe is best!) and bring to a boil. Season with salt and white pepper, then add any dried flavorings, such as seaweed or mushrooms, and lower heat to a simmer while you make your dumplings!

Prepare the danjiao:

  • Beat eggs in a bowl, then add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
  • Turn a burner on medium low, and spray a stainless steel ladle with nonstick spray. Hold the ladle over the flame for a few seconds to heat up the oil. Pour 2 tablespoons of egg batter into the ladle and swirl it around so that the mixture coats the ladle completely and evenly.
    You’re basically making a tiny omelet in the ladle—it should be thin but sturdy enough to fold. As the egg sets, pour any excess batter back into the bowl.
  • Spoon some pork and ramp filling into the center of the ladle (about 10-12 grams) and using your spoon, gently fold one edge of the omelet over the filling. Press the edges to seal.
    Slide the dumpling onto a plate and set aside, then repeat with the remaining batter and filling. Remember to re-spray the ladle between each dumpling. It’s a delicate operation so it might take you a couple of tries to get the hang of it, but dumplings with cracks or holes are still perfectly OK!
    Remember, the fillings are not cooked yet so don’t eat the dumplings.
  • Once you’ve finished making your dumplings, add noodles to your bubbling soup broth and follow package instructions to cook. In the last two minutes of cooking, lay the dumplings and bok choy/leafy greens, if using, on top of the noodles and cover for the remainder of the cooking time. Keep covered until ready to serve.
    I like to serve egg dumpling noodles right out of the pot, garnished with slivered ramp leaves or cilantro, sesame oil and a mound of chili crisp.