My family and I just recently made dumplings for New Year’s and I wanted to share with you guys the recipe I used and a little bit about the history of dumplings. To make dumplings there are 6 steps:
- Making the dough
- Mixing the Filling
- Kneading the dough into small circles about 4-6in wide
- Making the dumplings
- Cooking the dumplings
- My favorite step… EATING THE DUMPLINGS
Ingredients:
- Water
- Flour
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cabbage
- Pork
- Corn Starch
- Soy Sauce
- Oyster Sauce
- Vegetable Oil
Before I begin I would like to say that the 1st and 3rd steps are completely optional. You can go to your local Chinese or Korean grocery store like Great Wall or H-Mart and I am sure you can find dumpling skins there. However, making the dough yourself is very rewarding and in my opinion, makes the dumplings taste better.
Step 1 – The Dough
To make the dough simply mix together water and flour. As a general rule of thumb 2 cups of flour for every cup of water. However, it is important that you also go by feel. Some people like stiffer dough (more flour) and some like softer dough (more water). In general, you want something stronger than oobleck but softer than silly putty.
Step 2 – The Filling
The filling is where the flavor of the dumpling resides. If your filling is too salty or not salty enough you will definitely taste it in your dumplings. To make your filling you’re going to use…
-Pork
-Cabbage
-Soy Sauce
-Oyster Sauce
-Water
-Vegetable Oil
When making the filling mix together all of these in a bowl and spend 10-15min thoroughly mixing the meat. Special Hint 1: The more you mix the filling the better it will taste. Mixing the meat helps combine the fat making the meat much tastier. Special Hint 2: Soak the cabbage in salt with a bit of water and squeeze it. You don’t want the cabbage sitting in water but you do want it damp and slightly salty. The salt helps suck out the moisture in the cabbage and wringing it dry will get rid of all that moisture. If you don’t do this your dumplings may have watery instead of juicy fillings greatly diluting the taste.
Step 3 – Kneading the Dough
Note: This step is optional. You can find dumpling “wrappers” at your local Asian grocery store.
However, for those ambitious people out there to make the “wrappers,” your gonna wanna take your dough and rip off a large chunk. Next, you’re gonna wanna roll it around in your hands until you have a large strip about the width of an ok sign. Then cut the strip into small cubes and flatten those cubes into disks. Next, take a rolling pin and roll it out into a circle shape. Special Hint: When using the rolling pin only push up to the center then turn the circle and repeat. This will help make the wrapper more round and provide a thicker base for the dumpling.
Step 4 – Making the Dumplings
Folding the dumplings is a crucial but difficult step. I personally suck at this but it makes a great family activity or something fun to do with friends. To do this your gonna wanna take the 饺子皮 and fill it with filling. Then your gonna wrap the dough around it and make periodic folds. Finally, pinch the top to make sure it doesn’t leak during the cooking process. Making dumplings is quite difficult so I’ve included a video on how to do it here. FULL DISCLOSURE I FOUND THIS VIDEO ON YOUTUBE.
Step 5 – Cooking
There are two main ways to cook them, boiling and frying.
Boiling – You’re gonna wanna prepare a pot of boiling water and slowly put the dumplings in. Once they float to the surface they should be ready. But always double-check and make sure the meat is cooked inside.
Frying – Prepare a hot pan and put a little bit of oil on the bottom. Next, put the dumplings in the pan and fill the pan with water up to half the height of the dumplings. Then cover and wait for the water to evaporate. After the water has evaporated cook the dumplings at low temperature for another 2-3 minutes and they will be done. Again always double-check just to be sure.
Step 6 – Eating
ENJOY THE DUMPLINGS!!!
You can add a sauce to give the dumplings an extra flavor. Combine soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt, hot water, minced garlic, and some hot peppers.
Images:
1. https://www.enjoyyourcooking.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/dumpling-dough-milk-egg-step12-1280×720.jpg
2. https://omnivorescookbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/1608_Pork-Dumplings_005.jpg
3. https://realfood.tesco.com/media/images/TescoWinter40-DumplingsStep2A-92ad571d-b78f-4f39-a581-c77aee776be2-0-4134×2756.jpg
4. https://redhousespice.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/dumpling-wrappers-By-redhousespice.com-video-cover-1.jpg
5. https://redhousespice.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/how-to-fold-dumplings-by-redhousespice.com-7.jpg
6. https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-ZBwzYizFben0OsXn-ZOUHHA-t500x500.jpg
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