Confession. I’m into women. Sometimes it’s their intelligence. I’m crushing on a psychologist I think is incredible right now. This time is different though, pure lust, infatuation. I adore Lady and Pups’ food blog. She’s captivated me with her fluid writing, precise styling, and one section entitled “Shit I eat by myself”, which let’s be honest, is hilarious and wonderfully indulgent.
I’ve been an admirer of her blog for some time now, but had many other recipes on the go, so I hadn’t tried one of hers yet. But today, I did. Am I ever glad I did. Let me just start out by saying I’m so thrilled with how straightforward and approachable the technique is for dealing with the dough. The last time I wrestled with dough, I tackled sourdough bread to surprise Bob. It was such a huge disappointment because it involved a loving, 8 hour process. To have that fall flat and resemble naan bread weighted with stones made me so sad. (Bob still ate some because he’s a saint.)
Anyways, back to the recipe at hand. Massive hit. I lovingly pinched meat pies together after finishing up my Chocolate Hazelnut Tart and leaving it to set. My good friend Brooke came over, poured some Promiscuous red wine, and I quickly set pies in a pan to sear. Dinner was then served with a side of asparagus so I could feel I wasn’t destroying my body. We enjoyed a quick dinner so satisfying I wanted to pass out shortly after. (Post hazelnut tart indulgence.) Bob, Brooke and I lingered over the meat pies, weighing whether or not we should eat “just a bite more”. We probably should’ve been weighing ourselves… Then, our roommate Nathan came home, executive chef at Ayden Kitchen & Bar. He tried the pies and said, “Shan, you did good today.” Could I ask for anything more?
Chef approved.
Enjoy them.
Shan
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- DOUGH
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- 2 cups + 1 tbsp (300 g) bread flour
- 1 cup (240 g) warm water, plus 1 tbsp (15 g)
- ¾ tsp salt
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- PORK FILLING
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- 21 oz (600 g) ground pork
- 1 cup (85 g) scallion (finely diced)
- 3½ tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp pepper
- ¾ tsp brown sugar
- 5 tbsp beef stock
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- SCALLION BUTTER
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- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ tbsp diced ginger
- ½ cup diced scallions
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- DOUGH
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- In a stand mixer with a dough-hook, add flour, salt and 1 cup of warm water (slightly too hot to leave your finger in comfortably).
- Mix on low speed for about 3 minutes, scraping the edge of the bowl periodically, until dough starts to form.
- At first, the dough will be dry, then become more wet and sticky the more it is kneaded.
- After the first 3 minutes of kneading, increase to high speed, and knead in the mixer another 6-8 minutes (using a Kitchenaid mixer, it is noted not to go past speed 2 with the dough hook, but since this is a small amount of dough, and it is relatively loose, the mixer should handle it fine. We mixed ours in a Kitchenaid Professional on speed 8.)
- Once the dough becomes very smooth and elastic, add an extra 1 tablespoon of water, and continue kneading on high for 5 minutes.
- Place dough in a covered bowl, and rest at room temperature for at least 2 hours.
- After resting, the dough she be quite shiny, and flattened in the bowl.
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- PORK FILLING
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- In a bowl, mix pork, scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper, and brown sugar with a fork until the mixture becomes thick and resistant.
- Continue mixing, adding the beef stock 1 tablespoon at a time, until fully incorporated.
- Cover, and let rest in the fridge.
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- SCALLION BUTTER
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- In a food processor, mix butter with diced scallions and ginger, process until combined.
- Store in a small bowl.
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- MAKING THE PIES
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- On a well floured surface, remove dough from the bowl, dust with flour, and portion into 10 pieces (about 50 grams each, or 2 tablespoons).
- On the floured surface, flatten a portion of dough, until it forms a circle of dough, about 3-4 inches in diameter, with the edges being about half as thin, as the center.
- While doing this, you can either oil your hands, or dust them with flour to keep the dough from sticking.
- Place about 3 tablespoons (75-80 grams) of the pork filling in the center of the dough.
- Pull the edge of the dough over top of the filling, repeating this around the filling, until all the dough is covering the filling.
- Once dumpling/pie is formed, pinch the dough together at the top to seal, and form into a nicely shaped pie, before placing on a well floured baking sheet, with the pinched side down.
- Repeat this with the rest of the dough and filling, until you have 10 pies.
- On the baking sheet, freeze the pies for about 30-60 minutes, until slightly hardened but still pliable.
- Form the pies into round cylinders, about 1.5 inches tall, with flat tops and bottoms.
- Once formed, you can cook the pies, or store them in the freezer to cook later.
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- COOKING PIES
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- In a large non-stick pan, add about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and heat to medium-high heat.
- Once heated, add meat pies to the pan, making sure not to overcrowd the pan.
- Once pies start to sizzle, add 3 tablespoons of water, and cover the pan with a lid, and turn heat down to medium, and cook about 5-7 minutes until the water has evaporated (this process will steam the pies and help cook the meat all the way through).
- At this point the bottom of the pies should be golden brown and release easily from the pan. Flip them, and cover half-way, cooking for another 5 minutes until golden brown (if necessary, add a little more oil).
- Once cooked all the way through, remove from the pan, brush the top of each pie with scallion butter, dust with chili flake powder, and serve with chili oil and soy sauce.
- *if cooking from totally frozen, the pies may need a little more cooking time for the meat to cook all the way through
Recipe from Lady and Pups, head over to her blog for a great illustration of the entire process of making the meat pies.
Wow, this recipe is breathtaking and the pork looks mouth-watering! Gorgeous images as well. 🙂
Thank you Valentina! We don’t like to over-hype things on here, but these dumplings were absolutely amazing. It was a great recipe from Lady and Pups.
I don’t normally comment on recipes I’ve found on the world wide Web however this one certainly deserves it. I found each pocket bursting with juice, flavors and love. Want more. Thanks B&S.
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