Kicking off the new year with everybody’s favourite. Lunar new year is also around the corner so it’s time to brush up on your dumpling making skills and impress the aunties for some

This also makes a great activity to do with your family and friends!

Understanding Your Components

1. Wrapper Dough:
   • Hot water is crucial! It helps to create tenderness in your dough
   • Take your time with kneading the dough. Ensure that the dough is homogenous. If it’s too wet, add a bit more flour and if it’s too dry, add a bit of water.
   • Resting time crucial. It allows the gluten to relax which makes it easier for you to roll out your wrappers
   • When you roll your dough, you want the center of your wrapper to be on the thicker side to be able to hold your filling, while the edges of the wrapper to be thin. To achieve this, add less pressure when rolling towards the center and and more pressure when rolling outwards to the edges.
   • For those who value convenience, store-bought dumpling wrappers is a great option! You can find this at your local Asian grocery stores or big supermarkets
2. Filling:
   • Protein: you can use chicken mince or pork mince. Whichever one you choose, make sure you choose a fattier mince for a juicier dumpling.
   • Fresh herbs add brightness
   • Ginger adds warmth, flavour and mask the meatiness smell of the protein
   • Seasoning is crucial. To ensure your filling is properly seasoned, you can pan-fry a small knob of mince to taste test.
3. Cooking:
   • The cooking of these dumplings involve 3 parts:
     • Browning: add the dumplings into the pan with oil and allow the bottom to crisp up. This step alone won’t cook through your mince completely, which is why you need to –
     • Steam: Add water and quickly cover your pan with a lid. The water creates steam which cooks your dumplings completely to the inside. This step is crucial to ensure your filling is cooked through
     • Crisping: Uncover to let the excess water evaporate and let the dumplings crisp up again

Storage and Make-Ahead Tips

• Can freeze uncooked dumplings for up to 3 months
• Make wrappers fresh
• Prepare filling ahead, keep refrigerated until it’s time to fold. Same day
• Cook from frozen, no need to thaw
• Serve immediately after cooking

Ingredients

Wrapper:
240g plain flour
140-150ml hot water

Filling:
400g chicken mince
85g chives chopped
85g coriander chopped
1tbs grated ginger
1tbs soy sauce
1tbs sesame oil
Salt and lots of pepper

Dipping sauce:
Equal parts soy sauce, red/black vinegar and chilli oil.

Method

Wrappers:

1. Place flour and hot water into a bowl and stir until just combined.
2. Pour onto clean surface and knead for 6-8mins until dough is smooth. Add tsp flour or water at a time if dough is too wet/dry. Shape into ball and leave to rest for 30mins (meanwhile prep your filling).
3. Divide dough into 20 to 24 even disks (depending on how big you want your dumplings to be). Dust with flour and flatten disks.
4. With a small rolling pin, roll towards the centre of the disk, only applying pressure going inwards (this allows the centre of the wrapper to be thicker and the edges thin). Rotate disk 45 degrees and roll towards the centre of the disk, again only applying pressure inwards. Repeat until wrapper is around 1mm thick. Make sure the wrappers are well floured to prevent sticking.
[alternatively, you can just roll out the entire dough ball and use a cookie cutter to form wrappers]

Filling:

1. Combine all the ingredients into a bowl and set aside. (In the meantime, roll out your wrappers).
2. Place 1 tbs of filling into centre of wrapper. Wet the edges with water and fold the wrapper in half, only pinching the middle. Make 3 pleats on each side.
3. Heat 3tbs oil in a small pan over medium heat. Place dumplings into the hot pan and fry for 3mins (we want brown bottoms).
4. Pour 1/4 cup of water into pan and immediately cover with lid. Allow dumplings to steam for 4 mins. Uncover, let water evaporate and bottoms crisp up for another 30secs. Remove from heat and enjoy with dipping sauce