Simple Dumpling Recipe - For those who never tried it before

hi r/recipes. My family has been making dumplings for as long as I've been alive, and although it can be a labor intenstive process, we wanted to simplify it so that anyone can make them at anytime! Below are the ingredients we used, but you can substitute them for whatever you'd like. The technique is more important than the specific ingredients. Additionally some of the tools might be unique, but we tried to provide other tools that can be used in place.

As a heads up, this recipe can take a bit of time. I would budget 60 - 90 mins if this is your very first try, but keep in mind that making more dumplings than the recipe calls for will increase the time by minimal amounts as the initial setup is what takes the longest.

Ingredients:

• Dough
  • 1 ⅓ Cups All Purpose Flour
  • ½ Cup Water
• Shrimp Stock
  • 2 Raw, Defrosted Shrimps with Shells Attached
  • ½ Cup Water
• Filling
  • 1 Cup of Chopped Cabbage
  • ⅓ lb of Ground Beef (or other really any ground meat)
  • 1 tsp Soy Sauce
  • Salt

Tools:

• Bowls
• Measuring Cups
• Utensils for mixing/stirring
• Saucepan or small frying pan
• Knife
• Cutting Board
• Rolling pin OR Empty Wine Bottle
• Boiling Pot
• Straining Spoon/Spider

Directions:

The process can be broken down into 5 major parts

1. Make the Dough
2. Make the Shrimp Stock
3. Make the Filling
4. Assembly
5. Cooking

Make the Dough

• Combine the water GRADUALLY with the flour, mixing as you do this
  • Add dashes of water if the dough is not coming together
• Mix until a cohesive ball of dough is formed
• Dough is done
• Set aside while everything else gets prepped

Make the Shrimp Stock

• Defrost the raw shrimp and remove the shells
• Set them in the saucepan or small fry pan
• Add the water
• Bring the stock to a boil, then kill the heat
• Shrimp Stock is done
• Set aside while the rest gets prepped

Make the Filling

• Cut the Cabbage into as small pieces as you can
• Add meat and 4 tsp of shrimp to a bowl - mix to combine
• Add the soy sauce and mix
• Add salt to taste and mix
• Add the Chopped Cabbage and mix
• Filling is done

Assembly

• Lightly flour a work surface and retrieve dough
• Turn dough out onto the surface and roll it into a snake - about 3/4 inch in diameter
• Pinch 1 inch chunks on the Dough Snake, then rip/cut them off
• Lightly Flour the dough chunks
• Roll each chunk into a ball, then smush them into flat disks
• Use Rolling Pin and roll out the dough chunks, rotating them 90 Degrees after a few rolls to form a circle
• If Dough is sticking to the Roller or table, add more flour to it
• Try to make edges of the rolled disk thinner than the center
  • This lets the dumpling hold more filling and keep shape
• Add about 1 Tbsp to the filling to the dough disk
• Fold dough over itself and pinch the edges to seal - place assembled dumplings on a lightly floured surface to avoid sticking

Cooking

• Bring a pot of water to a boil, then add dumplings
• Gently agitate the water and dumplings to avoid sticking to each other or the pot - Working in batches makes it easier
• Cover and bring back to a boil
• Once boiling again, gently stir the dumplings and add A BIT of cold water to the pot - cover and repeat this process for 6 - 7 mins
• Dumplings should float to the surface and come back up when pressed down
• Use the Straining Spoon to scoop dumplings - make sure to shake the excess water out when scooping

Let them cool for a bit and that's it! You're done and can enjoy your own 100% homemade dumplings! Again, feel free to freestyle and add/sub ingredients that you find interesting. For example, the raw shrimp can be cut into pieces and added to the filling.

Below is a video of the whole process from start to finish. Reading through the instuctions alone might get overwhelming, the video shoud help clear it up:

https://youtu.be/qkMUSdm4cFM

Let me know how this goes for you guys and if you changed the recipe at all. I'd love to see what you guys come up with, it'll help me improve my dumplings too!

bon appetit