1. Prepare the Ingredients

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees and prepare a baking sheet with foil.
• Thoroughly rinse produce and pat dry.
• Mince garlic.
• Coarsely chop spinach.
• Trim and thinly slice green onions at an angle (bias).
• Mince slaw mix. A finer chop on the cabbage will make for a better filling.
• Core, seed, and mince Fresno chile.
• Set a small pot with rice, 2 cups of water and a nice pinch of salt on the stove – you’ll set it to boil once you’ve finished assembling the dumplings.

2. Make the Dumpling Filling

• In a mixing bowl, use your hands to combine:
  • ground pork
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • chopped slaw mix
  • half the garlic
  • half the ginger
  • green onions (reserving a pinch for garnish)
  • 2 Tbsp. of soy sauce.
• Wash your hands.
• Prepare a dumpling assembly area –
  • Clear off a clean surface.
  • Soak a clean kitchen towel and place it on a plate for moistening wrappers.
  • Dampen a second clean kitchen towel for covering finished dumplings.
  • Set out a small bowl of water to wet your fingers.

3. Make the Dumplings

• Moisten one side of a dumpling wrapper on the wet towel and place on clean work surface, wet side up.
• Place 1 1/2 tsp. filling in middle of wrapper and fold edges together, sealing the filling inside. If wrappers need more moisture to seal, dip your finger in water and moisten edges.
• Press air out and squeeze edges together to form a tight seal. You may pleat the seal decoratively, but it’s not crucial. Making sure dumplings are tightly sealed is the priority.
• With seam facing up, press dumplings down on work surface to flatten bottom.
• Set dumplings on a plate and cover with a damp cloth. Repeat until all filling is used (about 20-25 dumplings).

4. Cook the rice and Dumplings, and make the dipping sauce

• Bring pot of rice and water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 18-20 minutes.
• Remove from heat and keep covered until serving.
• Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a medium non-stick pan over medium-high heat.
• Place 8-10 dumplings in pan (do not crowd), flat side down.
• Cook 2-3 minutes, or until bottoms are golden brown.
• Add 1/3 cup water to pan, cover tightly, and cook 3-6 minutes or until a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees is reached.
• Transfer dumplings to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you finish the other batches (these will get extra crispy!)
• Make the dipping sauce while the first batch is steaming.
  • Whisk 4 Tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of rice vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and half of the minced fresno chili to combine.
  • Divide sauce into two portions for dipping.

5. Cook the Spinach

• Wipe out same pan used for dumplings and heat 1 tsp. olive oil over high heat.
• Add remaining garlic, half the minced Fresno chiles, and remaining ginger to pan and cook 30 seconds.
• Add spinach and sesame oil to pan and cook 2-3 minutes, or until just wilted.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Squeeze out excess water with tongs before plating.

6. Plate the Dish

• Place a portion of rice and spinach on a plate and arrange dumplings alongside.
• Add remaining Fresno chile (to taste) to remaining dipping sauce and serve on the side.
• Complete garnishing with remaining green onion.