This Wong Family's dumpling filling requires its own blog.  A few weeks ago, my family visited our relatives who flew in from Boston for a refresher course on how to make a variation of the fried glutinous rice dumplings 咸水角 that they call 鷄籠 which literally translates to "chicken coop".  For many years, my family would go and feast on their delicious home cooked Cantonese food. Recently, we realized that these recipes that are etched only in their memory need to be recorded, documented and shared for posterity before it's too late.  So, off we went with camera and notepad in hand.

History of Wong Family's dumpling filling.

Aunty Lotus explained that these "chicken coop" dumplings were developed by the Chinese folk living in the countryside and were made for celebrations, holidays and special events.  Since these folks had no refrigeration, these dumplings were made with ingredients that could last for a few days without spoiling such as preserved meat and vegetables or beans. These dumplings or pastries could be brought with them when travelling or kept aside for visitors. 

I remember that the Wong Family dumpling filling was always amazingly flavorful and delicious.  I wanted to learn how to re-create all that flavor, because I knew that their unique filling had no oyster sauce or MSG (monosodium glutamate). 

Each ingredient in the filling contributes its own unique taste and texture. With just a little bit of salt (or soy sauce) and pepper to enhance the flavor, it's fireworks in the mouth with savory, sweet, umami and crunch, all in one bite! The French have their mirepoix as the building block for their dishes, this Wong Family's dumpling filling should be the foundation of many dim-sum dishes.   Over the next few weeks, I'll show you how to adapt the Wong Family's dumpling filling into at least 6 different dishes, creating your own dim-sum spread!

Tips for making the Wong Family's dumpling filling.

The diced ingredients should be finely diced between 1/4-1/2" (<1cm) but large enough to maintain the texture of the individual ingredients. My relatives were very specific about the order in which the ingredients were cooked and to a certain extent, I can understand why. 

Order of cooking.

The varieties of pork are cooked independent of the other ingredients and later mixed together. By cooking the Chinese sausage, bacon and pork meat first, the fat is rendered, requiring less additional oil, if any, to cook the other ingredients and infusing those ingredients with the tasty pork flavor.  Sauteing and caramelizing the shallots provides natural sweetness and adding raw jicama / water chestnuts at the end gives extra crunch to the filling.

Pork.

This recipe calls for Chinese pork sausage, Chinese style bacon and regular pork meat. The best cut of meat would be either pork butt / shoulder roast or pork belly that has some flavorful fat!  Slice the pork into slices and briefly microwave. Microwaving the meat firms up the fat making it easier to dice.  Do not overcook the meat while microwaving!

If you do not want to dice the meat, you can use coarse ground pork.  Sometimes butchers will grind the meat for you.  The key is to keep the pork mince about 1/4"-1/2" (<1cm) big.

Shitake mushrooms.

I rehydrate dried shitake mushrooms in a hot water, soy sauce solution.  This allows the flavor to penetrate the mushrooms. You can use fresh shitake mushrooms, but these are less flavorful.

Salted radish.

There are many varieties of salted radish in the Asian grocery stores.  The most convenient salted radish to use is the diced variety.  This saves you from dicing the radish.  Place the radish in a strainer and rinse it prior to using to remove the excess salt.

Other uses for the Wong Family's dumpling filling.

This dim-sum "mirepoix" can be adapted to not only make the fried glutinous rice dumplings, but also be the filling for steamed rice dumplings 粉果,  spring rolls 春卷, steamed beancurd rolls 腐皮捲, Chinese radish cake 萝卜糕 etc. or just eaten with plain rice!

Let me know if you've made this recipe and how you have used it in the comment section!