Ingredients
Dumplings dough
3 cups (420 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup room temperature water
1 teaspoon oil
Dumplings filling
Pork and napa cabbage
Lamb with carrot and zucchini
Pork with shiitake mushrooms
Vegetarian carrot and egg
Instructions
Marinate dumpling filling
1. If you are using ground meat in dumpling filling add seasonings now to
marinate the meat. Note, do not add vegetables at this stage. Cover the
ground meat and marinate in the fridge for 1 hour to a day. Re-hydrate
and prep dry ingredients if you’re making vegetarian dumplings.
Make dough with a mixer
1. Attach dough blade to your mixer. Add flour into mixing bowl. Pour 1
cup hot water in the middle. Mix on low until the water is mostly
incorporated. Stop mixer and scrape flour from the wall with a spatula.
Mix on low until water is fully incorporated. Add room temperature water
along the edge. Stir with spatula to mix. Start mixer on low until it forms
a dough. If the dough won’t come together, keep adding cold water, 1 to
2 tablespoons at a time, until a dough is formed. The dough should be a
bit springy, not sticking to the bowl, and not too tender. Add flour if the
dough is too soft and doesn’t hold its shape. Keep kneading until the
surface becomes smooth, about 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a working
surface and knead a few times to shape into a dough ball.
Make the dough by hand
1. Add flour into a large mixing bowl. Pour 1 cup hot water in the middle.
Mix in a swirling motion to combine the flour in center of the bowl and
leave some of the flour along the edge untouched. When the water is
fully combined, add room temperature water along the edge in a
swirling motion. Keep mixing until all the water is absorbed. Dust both
hands with flour and start kneading to form dough. When dough has
formed, dust the working surface with flour and dust hands again.
Transfer the dough to the working surface and continue to knead it until
its surface becomes smooth, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Rest the dough
1. Brush a thin layer oil in a bowl and place the dough inside. Cover with
plastic wrap and rest it for 30 minutes to 1 hour. If you don’t make the
dumplings immediately, store the dough in the fridge for up to a day.
Mix the filling
1. Now it’s the time to finish up the dumpling filling. Adding vegetables to
the marinated ground meat. Finish with sesame oil. Mix well.
Prepare steamer
1. Line a large steamer with napa cabbage leaves or a few layers wet
cheese cloth.
2. If you’re going to serve the dumplings immediately, add water to a large
skillet or a wok. Bring it to the boil.
Make dumplings wrappers
1. Divide the dough into 4 parts and roll into balls. Work on them one by
one. Place the rest of the dough balls back in the bowl and cover with
plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
2. Shape and roll the dough into a long stick, about 20-cm (8-inch) length.
Cut into 2-cm (2/3-inch) thick small pieces. You will get 10 to 12 pieces
dough. I personally prefer to make large dumplings, so you can wrap in
more fillings which are less work.
3. Lightly dust both sides of each small dough with flour, and shape them
into a cylinder. Work on them one at a time. Cover the rest with a few
layers of wet kitchen paper towel to prevent them from drying out.
4. Dust the working surface again. Take one dough ball and press it to a
round disc. Roll with a rolling pin and rotate it a few times to thin out the
dough. Then rotate the dough with one hand while rolling the dough
with the other hand at the same time until it forms a round sheet (refer
to the video to see how). Try to roll it so that that the edge is thinner
than the center. The wrapper should be about 2 millimeters (1/16-inch)
thick in center (i.e. almost same as the thickness of a CD), and paper
thin on the edges. The diameter should be about 10 to 11-cm (4-inch). It
is ok if the wrapper is not perfectly round.
Fold dumplings
1. Starting here, you should work as quickly as you can because the
wrappers will dry out quickly. Cover the wrappers with a few layers of
wet paper towel to l prevent them from drying out too fast. If they do,
you will find it difficult to seal the dumplings later. If the wrappers dry out
when you start to fold the dumplings, brush a bit of water over the edge
so you can still seal the dough.
2. If you have a helper, they could start folding dumplings now, while you
keep rolling the wrapper.
3. Scoop about 2 tablespoons (or less, so you can easily fold the
dumpling) of dumpling filling and place it in the center of the wrapper.
Hold the dumpling with one hand and start sealing the edges with the
other hand (refer to the video to see how to fold a dumpling). After
folding, press edge again to seal well. You can use any way to fold the
dumplings as long as you’re comfortable with it.
4. If you’re going to cook the dumplings immediately, place them into the
steamer, about 1 finger apart.
5. If you’re going to cook the dumplings later, place them onto a baking
tray and seal with plastic wrapper. Store dumplings in the freezer for up
to 1 month. Once the dumplings are completely frozen, about a day,
you can transport them to an air-tight container or a gallon bag to save
freezer space.
Cook dumplings
1. To steam dumplings, prepare the steamer by adding 2" (5cm) water to
the steamer. Place the dumplings onto the steaming rack, at least one
finger apart each other (the dumplings will expand a lot after cooking).
Place the steaming rack onto the steamer and cover. Heat over medium
heat until the steam comes out. Leave to cook, without peeking into the
steamer, for 10 minutes or until the dumplings are completely cooked
through.
2. Serve immediately with dipping sauce. When the dumplings are just off
the stove and still hot, carefully try one without any dipping sauce. The
dumpling should have a lot of juice inside and be delicious and flavorful
without any sauce.
Dipping sauce
1. I introduced 4 types of dumpling sauce recipes in this post.
Storage and reheating
1. The best way to store is to freeze uncooked dumplings immediately
after wrapping. Steam frozen dumplings without thawing until they’re
cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.
2. If you have leftover cooked dumplings, store in airtight container in the
fridge and consume within 1 to 2 days.
3. To reheat in microwave - Add dumplings into a bowl and sprinkle with a
few drops of water. Cover and heat until warm.
4. To reheat by steaming - Just like steaming the raw dumplings, cook
dumplings in a steamer until heated through, about 5 minutes.
5. To pan fry - Grease a nonstick skillet with a thin layer of oil and heat
over medium heat. When skillet is hot, add dumplings. Swirl in a
tablespoon of water, cover immediately, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
