Half Chinese New Year: Dumplings

Three things to remember when making Chinese dumplings:

• Strain excess water from vegetable fillings
• Add a thickener (egg, cornstarch or tapioca flour) to low-fat meat such as shrimp or chicken
• Don’t over stuff wrappers
• Seal wrappers firmly
• Boil a few in lots of water

Dumplings are symbols of luck, wealth and love. From the shape to the number of folds there is a dumpling language that can be intimidating. Fortunately, these nuances are lost in the irreverence of our table.

We served both a spinach and a shrimp dumpling at Half Chinese New Year Dinner.

The fillings can be made to your taste, but the texture is the most important thing to get right. If you have a smooth texture, make sure you bind the filling with a whole egg. If you have a course texture, you can use only the white, which will make the filling fluffy.

Shrimp Dumpling filling:
1 lbs shrimp stripped down to just the meat
a palmful of fresh bamboo shoots
Two tablespoons black mushrooms (fresh or dehydrated)
one green onion minced
White pepper
Two teaspoons of salt

Add an egg or just the egg whites

Refrigerate for two hours

I used the round wrappers thinking I would make har gau. Har gau is a little more difficult to make than folded dumplings and requires a steamer. The steamer was going to be in use so we opted for boiled dumplings at the last minute.

Fill a small bowl with warm water or a beaten egg to act as a dumpling adhesive.
Take a round wrapper, add a teaspoon of filling.
Dip a finger in the bowl of water or egg, spread the liquid on one side of the circle.
Fold the circle halves together, press lightly to push out any air, pinch the edges to seal tight.
The pleats of the dumpling are important but not necessary.
Pleat the dumpling just as you would make a paper fan —you may encounter frustration and tears during this process. Dumplings are like complicated women — they are difficult but rewarding.

Set a pot of water to a roil
Add four or five dumplings at a time: they MUST have space to move around and the water must be boiling.

When the dumplings rise to the surface of the water, admire them for a moment.
After a silent self-congratulation, scoop the girls out with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl.

Add a touch of water to the bowl to keep the dumplings from sticking to themselves.

Serve immediately.

You can freeze the unboiled dumplings, just make sure they are coated with cornstarch or tapioca flour so that they don’t freeze together. Drop the frozen dumplings directly into boiling water.

Serve with a dipping sauce: soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar with a side of red chili sauce is a house favorite.