In anticipation of Chinese Yew Year, I took a dumpling making class at Black Sesame Kitchen (http://www.blacksesamekitchen.com/). I had dabbled in dumpling making before, when friends in Hong Kong provided a hand’s on demo, but I decided I needed a refresher as we approached the New Year.
Black Sesame Kitchen was just what I needed and helped me finally (!) master some skill (though still pitifully amateurish) at folding the dumpling, which is an art of its own. I also learned some tricks on how to make the filling more velvety and less rock-like. Besides, Black Sesame’s location can be beat, set in Beijing’s charming Hou Hai district in an old walled house. There’s no signage for the school/restaurant, and one wanders among homes – still in use – until he sees chilies and garlic hanging in the window and a pile of cabbage and leeks on the front porch. The class room is small, and there were four of us on that particular day – all eager to learn the art of dumpling making.
Some time ago, I published ten easy steps to making dumplings (http://blog.seattlepi.com/redlantern/archives/130373.asp). The ingredients for the dumpling filler were simple and included just ground pork mixed with three heads of Japanese cabbages, chopped.
The ingredients for the meat dumplings at Black Sesame were more complex:
3 large eggs
1 to 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
¾ pound pork (or any ground meat or seafood)
½ cup water (at least)
soy sauce
salt
sesame oil
finely minced ginger
finely minced garlic
finely minced leek (white part only)
2 cups any vegetable
Here are a few tips I learned at Black Sesame that have helped me to feel more confident (and make better dumplings):
1. Be adventurous! You can fill a dumpling with whatever pleases you. Try different kinds of ground meat and vegetable combinations. In our class, we mixed pork with grated pumpkin and it was delicious.
2. Get the basics: Ginger, leek and garlic, minced and in equal parts, are a great base for all Chinese cooking. It’s hard to go wrong if you start with these three quickly stir-fried, flavorful ingredients.
3. Ensure a velvety filling: Before any other ingredients are added, whip the ground meat with water until you have a consistency similar to cake batter.
4. Know your vegetables: If you are using eggplant or cabbage, for best results, cut, salt and set aside for 10 minutes and then squeeze out the water before adding to the mixture.
5. Try making your own wrapper: And use high gluten flour for best results.
Here is a dough recipe (makes about 80 wrappers):
5 ½ cups flour
1 ¾ cup water (approximate)
Put flour in large mixing bowl. Slowly add water and and use hands to mix together. Once it forms a dough, knead in the bowl or on a floured work surface until it becomes smooth and elastic, 10 to 15 minutes. The dough should not be sticky or dry and crumbly. If need be, add more water or flour in small increments to achieve the desired texture. Place the dough back in the bow, cover with plastic wrap, and set asideat least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours.