Jiao Zi (Beijing pork dumplings)

Some Jiao Zi pork dumplings, yesterday

The food of the gods! Easy, tasty, and you can freeze them if you make too many. Measurements quoted should produce 8-10 jiao zi dumplings. Preparation: 15 minutes. Cooking: 8 minutes. Satisfaction: guaranteed.

For the filling:

• 200g pork, minced
• Fresh coriander, chopped finely
• 4 or 5 spring onions, chopped finely (substitute for chives if preferred)
• A small piece of ginger, unpeeled and chopped finely
• Soy sauce
• Malt vinegar
• Soy sauce
• White pepper
• Sesame oil

For the casing:

• Plain white flour
• Cold water

Combine the pork, coriander, onions and ginger in a bowl. Add 5 teaspoonsful of vinegar, one teaspoonful of the soy sauce and a few drips of sesame oil. Add pepper if you like your dumplings on the spicy side!

Now put a pan of water on to boil.

Put about 250g of the flour in a separate bowl. Add a small amount of water and mix with your fingers. Keep adding water until you have a basic dough. Divide into pieces no larger than a 2p piece, and roll them into discs, taking care not to make the dough too thin; it should ideally be roughly a millimetre thick.

Now take a disc of dough, and place a teaspoonful of the pork mixture in the centre. Fold over to make a half moon shape, and press the edges together to seal the pork inside. Roll the pleated edges inwards to seal, so that the dumplings resemble tiny Cornish pasties.

When all the mixture is used up, place the jiao zi in the boiling water and cook for five minutes. Dry the cooked dumplings on a piece of kitchen towel or a clean cloth.

You can serve the jiao zi with any surplus chopped coriander, or with a sweet chilli sauce, or why not make your own dipping sauce by combining soy sauce, malt vinegar, chopped red chillies and chopped garlic. You may wish to fry them in a little vegetable oil until golden on one side (see illustration).