Dumpling Dough

Add the flour to the bowl of a food processor.

With the food processor running, steadily pour the boiling water in through the top spout. Let the processor run, mixing the dough until it forms a ball and the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough out on a flat surface and knead for 2-3 minutes to get a smooth dough ball. The dough is pliable and not sticky, so you shouldn't need to flour the surface. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.

While the dough is resting we can make the filling.

Pork and Cabbage Filling

Wipe out the food processor bowl and blade to remove any dough. Add 5 cups of Napa cabbage, sliced in strips, to the bowl. Pulse the cabbage about 8 times, until the cabbage is finely chopped. Transfer the cabbage to a medium bowl and stir in 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Let the cabbage and salt sit for 10 minutes.

Now, add the ground pork to the bowl of the food processor. Then add soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine, hoisin sauce, ginger, white pepper and 1 teaspoon kosher salt to the pork. Pulse the pork with the seasonings about 10 times.

Use your hands to squeeze handfuls of the cabbage, squeezing out as much water as possible. Scatter the squeezed handfuls of cabbage over the pork mixture. Now add the sliced scallions to pork and cabbage. Now pulse the mix until the cabbage and onions are evening mixed into the pork mixture, about 8 pulses.

Transfer the filling mixture to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until we are ready to fill the dumplings.

Cutting and Forming the Dumpling Wrappers

Line 2 sheet trays with parchment and lightly dust the parchment with flour. Set the sheet trays aside. Unwrap the dough and (still on an unfloured surface) roll the ball into a cylinder shape 12-inches long. Use a bench scraper to cut the dough into 4 equal pieces.

Set three of the four dough pieces aside and cover them with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out and developing a skin. Roll that one piece of dough into a cylinder 8-inches long. Use the bench scraper to cut that cylinder in half. Then, cut each half into 5 equal pieces. So we have ten little pieces of dough.

Now, lightly flour your work surface and flatten each of the ten dough pieces with your hand. Once the ten pieces are flattened, set them aside and cover them with a damp towel.

Working one flattened piece at a time, roll the flattened piece into a 3.5-inch circular shape. Place the rolled dumpling wrapper under the damp towel making sure the rolled discs are not overlapping. Repeat with the remaining 9 flattened pieces.

Now, repeat this whole process with the remaining three pieces from the 12-inch cylinder we cut.

Filling and Folding the Dumplings

Take the pork mixture out of the fridge and use a silicone spatula to make a cross in the top of the mixture. Then scoop out on quadrant and transfer that quadrant of filling to a separate small bowl. Re-cover the remaining filling and place it back in the fridge.

Now, take one wrapper from under the damp towel and place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of the wrapper.

Fold the bottom up over the filling to meet the top side of the wrapper, like a taco. Press about one inch in the center of the wrapper together to make a seam, leaving the sides open.

To make a pleat, take the corner of the wrapper farthest from you and fold toward the center seam. Then press the pleat and the corner closed. Repeat with the other corner.

Place the filled and folded dumplings on the prepared sheet tray (no need to cover them on the sheet tray). Repeat with the remaining wrappers.

Pan Frying the Dumplings

Pour 1 tablespoon of vegetable or grapeseed oil into the pan and use a brush to spread the oil, completely covering the bottom of the pan.

Place as many dumplings as you're comfortable frying in the pan. I fit 12 in my pan. Turn the heat up to medium. Fry just until the bottoms develop some browning, about 3 minutes.

Now, slide the pan off heat and add 1/2 cup of water. Slide the pan back over the heat and bring the water to a boil. Then cover, reduce the temp to medium-low. Steam the dumplings for 6 minutes.

Then, uncover and increase heat to medium-high to let the remaining water cook off and for the bottoms to crisp up. Use a silicone fish spatula to transfer dumplings to a platter, be sure to keep them on their sides to keep the bottoms crispy.

To fry the next batch, let the pan cool for about 10 minutes and clean out the pan. Repeat the frying process with the next batch.

To Serve

Serve with separate, small bowls of soy sauce, black vinegar and chili oil for dipping. To make a sauce, mix 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons black vinegar and 1 teaspoon of chili oil.