CHINESE DUMPLINGS from Beth

Jacob loves to eat Asian foods, especially dumplings. These are usually pretty costly for the quanity you recieve. One day I thought to myself, I bet I could make those! I found a recipe (Sandra Lee), made some modifications and made almost three times the amount (28 dumplings) of dumplings for the cost of what you pay at your local Chinese take-out place.
Now if I could just master the art of making sushi!


INGREDIENTS:
1 (12-ounce) package pork sausage (I use the low fat type.)
2 green onions, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce (like Chinese bbq sauce and can be found at Kroger in the Asain foods aisle.)
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (I use jarred kind. I know, I know. Fresh is better.)
24 square wonton wrappers (Found near the tofu, etc.)
Nonstick vegetable cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl, combine the sausage, green onions, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and garlic.

Place 8 wonton wrappers on a clean surface and brush edges with water.
Place 1 tablespoon of pork mixture in center of each wrapper.
(Depending on the size of the wrapper, sometimes I can only fit about 2 teaspoons on a wrapper.)
Gather edges of wrapper together over filling.
Press edges of wrapper together, enclosing the filling completely.

Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
Fill a large wide pot with 1/2-inch water.
Bring water to a simmer.
Spray a collapsible metal steamer rack with nonstick spray.
Working in batches, arrange dumplings on rack 1-inch apart.

Place steamer rack in a large wide pot.
Cover pot with lid and steam dumplings until cooked thoroughly, about 8 minutes.
Watch the water level and add more as needed. (I add more water between batches.)

Jacob likes to make a dipping sauce combining the Hoisin sauce and soy sauce. We would like to experiment with added ginger to our next batch.

We usually enjoy these with a side of rice.