Chinese Style Dumplings Recipes

CHINESE-STYLE DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• For the dough: Whisk the flour with the salt and stir in the water until dough is shaggy. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead briefly; dough should be soft and pliable but not too sticky. Rest, covered, while you make the filling and the sauce.
• Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. To check for seasoning, fry a bit in some hot oil until just cooked through. Adjust the seasoning as necessary.
• For the sauce:
• Combine all but the last 2 ingredients in a bowl for dipping. Sprinkle the basil and habanero over the top.
• To Assemble and Cook:
• Flour your work surface lightly and roll the dough, or pieces of it, about 1/8-inch thick (too thin and the dough will tear as you fill the dumplings). Cut out circles with a 3-inch round cutter. Cover the dough with a side towel or piece of plastic wrap as you work. Have a small bowl of water next to you. Place a scant tablespoon of filling in the middle of a dough circle, and press it so that it spreads slightly toward the side edges of the dough. Using your fingertip or a small pastry brush, wet the edge of the dough. Fold the dough up around the filling so that the filling sits on the work surface-that's the bottom of your dumpling-and the seam is between your fingers. Pleat the dough that is facing you, about 6 times, pressing it against the back to seal-only the front of the dumpling should be pleated. The corners of the dumpling should curl slightly away from you, toward the unpleated side. Heat a skillet, just large enough to accommodate the number of dumplings you want to cook over high heat. Add a thin coating of oil, heat, then add the dumplings in concentric circles. They should be touching. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown, 3 or 4 minutes (reduce the heat if they are browning too quickly). Add enough water to come about 1/4 of the way up the sides of the dumplings-it will spatter. Cover the skillet, adjust the heat so that the water is simmering, and cook for about 7 minutes. Uncover the skillet and, if there is water left, let it cook off. Check the dumpling bottoms-if they need to brown a bit more, let them, adding a bit more oil if necessary. Serve the dumplings immediately, drizzled with some dipping sauce and garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.

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.

CHINESE PORK DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon chives, sesame seeds, and chile sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Mix pork, garlic, egg, 2 tablespoons chives, soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Place a dumpling wrapper on a lightly floured work surface and spoon about 1 tablespoon of the filling in the middle. Wet the edge with a little water and crimp together forming small pleats to seal the dumpling. Repeat with remaining dumpling wrappers and filling.
• Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place 8 to 10 dumplings in the pan and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Pour in 1 cup of water, cover and cook until the dumplings are tender and the pork is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Repeat for remaining dumplings. Serve with soy sauce mixture for dipping.

BEEFY CHINESE DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix together beef, cabbage, carrot, and onion. Stir in the egg, sugar, salt, soy sauce, and vegetable oil.
• Place a large teaspoonful of filling in the center of a dumpling skin. Moisten the edges of a wonton with a few drops of water. Then fold the dumpling in half, and pinch the edges together to seal. Create a ripple pattern along the pinched edge by pinching and gently pushing together small segments of it. Repeat with remaining dumplings.
• Boil the dumplings in water until they float to the top, about 5 minutes.

CHINESE CHIVE DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• To make the filling, in a bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice wine, and 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch, stirring to dissolve the cornstarch. Add the raw shrimp and stir to coat well. Set aside. In another bowl, create a seasoning sauce by stirring together the remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch, sugar, white pepper, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and water. Set aside.
• Heat the canola oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the dried shrimp and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the Chinese chives and keep stirring and cooking for 1 minute, or until the chives have wilted slightly. Add the raw shrimp and cook for about 1 minute, or until they have just turned orange. Make a well in the center, give the seasoning sauce a stir, and add to the skillet. Cook for about 45 seconds, or until the mixture thickens and coheres. Taste and, if needed, add salt for savory depth. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool completely. You should have about 1 1/4 cups.
• Working with 1 piece of dough at a time to form the wrappers, roll it on an unfloured work surface into a chubby 6-inch log. Cut the log into 6 pieces. Follow the instructions on "Forming Wrappers from Wheat Starch Dough" (page 133) to shape circles that are each about 4 inches in diameter.
• Before assembling the dumplings, line steamer trays and/or baking sheets with parchment paper. Oil the paper lining in the steamer trays.
• To assemble a dumpling, hold a wrapper in a slightly cupped hand. Use a spoon to center about 1 tablespoon atop the wrapper, flattening the filling a bit and keeping about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of wrapper clear on all sides. Then fold, pleat, and press to enclose the filling and create a closed satchel (see page 52). Try to make large pleats so that the dumpling is not too thick on one side. After pinching the opening closed, twist off any excess dough and discard. As you work, set each finished dumpling in a prepared steamer tray, closed side down, and 1/2 inch apart; when using a metal steamer tray, keep the dumplings 1 inch away from the edge, where condensation will collect. Set overflow dumpling on the baking sheet and loosely cover. Assemble more dumplings from the remaining wrappers before working on the next batch of dough. Once assembled, the dumplings should be cooked as soon as possible, because they cannot be refrigerated uncooked.
• Steam the dumplings over boiling water (see page 17 for guidance) for about 7 minutes, or until they have puffed slightly and become somewhat translucent. Remove the trays and place atop a plate if serving as steamed dumplings. To panfry, remove the trays and let the dumplings cool to room temperature. (They can sit for up to 2 hours.) Use a regular (not a nonstick) skillet for better browning. Heat the skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon oil for a medium skillet or 1 1/2 tablespoons oil for a large skillet. When the oil is just about to smoke, add the dumplings, smooth side down, in batches if necessary; it is okay if they touch. Fry for about 3 minutes, or until crisp and tinged golden brown. Flip each over to crisp the sealed (pleated) side for about 2 minutes; reduce the heat if the oil smokes. There is no need to brown the bottom as it will not show. Transfer to a platter.
• Serve hot or warm with the soy sauce and chile garlic sauce for guests to concoct their own dipping sauce. Cooked dumplings can be refrigerated; steam to reheat for about 3 minutes before serving.

CHINESE DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Mix half of the chives and all of the filling ingredients together. Spread 1 heaped tbsp of filling onto each wonton skin and spread out a little.
• Bring the wrapper up and around the pork until you have a small, firmly-packed dumpling with an open top. Repeat with the rest of the mix. Can be made up to a day ahead.
• Steam the dumplings for 10 mins until the wrappers are translucent. Top with remaining chives and serve with dipping sauce.

CHINESE STEAMED DUMPLINGS WITH DIPPING SAUCE

Steps:

• Mix ingredients for dipping sauce and set aside.
• Lightly oil a large bowl.
• Put the flour and salt in another large bowl, piled up.
• Make a dent in the top of the pile, and crack the egg into it.
• Mix the egg into the flour.
• Add enough water to the mixture to make a thick dough.
• The consistency should be like bread dough.
• In any case, don't add too much water--it shouldn't be like batter at all!
• Turn the dough out onto the flour-dusted counter, and form into a ball.
• (It helps to flour your hands first).
• Place the dough into the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap (cellofane).
• Let stand 1 hour.
• Meanwhile mix all ingredients for filling and place in the fridge.
• Next, remove dough and place on flour-dusted counter (or work surface).
• Knead a bit and flatten until very thin (but not see-through or falling apart).
• Using a large, round cookie-cutter (or bottom of coffee can or top of glass) cut three-inch rounds.
• Don't place them on top of each other, as they could stick together!
• Knead the leftover pieces together again and cut more rounds until there's no dough left.
• Spoon a bit of the filling into the center of each round and fold in half (to make a semi-circle shape).
• Seal edges with a bit of water, and use tongs of a fork to decorate the edge.
• To prepare, either steam the dumplings (if you have a steamer) for 15 mins, or boil for 10 mins.
• If you boil, add some oil to the water and don't overcrowd the pan--make them in batches.
• If you like, you can fry the dumplings in a skillet or wok to brown them before serving.
• Handle gently!