To help celebrate my birthday – two years old this month – I thought I’d share with you my favourite all time dish, DUMPLINGS! I seriously love them! I can’t get enough! If I could, I think I would eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, that’s how much I love them. I love them every possible way – steamed, boiled or fried to create potstickers.
Over the next three posts, I’ll share with you:
- how to make wrappers from scratch
- my pork & prawn potstickers (fried dumplings)
and
- my chicken & coriander steamed dumplings
Not everyone has the time to make wrappers from scratch. I understand we have family to attend to, jobs to keep and social lives. If there’s a spare two hours in your weekend, these dumpling wrappers are worth trying. To me, a good dumpling wrapper adds to the taste and flavour of the dumplings. But, there’s nothing wrong with the store bought ones, just ask my brother-in-law. He couldn’t wait for my dumplings – he made his own filling and used store bought wrappers. I was impressed, they turned out really well. Of course, he had a good teacher 😉
I use a premium wheat flour, which I find in selected Asian stores in Melbourne. La Fuji Mama, the inspiration behind my obsession for perfect dumpling wrappers, uses all-purpose flour for her wrappers. I started using plain flour, but after using this flour, I can’t go back. You can buy the premium flour online at Amazon (US) or Ace-Mart (AUS), if you can’t find it at your Asian grocer.
TIPS
Rolling by hand is the traditional method to make wrappers, as China Sichuan Food does. To save time (and sore hands) I use my pasta machine for the perfect thin wrappers.
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If you don’t have a cookie cutter, find a glass or small bowl to use as a cutter for perfect circles every time.
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Rice flour helps the wrappers stay their size without sticking to one another. If you don’t have rice flour, use the flour you used to make the wrappers.
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I like using chop sticks to mix the flour and boiling water together, to not burn my hands. Use a fork if you feel more comfortable.
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After cutting the wrappers, cover them with glad/cling/plastic wrap or in a zip lock bag to stop them drying out.
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Place wrappers in the fridge if you’re not using them straight away. Remove from the fridge about half an hour before making dumplings to bring them to room temperature.
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Wrappers can’t be frozen.
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Wrappers will keep in the fridge for 5 days.
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If you happen to need more than one batch of dumpling wrappers, please make each batch in separate bowls. One bowl per one batch of dough.
NOTE
Dumpling making is fun, relaxing and very satisfying. Enjoy the process! My first attempt was really bad, you should have seen the wrappers! They were uneven in thickness and perfect circles didn’t come easy. Here I’ve shown you an easy process to give you perfect wrappers.
MAKES: 40 + wrappers, 6.5cm in diameter
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups premium wheat flour, sifted
¼ teaspoon sea salt flakes
½ – ¾ cup boiling water
Extra premium flour for dusting bench
Rice flour for dusting wrappers
METHOD:
After sifting flour into a large bowl, stir in the salt with chopsticks.
Using chopsticks (or a fork), stir in the boiling water, little by little, until the dough starts comes together. Depending on the weather, you may need to add some more water until the dough comes together. Slowly add up to an extra ¼ cup boiling water if needed.
Using your hands, gently mould the dough into a ball. Cover with glad/cling/plastic wrap in the bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel, allowing to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes. I always do one hour.
After the time has elapsed, peel back glad wrap and remove dough. Sprinkle premium flour on work bench and knead for 5 minutes, until smooth. Divide the dough into four equal portions, placing three portions back in the bowl, covering until you finished with the first portion.
NOTE
If dough isn’t becoming smooth, don’t concern yourself too much, it will come together when you put it through the pasta machine a couple of times.
Set up your pasta machine on the widest setting and flour work surface. Using the palm of your hand, flatten the dough and feed through the machine. Repeat 4 or five times, folding the dough into thirds and turning 90 degrees each time before putting through the pasta machine.
Once the dough is smooth and not breaking apart, feed it through the pasta machine, gradually narrowing the settings, one notch at a time, before feeding the dough through each time. Keep feeding the dough until you reach the second last setting on your machine.
Place the wrapper sheet on a lightly rice floured surface. If needed, rice flour the wrapper sheet to stop it sticking. Get you cookie cutter or glass and cut out discs, you should be able to get 8-10 discs from the first sheet. Lightly dust each disc with rice flour as you go, stacking on top of one another. The see TIP 5.
Keep remaining dough, repeating above process.
Repeat the above processes with the three remaining dough portions.
I love hearing from you. If you have a question you’d like to ask or something doesn’t make sense to you, please contact me in the comments or PM (personal message) me via the email button at the top of my blog x
Fabulous Foodie Friday (#44) party – Come join us for lots of great food inspiration and recipes. Be sure to say hi to Lauren (Create, Bake, Make), Lucy (Bake, Play, Smile) and Dannielle (Zamambakes) and tell them I sent you 😉
Miss Food Fairy 
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