Mellow Yellow Jerk Dumplings

Jamaican food culture cannot be discussed without mentioning Chinese Cuisine. Chinese migrants came to Jamaica from the Hakka National Group located in the South of China. Many came to work and eventually stayed building their families with other cultures living on the Island. They have shared and also adapted not only food ingredients but cooking techniques. One of the main Chinese cooking staple that are evident in Jamaican cuisines is the inclusion of soy sauce. Tools such as the chopping block and cleaver that are now synonymous with Jerk preparation were some tools/techniques shared from Chinese culture. We wanted to celebrate our Chinese influence this Lunar New Year with a Chinese Jamaican style Mellow Yellow Jerk Dumplings! In this recipe we use ground pork and cabbage filling but this can be substituted with a plant-base filling such as mushroom and tofu. We used our Mellow Yellow Jerk Marinating Sauce because it has all the unique ginger and spice profile that works extremely well with asian cuisines. Give this recipe a try!

Ingredients

• 1 lb napa cabbage, finely chopped

• 1 tbsp. sea salt

• 1 lb ground pork (see vegetarian/vegan suggestion)

• 4 scallions, chopped

• 1 tbsp. soy sauce

• 1 tsp. sesame oil

• 1 tbsp. rice cooking wine

• 2 tsp. sugar

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. pepper

• 1 ½ tbsp. Mellow Yellow Jerk Marinating Sauce

• 1 pack of dumpling wrapper

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine cabbage and 1 tbsp sea salt. Allow mixture to sit for approximately 20-30 minutes. This is to secrete the moisture out of the cabbage. After 20-30 minutes, you should see a puddle building up at the bottom of your bowl. Drain excess water from the bowl. Place cabbage into a kitchen towel and use the towel to squeeze out the remaining water from the cabbage. Discard water.

2. Return cabbage to a medium bowl. Add in ground pork and remaining ingredients. Using gloved hands combine all your ingredients evenly together. Take a small bowl and fill it with water. You will be using the water to seal your wrappers. On a clean surface, place one dumpling wrapper down. Place about 2 tsp of pork filling in the center of the wrapper. Dip one finger into your bowl of water and trace the water on the edge of the wrapper. Carefully fold or pinch your edges together enclosing your dumpling filling. There are many ways to fold and pinch your edges, be as creative as you want to be! Repeat this step until your desired quantity. But remember the more dumplings you eat this year, the more luck you will have!

Vegetarian & Vegan Substitute

Substitute ground pork with your ground plant base option such or sauté 1 lb mushroom (your favorite), chopped and ½ tofu, crumbled season ingredients salt and pepper. Allow to completely cool and then combine remaining ingredients.