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1
Cover and bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Prepare an ice-water bath. Add the whole heads of bok choy to the pan, and gently boil until tender, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bok choy from saucepan, and plunge into the ice-water bath. Drain, discarding the liquid, and finely chop. Place the bok choy in a clean kitchen towel or a double thickness of cheese cloth, and squeeze out all the water. Transfer to a bowl, and set aside.
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2
In a medium bowl, combine the pork, egg, cornstarch, oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, the ginger, the fish sauce if using, salt, and pepper. Add the chopped bok choy, and mix well.
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3
Lightly dust a baking sheet with cornstarch. Make dumplings (*for assemblage directions, see below). Place completed dumplings on the baking sheet; cover with a damp towel.
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4
Cover and bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add as many dumplings as will fit without crowding. Gently stir them up from the bottom to prevent sticking, cover, and return to a boil, about 1 minute. Uncover, add 1/4 cup cold water, replace the cover, and return the water to a boil. Boil for about 2 minutes more. Remove dumplings with a slotted spoon, and keep warm. Continue until all the dumplings are cooked.
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5
Make the dipping sauce by combining the remaining soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and scallion. Mix well, transfer to small serving dishes, and serve with the warm dumplings.
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6
To fill dumplings, place a wrapper in one hand, and spoon about 1 tablespoon of the filling into the middle of the wrapper. Moisten the edges with water. Fold to form a crescent shape around filling. There are two ways to shape dumplings: For a smooth edge, tightly pinch the edges closed. For a pleated edge, pinch the edges together only in the top center to seal. Pinch 6 small pleats (3 on either side of the sealed center point) along the top layer. Seal dumplings by pressing pleated and unpleated edges together.
