Guest Post: How to Make Dumplings

The Howard County Cook is a fellow Howard County Blogger that I met at a HoCo Blogs event. The Howard County Cook is a mother and an expert of Asian cuisine. I was immediately pumped, because I’m always interested in how anyone gets kids to eat food that isn’t your standard fare (pizza, chicken nuggets, etc. etc.). When she mentioned that she was going to do a dumpling post, I was super excited. I love making dumplings myself, but I am no pro and certainly don’t have the handiskills to assemble them correctly.

So without further ado, I give you the Howard County Cook!

Follow her on Twitter @hococook and “Like” her on Facebook

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It is my pleasure to be guest posting this week for The Unmanly Chef!

The Unmanly Chef asked me to post on something that I would make for my kids; or as I affectionately rename them here, “My Little Dumplings”. 

Now dumpling making is no simple feat, and it is really something that was designed for an entire tribe of people to do together, rather than a one man show. With the dawn of technology, pre-made dumpling skins, and food processors…we are now able to do what 50 thousand Chinese Grandmas could do in half the amount of time.

Truth be told, I would be lying to you if I said that store bought dumpling skins tasted the same as homemade ones. They don’t…. However, they are a great introduction to dumpling making, and without a doubt I use them to make dumplings for my kids since they aren’t picky about having the homemade skins. Sooooo the next time you roll past them at HMart, throw a few into your cart and save them for a rainy day (they are fine to freeze for later).

*A side note if you want to freeze the dumplings so you have dumplings ahead of time, here is a simple trick. Place your excess dumplings on a cookie sheet (preferably with a piece of parchment paper covering the sheet underneath the dumplings), then if you are able, place your cookie sheet with the dumplings exposed into the freezer for about an hour. Once they are frozen, you can pull the cookie sheet out and remove the dumplings individually and place them in a freezer bag. This trick lets you freeze dumplings without having to worry about them all freezing together because of the starch. *

Here’s the line up:

4 Tbsp. Rice Wine, 4 Tbsp. Soy Sauce, and 1 Tbsp. Sesame Oil

2 lb. Ground Pork

Napa Cabbage, Scallion, and Ginger

Sauce Ingredients: Soy Sauce, ChinKiang Vinegar, Sesame Oil

First, a video on preparing the ginger, for those who are unfamiliar. You can peel it as I show, or leave the skin on- up to you. Make several chunks.

 Then lop the tops and ends off 3 scallions (green onion) and cut into 2 in pieces.

Next prep the napa cabbage. Basically, I rough chop the cabbage and then finely chop it up in a food processor along with the ginger and green onion. The important step here is after you chop up the veggies. If you have cheese cloth, line a strainer with cheesecloth over a bowl and scrape in your veggies. Salt well, and let it sit for about 30 min. The salt will draw out the remaining moisture from the cabbage.

If you skip this, you’ll end up w/ filling that has too much water on the inside and it will tend to bust open among other horrible things. (ok, it’s not that serious) If you have the cheese cloth, you gather up the ends of the cloth, and wring out the water like a dishtowel. If you were sans cloth because you forgot to pick it up at the store like me, never fear, just use the strainer alone, and use a spatula to press out the water after 30 min.

Next you’ll add the veggies to the ground pork, add seasonings, and combine well using your hands. If that idea grosses you out, you can wear latex gloves, or use a spoon, but using your hands really does work the best. It’s also sort of fun after you feel comfortable with it.

And THEN, onto filling the skins. Get a small bowl, fill with water, add a tsp of corn starch.

The first method of wrapping is simply to moisten the edges with water and close it up, making a half moon shape.

The second shows how to crimp or pleat the edges so the dumplings are prettier and stand up. Try both, do what you like.

Now FINALLY for the cooking part. My kiddies LOVE dumplings pot-sticker style, with the crispy bottom. I mean, seriously, who doesn’t love a crispy bottom? LOL!

If you do not have a non stick skillet- do yourself a HUGE favor and go get one. Just go, right now, and get one. Ok, ok, if you threw yours out and haven’t replaced it yet like me, then a stainless steel one will do, just make sure you have a trusty spatula on hand. If you have a large skillet, you can cook a pan full of these. I just did an appetizer portion in this video. You’ll need a few cups of water (or enough to cover the dumplings half way), and a tbsp or so of flour.

What you’ll do is heat the pan, add oil and add the dumplings, letting them brown up a bit on the bottom. Then you’ll add water with a touch of flour mixed into it, to cover the dumplings half way, and cover the pan. You’ll let it steam until the water is all gone, remove lid, and continue to let them brown on the bottom.

Poke it w/ a fork or use a thermometer (170) to check for doneness. Now just use a spatula and loosen them a bit. They don’t call them potstickers for nothin’. If you want to get fancy, you could have arranged them in a circular fashion, so when you remove them, you slide a plate over the top, (wearing potholders) and flip! Voila! Potstickers arranged beautifully in a circle all stuck together…. or you can just remove them w/ a spatula. No worries.

And lastly.. the sauce. The sauce to end all sauces. The sauce I liberally drizzle over whatever else I happen to be eating the next few days. It’s just soy, vinegar, sesame oil, and hot sauce (optional). I use a freshly made hot sauce in the video, but I love to use sambal oelek or sriracha as well. You can play w/ the proportions on these ingredients to suit your taste, and if you are using a thick soy sauce, you may want to add some water to dilute the soy a bit.