Soup dumplings, the KungFu Bros way: A recipe from best new restaurant No. 2

KungFu Bros in Westland ranked No. 2 among the 2023 Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Top 10 Best New Restaurants. Here's a recipe for a favorite dish at the Westland eatery.

At Kungfu Bros Dumplings in Westland, the secret ingredient in their soup dumpling filling is pork skin. The pork skin, owner Ziye Wang said, makes the soup dumpling juicy. The pork skin is cooked in advance and refrigerated so it becomes gelatinous, like an aspic. This also makes it sticky so it holds the filling together, but melts into a liquid when the dumpling is cooked.

More:Handmade dumplings and family make KungFu Bros a Westland destination

You can find pork skin at specialty markets like Honey Bee Market on Bagley Street in southwest Detroit’s Mexicantown neighborhood. If you can’t find pork skin, use pork belly, which can be found at many grocery stores.

You will want to use pork that is at least 80% lean and 20% fat. Good options include a pork chop (do not use loin chops) or pork shoulder.

Soup dumplings

Makes: about 30 dumplings / Prep time: 2 hours (plus overnight chilling time) / Total time: 3 hours

This recipe is adapted from KungFu Bros Dumplings, and several other recipes. If you can't find pork skin, you can use a skin-on pork shoulder or pork belly (fatty part only). This recipe is made over two days.

For the meat gelatin or aspic

½ pound pork skin, cut into 1-inch strips

1 pound pork neck bones or ham bones with a little meat on them.

Water

2 slices ginger

1 green onion,  cut into 3 pieces

Dough

3/4 to 1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

1/2 cup warm water

Pork filling

1/2 pound ground (see note) pork shoulder or other fatty pork (not loin chop)

1/4 cup minced onion

3 medium green onions, finely minced

3 large cloves garlic, peeled, finely minced

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger, finely minced

A few tablespoons of water

1 cup of pork aspic, diced into 1/2-inch pieces

Add the pork skin and pork bones to a small pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a rolling boil, and immediately drain and rinse off the bones and the skin. This gets rid of any impurities.

Rinse out the pot and put everything back in. Add 4 cups of water along with the ginger, green onion and, if using, wine. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, turn off the heat, allow the soup to cool, and strain the liquid into a bowl. Discard leftovers in the pot. Once the liquid is completely cooled, cover and refrigerate overnight.

For the dough:

Most recipes call for flour and water. At Kungfu Bros Dumplings, Ziye Wang also uses an egg. In a mixing bowl (or use a stand mixer), add the flour and warm water, mixing for about 5 minutes or until the mixture comes together and forms a dough. Work and knead the dough for 15-20 minutes. The dough should be very soft and smooth. Roll the dough into a log and cut the log into two lengthwise logs. Cover with a cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes.

To make the filling:

To grind the pork, make sure the meat is very cold. Place it in a food processor and pulse to grind. Or use a grinder. In a bowl, mix together the ground pork with ginger, garlic, onion and green onion, and water. Add the pieces of pork aspic. Set mixture aside.

To roll the dough: Cut each log in half crosswise. Cut each half crosswise into thirds, and then slice each of those pieces into three even coins. You should have 30 pieces of equal size. Toss the pieces in flour to coat them evenly and then cover them with a clean towel so they don't dry out.

Roll one piece of dough into a 3-inch circle that's not too thick and not too thin. (You want a little plumpness to the finished dumpling.) Roll from the edges toward the center as you rotate the dough. This rolling technique helps create a round with thin edges and a thicker center. Roll several at a time and keep them covered with a damp towel so they don't dry out.

Place about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the filling in the center of the dough circle.

Using a steamer basket, set over just boiling water and working in batches, place the dumplings -- without them touching --  in the steamer. Steam for 9-10 minutes. Remove the dumplings from the steamer and serve.

To eat a dumpling, use chopsticks and a big spoon. Place the dumpling on the spoon and use the chopstick to poke into the dumpling so the juices seep out.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Recipe: Here's how to make KungFu Bros' soup dumplings