Elk Pan-Fried Dumplings with Wings
This pan-fried dumpling with wings recipe is extremely rewarding! The next day, I woke up delighted I had a freezer full of dumplings and giddy about quickly mastering dumpling folding; despite how daunting the taste seemed at first.
Good to knows
Meat Ratios
Warning, this recipe makes about 100 dumplings because wild meat, grounded by a hired butcher, is typically frozen in 1 pound portions. You can easily cut this recipe in half, although you'll be surprised at how many dumplings you can eat; plus, they freeze well.
My recipe requires 1 pound of wild game and 1 pound of fatty pork meat to make the sausage-like filling. If you want to use 100% lean wild meat, the texture will be more crumbly and dry.
Veggie Ratios
I enjoy a 60% meat to 40% veggie ratio regarding cabbage ratios, but this is all personal preference. China has hundreds of regional combos with carrots, tofu, and leafy greens. The recipe calls for regular cabbage for crunch factor and napa cabbage for a variation in texture and sweeter taste. If you only want to buy one head of cabbage, napa is more traditional.
Dumpling Wrappers
You can make your dough for dumpling wrappers, but that was too ambitious for me; I bought pre-made dumpling wrappers. The wrappers are often found in the frozen department at grocery stores. If you can find fresh ones with minimal ingredients, those would taste better. I found some on sale at T&T Supermarket, 100 locally made wrappers for only $3.50!!! That's a steal of a deal.
To break up the time it takes to make these dumplings, try making the filling the day before. Extra stuffing can be frozen and added to many dishes such as soups and stir-frys.
Once you get creative with how you make your dumpling shapes, it's fun to do with friends and family over a few beers. Leave a comment if you have questions or share with me your filling recipes and dumpling shapes.
Elk Pan-Fried Dumplings with Wings
Ingredients
Instructions
- Start by finely chopping all the fresh ingredients: 6 cups of diced napa, 8 garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons of ginger, 10 stems of Chinese chives. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, big enough to fit all the meats and veggies, add 1 pound of elk, 1 pound of pork, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon white pepper, 1 teaspoon MSG, 4 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoon sugar, 2 tablespoons sesame oil, 3 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine, 2 tablespoons cold chicken stock, 2 tablespoon oyster sauce. Mix meat vigorously in one direction! You want the mixture to be smooth and tacky. The meat mixture should be sticking to the bowl and hands.
- Once mixed, add the fresh ingredients: 8 grated garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons of grated ginger, and 10 stems of minced chives. Mix gently with hands until all the ingredients are evenly combined.
- Refrigerate the meat mixture for 1 hour or overnight.
- Before making the dumplings, fry up a tablespoon of filling to test salt levels; you might need more soy sauce or salt.
- Add all ingredients of dipping sauce together: 1/2 cup rice vinegar, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon chili flakes or chili oil, 1 tablespoon grated ginger, 1 garlic clove grated, 1 sliced green onion stem. Stir well. The sauce will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks.
- Set up your table. Get sheet pans or large flat containers with lids (for easy stacking in the freezer) coated with potato starch.
- Make room in the freezer to allow for the dumplings to freeze individually to maintain their shape before stacking them in a container for long-term storage
- Unpackage the dumpling wrappers and keep them covered under a damp towel or paper towel to retain moisture as you work. Fill up a bowel with an inch of water to wet the edges of the wrappers.
- To start folding, wet the edges of the wrapper slightly. Add 1 tablespoon of filling in the center. To fold the edges together, you are making little pleats from right to left. Highly suggest you watch a few Youtube videos like this one, "How to Fold Dumplings."
- Mix 1 teaspoon of potato starch (flour or corn starch works too) with 1/2 cup of water.
- Get a non-stick pan with a lid. Add enough oil or lard to lightly coat the bottom.
- Add the dumplings in (fresh or frozen), slightly touching each other, make sure you fill up the pan. Let the dumplings start to brown at the bottom, about 1 minute.
- Add in the starchy water mixture until each dumpling is in about 5-10 mm of water (you might need less or more water depending on your pan). Put the lid on the pan to let the dumplings steam as the liquid evaporates and turn the heat down to medium-low.
- When you see the water has evaporated, turn the heat down to low and let the bottom crisp up.
- Get a plate the same size as the pan, and flip the dumplings onto the plate. Serve right away!
Thank you to John at Bear Paw Taxidermy for gifting me with the ground Elk meat; it was a taste of an animal I've been keen to hunt. John cleaned up my maggot-infested moose head at a fair price if anyone in the greater Vancouver area is looking for a taxidermist.
It's always fun connecting with folks like John, who serve the hunting community and encourage new hunters (like me) to keep at it. I hope to pass on the same message of encouragement through my cooking and writing!
Happy cooking!
Jenny
