Wandering the streets of Binondo is a bold adventure. You're putting yourself at risk of drowning in the crowd of Ongpin or getting lost in the side streets. The only way to navigate our Chinatown is to know the landmarks—and we're not talking about the red arch or the church. We're talking about the restaurants that we always go to that, at this point, it's become muscle memory to walk towards them.
One of these spots is Dong Bei, a humble dumpling shop whose line outside already seems to be cemented on its exterior. People flock to try, bring home, or hoard Dong Bei kuchay dumplings, a pork and Chinese chives combo that's ultimate comfort food, channeling back all the energy drained by Manila back to your body at every bite. We hacked this recipe so you don't have to venture all the way to Binondo each time a craving hits.
Ingredients
Filling
- ½ cup ground pork
- 3 ½ tbsp finely chopped kutchay (Chinese chives)
- 2 tsp finely chopped ginger
- 2–2 ½ tsp Maggi Magic Sarap
- 1 tsp oil
Dumplings
- 30 dumpling wrappers
- water, for sealing
In a large bowl, mix pork, kutchay, ginger, Magic Sarap, and oil until well-combined. You can use your hands when mixing.
Working one piece at a time, scoop 1 teaspoon of filling onto the center of 1 dumpling wrapper.
Brush the edges of the wrapper with water, then fold it in half, pinching the sides to seal. Light press the sides of the dumpling down to flatten its bottom.
Repeat steps 2–4 until all 30 dumplings are filled and folded.
In a wok, pan, or pot, add water and bring to a boil over high heat.
Line a steamer with parchment paper, then place it over your wok, pan, or pot. Make sure that the water doesn't reach the bottom of the steamer.
Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium, then add your dumplings into the steamer.
Cover the steamer with a lid and cook the dumplings for 8 mins.
Serve warm.
Notes
Steam the dumplings in batches, if needed. Keep checking to make sure that you don't run out of boiling water.
