Danwei Canteen: Egg Dumplings

In the second episode of Danwei Canteen, Anhui native Li Zhongqin cooks her mother's egg dumpling recipe, set to music from Anhui. Video also on Youtube and Tudou. See below for recipe.

# Chop up as a piece of meat as finely as possible. Using a meat grinder or buying minced meat will make the job much easier.
# Add a small bit of ginger, a spoon of soy sauce and a spoon of starch to the meat paste.

# Break an egg and separate the yolk from the white. Add the egg white in the meat paste and whisk it until they are thoroughly combined. Break another four eggs into a bowl and whisk them (for) exactly 100 times.

# Heat up a ladle over the cooking flame and then pour some salad oil into it. Tilt the ladle around so that it is fully covered with a thin film of oil. Drain the remaining oil back to the container. Add a spoon of whisked egg into the ladle and tilt until fully covered. When the egg becomes a stiff sheet, add the filling on top. Fold the sheet and mate the two ends. Make as many as you like in the same way.

# Steam the dumplings for 15mins in a steamer.

# At the same time, put some soy sauce, chicken extract, salt, vinegar and sugar into a bowl and mix them together. Heat up some oil in a wok. Add the spices into the oil, then fry and add water. Sprinkle the sauce and some chopped green onion onto the steamed dumplings. Now the egg dumplings are ready to eat.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• danwei
• Jeremy Goldkorn
• Eric Mu
• food
• Cuisine
• Chinese
• cooking show

[xDarkxJonx]

Wow that's a really cool way to use a ladle. I have never seen it done like that.

At the end, that was A LOT of soy sauce. A little too much for the average person to have.

[mikepousti]

i'm a fan of watching chinese cookings. this is pretty interesting.

[bigkittysmile]

very nice to see real chinese cooking. white guy is so funny. cant use chopsticks. 

[1982FMJ]

i like that techqique of using the laddle as a baby wok

[empyrealsoul]

Yes, this certainly can be true. But with garnishes like cilantro and spices like hot peppers, the amounts you want in your bowl is highly subjective. Li Ayi mentions this, but it isn't subtitled. No doubt this recipe is the way Li Ayi's family makes egg dumplings, but it isn't the only way. Filling mixtures and sauces can vary from person to person. (Also, for a healthier, sodium-conscious take on the sauce, use half the oil and soy sauce, and sub in some black vinegar/镇江香醋.) ^_^

[jevalles]

My experience is different. All the families I know have extremely precise ideas as to what is correctly prepared and what is not, and when one region cooks for those from another region, opinions really start flying! Dishes are made in precisely the same fashion--no ifs, ands or buts. No measuring devices used, but the amounts are precise, because they know relative to their body parts. China is vast, & I'm sure there's room for diversity, but not among my circle of Shanghainese families!

[empyrealsoul]

There's no need to be so precise if you're interested in attempting this recipe. Any brand of shengchou (生抽) would work fine. In my opinion, the mushroom flavoured dark soy sauce (草菇老抽) she used is optional and can be replaced with regular dark soy sauce (老抽). A common brand for these sauces both in and outside China is Pearl River Bridge. Hope this helps.

[empyrealsoul]

@steve4nlanguage

Chinese cooking is very casual and uncalculated; nobody follows written recipes. (Another reason why nobody uses measuring spoons/cups.) Chinese people like adding cilantro to a lot of things, but not adding it to your own cooking doesn't make the dish any less authentic. It's all a matter of personal taste, really. :)

[st3phanie2002]

yum!! :D

[ankiutanpytte]

Loved it! Too bad I don't have a gas stove, so I can't try it.. But it was fun to watch anyway! :)

Anyhow... In the next vid, could you include a list of all the ingredients in the decription. Please put both the English and Chinese names of everything (maybe brands of the products too? So we can get the exact thing) It would be really helpful! Then I could just print it with the description on how to do it and do it myself! ..I wouldn't want to bring my laptop in to the kitchen.. he he :P