Homemade Dumplings

Women‍‍`s Corner
October 19, 2022

The family that cooks together, stays together. Take your time and give this homemade dumpling process lots of love—餃子 (jiao zi) are often made in the company of loved ones around Chinese New Year to celebrate families gathering together. Their shape resembles Chinese gold ingots, a currency that was used during the Ming dynasty, and are meant to represent prosperity, wealth, and health. May each one bring you a bite-sized pocket of blessing!

The dough

Basic dumpling dough is extremely simple: no yeast, and no flavorings for the most part. Many dumpling dough recipes use just two ingredients: flour, water. In our version, we are using a few more ingredients: cornstarch for tenderness, salt for flavor and gluten strength, and boiling water for a softer doughiness. These components help to achieve my ideal dumpling dough texture, best described as the intersection between bouncy al dente pasta and plushy, chewy mochi.

If the dough feels a little too dry, don't rush to pour more water in: keep working the dough with dampened hands and introduce moisture in minimally. Make too moist of a dough and you risk working with a dough that is too soft and too delicate to fold easily when pleating. When rolling out each disc, make sure to rotate frequently to maintain that circular shape, rolling the outer edge thinner than the center. Lightly swipe a tiny bit of flour over each disc before stacking them together and keeping them covered underneath a clean kitchen linen while you work on the rest of the batch.

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The filling

Once you have the dumpling dough down, you can basically wrap any variety of filling inside. Here, I'm going with a childhood favorite: a surf-n-turf mixture of minced pork, diced shrimp, and shiitake mushrooms. Spiked with a handful of aromatics, white pepper, and a little cabbage for health, this bite of this combo eats like a well-balanced diet.

If you're vegetarian, substitute the meats out for marinated tofu, cooked rice vermicelli noodles, more mushrooms, egg, or minced, hearty vegetables like carrot and potatoes. Do what you like—the possibilities for variation are endless!

The sauce

Dumpling sauce is so simple and flexible—as a Northerner from Beijing, I like lots of Chinese black vinegar in my mix. You can add salt in place of the soy sauce, a little grated garlic for extra pungency, and thinly sliced green onions for freshness. You can also leave out the sugar or spicy chili oil to keep the flavors more baseline. Much like the dumpling filling, the sauce can be adjusted to personal taste.

How to cook dumplings

I grew up eating mostly boiled dumplings and love them this way: gently plopped in boiling water just like you would a pot of pasta, stirred occasionally, then fished out once they float to the surface. As a bonus, the dumpling cooking water can be consumed as a palate cleanser: It's lightly starchy with a hint of sweetness from the flour and savoriness from the filling, surprisingly soothing.

You can also steam the dumplings in a similar parchment-steamer set-up to how you would cook steamed buns or pan-sear them as potstickers.

How to store dumplings

If you don't plan on eating two dozen of these all at once, freeze them (before cooking) on a tray for 2 hours, then transfer to a resealable plastic bag once they've hardened. They can keep indefinitely in the freezer, but are best when consumed within 3 months. The longer they sit beyond that, the more the flavors will dissipate.

Once cooked, dumplings should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and consumed within 2 days. You can reheat in a microwave, or in a lightly-oiled skillet for a crispier bottom—or just eat it cold, straight from the fridge at 2 a.m. while thinking about your life choices up until that point.

Ingredients:

FOR THE DOUGH:

- 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour (224 g.)

- 3 tbsp. cornstarch (27 g.)

- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

- 1/3 c. boiling water (80 g.)

- 2 tbsp. room-temperature water (30 g.)

FOR THE PORK AND SHRIMP FILLING:

- 1 c. finely shredded napa cabbage

- 3/4 tsp. kosher salt

- 6 oz. ground pork

- 1/2" piece fresh ginger, minced

- 1 large clove garlic, minced

- 1/2 tsp. ground white pepper

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- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

- 3 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce

- 1 tsp. granulated sugar

- 6 oz. peeled shrimp, finely chopped

- 2 large shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped

- 2 green onions, minced

- 2 tbsp. toasted sesame oil

FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE:

- 1/2" piece fresh ginger, grated

- 1/4 tsp. granulated sugar

- 3 tbsp. Chinese black vinegar

- 1 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce

- 2 tsp. toasted sesame oil

- 2 tsp. chili oil (optional)

Method: Make the dough: In a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, and salt. Pour in boiling water and stir with chopsticks or a wooden spoon until moisture is mostly absorbed. Add in room temperature water and continue to stir until a shaggy dough forms. Using your hands, knead dough until cohesive and smooth and no dry spots remain, 10 to 15 minutes. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make the filling: In a medium bowl, toss to evenly combine cabbage with salt. In a large bowl, using chopsticks or a wooden spoon, stir together pork, ginger, garlic, white pepper, black pepper, soy sauce, and sugar. Keep vigorously stirring in one direction until the mixture turns into a smooth paste, about 4 minutes. Add in shrimp, mushrooms, green onions, sesame oil, and cabbage mixture, and stir until evenly combined. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill while dough is resting.

Make dipping sauce: In a small bowl, stir together all sauce ingredients. Set aside until ready to serve. Make dumpling wrappers: On a very lightly floured surface, divide dough in half and roll each half into a 1”-thick rope. Cut each rope up into twelve 1” pieces, rotating the rope 90° after each cut. Place each piece of dough cut-side up, then flatten with the heel of your palm. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece of dough into a 3½” disc. Keep wrappers loosely covered with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap to prevent drying out.

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To assemble: Place a tablespoon of filling just below center on each wrapper. Fold top half of the dough over bottom half and pinch border to seal. Alternatively, pleat dumplings by making small folds and pinching firmly to seal the edge. Place on a cutting board or baking sheet lightly dusted with flour. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

In a large pot of boiling water over medium-low heat, cook dumplings in batches until they float, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining dumplings. Serve with dipping sauce on the side.

This recipe is taken from https://www.delish.com/cooking/