I made dumplings yesterday

I made some pork and celery dumplings last night and they came out really good. They were surprisingly easy to make!

And I’m very shocked by it, because I’ve always wanted to make dumplings from scratch but held off because I thought they would be too hard for me. But they were really easy.

• 1-1/4 pound of ground pork
• 3 or 4 celery stalks finely minced
• 1/3 cup of finely chopped carrot
• 2 scallions minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp finely minced ginger
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp oyster sauce
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1/2 C water
• 2 packages dumpling wrappers or homemade wrappers

1. If you’re making homemade wrappers, add 4 cups all-purpose flour to a large bowl and gradually mix in 1-1/3 cups of tepid water. It might seem hard, but knead it into a smooth dough. It will take about 10 minutes. Cover with a plate and set aside for 1 hour.

2. Put the minced celery in a small bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes to release the excess water.

3. Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the carrots for about 2 minutes until they’re slightly softened. Turn off the heat and let them cool.

4. Squeeze the excess water out of the celery and add them to a large bowl with the ground pork, carrots, ginger, scallions, sugar, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and soy sauce. Using a pair of chopsticks, begin stirring the mixture in one direction, gradually streaming in the Shaoxing wine and water. Mix about 10 minutes until you get an emulsified paste.

5. If you bought dumpling wrappers, moisten the outer edges of a wrapper and add 1 tablespoon of filling to the center. Pleat the dumpling closed, using additional water to make sure it’s completely sealed. Continue wrapping dumplings until all filling is gone.

6. If you made your own wrapper dough, divide the dough into small pieces and roll into balls. Use a rolling pin to flatten the balls into thin 3-1/2 inch circles. Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of a wrapper and pleat the edges together. Continue wrapping dumplings until all filling is gone.

7. Pan-fry, steam, or boil dumplings. Lay uncooked dumplings on a parchment paper covered sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until they’re solid, then separate them into Ziploc bags or freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Enjoy.

How to pan-fry dumplings: Add a couple tablespoons vegetable oil to a frying pan over medium heat. Add dumplings and fry until the bottoms of the dumplings are lightly golden brown and flip. Hold up the pan lid to block any splash-back and add about 1/2 cup water to the pan (around the dumplings, not on them!) then immediately put the lid on the pan. Let the dumplings continue cooking about 7 minutes while the water steame away. Then uncover the pan and continue cooking until the pan is dry and the bottoms of the dumplings are crispy.

How to steam dumplings: Add dumplings to a steamer and steam on medium to medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes.

How to boil dumplings: Bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop in the dumplings and stir them around so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Bring the water back to a boil and cook for 6-8 minutes, depending on the dumpling size. Whenever the water comes to a vigorous boil, add an additional 1/4 cup of cold water to calm things down a little and prevent the dumplings from getting starchy.

Cooking frozen dumplings: Steam for 10 minutes, boil for 8 minutes.

I didn’t have Shaoxing wine, so I used white cooking wine, and I didn’t want to deal with mincing ginger so I bought a tube of ginger paste and used that.

When making the wrappers, I split the dough in two, then formed two long tubes and used a pastry cutter to split the tubes into smaller pieces. Then I cut those pieces in half, and those halves were what I rolled into balls and then tried to flatten into circles. I actually ended up with some pretty large-sized dumplings.

I had a really hard time making my wrappers circle-shaped. Like, none of them were circles. So next time, I’m going to search out my dumpling maker thing and use it to cut perfect circles out of the rolled dough. That just seems much more effective and simple.

I boiled the dumplings because I couldn’t remember the proper way to pan-fry them off the top of my head. And I noticed oil releasing into the water, which kind of surprised me. Then later, when eating them, all the juices trapped inside were like their own tasty soup. I could really taste the sesame oil, but not really the celery.

I’m really thinking about getting a bamboo steamer to cook things more healthier. So if I really get into making my own dumplings it will be worth it to invest in a steamer.

Steamer storage and steamer cost are the biggest hurdles right now. There’s really not a lot of space available in the kitchen. So I have a tendency to buy cooking gadgets, then they take up counter and cabinet space until someone else gets frustrated and they disappear. Then I need them and I’m SOL.

~HarperWCK

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