Making Delicious Chinese-Style Dumplings: A Step-by-Step Guide

The art of making delicious Chinese-style dumplings is a labor of love that requires patience, skill, and attention to detail. In this article, we will take you through the process of creating these tasty treats from scratch.

**Preparing the Dough**

To start, we need to prepare the dough. The dough should be made with white flour, which is commonly used in Chinese pastry making. The recipe calls for a mixture of 100 grams of all-purpose flour, 50 grams of warm water, and 10 grams of salt. To begin, combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add the warm water to the dry ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. The dough should be smooth and elastic.

**Adjusting the Dough**

The next step is to adjust the dough to make it more pliable and easier to work with. To do this, we need to knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until it becomes smooth and shiny. We can also add a little bit of oil to the dough to prevent it from drying out. After kneading the dough, let it rest for at least 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.

**Rolling Out the Dough**

Once the dough has rested, we need to roll it out into thin sheets. To do this, we use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into thin sheets. We can also use a pastry roller or a pasta machine to achieve the desired thickness. The dough should be rolled out to a thickness of about 1/16 inch (1.5 mm).

**Cutting Out the Dumplings**

Next, we need to cut out the dumplings from the dough sheet. To do this, we use a round cookie cutter or a knife to cut out circles of dough. The diameter of each circle should be about 3 inches (7.5 cm). We can also use a template or a stencil to achieve uniform shapes.

**Adding the Filling**

The filling is an essential component of Chinese-style dumplings. For this recipe, we will use a mixture of ground pork, cabbage, and ginger. To prepare the filling, we simply chop the cabbage into small pieces and mix it with ground pork, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil.

**Wrapping the Dumplings**

Once the dough circles are ready, we can start wrapping them around the filling. To do this, we use our thumbs to create a hole in the center of each dough circle, and then fill it with the cabbage mixture. We then use our fingers to fold the dough over the filling, creating a half-moon shape.

**Pinching and Sealing the Dumplings**

To seal the dumplings, we need to pinch the edges together tightly, using our thumb and index finger. This will create a tight seal that prevents the filling from escaping during cooking.

**Shaping the Dumplings**

Once the dumplings are sealed, we can shape them into their final form. To do this, we use a spatula or a fork to gently press down on the center of each dumpling, creating a flat surface. We can also add a small dot of water to the top of each dumpling to help hold it together.

**Lightly Wetting the Dumplings**

Before cooking, we need to lightly wet our hands with water and tap the dough rectangles to give them a little moisture. This will help prevent the dough from drying out during cooking.

**Cooking the Dumplings**

To cook the dumplings, we bring a pot of water to a boil and use a spatula to swirl the water into a vortex. We then add the dumplings to the boiling water, using a slotted spoon or a skimmer to remove them once they are cooked.

The temperature of the pot will drop slightly, so we need to maintain a medium heat level to prevent the water from boiling over. We continue to cook the dumplings for about 5-7 minutes, or until they float to the surface of the water.

**Adding Cold Water**

To cook the dumplings evenly and prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot, we add cold water to the pot. This process is called the "enlargeray" method, which helps maintain a stable temperature in the cooking liquid.

We add half cup of cold water to the boiling water, and then wait for it to come back to a simmer. We repeat this process once or twice, depending on the size of our dumplings.

**Serving**

Once the dumplings are cooked, we can serve them with your favorite dipping sauce. For this recipe, I recommend trying my sixth video, which features several delicious and easy-to-make dipping sauces.

**Tips and Variations**

One tip for making perfect dumplings is to use a combination of warm and cold water when mixing the dough. This will help create a smooth and elastic dough that is easier to work with.

Another tip is to use a variety of ingredients in your filling, such as ground pork, cabbage, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil. You can also experiment with different seasonings and spices to give your dumplings a unique flavor.

**Conclusion**

Making Chinese-style dumplings is a fun and rewarding process that requires patience, skill, and attention to detail. By following these steps and tips, you can create delicious and authentic dumplings that are sure to impress your friends and family. Happy cooking!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi everyone welcome to soup top recipes today we are making fake treat by thai jiaozi fei chi means jade bai thai is chinese cabbage these two words together are referring to a chinese ornament a cabbage carved out of jade these dumplings have a jade color a pork cabbage filling and a cabbage shape that's how i got the name this is a recipe that represents wealth my family always makes it during the spring festival to wish them good fortune for the new year i'm happy to share it with you for the dumpling wrapper we will make two pieces of dough the first one has a regular white color add a third teaspoon of salt into 150 grams of room temperature water stir to dissolve slowly pour the sodium solution into 300 grams of high protein flour stir with a spatula at the same time go in with your hand and start gathering all the flour together dumpling dough should be pretty hard so this is going to take some labor to work with once all the flour joined together it will look pretty rough that is okay you just cover it with a slightly damp towel and let it rest for 15 minutes during this time you can work on the second piece of dough this one we will color it with some green leafy vegetables i'm using spinach put in some boiling water blanch it for about 10 seconds take it out and rinse it with cold water so it can cool down instantly shake off the excess water weight the spinach we need about 160 to 170 grams but i like to add a little more water because you will have some weight loss that considering some of the puree will attach onto a blender cup add a third teaspoon of salt blend this until smooth pour it into 300 grams of wheat flour you should add it little by little to adjust the liquid amount because every brand of flour has a different water absorption rate but i made this many times i know this is going to work perfectly for the flour that i use go in with your hands and do the same thing like you did with the white color dough it is also going to be a bit rough cover with a slightly damp towel and let it rest for 15 minutes now we can go back and take care of the first piece of dough after resting it becomes so much more pliable you can knead it smooth within a couple of minutes shape it into a lock and we're going to let this sit for 40 minutes grab the green dough again do the same thing knead it nice and smooth shape it into a log this also needs to be rest for another 40 minutes we can put two pieces of dough next to each other make sure they don't stick together set them aside before we start making the filling i want to show you the flower that i'm using it's a korean brand it says all-purpose flour on the package and the protein content is 10 it's not really high but it works beautifully like high protein flour i use it for dumplings noodles steamed buns it gives the final result a firm texture and a white smooth appearance if you can't find this brand you just use bread flour they always work beautiful for dumplings if you live in the usa i would not recommend you to use all-purpose flour it doesn't work as well for dumplings it acts more like cake flour i have tried all-purpose flour in china and in ecuador they work beautiful but not the u.s brand i don't know why and don't ask me why okay let's make the pork and sour cabbage filling of course you will need some sour cabbage it's basically just pickled cabbage very popular in north chinese cuisine you can buy this in the fridge section at your local chinese grocery store if you don't have access that is fine too you can make your own as it's super easy only includes three ingredients i'll link the recipe in the description we will need 350 grams of it dice the sour cabbage finely by the way you can use fresh cabbage if you are not a fan of fermented food i do have a dumpling demo video where i use the fresh cabbage as the filling i'll link that recipe in the description you can check it out if you want set the pickled cabbage aside next we will make aromatic water in the blender cup add two cloves of garlic which i roughly diced them half inch of ginger i roughly chopped it as well one teaspoon of sichuan peppercorns and 5 tbsp of water blend everything together let it go through a sieve to get rid of any stubborn bits set it aside in a big mixing bowl add 500 grams of ground pork one and a half tablespoon of soy sauce one tablespoon of oyster sauce one tablespoon of chinese cooking wine one teaspoon of five spice powder and one tablespoon of sesame oil mix to even out all the seasonings then pour in the aromatic water whenever i make dumplings i always stir the filling in one direction to develop the texture today i will explain why the meat contains lots of proteins they are long chain like molecules at the microscopic level when you stir them in one direction you are unfolding and stretching the molecules into strength you can actually see the change in about five minutes of stirring there will be some strength appearing like here and there imagine millions of microstrings tangling with each other and forming into a net that is how you get a good texture for your dumplings if you stir and then reverse you'll break down the structure and your filling will be loose it won't join together okay i think that looks good i'm going to add the sour cabbage and the diced scallion i always add the vegetables the last because they do make the stirring much more difficult also homemade sour cabbage and store-bought ones have different level of saltiness if this is the first time you are making this recipe you can cook a teaspoon of the filling in the microwave and taste to adjust the flavor i have made this many many times so i know the flavor is good set the filling aside the dough has been rested for 40 minutes we can work on it now for the white dough you just roll it into a thinner and longer lock make sure it's even this will take some patience just do your best for the green dough flatten it with your hand first and roll it into a long rectangle sheet this requires even more patience because it is not easy to make a perfect rectangle you can adjust the four corners to make them more pointy the length should match the white dough lock another tip for you is to roll the length of the rectangle thinner so when you combine these two edges together it won't be double the thickness lightly wet your hand and tap the rectangle sheet to give it a little moisture place the white lock right in the middle wrap it tightly try not to trap any air but if you did it's not a big problem you can get rid of the bubbles while rolling the dumpling wrappers pinch the edge to close it roll it thinner and longer if it gets longer than your working surface you can just split it right in the middle continue to work on it until it becomes long enough for you to divide each log into 25 pieces because this recipe is enough to make about 50 dumplings each dough should be about 17 to 18 grams you can use a skill if you have ocd i'm just gonna go with my eyes lightly dust some flour to prevent stickiness cover all the pieces with a damp towel so they don't get dry take one piece of the dough dust it with a little more flour flatten it with your hand first then we are going to roll it into a round wrapper this is how i do it the rolling pin goes forward and back the left hand holds the dough and turns it while the right hand is rolling it repeat this fast and you will get a round wrapper with a thick middle and a thin edge the diameter is about three inches put some filling in the middle of the wrapper use both of your thumbs and four fingers to stretch the wrapper then fold that in half pinch the edge together and squeeze the dumpling with the hollow of your palm that's it fast and easy look at how lovely they are the green top represents the leafy part of the cabbage and the white bottom is the stem as i mentioned before the chinese pronunciation of cabbage is by tight it sounds similar to bai tai which means a hundred treasures that's why a lot of people will put a cabbage ornament in their office and hope that their business will go well now it comes to my favorite part cooking the dumplings bring a pot of water to a boil use a spatula to swirl the water to create a vortex then put the dumplings in this way the dumplings will flow with the water instead of sinking to the bottom directly otherwise they will stick to the bottom and lose a part of the skin trust me you don't want broken dumplings the temperature of the pot will drop a little bit you just keep the heat at median continue to swirl the water to move the dumplings in a couple of minutes it should come back to a simmer add half cup of cold water to drop the temperature wait for it to come back to a simmer again this time all the dumplings should flow to the top of the water we will add another half cup of cold water to drop the temperature this process is called the enlargeray it helps you to keep the temperature below the boiling point if the water is boiling the whole time the moisture inside the dumplings will evaporate fast and the wrapper will inflate like a balloon the dumpling skin might be broken due to the expansion depending on the size of your dumplings we will add cold water once or twice these are big fatties that's why i did it twice if you are cooking some small wontons you only need to add cold water once okay i think they're looking good fish them out put them on the plate for the dipping sauce you can check out my sixth delicious dumpling dipping sauce video and pick your favorite one i'll link that video in the description go check it out oh i'm so ready to give this a try the sour cabbage adds some fermented touch to the filling which balances the taste really well and it's super juicy the skin is nice and firm the most satisfying part is that regular dumplings are one bite size these are like three bite size if you made more than what you can eat don't worry dumplings are freezer friendly you just put them in a container and leave some space between each other pop them in the fridge whenever you want to eat them again don't even need to defrost just directly boil them in china making dumplings is more like a family event i make the dough you mix the filling everybody else can help to wrap the dumplings time goes fast when we enjoy the moment with each other so do the dumplings after they're done i hope you can give this recipe a try soon if you did leave me a comment let me know how it goes as always don't forget to check the description where you can find all the links including the printable recipe the related videos the purchase link for special ingredients if you don't know where to buy them or the tools that i have used in this video thank you for watching and i will see you next time byehi everyone welcome to soup top recipes today we are making fake treat by thai jiaozi fei chi means jade bai thai is chinese cabbage these two words together are referring to a chinese ornament a cabbage carved out of jade these dumplings have a jade color a pork cabbage filling and a cabbage shape that's how i got the name this is a recipe that represents wealth my family always makes it during the spring festival to wish them good fortune for the new year i'm happy to share it with you for the dumpling wrapper we will make two pieces of dough the first one has a regular white color add a third teaspoon of salt into 150 grams of room temperature water stir to dissolve slowly pour the sodium solution into 300 grams of high protein flour stir with a spatula at the same time go in with your hand and start gathering all the flour together dumpling dough should be pretty hard so this is going to take some labor to work with once all the flour joined together it will look pretty rough that is okay you just cover it with a slightly damp towel and let it rest for 15 minutes during this time you can work on the second piece of dough this one we will color it with some green leafy vegetables i'm using spinach put in some boiling water blanch it for about 10 seconds take it out and rinse it with cold water so it can cool down instantly shake off the excess water weight the spinach we need about 160 to 170 grams but i like to add a little more water because you will have some weight loss that considering some of the puree will attach onto a blender cup add a third teaspoon of salt blend this until smooth pour it into 300 grams of wheat flour you should add it little by little to adjust the liquid amount because every brand of flour has a different water absorption rate but i made this many times i know this is going to work perfectly for the flour that i use go in with your hands and do the same thing like you did with the white color dough it is also going to be a bit rough cover with a slightly damp towel and let it rest for 15 minutes now we can go back and take care of the first piece of dough after resting it becomes so much more pliable you can knead it smooth within a couple of minutes shape it into a lock and we're going to let this sit for 40 minutes grab the green dough again do the same thing knead it nice and smooth shape it into a log this also needs to be rest for another 40 minutes we can put two pieces of dough next to each other make sure they don't stick together set them aside before we start making the filling i want to show you the flower that i'm using it's a korean brand it says all-purpose flour on the package and the protein content is 10 it's not really high but it works beautifully like high protein flour i use it for dumplings noodles steamed buns it gives the final result a firm texture and a white smooth appearance if you can't find this brand you just use bread flour they always work beautiful for dumplings if you live in the usa i would not recommend you to use all-purpose flour it doesn't work as well for dumplings it acts more like cake flour i have tried all-purpose flour in china and in ecuador they work beautiful but not the u.s brand i don't know why and don't ask me why okay let's make the pork and sour cabbage filling of course you will need some sour cabbage it's basically just pickled cabbage very popular in north chinese cuisine you can buy this in the fridge section at your local chinese grocery store if you don't have access that is fine too you can make your own as it's super easy only includes three ingredients i'll link the recipe in the description we will need 350 grams of it dice the sour cabbage finely by the way you can use fresh cabbage if you are not a fan of fermented food i do have a dumpling demo video where i use the fresh cabbage as the filling i'll link that recipe in the description you can check it out if you want set the pickled cabbage aside next we will make aromatic water in the blender cup add two cloves of garlic which i roughly diced them half inch of ginger i roughly chopped it as well one teaspoon of sichuan peppercorns and 5 tbsp of water blend everything together let it go through a sieve to get rid of any stubborn bits set it aside in a big mixing bowl add 500 grams of ground pork one and a half tablespoon of soy sauce one tablespoon of oyster sauce one tablespoon of chinese cooking wine one teaspoon of five spice powder and one tablespoon of sesame oil mix to even out all the seasonings then pour in the aromatic water whenever i make dumplings i always stir the filling in one direction to develop the texture today i will explain why the meat contains lots of proteins they are long chain like molecules at the microscopic level when you stir them in one direction you are unfolding and stretching the molecules into strength you can actually see the change in about five minutes of stirring there will be some strength appearing like here and there imagine millions of microstrings tangling with each other and forming into a net that is how you get a good texture for your dumplings if you stir and then reverse you'll break down the structure and your filling will be loose it won't join together okay i think that looks good i'm going to add the sour cabbage and the diced scallion i always add the vegetables the last because they do make the stirring much more difficult also homemade sour cabbage and store-bought ones have different level of saltiness if this is the first time you are making this recipe you can cook a teaspoon of the filling in the microwave and taste to adjust the flavor i have made this many many times so i know the flavor is good set the filling aside the dough has been rested for 40 minutes we can work on it now for the white dough you just roll it into a thinner and longer lock make sure it's even this will take some patience just do your best for the green dough flatten it with your hand first and roll it into a long rectangle sheet this requires even more patience because it is not easy to make a perfect rectangle you can adjust the four corners to make them more pointy the length should match the white dough lock another tip for you is to roll the length of the rectangle thinner so when you combine these two edges together it won't be double the thickness lightly wet your hand and tap the rectangle sheet to give it a little moisture place the white lock right in the middle wrap it tightly try not to trap any air but if you did it's not a big problem you can get rid of the bubbles while rolling the dumpling wrappers pinch the edge to close it roll it thinner and longer if it gets longer than your working surface you can just split it right in the middle continue to work on it until it becomes long enough for you to divide each log into 25 pieces because this recipe is enough to make about 50 dumplings each dough should be about 17 to 18 grams you can use a skill if you have ocd i'm just gonna go with my eyes lightly dust some flour to prevent stickiness cover all the pieces with a damp towel so they don't get dry take one piece of the dough dust it with a little more flour flatten it with your hand first then we are going to roll it into a round wrapper this is how i do it the rolling pin goes forward and back the left hand holds the dough and turns it while the right hand is rolling it repeat this fast and you will get a round wrapper with a thick middle and a thin edge the diameter is about three inches put some filling in the middle of the wrapper use both of your thumbs and four fingers to stretch the wrapper then fold that in half pinch the edge together and squeeze the dumpling with the hollow of your palm that's it fast and easy look at how lovely they are the green top represents the leafy part of the cabbage and the white bottom is the stem as i mentioned before the chinese pronunciation of cabbage is by tight it sounds similar to bai tai which means a hundred treasures that's why a lot of people will put a cabbage ornament in their office and hope that their business will go well now it comes to my favorite part cooking the dumplings bring a pot of water to a boil use a spatula to swirl the water to create a vortex then put the dumplings in this way the dumplings will flow with the water instead of sinking to the bottom directly otherwise they will stick to the bottom and lose a part of the skin trust me you don't want broken dumplings the temperature of the pot will drop a little bit you just keep the heat at median continue to swirl the water to move the dumplings in a couple of minutes it should come back to a simmer add half cup of cold water to drop the temperature wait for it to come back to a simmer again this time all the dumplings should flow to the top of the water we will add another half cup of cold water to drop the temperature this process is called the enlargeray it helps you to keep the temperature below the boiling point if the water is boiling the whole time the moisture inside the dumplings will evaporate fast and the wrapper will inflate like a balloon the dumpling skin might be broken due to the expansion depending on the size of your dumplings we will add cold water once or twice these are big fatties that's why i did it twice if you are cooking some small wontons you only need to add cold water once okay i think they're looking good fish them out put them on the plate for the dipping sauce you can check out my sixth delicious dumpling dipping sauce video and pick your favorite one i'll link that video in the description go check it out oh i'm so ready to give this a try the sour cabbage adds some fermented touch to the filling which balances the taste really well and it's super juicy the skin is nice and firm the most satisfying part is that regular dumplings are one bite size these are like three bite size if you made more than what you can eat don't worry dumplings are freezer friendly you just put them in a container and leave some space between each other pop them in the fridge whenever you want to eat them again don't even need to defrost just directly boil them in china making dumplings is more like a family event i make the dough you mix the filling everybody else can help to wrap the dumplings time goes fast when we enjoy the moment with each other so do the dumplings after they're done i hope you can give this recipe a try soon if you did leave me a comment let me know how it goes as always don't forget to check the description where you can find all the links including the printable recipe the related videos the purchase link for special ingredients if you don't know where to buy them or the tools that i have used in this video thank you for watching and i will see you next time bye\n"