Down in the dumplings

I adore dumplings. I haven't been able to get them out of my head since Matt and I ate some, what, two weeks ago from Copycat. My landlady, Jacky, has a soft spot for them, too. So when an opportunity arose this week to participate in a free Slow Food Live streaming session on how to make proper Chinese dumplings led by a Boston-area chef who recently authored Double Awesome Chinese Food, you can bet we signed up.

As a food educator myself, I really enjoyed learning from a good instructor. Mei Li was a lovely teacher -- a funny and patient mom who smiled as a pack of novice dumpling makers from around the country hung on her every word for how to make simple, perfect dough and tried our hands -- literally -- at making our own little morsels of pillowy deliciousness. Really, it's just flour and hot water? Amazing. I especially loved that the chef herself demonstrated how she made beautiful but imperfectly sized dumplings, and Jacky and I were both encouraged by the fact that she successfully made these dumplings with her four-year-old from time to time, using whatever filling ingredients she had on hand. Corn, beans, and pre-roasted squash, say, or ground lamb and curry spices. Our dumplings were filled with a finely chopped mix of the contents of my vegetable drawer: red cabbage, carrots, shiitakes, ginger, and green garlic. Delish! Round two was filled with the veg mix plus some minced chicken and hot sauce. Also delish! (Don't shake your head at me, of course there was a round two!)

Tasty and so quick to make! I think the longest part of the process was letting the dough rest for 30 minutes before rolling it out and filling it. (I was convinced a handful of times during that thirty-minute eternity that enough time had passed, but luckily Jacky was actually watching the clock and wouldn't let me start handling our dough until a full half hour had passed. It was worth the wait.) Here's how to make your own, based on our slightly floured, handwritten notes:

Basic Dumplings

Makes about 24 dumplings

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (we did 1 cup each of white and whole wheat), plus a few TBSP for rolling out dough
• 1 cup just-boiled water
• 2 cups or so of whatever filling you have around, mashed or finely chopped, such as...
  traditional potstickers: cooked shrimp or shredded pork with mushrooms and scallion
  vegetarian: mixed veggies with ginger and garlic
  southern: leftover fried chicken with hot sauce
  polish: mashed potatoes with cooked onions and shredded cheese
• dipping sauce: we used a few tsp soy sauce + 1/2 tsp freshly minced ginger

Directions

Use a wooden spoon to combine flour with 3/4 cup hot water in a medium bowl. Stir until most of the flour comes together into a crumbly dough, adding more hot water as needed, 1 TBSP at a time. Once it is cool enough to handle, gently knead it with your hands until it forms a soft ball that feels "like a baby's butt." Don't roll your eyes at me, I can't help that it's an accurate description! Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let dough rest for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, gather/chop/cook your filling. Seriously, the world is your oyster here, people, clean out your fridge!

After your dough has rested for the requisite 30 minutes, divide it into 4 sections.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out one section at a time into a fat worm, keeping the remaining sections of dough in the towel-covered bowl to keep them moist.

Cut each dough worm into 6-8 little marshmallow-sized blobs.

Roll out each marshmallow until it is a thin, roughly circular pancake -- say 3-5" in diameter. These are your dumpling wrappers. I would only roll out one or two at a time, so they don't start sticking to your counter or cutting board. Or you can commiserate with a co-chef, as I did, with one of us rolling out dough and the other filling/sealing dumplings.

Holding one dumpling wrapper in one hand, use a spoon in your other hand to scoop a teaspoon or two of filling into the center of your dumpling wrapper, Fold the two sides together, as if making a taco, and pinch the edges together. You may need to wet the inner edges of the dumpling to get them to stick. (Our dough was still nice and moist so we didn't need to do this, but I've had to use water in the past when sealing dumplings.) Now you have your dumplings ready to cook or freeze!

Mei Li showed us how to steam fry our dumplings, which is my favorite way to have them: heat just a splash of oil in a heavy pan (we used cast iron) until it shimmers, over medium heat, and add a half dozen dumplings. Once the bottoms have browned, carefully pour in 1/2 cup of water and quickly cover. Check after a couple of minutes -- if the water has all evaporated, let the dumplings cook for another minute or two to crisp up the bottoms and then put them on your plate drizzled with your ginger soy sauce. You can start steam frying the next batch while you enjoy the first one.

Easy, right? Okay, fine, if you want tips on fancy dumpling folding, you can order a copy of the Double Awesome Chinese Food cookbook. I think Jacky already did....