Cuttlefish Ink Dumplings (墨鱼饺子)

Dinko's Introduction

I first encountered this dish in Qingdao and I was immediately blown away. Like Italian squid ink pasta, the black dumpling wrap is earthy and eye-catching. Fresh cuttlefish or squid gives the filling a briny yet sweet flavor that makes this seafood dumpling truly one of a kind. I'm so excited to share this recipe with you.

Ingredients

6g (1 tbsp) — squid or cuttlefish ink (you can find this in gourmet food stores and online)

250g (2 cups) — all purpose flour

200g (1/4 lb) — fresh squid or cuttlefish meat

50g (3/4 cup) — chopped chive

125g (1/2 cup) — water

1/2 tbsp — chopped fresh ginger

1/2 tbsp — chopped leek

1 tsp — granulated sugar

2 tsp — salt

1 tsp — black pepper

1 tsp — vegetable oil

Instructions

1. To make the wraps, first measure flour into a bowl and add squid or cuttlefish ink.
2. Add water and mix dough together.
3. Once the dough is mixed, form it into a ball and let rest.
4. While the dough is resting, prepare the filling. First dice the squid or cuttlefish meat and place into a medium sized bowl.
5. Add chopped chive, ginger and leek to the bowl with the squid/cuttlefish and mix together. Then, add salt, sugar, pepper and oil.
6. Set aside the filling mixture and return to the dough. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a well-floured surface. Using your hands, roll the dough ball into a thin log, about 1 inch in diameter. It doesn't have to look perfect.
7. Slice the dough log into 3/4 inch pieces.
8. Use a rolling pin to roll out each piece into a circle a few inches in diameter. The dumpling wrapper should be just a couple millimeters thick.
9. I don't have a good guide of my own yet for how to wrap dumplings, so I encourage you to watch this video if you've never done it before. Some advice: be patient! If you mess one up, you can always re-roll the wrapper and try again.
10. To cook the dumplings, set a big pot of water boiling. Once the water comes to a boil, gently set the dumplings in with a slotted spoon.
11. Cover and boil. After 2-3 minutes, add 1/2 cup of cold water and gently stir to keep them from sticking. repeat this process twice more every 2-3 minutes of boiling. The dumplings will be in the pot for a total of approximately 10 minutes.
12. Remove dumplings from the pot with a slotted spoon and serve with a dish of dark rice vinegar and a dash of sesame oil. Enjoy!

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