I was looking for an easy dinner idea one night and came across a recipe for inside-out pork dumplings on Whole Living's website. It basically looked like a stir-fry with ground pork and wonton wrappers. I liked how simple and light the dish sounded, and most of the flavors appealed to me. What didn't appeal was all the bok choy (I've never been much for bitter greens) and white vinegar (it seemed like it would be too harsh). So I made a few tweaks and came up with these deconstructed pork dumplings with snow peas.
Jeff and I both really enjoyed this, and it comes together pretty quickly--besides that the wonton wrappers need to be boiled individually for a minute each. The original recipe calls for 24 wonton wrappers, but I cut back to 12, just to save time. I used snow peas because when I was shopping for the other ingredients, they caught my eye and I thought their crunch would be a nice addition. I can definitely see making many versions of this with different vegetables.
Deconstructed Pork Dumplings With Snow Peas (adapted from Whole Living)
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3 scallions, whites and greens separated, sliced thinly on bias
8 ounces ground pork
8 ounces snow peas
1 cup shredded carrots
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
Kosher salt
12 wonton wrappers
Preparation
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
Heat oil and red pepper flakes in skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, and scallion whites. Cook, stirring, until scallions are tender, about 1 minute.
Add pork, breaking up with spoon, until cooked through, about 3 minutes.
Stir in snow peas. Cook until bright green, 1 to 2 minutes.
Turn off heat and stir in carrots and vinegar, and season with salt.
Cook wonton wrappers in boiling water, one at a time, until al dente, about 1 minute each.
Using tongs, transfer cooked wontons to skillet as they're finished.
Once all wontons are cooked, toss everything in skillet together and top with scallion greens.
Serve.
What veggies would you use in a dish like this?