I may have written before about how much my oldest son (recipe reviewer extraordinaire) loves Pork Dumplings.  Although filling them is a good way to get face time with the kids, it certainly isn’t something that can be whipped out on an average week night.   Every week I ask the boys what I should put on the meal plan, and they say “dumplings!”  I really hate to disappoint…

Last week, when I was folding from the never ending mountain of laundry, and watching Everyday Food, the segment was about a Thai dish being made with ground beef instead of some other cut of beef for expediency.  It was an ah-ha moment to be sure.  I could cook the filling separately and serve it with rice in a mere fraction of the time it took to make the original recipe.

I sat down with my oldest son, and explained what I was about to do to his beloved dumplings.  At first he said “no”, but I wheedled until he agreed to give it a fair chance.   It didn’t hurt that I had all the ingredients ready to go.  

A mere 30 minutes later, we had a pan of pork, a pot of rice, and a measuring cup (I was too lazy to find the gravy boat) of sauce that was formerly for dipping but now would be used for drizzling.  If you try the recipe, please note that the sauce is totally to taste, but fresh ginger is an absolute must.  

The only sounds heard at dinner were “please pass the…..”  They ate until they could eat no more (I double the recipe, one pound of meat does not feed  the pre-teen, teen, and dad who keeps up with them).  There was a bit leftover, which I took for lunch the next day, and got snarled at for.  Oldest son does NOT eat leftovers, but he said for that, he would have made an exception.  High praise indeed.

Add Pork Dumplings Deconstructed to your meal plan this week.  It’s a good thing!  : )

p.s.  I think next time I will use a bag of coleslaw mix to make it even faster, and because there’s always more cabbage leftover than I can, or want to, use.