Directions

Make the Filling

1. Add oil, minced garlic, ginger, shallot, and diced scallions to a wok. Stir over medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes or until all the aromatics are slightly golden on edge. Turn off the heat and set it aside to cool.
2. Cut the tilapia fillet into bite-sized pieces and grind it with the blender until fine.
3. Add the ground tilapia and pork into a mixing bowl. Season them with white pepper, garlic powder, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and XO sauce. XO is a classic HK-style sauce made with dried seafood, cured meat, and lots of aromatics. It provides a unique umami taste that pairs well with seafood. Asian markets will carry this sauce, but it is expensive. Mine is homemade; the recipe is in this video. It is optional. If you skip it, use 1/2 tbsp more oyster sauce to compensate for the sodium shortage.
4. Add the fried aromatics to the filling and mix in one direction for a few minutes or until your arms are sour. Set the filling in the fridge.

Make the Wrapper Dough

1. Dissolve the salt in the water, then pour it into the flour in batches and mix well. If you don't have bread flour, use all-purpose flour.
2. Knead the flour until a rough dough forms. Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes to relax the gluten.
3. Knead for another 5 minutes or until smooth. Roll it into a short log. Then cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
4. Roll it into a long even log and divide it into 24 even pieces, about 12-13 grams each. Sprinkle some flour to prevent them from sticking to each other. Cover them with an upside-down bowl, so they don't dry out.

Wrap the Dumplings

1. Flatten a small piece of dough. Right-hand pushes the rolling pin back and forth. Left-hand turns the dough. Repeat, and you will get a round wrapper.
2. Put 1 tbsp of filling in the middle of the wrapper. Fold in half and pinch the edge to seal the dumplings. If you don't know how to wrap dumplings, check out this demo video.
3. Flour the tray thoroughly, and put the dumplings away, and continue to fold the rest.
4. Bring a pot of water to a boil, use a spoon to create a vortex, and add the dumplings in one by one. This way, they will flow with the water instead of sinking to the bottom directly. Otherwise, they will stick to the bottom and lose a part of their skin.
5. Keep the heat at medium and wait for the water to come back to a simmer. Then we will do the Dian Lengshui method, which is adding cold water ( 1/2 cup) to drop the temperature. We will do it twice, so wait for it to come back to a simmer and add another 1/2 cup of water. It helps you to keep the temperature below the boiling point. If the water is boiling the whole time viciously, the moisture inside the dumplings will evaporate fast and cause expansion. That might break the wrapper.
6. Cook the dumplings for 8 minutes in total and take them out.

Make the Dipping Sauce

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the grated garlic, Chinese black vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. This dipping sauce is northern Chinese style, so it is intense on garlic and vinegar. You can check this video to get six other dipping sauce recipes if you don't like it.
2. Serve the dumplings with the dipping sauce.