Can we just pretend like everyone else?
You're shooting yourself in the foot. I have been too, so maybe it's mostly fine, except for when it's not. Here's an alternate way of considering my cryptic point. I'm fairly certain I've managed to blow out both my feet and have consequently just been hobbling around on stumps for quite awhile now. It's probably better this way. My feet are troublesome little creatures by default. I have the tendency to catch splinters easily on my toes, to wear shoes that give me huge painful calluses, and just last night, while walking into the kitchen to get a glass of water, I squashed a roach with my bare foot. What are the chances of that? Poor bug. It's a bad way to go, and I can only imagine the moment of stark terror it experienced, as an unidentified object loomed from the black of the night. I should've turned on a light.
It really hasn't been a great past week...for my feet, that is. Even I must admit that the consequences of my walking style were inevitable; I've seen the blow-out coming from miles and miles away. I just thought it would happen quickly, like the popping of a balloon, rather than the slow hiss of a small puncture wound. I must also admit that the subject of feet isn't quite appropriate for food-associated things. So really, forget the feet...this post is about dumplings. Pork dumplings (with assorted vegetables), to be more exact. I've made dumplings multiple times before, but I've never really written down the recipe, because they really don't seem like that big a deal. Toss together some flour and water, season some ground meat, roll it all up and next thing you know, you have 50 dumplings in the freezer for the next couple of weeks. I've had some terrible accidents with straying too far though. One time, I made dumplings with a filling of peas and corn...let's just say that did not go over so well...suckers stayed in the freezer for months before finally getting tossed.
I do want to make something clear though. This dumpling recipe isn't traditional by any means, unless the tradition starts with me and Pinky, a.k.a. my perpetual taste tester. Growing up, I ate mostly store-bought dumplings (which I loved and still love to this day, see left). However, there were times when my mother would make dumplings herself, putting together the filling and buying frozen pre-made dumpling peels from the grocery store, but the occasions were rare and I much preferred the store-bought dumplings over the home-made ones. I found it annoying that the pre-made peels were thin and hard to work with, thinking it was unfortunate that they didn't hold together well in water, and to make matters worse, I also didn't particularly liked the way my mother seasoned her dumpling filling. It was always crumbly and a bit bland to me. Anyways. All this dumpling dissatisfaction gave rise to a burning urge in my gut to make homemade dumplings that were similar to the store bought frozen dumplings.
I didn't really act on the urge until long after I left home. In college, I used to smuggle frozen dumplings in my luggage from Rochester back to Baltimore (the Asian grocery in Baltimore is super far away from where I live), but I soon tired of trying to smash apart squished up, half-defrosted dumplings. So much so, that one day, the burning urge flared into a forest fire. I sat down at my kitchen table and cobbled together my own dumpling recipe. It's been going on since then. Of course, these are far from perfect and I need to work on the texture of the peel more, but the result is so tasty, it really doesn't even matter. I get the feeling that this recipe will be refined for years to come, until it doesn't need any dipping sauce at all.
...and of course, one day, there will be better pictures.
Pork, Mushroom and Corn Dumplings
yields about 60 small dumplings
Peel:
3 C of flour
1 C of warm water
salt
Measure out the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour pile, and start drizzling in water a little bit at a time while simultaneously mixing. The dough will eventually come together; the texture should be slightly tacky and the bowl should be clean. Then, place the warm dough into a large Ziplock bag and seal it. Put the whole thing under a bowl and wait 30 minutes to an hour, to let the gluten activate. You'll know when the dough is "ready" when the it is springy (retracts a bit when pulled on). The best way to tell for certain is to pinch off a piece, then try rolling it out into a thin round sheet a.k.a. a dumpling wrapper peel. Even if you roll it out into a giant thin circle, the whole thing should shrink back into a smaller circle. Make sense?
Filling:
1.5 lbs ground pork or chicken (I actually think a mix is best, and the ground chicken helps to impart flavor)
2 large eggs
1 C of rehydrated dried shitake mushrooms, diced
6 stalks of garlic stems, chopped fine
3 cloves of garlic, smashed and diced fine
1 can of corn, drained (weird, but I like it)
dark soy sauce
oyster or fish sauce
brown sugar
rice wine vinegar
sesame oil
garlic salt (or just salt)
pepper
Mix it all together. Pretty simple, right? As you can see, there aren't any measurements for over half of the ingredients, but that's mostly because you should put the recipe together according to your own taste. I tend on the saltier side for the filling because the wrapper takes a lot of the taste out of the bite, but really, the only basics are the meat and the eggs. One day, I will add shrimp. Everything else is based on preference. Even though this is the base of my recipe, I plan on refining it until I finally get the desired taste. I like these dumplings, but I always feel like something is missing, that final thing that will make my dumplings taste like store-bought dumplings. I'll figure it out one day. This amount of meat will yield meat for about 60 medium-small sized dumplings.
Assembly: Pleating. At base, it's simple. Pinch off a 1 inch in diameter piece of dough, roll it flat, put a tablespoon of filling inside, pick up the edges and pinch/pleat together. Have flour on hand so that the dough doesn't stick to the rolling pin when rolling it out. I personally don't find the assembly part to be too difficult (it's even therapeutic once you get into a groove), but after watching Pinky try to assemble dumplings...let's just say pleating takes some practice.
I guess I do have a leg-up on all you first-timers out there, because even though it's not a traditional recipe, I at least have the pleating method down from working with pre-made frozen peels as a child. Fortunately for you, assembling dumplings with self-made dough is much easier, because the dough is stretchier and there is leeway with how much filling you can stuff in...and I like to stuff in more than I should (hur hur). You also don't have to worry about using water to make home-made dough stick; it'll stick together on it's lonesome and water actually makes slippery i.e. more difficult. Last piece of advice is give yourself time, as depending on how much time you have, the shapes of your dumpling will vary. If I am in a rush, I make spherical dumplings rather than the traditional boat-shaped ones (pleats all the way around the top versus just pleats on one side). I find them easier. Boat-shaped ones are far more aesthetically pleasing, but they take more time to make look uniform, unless you've had lots of practice. If you want to make the boat-shaped ones, it also helps if you have a peel roller sitting next to you. A peel roller is, quite literally, a person who rolls out the dough into thin peels, and then hands them to you to fill and pleat before the dough retracts (becomes smaller in diameter).
After assembly, pan-fry or boil the suckers fresh, or freeze them for later. You'll have lots of dumplings, I promise. And since the process here is a lonely therapy for me, a chance to use my hands rather than think about what's happening to my metaphorical feet, maybe it'll help you out too.
It really hasn't been a great past week...for my feet, that is. Even I must admit that the consequences of my walking style were inevitable; I've seen the blow-out coming from miles and miles away. I just thought it would happen quickly, like the popping of a balloon, rather than the slow hiss of a small puncture wound. I must also admit that the subject of feet isn't quite appropriate for food-associated things. So really, forget the feet...this post is about dumplings. Pork dumplings (with assorted vegetables), to be more exact. I've made dumplings multiple times before, but I've never really written down the recipe, because they really don't seem like that big a deal. Toss together some flour and water, season some ground meat, roll it all up and next thing you know, you have 50 dumplings in the freezer for the next couple of weeks. I've had some terrible accidents with straying too far though. One time, I made dumplings with a filling of peas and corn...let's just say that did not go over so well...suckers stayed in the freezer for months before finally getting tossed.
 |
| My favorite frozen dumplings..mmm.... |
I didn't really act on the urge until long after I left home. In college, I used to smuggle frozen dumplings in my luggage from Rochester back to Baltimore (the Asian grocery in Baltimore is super far away from where I live), but I soon tired of trying to smash apart squished up, half-defrosted dumplings. So much so, that one day, the burning urge flared into a forest fire. I sat down at my kitchen table and cobbled together my own dumpling recipe. It's been going on since then. Of course, these are far from perfect and I need to work on the texture of the peel more, but the result is so tasty, it really doesn't even matter. I get the feeling that this recipe will be refined for years to come, until it doesn't need any dipping sauce at all.
...and of course, one day, there will be better pictures.
Pork, Mushroom and Corn Dumplings
yields about 60 small dumplings
3 C of flour
1 C of warm water
salt
Measure out the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour pile, and start drizzling in water a little bit at a time while simultaneously mixing. The dough will eventually come together; the texture should be slightly tacky and the bowl should be clean. Then, place the warm dough into a large Ziplock bag and seal it. Put the whole thing under a bowl and wait 30 minutes to an hour, to let the gluten activate. You'll know when the dough is "ready" when the it is springy (retracts a bit when pulled on). The best way to tell for certain is to pinch off a piece, then try rolling it out into a thin round sheet a.k.a. a dumpling wrapper peel. Even if you roll it out into a giant thin circle, the whole thing should shrink back into a smaller circle. Make sense?
Filling:
1.5 lbs ground pork or chicken (I actually think a mix is best, and the ground chicken helps to impart flavor)
2 large eggs
1 C of rehydrated dried shitake mushrooms, diced
6 stalks of garlic stems, chopped fine
3 cloves of garlic, smashed and diced fine
1 can of corn, drained (weird, but I like it)
dark soy sauce
oyster or fish sauce
brown sugar
rice wine vinegar
sesame oil
garlic salt (or just salt)
pepper
Mix it all together. Pretty simple, right? As you can see, there aren't any measurements for over half of the ingredients, but that's mostly because you should put the recipe together according to your own taste. I tend on the saltier side for the filling because the wrapper takes a lot of the taste out of the bite, but really, the only basics are the meat and the eggs. One day, I will add shrimp. Everything else is based on preference. Even though this is the base of my recipe, I plan on refining it until I finally get the desired taste. I like these dumplings, but I always feel like something is missing, that final thing that will make my dumplings taste like store-bought dumplings. I'll figure it out one day. This amount of meat will yield meat for about 60 medium-small sized dumplings.
Assembly: Pleating. At base, it's simple. Pinch off a 1 inch in diameter piece of dough, roll it flat, put a tablespoon of filling inside, pick up the edges and pinch/pleat together. Have flour on hand so that the dough doesn't stick to the rolling pin when rolling it out. I personally don't find the assembly part to be too difficult (it's even therapeutic once you get into a groove), but after watching Pinky try to assemble dumplings...let's just say pleating takes some practice.
I guess I do have a leg-up on all you first-timers out there, because even though it's not a traditional recipe, I at least have the pleating method down from working with pre-made frozen peels as a child. Fortunately for you, assembling dumplings with self-made dough is much easier, because the dough is stretchier and there is leeway with how much filling you can stuff in...and I like to stuff in more than I should (hur hur). You also don't have to worry about using water to make home-made dough stick; it'll stick together on it's lonesome and water actually makes slippery i.e. more difficult. Last piece of advice is give yourself time, as depending on how much time you have, the shapes of your dumpling will vary. If I am in a rush, I make spherical dumplings rather than the traditional boat-shaped ones (pleats all the way around the top versus just pleats on one side). I find them easier. Boat-shaped ones are far more aesthetically pleasing, but they take more time to make look uniform, unless you've had lots of practice. If you want to make the boat-shaped ones, it also helps if you have a peel roller sitting next to you. A peel roller is, quite literally, a person who rolls out the dough into thin peels, and then hands them to you to fill and pleat before the dough retracts (becomes smaller in diameter).
After assembly, pan-fry or boil the suckers fresh, or freeze them for later. You'll have lots of dumplings, I promise. And since the process here is a lonely therapy for me, a chance to use my hands rather than think about what's happening to my metaphorical feet, maybe it'll help you out too.
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