February's
#Brunchclub meetup at Sachies's Kitchen
This month's #Brunchclub event
was a bit different. Instead of chatting over brunch we went to Sachies's
Kitchen for a class on dumpling making. We were split into
teams and had a Masterchef style cook-off. Team Bonsai didn't get off to the
best start with the origami folding and Chinese whispers challenges but we
picked up some vital points with the taste and presentation of our dumplings
(the most important points) to finish a respectable second place. After eating our dumplings we all sat down for a chat with the team from Contiki about their new tour, Japan unrivalled.
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| Sachie was a fantastic teacher. |
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| Getting our steam on. |
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| Pan-fried to perfection. |
I decided to see how well I had paid attention and make the dumplings again at home. I went to Mt Roskill Fresh which is my
go-to Asian supermarket to get the ingredients which were pretty affordable.
Dumpling pastry (pack of 60) was $3.20 and pork mince $7/kg. There were three
grades of pork mince (fatty, prime and premium) and as per Sachies instructions I
went for a fatty mince to give the dumplings a juicy quality.
I have a dumpling press which I got at Daiso for $3.50, I've also seen them at Japanmart. I thought this would be quicker than hand folding but it turned out I was as quick hand folding as Matt was with the press (although he did he keep over-filling it). The press doesn't allow for as much filling as hand-folded as it has a wider edge but if you can't get the knack of hand-folding then this is a great tool for making dumplings at home and they look very professional too.
I think they turned out pretty well and I even made enough to freeze some for later. Just place the dumplings on a chopping board and put it in the freezer, when frozen chuck them in a ziplock bag. Boom! Just as good as store bought.
Thanks to our amazing #Brunchclub organisers Laura, Maddy and Lizzy, Sachie and her team at Sachies Kitchen and Contiki for a fantastic event! Also thanks to Edward Weaver for letting me use the great photos he took at the event.
This is a great chinese dumpling recipe and step-by-step guide on how to fold dumplings. There is also this video made by the dumpling sister's which is really helpful.
