Ingredients:
Meat Filling:
½ lb raw ground pork, chicken or mixed
1/2 cup cabbage (regular or Napa), finely chopped
1 Tbs each fresh ginger and garlic, minced
2 Tbs green onion, finely chopped
2 Tbs soy sauce
1/4 tsp white or black pepper
Vegetarian Filling (pick your favorite vegetables, finely chopped with liquid pressed out)
1/2 c Napa or regular cabbage, finely chopped
1/2 c chopped spinach (frozen ok, press out all the liquid first)
1/4 c mushrooms, finely chopped
1/4 c celery, finely chopped
Optional: 1/2 c firm tofu, chopped (drained, water pressed out) OR add 1 egg, mix in (holds veg together)
1 Tbs each fresh ginger and garlic, minced
2 Tbs green onion, finely chopped
2 Tbs soy sauce
1/4 tsp white or black pepper
Dough Wrapper: Buy pre-made dumpling wrappers (usually pack 20-50) or roll homemade dough
Homemade dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
About 1½ c cold water
Get Saucy (Natalie's favorite part)
Traditional Dumpling Dipping Sauce
Mix: 3 T soy sauce, 1 t vinegar , 2 T water, ¼ t sugar (until dissolved)
Optional: Add ¼ t grated fresh ginger, chopped fresh cilantro, 1/4 t roasted sesame oil
(Express: You Saucy Thing soy ginger Vidalia sauce)
Natalie’s favorite express dumpling sauce blend:
¼ c Wild Wild East Asian BBQ/Teriyaki
¼ c My Sweet Hottie peachy ginger (mild)
Dash of hot oil or hot sauce
Instructions:
Filling: Mix ingredients together well.
Making Hand-made Dough:
2 1/4 cups (320g) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (175g) very warm water (approx 100 degrees F, not boiling hot, can dip finger in)
Pour all the flour and water into a mixing bowl. Use chopsticks or a wooden spoon to stir everything together. Mix until all the water is absorbed and flour pieces start to form. Now use your hands to gather the dough. Dig into the dough with your fingers to help distribute the moisture inside the dough. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it on a surface for another couple minutes. The dough is slightly tacky, but not sticking to your hands. If sticking, dust a little bit of flour onto surface and knead the flour into the dough. After 5-10 minutes of kneading, you should get a pretty smooth ball of dough. Place the dough back into bowl and cover with a damp towel.
Rolling dough: Divide into 3-4 portions and roll into long logs. Cut into 2 inch pieces, roll into balls. Flatten pieces and use rolling pin (or glass jar) to make flat, thin round wrappers.
Folding Dumplings:
Place 1 tsp-1 tbs of filling in each wrapper. Better to underfill and not overfill especially as beginner. Hand-rolled dough wrappers may stretch bigger to handle a little more filling. If your filling squishes out, it's too much, take some out. Fold, crimp and seal well with no holes or gaps. No leaky dumplings–it’s unlucky!
Pan-Frying Dumpling Steps:
Coat hot skillet with 1 T veg oil (med-high heat).
Add dumplings in a single layer.
Check for brown bottoms, about 1-2 minutes.
Flip and brown other side, another 1 minute.
Grab a skillet lid. Add 2 T of water to hot skillet (warning: hot steam) Cover, "steam fry" 30 seconds.
Uncover, let all water evaporate, 1-2 minutes. Dumpling should be fully cooked, soft with crisp bottoms. (Cooking time may vary by a minute or two if your filling or dumplings are bigger. Cut one open to check. Meat fillings should firm with no pink in the middle.)
Steaming Dumplings Steps:
Lay out dumplings without touching, on liner in steamer tray. Bring water to a boil over high heat.
Place steamer with dumplings over wok or pot, ensuring base doesn't touch water.
Steam dumplings for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender and cooked through.
Boiled Dumplings Steps:
Boil water in large pot. While waiting: Check and fix your dumplings for tight seal on the wrapper edges to prevent "unlucky" leaky, broken dumplings!
Gently put in about 10 dumplings (do not crowd, swirl gently with spoon).
Bring to boil.
Thin pre-made wrappers cook very fast. Remove them with a slotted spoon to a plate immediately.
Hand-rolled dough dumplings only: Cook longer, wait until they float to the top, a sign that they are ready and cooked.
Check for meat doneness: Cut one in half. Meat should be firm with no pink color.
Get Saucy and Fun Group Experience!
Serve with soy sauce, ponzu or our award-winning, all natural, family recipe dipping sauces, mix 'n' match delicious! The number of dumplings depend on if you want 2-3 per person as an appetizer or as a meal, 8-12 per person (and how much time and energy you have to wrap them!) Have the kids participate and wrap their own. It's a fun, hands-on family and friends social activity.
Traditional dumplings that “sit up”--look and cook better than if they lay flat. You can steam popular, delicious “soup dumplings” too (put a little chunk of frozen bouillon inside!). Making homemade dough isn’t hard but it takes a bit more time with prep and cooking. They are also doughier and chewier so choose depending on your taste preference and energy level. Fresh dough dumplings is like fresh vs. dried pasta. We teach it in our live hands-on Dumplings classes (2 hours).
Making in Advance and Storage:
Cooked leftover dumplings (overnight in fridge) become easy next day pot stickers! Cooked or uncooked dumplings can be made and frozen ahead and kept in a freezer-sealed bag. If uncooked, freeze them apart on a tray first so they don't stick together, then put in bag.