Recipe: Dumplings Stuffed with Roast Pork (Cha Shao Pao)

Cha Shao Pao (dumplings stuffed with roast pork)
rec.food.recipes/Thanh Tran/1997
Makes 24 dumplings

For the dumplings:
1 1/2 pounds flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon powdered yeast
2 tablespoons shortening or lard

For the filling:
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1/2 pound cha shao*, (roast pork) diced small
1 small leek
1 sliced ginger root

For the sauce:
2 teaspoons sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon monosodium glutamate (optional)
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon sesame oil
pinch of red food coloring
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

*You can usually buy roast pork ready-to-go in a Chinese butcher shop in your local Chinatown, but if you don't live near one, I've included a recipe for cha shao after this recipe.

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Dissolve the sugar in the hot water, add the yeast, and mix well; leave to stand for 10 minutes. Add the yeast to the flour and mix in the melted shortening or lard. Mix well, remove from the bowl and knead for about 3 minutes. Shape into a long sausage shape and cover with a cloth.

Blend the sauce ingredients together and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok and fry the diced cha shao, the leek and the ginger over a high heat for a minute. Remove the leek and ginger and discard; pour in the sauce and then add the cornstarch and water to thicken. Stir and cook until the mixture is smooth and homogenous. Leave to cool.

Cut the roll of dough into 24 pieces, flattening each piece with your fingers and shaping into a disk. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each round of dough and enclose, pinching the dough closed with the fingers. Place a piece of waxed paper of foil under each dumpling and leave it to rise for 10 minutes.

Cook in a bamboo steamer for about 10 minutes taking care to leave each dumpling enough space to expand. Do not open the steamer while the dumplings are cooking. Serve warm.

Cha Shao
Makes 12 servings

3 1/2 pounds loin of pork
6 tablespoons honey

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon salt
1 coup soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry
1 tablespoon ginger juice
pinch of red food coloring or 1 teaspoon liquid food coloring

Bone the loin of pork and prick the meat all over with the point of a sharp knife. Cut into slices about 1 1/2 inches thick.

Mix all the sauce ingredients together with the red food coloring and sprinkle over the meat. Leave to marinate for 1 1/2 hours.

Thread one end of each strip of meat onto a metal skewer. Place a cookie sheet on rack to catch drippings. Suspend the pieces of meat from the top rack of the oven (the pieces of meat will hang down through the rack while the skewer rests across the rungs). Leave the meat to hang and dry for 45 minutes.

Roast in the oven at 350F (180C) for 20 to 25 minutes, basting from time to time with some of the honey. When the pork is almost done brush with the remaining honey and let it dry.

Serve hot or cold.