Dumpling Lessons

I've been taking some cooking lessons at Hutong Cuisine with a woman named Chun Yi. The classes are given in her tiny courtyard under the shade of pomegranate trees. There is a large island for chopping (luckily under a roof so the classes happen rain or shine), and an outdoor kitchen of sorts, with a sink and several woks. The charm is in the authenticity of the location, and Chun is quite fun too.

In my most recent class with Chun, we made dumplings. Here are some secrets to tasty dumplings. First you have to use equal amounts of cabbage and pork (filling options vary widely). Secondly you have to add some liquid to the pork. Chun salts the cabbage and then adds the rendered cabbage juices to the meat. A Chinese friend of ours - who claims to be quite the dumpling maker (I'm pushing for lessons from her too) - said that the liquid she adds to the pork depends on what she feels like adding to the filling. She uses everything from dried shrimp or from dried mushroom soaking liquid to broth. They both agree that adding liquid is key to a good filling, as is stirring the meat to break it down until it turns glossy, and smooth.

Filling ingredients, and my cutting board.

With the filling secrets revealed, we moved on to the dough. It was a simple mix of flour and water (a bit dryer that for bread dough), that we kneaded forever.

Dumpling dough

We then cut the dough into 16 pieces.

Cut dumpling dough

Then we rolled the dough out. I started to roll it like I would for pie dough and Chun smiled and said "yes, yes, you can do it western way, but this is much easier". Here is her method.

I spent the better part of the evening trying to perfect her method, which was much easier (once I had figured it out) and it made more perfect rounds. Just when I started to get that down, she showed us the filling and folding.

My first attempts were failures.

My first dumplings on the near side of the photo and Chun's on the farthest end.

My ugly dumplings and the prettier ones I made towards the end

The dumplings were delicious. Chun served them with a dipping sauce of soy and sesame oil which she says is the norm in Guangzhou where she is from. Here in Beijing they are always served with vinegar.

The fruit of our labors.