Authentic Chinese Dumpling Dough Food

CHINESE DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• For Dough:.
• Place flour in a bowl and make a well.
• Crack eggs in a separate bowl and lightly whisk.
• Add eggs, oil, and half the water and mix together to make a dough.
• Add more water as needed. The dough should not be sticky (similar to pasta dough).
• Knead dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes.
• Cover and set dough aside to rest for 1/2 hour.
• For filling:.
• Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl to combine. Do not overwork the meat.
• Cover filling and put in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour for flavors to blend.
• To assemble:.
• Roll out dough into sheets, as thin as you can but won't break. I use a pasta roller, it makes it so much easier.
• Use a large round cookie cutter (about the size of a tuna can or a little larger) to cut out the rounds.
• Fill 1 round with 1 tablespoon of the meat mixture and dampen the edges of the round with water and then seal.
• Do the rest of the rounds.
• To cook:.
• Steam the dumplings for 12 minutes.
• You can serve them as is or you can then:.
• Stir-fry them in a little peanut oil just until they get a little crispy.
• Serve them with your favorite dipping sauces.
• Enjoy.
• If you're not going to eat them right away, after you steam them let them cool off and place them in a zip top bag and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

HOW TO MAKE CHINESE DUMPLINGS (JIAOZI)

Steps:

• Mix a small pinch of salt with flour, dig a hole in center and then stir the water in. Mix the flour with water with chop-stickers during the process so you can adjust the water amount if necessary. Then knead the dough for 8-10 minutes with a stand mixer or by hand until the dough is almost smooth. Cover and rest for 15 minutes. Then re-knead the dough for 2-3 minutes so we can get a very smooth dough. Cover and continue resting for 1 hour.
• When the dough becomes soft and smooth, cut into halves and knead each half into a round ball. Take one half and dig a small hole in center. Then shape it to a large circle round. Cut so we will end up a long log. Shape the log around 3cm in diameter. Divide the long log into small dumpling dough pieces (each around 10g). Dust each of them so they will not stick together. Press one down and then roll it into a wrapper around 10cm in diameter. You can refer to the video for the technique.
• Get your assistants here and begin to wrap the dumpling at the fastest speed, because the wrappers will get dried out soon and become harder to seal together.
• In a mixing bowl, add ground pork, a small pinch of salt, egg, light soy sauce, white pepper, oyster sauce grated ginger and salt. Then place the green onion on top and drizzle hot oil on green onions. This helps to improve the aroma of the green onion.
• Stir the filling in one direction for 2-3 minutes until getting a paste texture and the filling becomes quite sticky. Set aside for 1 hour or cover with plastic wrapper and overnight.
• Finely chop chives and mix with 2 tablespoons of sesame oil or other vegetable oil. Mix chive with pork before wrapping.
• Brush 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan (nonstick pan recommended for beginners), place the dumplings in. Pleats side up.
• Heat over medium fire until one side becomes browned. Swirl around 1/2 cup of water and then cover the lid immediately. Continue heating until all of the water is evaporated.
• Slow down your heat and heat until the bottom becomes crispy and golden brown.
• Heat a large pot of water to a boiling, add a small pinch of salt. Then cook the dumplings in batches. Slightly move the dumplings with a large ladle or scoop so they will not sticky to the bottom. Then the water begins to boil again, add around 1/4 cup of cold water. Repeat once. When the dumplings become transparent and expand because of the air inside. Transfer out.

CHINESE PORK DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• The filling: Place the cabbage in a food processor, add 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pulse until finely chopped but not puréed. Wrap the chopped cabbage in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze to remove juices, then transfer to a large bowl. Add ginger, garlic, scallions, and, if desired, garlic chives. Add the shrimp and pork and season with 1/4 cup soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt and pepper. Mix together by hand.
• Taste the filling by poaching or frying a small amount, and adjust seasonings to taste. To prepare the dipping sauce, combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, scallions, and toasted sesame seeds in a small bowl.
• To wrap, place 1 tablespoon of filling into the center of a dumpling wrapper. Wet the wrapper's edges, then fold in half to form a taco-like shape. Make a pleat on the side facing you about 20 degrees from the apex of the half-circle and seal with your fingers to the back of the skin. Repeat on the other quarter, in mirror fashion, and seal the dumpling completely, trying to eliminate any air pockets. Repeat until all filling is used.
• To pan fry, heat oil in a large, nonstick pan over high heat. Add the dumplings in one layer so that they do not overlap. Add water to come halfway up the dumplings, and cover the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook until all water is evaporated and the bottoms are browned and crispy, about 10 minutes. Alternatively, the dumplings can be steamed until cooked through, about 5 minutes in a steam basket.
• Transfer the dumplings to a plate and serve with a dipping sauce.

POTSTICKERS RECIPE (WITH POTSTICKER DOUGH)

Steps:

• To a large bowl, measure in the flour and the salt. Pour in the boiled water and stir the flour immediately and vigorously with a large wooden spoon until the flour resembles loose crumbles (about 30 seconds). Pour in the iced-cold water (discard the ice first, but make sure you have correct measurement of water). Stir vigorously again for 30 seconds or until a shaggy dough begins to form. Set aside spoon and use your hands to knead the dough in the bowl, while picking up flour/dough on the sides of the bowl. Knead for 2 minutes in the bowl. Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface. No need to dust the work surface with flour - unless the dough really sticks). The dough should be soft and elastic enough that kneading is very easy. Continue to knead your dough for another 3-5 minutes. As you knead the dough, it should become more smooth. In a medium sized bowl, plop in the dough ball, cover dough loosely with a barely damp paper towel and then cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let rest for 20 minutes while you prepare the filling and the dipping sauce.
• In a bowl, mix the shredded cabbage with 1/4 teaspoon of salt (1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, if using.) Set aside while you move on to next step of recipe.
• In a separate bowl, mix the ground pork with soy sauce, ground pepper, cornstarch, rice wine (if using) and sesame oil. Add in the chives, water chestnuts and mushrooms.
• Back to the cabbage - grab a handful of cabbage, squeeze hard to expel the water into the sink. Add the dry cabbage into the bowl with the rest of the filling ingredients. Mix well. You can cook a spoonful of filling in a small frying pan for a taste, if you'd like.
• Turn out the rested dough onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough in half, keep unused half under the damp paper towel to prevent from drying out. Roll out the other half into a long snake, about 1-1/4 inches in diameter. Cut into approximately 20 even pieces. Take 1 piece, gather up the edges and pinch together, forming a taut, round surface. Roll between palms to form ball. Squash between flat palms to flatten into disk. Use rolling pin to roll out to 3-1/2 inch diameter. Try to make the edges of wrapper thinner than the center. Repeat for remaining dough. If you don't have a helper on hand to fold the potstickers, keep wrappers under cover (plastic wrap or barely damp paper towel) to prevent drying out. Fill and fold potstickers according to the instructions and photos above in the post. Place folded potstickers on a floured piece of parchment or tin foil-lined baking sheet to prevent sticking.
• Mix together dipping sauce ingredients. Set aside until ready to serve.
• Have 1/4 cup water and a tight-fitting lid for your pan at the ready, by your stove. Heat a large, nonstick frying or saute pan over medium heat. When hot, swirl in a little cooking oil, just enough to swirl around. Carefully lay potstickers into the pan, they can touch a little, but do not overcrowd. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then peek under one or two potstickers to see if the bottoms have lightly browned. Adjust your heat if needed.
• When lightly browned, it's time for the steaming. In one hand, have the lid ready. In the other, carefully pour in 1/4 cup of water into the pan. It will splatter, so please be careful. Immediately cover pan with the lid to trap the steam. Let cook for 2 minutes, then open the lid. Continue cooking for another 2 minutes, until all of the water has evaporated. Take a peek under the potsticker. You can add a little more cooking oil if it has trouble browning (but only after all the water has evaporated, otherwise it will splatter.) Shake the pan to loosen the potstickers, swirl in the oil and tilt pan to distribute the oil. When bottoms are nicely browned, plate and serve with dipping sauce.

DUMPLING WRAPPERS

Steps:

• Mix a small pinch of salt with flour, dig a hole in center and then stir the water in. Mix the flour with water with chop-stickers during the process so you can adjust the water amount if necessary. Then knead the dough for 8-10 minutes with a stand mixer or by hand until the dough is almost smooth. Cover and rest for 15 minutes. Then re-knead the dough for 2-3 minutes so we can get a very smooth dough. Cover and continue resting for 1 hour.
• Dig a small hole in the center of the ball. Shape it to a large circle round. Cut so we will end up a long log.
• Shape the log around 3cm in diameter. Divide the long log into small dumpling dough pieces (each around 10g). Dust each of them so they will not stick together.
• Before rolling out your dumpling wrappers, dust your working surface again. Take one piece of dough and press it to a round disc. Rotate the wrapper when moving your rolling pin. Repeat the process, rotate the wrapper-roll and rotate the wrapper-roll. The wrappers will have thicker center and thinner edges naturally. You can refer to this video for the process.
• This process might be quite difficult at the very beginning. Just keep trying. You will end up with perfect homemade dumpling wrappers.

POT STICKERS (CHINESE DUMPLINGS)

Steps:

• Mix first 10 ingredients in a bowl.
• Take a wonton wrapper and place 1 heaping teaspoon of filling in center.
• Moisten edges with water, fold over and press to seal edges.
• Add 3 tablespoons of Peanut Oil to a large skillet and saute until the bottoms are golden brown.
• When golden brown, add 1/2 cup chicken broth, cover pan and simmer 8 minutes.
• Remove from pan.
• Reserve broth in a separate bowl and repeat process until all potstickers are cooked.
• Keep warm on a plate covered.