Green Garlic and Ground Pork Buns Two Ways - Steamed and Pan-Fried

I bought a bunch of green garlic a few days ago which, while I was discussing with a fellow foodie friend, made us both start to crave Chinese Green Garlic and Ground Pork Buns. I dug up an old recipe, we worked well in tandem, and each produced a plate of exactly what we wanted to eat. Hers is on the left, mine on the right - she did better on the steamed bun, my pan-fried bun is neater.

Once you get the hang of pleating the dough around the meat, these are actually quite easy to put together.

Makes 6 dinner sized buns - steamed, pan-fried, or - like us - a mix of both.

Dough:

3 Tbsps cornstarch topped up with enough flour to make 1 1/2 cups total

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsps sesame oil

between 1/2 cup and a cup of water. This very much depends on how long you have had the flour or if, like me, you keep it in the freezer

Measure the dry ingredients into a bowl.

Add the liquids (start with half a cup of water and work your way up) and, using your hand, mix everything together until it all comes together and forms a smooth and shiny ball. Cover with plastic film and let rest for an hour.

Once the dough has rested and the filling is made, divide the dough into 6 pieces.

Flatten each piece into a round with a rolling pin, leaving the very center of the round slightly thicker than the edges. This will be the bottom.

Filling:

10 oz ground pork

1/2 cup finely chopped cabbage or chopped greens (we used snow pea tips)

1 cup chopped green garlic

1 Tbsp sake

1/2 tsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp grated ginger

1 finely chopped clove garlic

1/2 tsp sesame oil

3 Tbsps ice cold water or chicken stock

Mix all the filling ingredients except for the water together until well combined.

Add the ice water (or stock) and stir together until the liquid has been mostly absorbed by the pork. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes, or while you roll out the dough as described above.

Form the meat mixture into 6 meatballs - this will simplify assembly.

Steamed dumplings:

To assemble the steamed version, check out this video.

As you fill each dough round, and pleat it shut, place it on a parchment or cabbage leaf lined bamboo steamer.

Once all those you are steaming are ready, place the bamboo steamer, covered, over a pan filled with water. The water should not touch the bottom of the steamer.

Turn the heat to medium and steam for 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let sit for an additional 5 minutes before removing the cover off and serving, with soy sauce on the side for dipping purposes.

For the pan-fried version:

No pleating involved with the pan-fried version, just fold the four corners of the dough round into a parcel around the stuffing and use the rolling pin and your hands to flatten it into something that looks like a hockey puck in shape.

Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. As soon as it shimmers add the dumplings. Lower the heat to avoid as much splattering as possible and cook for two minutes on each side.

Place in a steamer (as described above) and steam for five minutes to ensure that the dough and the meat are cooked through.

We had these with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, sesame oil, black vinegar and a touch of brown sugar, but just soy sauce would work too!