The only dumpling recipe you'll ever need

By foodiva

Ingredients

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• The ONLY Dumpling Recipe You’ll Ever Need
• 13, 2013 52 BY SARAH 52 COMMENTS
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• 52 52K+ 52K+
• to table every so often to make an enormous batch for the freezer.
• to eaten a lot of dumplings in Beijing, but somehow, we always come back to these.
• If maybe this isn’t the only dumpling recipe you think you need, also check out our recipes for pork & chive dumplings, easy pork cabbage potstickers, and Shanghai soup dumplings.
• 3 3 3 lbs green leafy vegetable (like shepherd’s purse, baby bok choy, napa cabbage, or Chinese chives)
• 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 pounds ground pork (or ground chicken or beef, as long as they aren’t too lean)
• 2/3 2/3 2/3 cup shaoxing wine
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup oil
• 3 3 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 1 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 3 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 2/3 2/3 2/3 cup water, plus more for assembly
• 3-4 3-4 3-4 packages dumpling wrappers
• Okay.
• Let’s talk veg.
• the fresh stuff, which is all we get here in Beijing.
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• o through a blanching process, with the exception of the Chinese chives (which can just be chopped finely and then thrown in with the meat).
• to first thing’s first. Wash your veg to get them really clean. No one likes a sandy dumpling. Blanch them for a minute and throw them in an ice bath.
• If using frozen ji cai, just defrost the veg, rinse it well under cold water, and praise the Gods for making it easy on you. (Washing fresh ji cai is a slow, tedious, finger-numbing task that I’m sure they would have in Tartarus if the Greeks had ji cai).
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• Then, ring out the veggies like you’re squeezing a washcloth. Get all the liquid you can out of them.
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• Get out the chopping block and chop the veggies VERY finely. As finely as you possibly can, or the filling will be overly stringy. Not the adjective we’re looking for in this instance.
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• fatty. Too lean, and the poor things will be dry and lifeless.
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• Add the shaoxing wine, oil, sesame oil, salt, soy sauce, white pepper, and water.
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• And…mix.
• And mix.
• And then mix some more.
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• year-old, apparently).
• Ahem.
• ter.
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• To the wrapping! Get yourself a little bowl of water and dampen the edges of each wrapper.
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• Then place a little less than a tablespoon of filling in the middle.
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• to to several ways to do this next wrapping step, but the easiest way for first timers is to pinch the wrapper in half at a point in the middle…
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• …and then fold the skins over twice on each side.
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• At the end, it will look kind of like a little fan.
• An adorable, tasty fan.
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• And that’s it!
• hink it needs it. Once you’ve got the perfect filling, go through the dumpling folding steps.
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• little meatballs and fry them up.
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• Aren’t they prettyyy?
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• to to taste the fruit of our labors!
• Here’s how you cook them. You have a couple choices.
• To to to to to large pot of water to a boil and throw the dumplings in there. If using fresh, they’re usually done when they float to the top and start to look transparent. If using frozen, they may need a bit longer to cook through.
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• pan-fry:
• to a non-stick pan or cast-iron skillet over medium high heat and add a couple tablespoons of oil. Add the dumplings in a circular formation around the pan and allow them to fry for a couple minutes.
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• Then, pour a thin layer of water into the pan.
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• to and reduce the heat to medium-low. Steam until the water has evaporated.
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• Check the dumplings. If they still look a little raw, put in some more water, cover the pan again, and steam them for a little longer.
• to to the water has evaporated and they look cooked through, raise the heat to medium high and allow them to cook uncovered until the bottoms are golden brown and crisp.
• And finally…serve the little darlings! Here’s the boiled version:
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• And the pan-fried version. These are little pockets of light, joy, and deliciousness.
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• to We like to eat our pockets of light, joy, and deliciousness with chili sauce and Chinese black vinegar.
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• Print
• The ONLY Dumpling Recipe You’ll Ever Need
• 2 Time: 2 hours
• 15 Time: 15 minutes
• 2 15 2 hours, 15 minutes
• Ingredients
• 3 3 3 lbs green leafy vegetable (like shepherd’s purse, baby bok choy, napa cabbage, or Chinese chives)
• 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 pounds ground pork (or ground chicken or beef, as long as they aren’t too lean)
• 2/3 2/3 2/3 cup shaoxing wine
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup oil
• 3 3 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 1 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 3 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 2/3 2/3 2/3 cup water, plus more for assembly
• 3-4 3-4 3-4 packages dumpling wrappers

Details

Servings 1
Preparation time 120mins
Cooking time 135mins
Adapted from thewoksoflife.com

Preparation

Step 1

Wash your vegetables thoroughly and blanch them in a pot of boiling water. Transfer them to an ice bath to cool. Ring out all the water from the vegetables and chop very finely.

In a large bowl, stir together the vegetable, meat, wine, oil, sesame oil, salt, soy sauce, white pepper, and 2/3 cup water. Mix for 6-8 minutes, until very well-combined.

To wrap the dumplings, dampen the edges of each circle with some water. Put a little less than a tablespoon of filling in the middle. Fold the circle in half and pinch the wrapper together at the top. Then make two folds on each side, until the dumpling looks like a fan. Make sure it’s completely sealed. Repeat until all the filling is gone, placing the dumplings on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Make sure the dumplings aren’t sticking together.

If you’d like to freeze them, wrap the baking sheets tightly with plastic wrap and put the pans in the freezer. Allow them to freeze overnight. You can then take the sheets out of the freezer, transfer the dumplings to Ziploc bags, and throw them back in the freezer for use later.

To cook the dumplings, boil them or pan-fry them. To boil, simple bring a large pot of water to a boil, drop the dumplings in, and cook until they float to the top and the skins are cooked through, but still slightly al dente.

To pan-fry, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a non-stick pan over medium high heat. Place the dumplings in the pan and allow to fry for 2 minutes. Pour a thin layer of water into the pan, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Allow dumplings to steam until the water has evaporated. Remove the cover, increase heat to medium-high and allow to fry for a few more minutes, until the bottoms of the dumplings are golden brown and crisp.

Serve with soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, chili sauce, or other dipping sauce of your choice!

Find the dumpling skins fresh at the Asian grocery store. Look for the white, round ones. If they start to dry out, wrap them in a damp paper towel and put them in a sealed plastic bag for a couple hours to soften back up. Freeze any unused dumpling wrappers in an airtight sealed plastic bag for later.