I’m-Asian-so-I-Make-Dumplings-From-Scratch Dumplings

My friend Lisa was appalled that I had never made dumplings from scratch before. Well…I just never did. This is why:

Parents immigrate to the US. They show up at the international society potluck for Dad’s fellowship training bringing dumplings. 
Some doctor’s wife: Oh my goodness! Did you make these dumplings yourself?!  
Mom: HAHAHAHA! No, they’re frozen dumplings I boiled.

And you get the idea.

So us Asian girls decided to have a dumpling making party… even the skin is from scratch. It took some practice and a lot of girls, but we did a pretty fine job. Another thing I can cross off my Asian bucket list!

Ingredients
flour
water
1 lb ground pork, beef, shrimp, etc
napa cabbage, finely chopped
1 egg
chinese chives, finely diced
cooking wine
salt and pepper, to taste
soy sauce, chili oil, vinegar to dip

Directions
Skin: Combine flour and water and mix to make dough. (Just eyeball…this is Asian cooking after all!) Knead. Roll dough into a log, cut small chunks and roll to make into tiny balls. Use a rolling pin to flatten into little wrappings.

Filling: Dice the cabbage and add salt to dry it out to avoid soggy dumplings. Dice chives and add that along with the cabbage to meat. Add cooking wine, egg, and salt/pepper to taste. Combine.

Put a small amount of the filling in each wrapping. Pinch the skins so it doesn’t come apart. Make sure the skins are very thin. Put in a boiling pot of water until the dumplings float, about 10 minutes. Enjoy!