Like this…

Annie’s brother, David, is very innovative and creative. Instead of sticking to just one recipe day in and day out, he works on coming out with new variations other than the ones with kuchai (chives) or the ones like xiao long pao. The son, Anson, dropped by my house again the other day to pass me these…

…David’s latest creation, with cabbage in the filling and he asked me to try to see if I would like his dumplings like this.

Anson said that his father suggested eating them pan-fried so I asked my girl to do it. She loves these dumplings and years ago when she was in Wellington, New Zealand, she would buy those frozen ones from the supermarkets and following the instructions on the packaging, she would fry them herself in her apartment there.

Firstly, she poured some water in the pan and to that, she added two tablespoons of cooking oil…

When it had started simmering, she put in the dumplings, bottoms down…

…and covered the pan with a lid. The evaporating water would cook the dumplings…

…while the oil would brown the bottom and make it fragrant and crispy…

…just the way she liked it.

We had them…

…for lunch that day. The ladies enjoyed them very much but ranked them at No. 2 after the ones with kuchai (chives). It had a strong ginger taste and I’m not a fan of ginger but eaten with my missus’ blended chili, garlic and lime dip, I must say that I did like it too.