Recipe: David Zhou’s Lunar New Year Hotpot With Egg Dumplings and Pork Belly

Between his namesake David’s and his two Oriental Tea House restaurants, chef-restauranteur David Zhou has a well-established roster of dishes to share with the world. But to mark Lunar New Year he has reached back even further, to a dish from his childhood that he hasn’t prepared in decades.

“I would make these dumplings with my sister when our parents were at our work,” says Zhou of the Family Fortune Lunar New Year Hotpot. “We watched how our neighbours made them at the Lunar New Year and copied that. It’s a warm memory for me.”

A traditional new year dish, this hotpot centres on golden-coloured egg dumplings that resemble the old Chinese currency, symbolising wealth and good fortune. Meanwhile, the overall mingling of ingredients represents family. “It’s like a ‘good wish’ dish,” he says.

The dish includes dumplings, pork belly, mushrooms, fish fillets, pork mince and pork rinds. The dumplings aren’t doughy in the least, and the many ingredients combine in a surprisingly subtle fashion.

It includes a trio of sauces and oil that Zho singles out for “consistency and flavour”: Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand Oyster Sauce, Squid Brand Fish Sauce and Yeo’s Pure Sesame Oil. The addition of enoki mushrooms and chopped spring onions at the very end contributes to the sweet aromas that will fill the whole kitchen.

Zhou emphasises that time spent making this hotpot is all about togetherness. “You’re spending a couple of hours together,” he says. “It’s really about the experience: it gives you a warm feeling.”

Want more home-cooking inspiration? Sign up to our Cooking newsletter for weekly dishes from top Aussie and international chefs – from quick dinners to weekend projects.

David Zhou’s Family Fortune Lunar New Year Hotpot

Serves: 3–4 people
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients

Egg dumplings with pork belly filling
300g pork belly, minced
2 tbsp Squid Brand Fish Sauce
2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Superior Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand Oyster Sauce
1½ tbsp Yeo’s Pure Sesame Oil
Pinch of white pepper
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 thin slice (about 50 cent coin size) of ginger, diced finely
Spring onion, 2 sprigs diced finely
3 eggs for dumpling skin
Vegetable oil for cooking set aside

Hot pot
10g shiitake mushrooms
25g pork rind
150g Hakubaku organic udon noodles
350g Chinese cabbage, washed and chopped
Kernels from 2 ears of corn
100g cooked bamboo shoots
2 thin slices (about 50 cent coin size) of ginger
20pc Egg Dumplings made from early on
1 large King Oyster mushrooms, sliced into 3mm pieces
Meat balls rolled out of the Egg Dumpling pork belly mince
1L chicken stock
4g salt
100g fish fillets
10g spring onion, sliced
50g enoki mushrooms

Method

Start with the dumplings. To make the filling, add all the ingredients except eggs to the minced pork belly and mix well. Beat eggs until combined separately, adding a bit of oil and salt.

Heat a large ladle over low to medium flame, add a half teaspoon of vegetable oil, heat the ladle by swirling it in the oil until evenly coated. Add a tablespoon of beaten egg to the oiled ladle, turning it till it’s covered in a thin egg skin.

Add about half a tablespoon of the pork mixture to the ladle, slightly off-centre. Lift one side of the egg skin with chopsticks and fold it over the mince to form a half-moon shape. Gently press the edges down with the tip of a chopstick. Turn to cook on the other side for 2–3 seconds (we’ll cook them again in the hotpot later).

Repeat to make around 20 dumplings. For left over filling, roll into meat balls

For the hotpot, soak the shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 15 minutes, then wash and remove the stems. Soak pork rind in hot water for 20 minutes, then chop into 3–4cm strips. Boil noodles for 4 minutes, and put to the side.

Place the stem of the chopped cabbage into a big pot. It will produce a lot of liquid, which prevents the ingredients sticking to the pot. Add corn kernels, shiitake mushrooms, pork rind, bamboo shoots, ginger and noodles. Cover with the remaining Chinese cabbage leaves, then arrange egg dumplings, oyster mushrooms and meatballs on the Chinese cabbage leaves. Add chicken stock and salt. Cover with lid and cook over a high flame.

Once it’s come to the boil, place the fish fillets in the middle of the pot. Put the lid back on, then turn off the heat once it’s boiling again.

Add enoki mushrooms and chopped spring onions to garnish, and serve.

Looking for more ways to use pork mince? Visit Broadsheet's pork mince recipe hub.