Pork and chilli mustard potsticker dumplings

Make the dumpling filling. Put the pork, ginger, spring onions, kale and chilli mustard in a mixing bowl. Mix well to break up the mince and bring all the ingredients together.

Put the soy, sesame oil and water in a small bowl. Pour this liquid over the pork mixture and mix firmly for a minute or two with a wooden spoon to combine all the ingredients. You should have a firm, cohesive and slightly sticky mixture. Put the filling in the fridge while you prepare the dough.

Put the flour in a medium mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre. Add most of the hot water into the flour in a steady stream, all the time stirring with a wooden spoon to make sure all the flour gets wet. If you need to you can alternate stirring and pouring as it is tricky to do both. The dough will look a bit lumpy. Use your hand to bring the dough together in a ball, only add a little more water if it is very or dry or doesn’t come together. Turn the dough out onto the worksurface and knead for a couple of minutes. It should look quite smooth. Put in a sandwich bag and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into two even pieces. Put one piece back into the sandwich bag so it doesn’t dry out. Roll the other piece into a sausage shape about 2cm diameter. Use a knife to cut the sausage into 8 even pieces.

Take one piece, put it on your work surface, cut side down, and push it into a flat disc. Use a small rolling pin to roll it into a circle about 6cm in diameter. Then use the rolling pin to roll out the edges of the circle a bit thinner until the circle is 8-9cm in diameter.

Dollop a generous teaspoon of filling into the middle of the dough, and then holding the dumpling in one hand bring the two sides of the circular dumpling wrapper to meet in the middle above the filling and pinch together with your other hand. Using the hand that is not holding the dumpling create pleats on either side of the middle pinch, folding the top side of the dumpling wrapper and then pushing it against the bottom side of the wrapper to seal. Put the dumpling on the table and push down lightly to create a flat bottom, curling the ends of the dumpling in to create the typical crescent shape. If pleating the dumpling is too tricky just make a half moon shape by folding the wrapper in half and pressing together to seal the edges and then putting it on the table and pushing down so it has a flat bottom for sitting in the pan. Put the filled dumpling on a very lightly floured tray and cover with a tea towel. Repeat with the rest of the dough and the filling.

To make the dipping sauce combine all the ingredients and mix well and then divide between individual dipping dishes.

Heat a heavy-based wide frying pan or sauté pan with a lid over a high heat. Add a tablespoon of neutral oil to the pan, when the oil is hot add the dumplings flat side down, leave a bit of space between them as they will puff up as they cook. Turn the heat down to medium and cook for a couple of minutes until the bottoms are lightly browned. Add approximately 100ml of water to the pan then close the lid. Leave to cook over a medium heat for around 10 minutes until most of the water is absorbed. Uncover the pan and continue to cook for a further couple of minutes.

Check the contents are piping hot before serving. If they aren’t cooked yet, add a little more water, put the lid back on and cook for a few more minutes. Serve the dumplings immediately with the sauce for dipping.

Cook’s tip: These dumplings can be made with shop bought dumpling wrappers (you can usually get them in the frozen section at an Asian supermarket) but you will need to use a little water to help seal the wrappers as they aren’t as soft as homemade ones.