Homemade Dumplings

There is always something comforting about dumplings, in particular homemade ones. I have always made my dumplings with shop bought dumpling pastry, and though they are easy and convenient, I felt that it is missing something in taste and texture. Thus, this time, I have decided to make everything from scratch.

Homemade dumpling pastry is simple, but a word of warning – it is time consuming! So make sure you have a couple of hours to spare and preferably a chair or stool to sit while working on the kitchen table.

This recipe makes 48 dumplings

 

Dumpling pastry:

500g Plain white flour or all purpose flour

250g Cold water

1) Sift the flour into a bowl, and make a well in the middle

2) Pour in the cold water into the flour gradually, while mixing and stirring with a wooden spoon, to form a dough

*You may or may not need extra water, please judge by the texture of the dough*

3) Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, just to bring the mixture all together and to loosen it a bit

4) Leave it to rest for around 1 hour in the bowl

5) Divide the dough into quarters (working with smaller portion of dough is easier)

6) Roll each quarter into a log shape, then cut into chunks (approx. 2-3cm wide)

7) Using your palm, flatten each piece into a disc; Take the rolling pin, and roll out to a circle, about the size of your palm

8) Make sure your work surface is dusted with flour to avoid the pastry from sticking to it

Now for the filling; the most common meat we use is minced pork. I marinated the minced pork (500g) with 3 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp salt, 3 tsp rice wine and 1 tbsp of sesame oil. Then to the meat, I added diced black fungus (黑木耳) (alternatively you can add Chinese mushrooms冬菇), Spring Onions; for a bit of spice, I added some pickled vegetables (榨菜). Give everything a good mix, just to make sure they all stick to the meat. If the vegetables are not sticking to the meat, add a little cold water just to give it a help.

To make the dumplings:

1) Place a sheet of the pastry onto your palm

2) Take about 1 ½ tsp of the meat mixture and put it in the middle of the pastry

3) Wrap the dumpling, starting from the centre, working to the sides, press gently with fingers to make sure the sides are sealed (otherwise the meat will pop out when you cook them later)

4) Dust them with flour

5) Repeat until everything is used up

To cook the dumplings:

1) Carefully place the dumplings into boiling water

2) Cook them until they float on the water

*You should see the dumpling pastry becoming translucent*

 

Best served with vinegar (black not white) and some chilli oil; Alternatively you can pan fry them.