World Dumpling Day: Chefs share the easiest DIY recipes

It's World Dumpling Day!
It's World Dumpling Day!
It's World Dumpling Day!

It's World Dumpling Day, and the tiny, clear-skinned balls of meaty joy have done enough to keep our palates lively throughout the shutdown. Be it the Cantonese har gow, the Japanese gyoza or good ol’ wontons, there’s no denying that desi foodies have warmed up to the ‘yum cha’ way of life (the Chinese tradition of brunching with tea and dim sums), what with the array of pan-Asian eateries, luxe Asian street food bars and Chinese cloud kitchens cropping up. We got some of the best chefs to share some simple, DIY recipes which you can easily re-create at home:

Carrot Dumplings with Citrus ponzu by Chef Vikas Seth of Sanchez and Sriracha

Ingredients for Carrot Juice Dough

Wheat Starch (not flour) 50g

Potato Starch 25g

Carrot Juice 25g

Boiling Hot vegetable stock or water 100ml

Salt to taste

Oil, a drizzle

Ingredients for Mix Vegetable Filling 

Spring Onion White, chopped 30g

Carrot, brunoise 50g

Zucchini,brunoise 50g

Baby corn,brunoise 50g

Broccoli, brunoise 50g

Water Chestnut,brunoise 30g

French beans, brunoise 50g

Spring Onion Green, chopped 20g

Fresh Red Chilli, chopped 5g

Coriander, chopped 10g

Oil 20ml

Vegetable Stock 20ml

Potato starch 5g

Salt to taste

Coriander stem (small size) 16pcs for garnish

Ingredients for Citrus Ponzu Sauce

Dashi 10g

Soy 50ml

Lemon Juice 20ml

Orange Juice 20ml

Rice Vinegar 5 ml

Sesame seeds ¼ tsp


Method

For filling

  • Heat the oil in a wok on a high flame till it smokes.

  • Add spring onion whites, fresh red chilli and all vegetables except spring onion greens & coriander sauté on high flame for a few minutes and add vegetable stock. Cook till done.

  • Add spring onion greens, coriander, potato starch and salt and mix well. Keep aside.

For Dough and Ponzu sauce

  • In a bowl, mix wheat starch, potato starch and salt. With wooden spatula, stir in the boiling hot water, carrot juice and the vegetable oil.

  • Sprinkle wheat starch over a wooden board, when the dough is still hot; start kneading the dough until it becomes smooth. If the dough is sticky, you may need to add more wheat starch.

  • Cut the dough into 2 parts and roll each part into a 1-inch thick cylinder. Cut each cylinder into 8pcs. So have in all 16 pcs. Keep it covered with a moist napkin. 

  • Mix all the ingredients for the Ponzu sauce and let it rest for an hour before using.

For dumpling:

Take a piece of dough and flatten it with a slicer to a 4” wide circle. If difficult, use two plastic sheets and press down the dough with the pan bottom and use rolling pin to roll them out more. 

Fold into a conical shape, use a small spoon to place the filling, wrap from the side to form a carrot shape. Press the edges to close it properly.

Cook the dumplings over high heat for 6 minutes in a steamer.

  • Arrange coriander stem at the back to resemble carrot shape.

  • Serve with ginger soy sauce.

Spicy Wild Mushroom dim sum, by chef Govinda and Head Chef Chinmoy Roy of Ping’s Cafe Orient, Kolkata

Ingredients

Straw Mushroom – 10 grams or 1 levelled tablespoon

Button Mushrooms – 10 grams or 1 levelled tablespoon

Shiitake Mushrooms – 10 grams or 1 levelled tablespoon

Fresh Red Chilies – 1 gram or 1/4th fresh red chili

Lemon Leaf – ½

Red Curry Paste – 3 grams or ½ teaspoon

Broth Powder – 2 grams or ¼ teaspoon

White Pepper Powder – 1 grams or ¼ teaspoon

Sugar – 3 grams or ½ teaspoon

Salt – To taste

Sesame Oil – 3ml

Potato Starch – 3 gram or ¼ teaspoon

Refined Oil – 10ml

Ingredients for dough for 1 portion (4 pieces):

Wheat Starch – 20 grams or 1 heaped tablespoon

Potato Starch – 8 grams or 1 heaped teaspoon

Hot Water – 35ml

Method for dimsum filling:

1. Finely chop all the mushrooms.

2. Preheat wok for 1 minute with refined oil and add chopped mushrooms to it.

Let it sear for 1-2 minutes. Then add the fresh red chilies, curry paste, lemon leaf and other seasonings to the wok. Sautee for 2 mins.

3. At the end, add potato starch and sesame oil for binding the mixture and enhancing the flavors.

Method for dimsum dough:

1. Take a mixing bowl, add both types of starch to the bowl and mix properly.

2. Heat 350ml of water and add to the bowl. Stir till the dough soaks in the water.

3. Take a dough scraper knead till it takes the form of the dough. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

4. Cut the dough into small balls, roll it out using a roller pin and make a flat and thin round sheet.

5. Take the sheet in your left palm and add a small portion of the mixture gently to make a crescent moon shape and seal.

6. Put in a pre-heated steamer for 2-3 minutes and serve with flavored chilly oil. 

1000 BC Drunken Dumpling

Ingrdients

For Housemade Dumpling Wrappers

2 cups (250g) unbleached all-purpose flour
 A pinch of salt
¾ cup (180ml) boiling water
20 ml vegetable oil, or more, as needed
For Dumpling Filling
Cottage Cheese - 30 gm
Artichoke - 65 gm
Zucchini (Green and Yellow), shredded - 8 gm each
Carrot, peeled and shredded - 20 gm
70gm shredded Chinese cabbage
Red Cabbage - 5 gm
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
Spring onions - 60 gm
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
Soya Sauce - 1.5 tsp
1 Lemon
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Drizzle of cooking oil (one for high heat. We prefer avocado oil)
Dipping Sauce:

¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon pure sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 green onion, chopped
A pinch of red pepper flakes or black pepper
A pinch of sesame seeds, optional


Potstickers/Gyoza:
Bellpepper (Red; Yellow) - 25 gm each
Green Capsicum - 15 gm
Onion, finely chopped 35 gm
1 cloves of garlic, minced
30 gm spring onion, chopped
Leek - 7 gm
Celery - 7 gm

Tomato Ketchup - 1.5 tbsp

Chilli paste - 1.5 tbsp

Soya Sauce - 1 tsp

Pinch of salt (as per taste)
White pepper - 5-6 gm
Pinch of Sugar
1-2 tbsp of cooking oil

DIRECTIONS:

Homemade Dumpling Wrappers:


MAKE DOUGH: Into a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Use a wooden spoon or
rubber scrapper to stir in boiling water. Continue to stir flour and water until the flour
is mostly absorbed by the water. Mixture will be crumbly.
1. KNEAD DOUGH: Dump flour mixture onto a clean surface to knead the dough.
Knead dough for 8-10 minutes, until dough is soft and smooth. Sprinkle in a little
more flour, if necessary, to keep the dough from sticking to your hands and the
board. Shape the kneaded dough into a round disc and using a knife, cut the disc
into two equal portions.
2. SHAPE DOUGH: Take each portion and form them into round discs. Poke a hole
into the center of each disc and shape into a big "O" or bagel, keeping the width
of dough even all around. Cover the two bagel forms with plastic wrap or a
kitchen towel and let rest for 20 minutes.
3. CUT DOUGH INTO EQUAL PIECES: Now we're going to cut the dough into even
portions to roll out. Each round of dough will make 16 wrappers. After 20
minutes, take one of the bagel-shaped pieces of dough out from under the cover.
Use a knife to cut the shape evenly in half. Take the two halves, line them up
next to each other and cut them down the center again. Now you should have 4
equal pieces. Line the 4 pieces up to cut down the middle again. You should have
8 equal pieces. Now cut each half in half for a total of 16 equal pieces. Lightly
toss the dough pieces with flour to keep them from sticking to each other. Place
all but one dough piece back under the towel/plastic wrap to keep from drying
out. Repeat process with other piece of dough.
4. ROLL OUT WRAPPERS: Take your small piece of dough and shape into a round
disc. Place on a lightly floured surface and using a rolling pin, roll out the dough
into a circle about 3-4 inches in diameter. Place finished wrapper on a lightly
dusted board or pan and cover with plastic wrap or kitchen towel. Make sure to
keep wrappers lightly dusted with flour so they don't stick to each other. If your
kitchen is hot and humid, I don't suggest stacking them. Instead lay them in a
single layer on a try, slightly overlapping. Repeat process with remaining dough
pieces.


Vegetable Filling:
1. Place a large skillet or wok on the stove over medium-high heat.
2. Add oil, ginger, garlic, and cabbage. Cook until cabbage begins to wilt and
shrink down.
3. Add rest vegetables, along with the soy sauce and sesame oil. Continue to
cook until liquid begins to evaporate.
4. Season with pepper, to taste, and salt only if needed. The soy sauce tends to
add enough saltiness for my taste.
Rolling Dumplings:
1. There are many different folding techniques for dumplings, from easy to
complex. You can find a plethora of ideas online and a few in in this post.

2. To pleat them, as above, place a small spoonful of filling onto the middle of
your wrapper. Lightly wet the edges of the circle with water. Bring two
opposite sides of the circle up, like a taco, and pinch to seal the middle.
Starting on the left side of the dumpling, make a little fold or pleat towards
the pinched center with the front side of the dumpling wrapper, leaving the
back side of the wrapper flat. Lightly dampen the outside edge if needed.
Pinch the pleat to seal and continue to make one or two more pleats on that
side. On the opposite side, make 2-3 symmetrical pleats towards the center.
Dumpling should naturally curve around in a half moon shape. Place finished
dumplings on a flour dusted platter and cover with plastic wrap or a towel
while you finish folding the rest.

Steaming Dumplings:
1. You can easily steam dumplings in a bamboo steamer, like the one pictured, a
vegetable steamer basket, etc. The important thing is to line the steamer with
a piece of parchment paper or cabbage leaf so your dumplings don't stick to
the steamer. Place your dumplings onto the parchment in the steamer leaving
a little space between each dumpling so they don’t get stuck together. Place
steamer over a pan, wok, or pot of boiling water and cook with a rapid steam
for 6-8 minutes, or until center is thoroughly heated and wrappers are puffed
and slightly translucent. Best if served right away. I included a basic dipping
sauce recipe above!

Dipping Sauce:
1. Mix all of the dipping sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste and
adjust seasonings as needed. Serve along side of potstickers or steamed
dumplings.

Potstickers/Gyoza:
1. Place 1-2 tablespoons of oil into a large pan (We suggest non-stick or well
seasoned cast iron skillet) and place over medium heat. Once pan is hot, place
all vegetable into the pan and stir fry for 2-3 minutes then add steamed
dumplings. Cook for about a minute or so until the bottom turns a golden
brown. Add tomato ketchup and soya sauce followed by 4-5 tablespoons of
water into the hot pan and immediately cover with a lid. Reduce heat to
medium-low and let steam for 5-8 minutes, or until center is thoroughly
heated and water has evaporated from the pan.
2. Do the plating as per your choice, and flambé can be done with your choice of
liquor, we prefer whiskey based as it adds on to the taste of dumpling.

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