How to make Dumplings

**ahsan16** · 01-11-2007, 04:47 AM

Making Dumplings

Have you every tried eating dumplings in Chinese restaurants? Chinese restaurants serve dumplings as appetizers. Probably you thought of making at home. All it takes is a bit of patience and persistence and practice just as anything. Dumplings have been my favorite food. And when I make at home, I just can't eat out the same at restaurants because the taste is entirely different. They mixed large proportion of onions and very little of meat. Thus the taste is greatly diminished. Making dumpling at home is simplified by in today's time. You get the chopped meat at No-frils, or any other big grocery shopping centre. So you don't have to waste your energy chopping off meat!

Recently I went to a Japanese restaurant and there I ordered one lunch special that came out of kitchen rather than the bar. And I have chosen that particular dish. On the side of that dish was a three piece fried dumpling, probably containing pork. But the dumpling was so small and taste was so low that I could never feel on my tongue while swallowing. And same in Chinese restaurant! There is one dumpling restaurant in downtown where I live, and they make quickly. Hardly have time for the quality rather working for the quantity and how fast they can make so that they can make easy money. I once tasted the dumplings in that restaurant but the taste was not up to the satisfaction.

How about trying making dumpling at home? I did.

1. I bought a chopped beef meat from grocery store and all-purpose flour.

2. Chop two big onions in small pieces

3. Put frying pan on the oven and heat it after you put little oil.

4. Fry the chopped onions until it becomes yellow (remember not black, means you have to watch until it becomes yellow, it takes 1 or two minutes) and later mix the chopped meat and fry them for 2 minutes until it becomes heated. Before that, mix ground pepper, and some other spices if you have, if you don't have, it doesn't matter. Add a bit salt. Make sure not to add too much, lest it might become salty.

5. At this stage, the stuff you need as a main ingredient is ready. But make sure you don't fry too much because then water will come out of the meat.

6. Take all-purpose flour, take at least 4 cups of flour and make dough, make sure it's not soft. More the harder better it's for making dumpling.

7. After the dough is ready, then take a little dough and make circle with the help of rolling stick (as though you are making thin circular bread). But for making dumpling, we need small circular flat dough. Make sure it's thin.

8. Take a spoonful or little more of fried meat-onions and stuff in the thin circular dough such that dough can easily round up. Hold it and press together to join any two sides, and keep going, I mean keep pressing until it meets the last one. Now here, the practice comes into play. The more you practice, the better the shape.

9. Keep repeating the step 8 until you have finished with your meat. Usually, with one chopped meat can make about thirty dumplings.

10. After when the dumplings are ready, it's time to steam. Best if you have steam cooker, if not, try my method. Boil water in utensil and put dumplings in there. Make sure you put 10-15 dumplings at a time so as not to damage with too many of them squeezing each other.

11. Boil for five minutes. Make sure to roll them while boiling so that they do not get broken.

12. Take them out of the boiling water and put in a plate.

13. Take a frying pan and put oil and heat it. Now put dumplings on the frying pan and start frying. Make sure you keep on rolling so that all sides are evenly fried. Again your practice counts.

14. It's best if you follow my step with someone who knows how to make dumpling so that you know by practice as well as by observing. You can also try by yourself. I guess it's pretty simple.

15. Fried dumpling is ready! And serve with chilly. Yum!

Now that I've finished eating my dumplings which I made at home, I don't feel like eating any other food. Forget about restaurant food. I like my home-made dumplings. My tongue got used to delicious dumplings made at home, none other than myself!