SHANGHAI SOUP DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• To prepare the soup, combine the stock, ham, scallion, and ginger in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, for about 8 minutes, or until the stock has reduced by half and you have a generous 2/3 cup. Strain the stock, discarding the solids, and set aside to cool for 15 minutes. Return the stock to the saucepan and sprinkle in the agar-agar or gelatin; there is no need to soften the gelatin in the stock beforehand. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring until the agar-agar is dissolved. After the stock comes to a boil, turn off the heat. Pour it into an 8 by 8-inch baking pan or a shallow bowl to make a thin layer that will cool quickly and be easy to cut up. Refrigerate for 20 to 40 minutes, until the soup is completely cooled and hardened. Quarter it and then peel from the pan. Finely chop and set aside. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate if you are preparing the soup in advance.
• Make the dough as you would for the Basic Dumpling Dough (page 22). Combine the two flours in the food processor or a bowl. Measure out the just-boiled water and add the oil. With the machine running, add the water and oil through the feed tube, or stir it in by hand, until you have a soft , warm dough. Add additional water by the 1/2 teaspoon, if needed. Gather the dough into a ball and transfer to a very lightly floured work surface. Knead processed dough for about 2 minutes and handmade dough for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and a tad elastic. Press your finger into the dough and it should bounce back fairly fast, but with a shallow indentation remaining. Place in a zip-top plastic bag and seal well, expelling excess air as you seal the bag. Let rest at room temperature for 1 hour before using. (The dough can be refrigerated overnight and returned to room temperature before proceeding.)
• To make the filling, thinly slice 1/2 inch of ginger and put it into an electric mini-chopper. Add the scallion, salt, white pepper, sugar, soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil. Process until creamy and fragrant. Transfer to a bowl, add the pork, and use a spatula to combine. Add the gelled stock and continue mixing until well blended and firm. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes to develop the flavors. Makes about 1 2/3 cups. (Unlike other fillings, this one can break down if it sits overnight. If you prepared the gelled soup a day ahead, combine it with the meat the day you make the dumplings.)
• To make the dipping sauce, cut the remaining 1 1/2-inch piece of ginger into fine shreds. Divide the ginger and vinegar between two communal bowls. Taste, and if the vinegar is too tart, add a bit of water. Set aside.
• To make the wrappers, remove the dough from the bag, turning the bag inside out if necessary; the dough will be sticky. On a very lightly floured surface, gently shape the dough into a ball. Cut it in half and replace one of the halves in the plastic bag, sealing well. Roll the other half into a 10 to 12-inch log. Cut into 16 pieces and then roll them into balls, dusting them with flour afterward to prevent sticking. Work on 8 dough balls at a time, keeping the others covered by a dry kitchen towel or inverted bowl to prevent drying. Shape each ball into a circle 2 1/2 inches in diameter, with a 1-inch diameter "belly" in the center; this helps to prevent the soup from leaking out and to keep a consistent thickness throughout. The finished outer rim should be thin enough for you to see the shadow of your fingers when you hold up the wrapper. (For guidance on shaping and rolling, see pages 24 to 25.)
• Before assembling the dumplings, line steamer trays and/or a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. (If you are making the dumplings in advance, or freezing them, lightly dust the parchment paper with flour to avoid sticking.) Hold a wrapper in a slightly cupped hand. Scoop up about 2 1/2 teaspoons of filling with a bamboo dumpling spatula, dinner knife, or fork and position it in the center of the wrapper, pressing and shaping it into a mound and keeping about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of wrapper clear on all sides. This will seem like a lot of filling. Use the thumb of the hand cradling the dumpling to push down the filling and keep it in place while the fingers of the other hand pull up the dough edge and pleat and pinch the rim together to form a closed satchel (see page 52), the only shape for these dumplings. Make sure to pinch and twist the dough at the end to completely close. The finished dumpling will look very pregnant. If you are steaming right away, place each finished dumpling in a steamer tray, sealed side up, spacing them 3/4 inch apart, and 1 inch away from the edge if you are using a metal steamer. If you are unable to steam all the dumplings at once, or if you are going to steam them later, place the waiting ones on the prepared baking sheet with a good 1/2 inch between them. Loosely cover the finished dumplings with a dry kitchen towel or plastic wrap as you form and fill wrappers from the remaining dough.
• While these dumplings can be prepared in advance and frozen like the other dumplings in this chapter, they are at their very best when steamed as soon as they are made. Freeze them on the baking sheet until hard (about 1 hour), transfer them to a zip-top plastic bag, pressing out excess air before sealing, and keep them frozen for up to 1 month; partially thaw, using your finger to smooth over any cracks that may have formed during freezing, before steaming.
• To cook the dumplings, steam them over boiling water (see steaming guidelines on page 17) for 6 to 8 minutes. The dumplings should have puffed up and become somewhat translucent. Remove each tray and place it atop a serving plate.
• Serve the dumplings immediately with the sauce. To eat, pick up a dumpling with chopsticks and place it in a soup spoon; think of the spoon as a tiny bowl. Either bite or poke a small hole at the top with a chopstick. Carefully slurp out the hot soup inside or pour it into the spoon and sip it from there. Finish off the dumpling by eating it straight or dunking it first in the dipping sauce; to be more graceful, spoon a bit of sauce onto the dumpling or into the hole.