EPISODE SIX - DUMPLINGS & BAO BUNS 

The making of gyozas, wontons or bao buns are just as meaningful as eating them and Eva shares her favourite Asian Street Food classics to create with your loved ones. 

We’ll kick things off with Chicken and Vegetable Gyozas, Japanese dumplings that are crispy on the outside and bursting with flavour inside. Next, we’ll make delicate pork and vegetable wontons served in a fragrant, comforting soup. To finish, these soft, pillowy bao buns filled with sticky, sweet Five-Spice Pork Belly are an absolute crowd-pleaser! 

Dishes you'll learn to cook: 

  • Japanese Chicken and Vegetable Gyoza
  • Wonton Soup
  • Steamed Bao Buns with Sticky Five Spice Pork Belly

Japanese chicken and vegetable gyoza recipe

Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen airs Wednesdays at 8:30pm on RTÉ One.

Ingredients

Makes 30-35 dumplings

Dumpling Wrapper:

Filling:

  • 300g boneless, skinless raw chicken thigh meat
  • 150g White cabbage
  • ½ white onion
  • 1 small carrot
  • 1 stalk of scallion ( approximately 20g)
  • 6g of fresh chopped ginger

Marinade:

Dipping Sauce:

Method

  1. Roughly chop the cabbage, onion, carrot, scallion and ginger, add to a food processor and pulse / blend for approx. 20 seconds - you want very small pieces that still have texture. Move to a large bowl.
  2. Next pulse / blend the chicken for 15 to 20 seconds in the processor, again retain texture. Add the chicken into the bowl with the vegetables.
  3. Add all the marinade ingredients into the chicken and vegetable mixture, combine well.
  4. Time to make the dumplings! Take a wrapper in one hand, spoon approx a heaped teaspoon of the filling into the centre and then wet the edges. Pull up both sides and pinch the centre together. Then make little folds either side to seal tightly. Make sure it has a little base.
  5. To steam fry the dumplings, add some oil into a non stick pan, put the dumplings base down onto the pan. Fry for 1-2 minutes on medium heat until the base of the dumplings has a light brown colour. Then add water into the pan to cover one third of each dumpling . Cover with a lid and let it simmer and cook for 4 / 5 minutes. You might need to take the lid off for the last minutes to allow all the water to fully evaporate.
  6. Mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce together and enjoy with the dumplings.

Wonton soup recipe

Ingredients

Base:

  • 300g raw chicken wings
  • 1Ltr of water
  • 30g ginger, peeled and finely sliced
  • 2 stalks of scallions - in 2 inch pieces
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • ¼ teaspoon of white pepper
  • 2 pak choi - end trimmed off and halved


Wonton:


Seasonings:

Method

  1. To make the soup, in an 8 inch pot, add a little oil and stir fry the chicken wings for 3 minutes until a little browned.. Add in the water, ginger and scallion and simmer on medium heat for 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. To prepare the wonton filling. Defrost the prawns by running them under cold water for 4-5 mins. This helps maintain the crunch to the prawns when cooked. Depending on the size of the prawns, cut them into half, roughly ½ inch pieces. I like to have a bite to the wontons, so I prefer them to be chunky rather than finely chopped.
  3. Combine the pork and chopped prawns. Add all the seasonings and mix well.
  4. Time to wrap the wontons. Place a wonton wrapper on a plate or your hand, add a little bit of minced pork and prawn mixture. Wet the edges with a little water and fold over, pinching two corners together, then bring the two other corners in together so that all four corners meet in the middle. (It's important to make sure the wonton is properly sealed or else it will let water into the filling making the wonton flavorless.)
  5. To cook the wontons, place them into a medium pot of boiling water filled two thirds of the way. Cook for 8 to 10 mins until the wontons float to the top of the water.
  6. While waiting for the wontons to cook, add pak choi to the soup and cook until tender, approx 3 to 5 mins.
  7. Assemble the dish by placing the wontons into a bowl, place some of the cooked pak choi to the side and pour in some of the soup base. Garnish with some chopped scallions.

Steamed bao buns with five spice pork belly recipe

Ingredients

Bao Buns:
Makes approximately 8

  • 240g Low Gluten Wheat Flour (I use Mantou brand but regular plain flour will work.)
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp yeast
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil ( plus extra for
  • 100 ml warm water
  • 50 ml warm milk


Five Spice Pork Belly:

  • 400g Deboned raw pork belly strips, chopped into 2 inch / 5 cm pieces
  • 1 ½ inch piece of ginger (10g) – thinly sliced
  • 2 pieces of cinnamon stick
  • 2 pieces of star anise


Braising Sauce:

Method

  1. Start with the bao buns. Add all the ingredients into a food mixer, and mix with the dough hook for 3 minutes until combined. Then knead it on a floured surface for 3-4 minutes until smooth. Roll the dough out to about 3 mm in height. Use a round cutter or pint glass to cut out round shapes, an 11 cm cutter will make 8 bao buns .Brush the surface with vegetable oil and then fold that side in - this is so they won't stick too much. Place them on a lined baking tray or plate. Cover them with a tea towel and leave to prove for an one and half to two housr, they will double in size.
  2. Meanwhile get started on your fillings. Heat the wok, add some oil, and when hot, add the ginger pieces and the pork belly. Fry the pork belly on both sides until it is slightly brown in colour. Browning it will add flavour.
  3. Next, add the cinnamon, star anise and stir for a minute or two.
  4. Combine all the braising liquid ingredients and then add it to the pan. Simmer on medium heat with a lid on for 50-55 minutes, until the liquid has mostly evaporated and you are left with a sticky dark sweet sauce coating the pork belly.
  5. When your bao buns have proved, place them into a steamer - still on the grease proof paper - and let them steam for 8 minutes and then rest for 5 minutes. A bamboo or pot steamer will work.
  6. Fill and eat!