A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to learn how to make authentic Chinese dumplings. As with most opportunities, I grabbed it! My friend’s neighbor is originally from China, her mother is in the states visiting so they decided to trade off in the kitchen, they will each teach the other an authentic dish of choice.
I’m going to be honest in saying I had no idea how much work it is to make dumplings from scratch. We made the filling and the wrappers (not the store bought) and they were soooo delicious!
We started off with the dough.
In a large bowl add flour (2-3 cups) and gradually add water. At first, the mixture will be stringy. Continue to gradually add water and work the dough. The dough will become more “doughy” until a ball forms and the bowl is clean. Add a little bit of water to the top / surface of the dough, cover the bowl with a towel and set aside.
About halfway thru making the filling, come back to the dough, need it a little bit with more water. Cover and set aside.
Filling:
2 lbs. Ground Pork (Uncooked)
1 Bunch Chives
½ Ginger Root
3-4 Green Onion
1 Entire Napa
3 tsp. Salt
¼ c. Soy Sauce
1/8 c. Sesame oil
1. Finely chop entire cabbage in a food processor. Once all is chopped, squeeze the liquid from the cabbage into a separate bowl. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, chop ginger, green onions and chives. This will be chopped a little finer than the cabbage.
* For all of the following direction, mix in the same direction.
3. In a large (different) bowl, add the pork. Using chop sticks, loosen up the pork.
4. Add Sesame Oil, Soy Sauce and Salt. Begin to gradually add the liquid from the cabbage, followed by water. As the liquid is added, the mixture will gradually become easier / smoother to stir. Continue to do this until the mixture stirs easy enough to stir easily after the vegetables are added.
5. Add the Cabbage, Chives, Ginger Root and Green Onions. Stir the mixture is at a good consistency (smells salty) and mixture is smooth.
Dough
- Take out the dough.
- Cut 1/3 of the dough and then ½ again.
- On a floured surface, roll out into a long snake about ½ – ¾ inches long.
4. Cut into ¾ inch pieces.
5. Roll all sides in flour and press down on cut sides.
6. Roll out into thin little circles.
7. Stuff with filling and firmly press sides.
Cooking
- Boil large pot of water.
- Add ½ cookie sheet of the dumplings.
- Stir around the outside of the pot.
- Dumplings will be cooked when they float to the top and are fat.
** Can also freeze prior to cooking.
Enjoy! This recipe will yield about 100 dumplings.
