Dumplings: Tips, Techniques, Recipes

[Dejah]

When my Mother was alive, it was an annual tradition, not to be missed. We had both the sweet and savoury tang yuen. The round dumplings symbolizing the circle (completeness) of the family. 

As a side note, eating glutinous rice dumplings always gave me the "back door trots", and it wasn't until I was well into my adulthood when I outgrew my affliction. I didn't enjoy what everyone else was relishing. Maybe I was the designated black sheep!!

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Yes, Peony, my mom always celebrates winter solstice. I won't/didn't make any because we just had it, and Bill isn't that fond of the dumplings. He usually tries to sneak them to the dog, and the dog is proned to "backdoor trots" as well. It must be because both Ben Sook and Atticus swallow the dumplings whole!

[davidthomas8779]

My wife and kids can't eat wheat, rye, or barley. I love dumplings and would like to make them at home, but can't buy dumpling skins commercially b/c they're all made with wheat.

Does anyone have a good recipe for non-wheat dumpling skins?

[peony]

chives dumpling

this dumpling uses tapioca and rice flour for the skin.

however, you have to eat it hot as the skin hardened upon cooling.

Ingredients for skin:

300 g rice Flour

80 g tapioca Flour

salt to taste

500 ml hot, boiling water

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, add flour, salt and water.

2. Stir with chopsticks to mix well.

3. Add oil.

4. Knead into a smooth dough.

5. Roll dough into sausage shape. Divide into equal portion of small balls.

6. Flatten each ball, add 1 tbsp of filling.

7. Seal the sides of dumpling.

8. Brush with oil before steaming.

9. Steam over high heat for 7 - 10mins. Serve hot.

Edited February 20, 2007 by peony (log)

[SuzySushi]

Also, not quite the same thing, but can you use beancurd skins, paper-thin egg crepes, or Vietnamese rice paper wrappers? The first two can be folded over the filling as packets, or tied with a chive "ribbon" as bundles. (Haven't tried tying rice papers and don't know how they'd hold up.)

Edited February 20, 2007 by SuzySushi (log)

[hzrt8w]

Vietnamese rice paper is good to make egg rolls where you deep-fry the "dumpling". It is a bit tricky to handle as you need to soak it in water for only 1 minute for it to come soft, and not too long where it becomes very mushy.

It is no good for steaming.

[yimay]

i remember there being wonton/dumpling wrappers actually made with meat that i've had as a kid a few times and then in taiwan a few times as well. i believe you can purchase them frozen. or am i crazy and just imagining this? it's possible the meat dough has flour in it though.

[hzrt8w]

i remember there being wonton/dumpling wrappers actually made with meat that i've had as a kid a few times and then in taiwan a few times as well. i believe you can purchase them frozen. or am i crazy and just imagining this? it's possible the meat dough has flour in it though.

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You are crazy and just imagining things. I don't have any proof. I just want to say such a sentence!

Really? I have not heard of such a wrapper. It would be realy neat to see it.

[aprilmei]

i remember there being wonton/dumpling wrappers actually made with meat that i've had as a kid a few times and then in taiwan a few times as well. i believe you can purchase them frozen. or am i crazy and just imagining this? it's possible the meat dough has flour in it though.

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No, you're not crazy. The wrappers can be made of pounded meat - they're sort of a grayish colour, and I believe they can also be made of shrimp. But you might be right about them also containing flour.

[sheetz]

I think the meat wonton wrappers are Fujianese.

[snowangel]

This topic deserved a bump up! Although what we had last night was potstickers

the process is pretty much the same. I had made these a while ago and froze them (individually on a sheet pan before transferring to a ziplock), and we ate an obscene number of them last night. I think these, either steamed, boiled or potstickered, are one of my favorite foods. And, since you cook them from a frozen state, an afternoon of pleating produces some of the most spectacular fast food around.

Back when I blogged in late January, I documented the pleating process. My recipe is here.

[Soup]

I am addicted to these steamed buns that I get from the chinese grocery store. I'm not sure what they are called in chinese. I looking for the name and a recipe and would appreciate any insights.

The dumplings are white and round they they swirles to the top. I filling is a pork and chive or sometimes just pork for filling. The filling is very similar to pot sticker filling and is not BBQ pork filling in char shu bao. I don't know if I am cooking these right but I steam them and then fried the bottoms so they get golden and crisp.

As I've said, I'd love to know the chinese name for these and also get a recipe so that I can make them from scratch.

[liuzhou]

I've never seen anyone in China using a dumpling cutter. Every kid is taught to do it by hand as soon as they pass toilet training!

 

Well made Chinese dumpling wrappers are hand rolled with a tapered roller to ensure the edges are thinner than the centre. You can't achieve that with a cutter.

 

Jiaozi (dumpling) tools

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by liuzhou (log)