"Whether the dumplings are good or not depends on whether the filling is well adjusted or not", this is true at all. I remember last year, I excitedly wrapped a pot of dumplings, but the whole family silently put down the chopsticks after taking a bite. The smell, whether it is salty or not, whether it is fragrant or not, has an indescribable strange smell, and even my dog, who has never been picky, walked around. Later, I consulted a chef who has been making dumplings for decades, and I learned that the problem was in the seasoning - I put those two "dumpling killers"!

First taste: cooking wine

Many people think that cooking wine can remove the smell and increase the flavor, and they always like to pour a little bit into the meat filling. As everyone knows, this is simply a "disaster in the dumpling world". Cooking wine can indeed remove the fish, but it is completely different when used in dumpling filling. In the process of making dumplings, the filling is tightly wrapped in the dough, and the alcohol of the cooking wine cannot volatilize at all, and finally it is all stuffed in the dumplings. The boiled dumplings not only have a smell of wine, but also make the meat filling hard and completely lose its tender and juicy taste.

The old chef told me a secret: a really good dumpling filling depends on the taste of the fresh ingredients themselves. Pork should be three points fat and seven points lean, and beef should be best used beef brisket, these parts of the meat have their own fresh fragrance, and there is no need for cooking wine to "help". If you are really worried about the fishy smell, you can use green onion and ginger water instead of cooking wine - smash the green onion and ginger and soak it in clean water, and the filtered juice can not only remove the fishy smell but also leave no peculiar smell, which is the correct way to open the filling.

Second flavor: five-spice powder

Five-spice powder can be called the "terminator of dumpling taste". This compound spice contains a variety of spices with strong flavors, such as star anise, cinnamon, and Sichuan peppercorns, and it is simply "noisy" when placed in the dumpling filling. It will completely cover up the umami of meat and vegetables themselves, and only a taste of Chinese medicine shop will be left in the mouth. To make matters worse, the peppercorns in the five-spice powder will make the filling bitter, and the star anise will make the meat filling dry, which is a "double whammy".

我家樓下那家開了二十年的餃子館老闆說，他們調餡從來只用最簡單的調料：鹽、醬油、香油、胡椒粉，頂多再加點蠔油提鮮。這些基礎調料既能突出食材本味，又不會搶戲。特別是現磨的白胡椒粉，比五香粉不知道高到哪裡去了——既能去腥增香，又不會蓋過主味，這才是調餡的藝術。

The correct posture for mixing the filling

既然知道了不該放什麼，那該怎麼調出一盆完美的餃子餡呢？三十年老廚師教了我幾招：

Be particular about choosing meat. It is best to use the front leg meat for pork, which is fat and thin; Beef is brisket or brain; Lamb should be made with leg meat. The key is to chop the stuffing by hand, and the taste of the machine-ground meat is far from good.

Fetching water is key. A pound of meat filling should be beaten into about 150ml of green onion and ginger water, and added in three times, each time it should be stirred in one direction until the water is completely absorbed. In this way, the filling will be tender and juicy.

Keep the seasoning simple. In addition to salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, and pepper, you can add a little oyster sauce or sugar to enhance the freshness. But remember that "less is more", and the more types of spices, the more cluttered the flavor will be.

Vegetables should be handled properly. Vegetables with a lot of water, such as cabbage and leeks, should be squeezed dry after chopping; Shiitake mushrooms, carrots, etc. should be stir-fried until fragrant before stir-mixing. It is best to have a 1:0 ratio of vegetables to meat, so that the taste is most balanced.

Keep these points in mind and avoid the two "dumpling killers" of cooking wine and five-spice powder, and you can also make a good filling that you can't stop taking one bite after another. Try it next time you make dumplings, you can be sure to amaze your family!

Tips: The medical science knowledge in the content is for reference only, does not constitute a medication guideline, does not serve as a basis for diagnosis, do not do it yourself without medical qualifications, if you feel unwell, please go to the hospital in time.