Dumpling Lesson

Few weeks ago I was invited, with a group of friends, to Sue's house for a Dumpling lesson. Sue's husband works for Ford and they live in the same apartment complex as us. When we arrived Sue had already prepared the ingredients and had a station setup to make the dumplings. The meat mixture consisted of: ground pork, finely chopped napa cabbage, chopped green onions, cooking wine, lemon juice, soy sauce, and salt/pepper. The wraps can be made from scratch or bought at the local grocery store (pre-made). 

Step 1: Put a small amount of meat in the center of the wrap. 

Step 2: Wet your fingers with water and tap it lightly around the inside edges of the wrap. 

Step 3: Close the wrap at the top, then at the sides, and pinch it closed tightly. 

Step 4: Carefully place a few dumplings in boiling water. When the dumplings float to the top they are fully cooked (about 5-7 minutes). You have to carefully watch the pot during this step. When the water returns to a boil after you have put in the dumplings you need to continually add a little cold water to the pot. You don't want the water at a rumbling boil while the dumplings are in there otherwise they will burst apart. 

Step. 5: Eat them with some soy sauce. Mmmmmm.... 

Note: They were slippery little things and add that to my inexperienced chopstick skills and it was a comic show watching me get them to my mouth. I wasn't the only one and a few of us had a good laugh over this. 

While we enjoyed our dumplings Sue also prepared some traditional Chinese side dishes: deep fried green beans dish and a chicken and snow peas dish. They were delicious as well. It was a lovely day with new friends and good food. I will definitely be making dumplings for dinner sometime very soon. And hopefully more Chinese cooking lessons as well.