Mmmm…dumplings. We are a little obsessed at the moment. Our friend from Japan taught us how to make them a little awhile ago and we’ve been loving them ever since. They are really easy to make – here’s a step-by-step “how to” incase you want to give them a try too!
Next, you’ll need some dumpling wrappers. I accidentally bought square wonton skins this time but I just cut them into a circle shape using my kitchen scissors. If you can find circle ones, buy them – heaps easier. I used 2 packets for the quantity of mince mixture above.
Take a wrapper and place a heaped teaspoonful of mince mixture into the centre. Don’t use too much mince or the dumplings will be too hard to fold.
Have a little bowl of water close by and, using your fingertips, rub some water around the outside edge of half of the wrapper.
Fold wrapper in half, try not to let outside edges touch yet though.
Starting at the left-hand side of the dumpling, make little folds on the top layer of the wrapper and press down onto the bottom layer until you’ve folded all the way across the top.
All done! You should be able to get 5 little folds across the top. I was pretty unco when I first started and only managed 3 or 4. You get better at it the more you practise and the smaller you make your folds.
Wrapped and ready to cook!
Heat up some oil over medium-high heat in a frypan. I like to use my electric frypan so that I can cook lots at once and it keeps a nice, even temperature.
Make sure the heat isn’t too hot or the dumplings will burn. You aren’t trying to cook them all the way through here, just get a nice, light-brown, crispy bottom.
Once they are brown and crispy, turn up the heat and throw in about 1/4 – 1/2 cup cold water and put the lid on your frypan straight away to steam the dumplings. Keep the lid on until all the water has evaporated off the base of the frypan. Check dumplings to see if they are cooked through (when you press them with your fingers, they should be nice and firm – or you could break one in half and have a look). If they aren’t cooked through, you can add a little more water to continue steaming. It could take up to 10 minutes of steaming time. Remove lid from frypan and give the dumplings a minute or two to continue cooking and get the crispiness back up again.
Enjoy! We serve ours with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce and a little dash of sesame oil.
And if you’ve got a bit of time up your sleeve, make a double batch of dumplings while you’re at it and throw some in the freezer ready to take out and cook up quickly when you’re craving…
