How to make maple pork and basil dumplings at home

Seattle-based food writer, photographer and designer Frankie Gaw joined Good Morning Ameria to create a dish that blends classic and traditional technique with inventive flavors and ingredients.

Gaw’s food blog Little Fat Boy, which he started while working as a product designer for companies like Facebook and Airbnb, was nominated for a Webby and won the 2019 Saveur’s Blog Award.

Now his debut cookbook, First Generation: Recipes from My Taiwanese-American Home, expands his story and recipes to new audiences.

Check out one of these recipes below and learn how to make their food at home.

Maple pork and basil dumplings

“I love using my grandmother’s dumpling techniques with ingredients that she may not necessarily have chosen. This recipe combines classic ground beef with aromatic, fresh basil and maple syrup. Onions add natural sweetness and subtle texture in place of the traditional Chinese cabbage (but I use my grandma’s salting and squeezing technique to drain the onion’s excess water so it becomes a sponge of flavor.) Spring onions, garlic, and ginger round out the rest of flavors to create a filling full of contrasting tastes and textures. Pork is usually my first choice for the meat in this dumpling, but freshly ground chicken thighs make a great substitute.”

ingredients

1 pack of dumpling leaves

For the filling

1 small sweet onion, finely diced

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 pound ground beef

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

4 garlic cloves, grated

2 spring onions, green and white parts, chopped

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons chopped basil (1 large bunch)

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon maple syrup

Neutral oil for frying in a pan

toppings

Chopped chives

Chopped Basil

shallot oil

directions

Prepare the onions: In a large mixing bowl, combine the onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix with your fingers to fully incorporate the salt. Set the onions aside to sweat out the water for about 10 minutes. Place on a thin tea towel or a few layers of thick paper towels and wrap around the onions to enclose them. Using your hands and brute force, squeeze as much excess water out of the onions as possible.

Make the filling: In a large mixing bowl, combine the onions, pork, ginger, garlic, scallions, basil, maple syrup, and remaining 1 tablespoon salt. Using your hands, mix in a circular motion until the filling looks homogeneous and feels sticky, about 3 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate, up to a day ahead, until ready to form the dumplings.

Fold dumplings: When ready to fold, place a spoonful of filling about 1/3 the size of the paper in the center of the paper. Close the dumpling with a fold of your choice (see pages 131-136). Repeat until you run out of filling or wrapping. Tip: If you have extra filling and are having pizza night, crumble some of this mixture onto your pizza. It goes seamlessly with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and olives.

Pan-fry the dumplings: In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon neutral oil and place the dumplings, bottom-side down, in the pan. Fry for 1-2 minutes until bottom is browned. Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan and place a lid on top (the water will splash when it hits the oil, so be careful!). Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 6-8 minutes, adding more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, as water evaporates. Remove the dumplings from the pan and serve garnished with chives, basil and a dash of spring onion oil.

Reprinted with permission from First Generation: Recipes from My Taiwanese-American Home by Frankie Gaw. Text and photography by Franklin Gaw, Copyright  2022. Published by Ten Speed ​​Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.