Make dumplings

Dumplings are one of the best things to make with other people, because the folding is where the evening happens. You set out a bowl of filling and a stack of wrappers, everyone gets a spoon, and the table gets loud. Plan on a couple of hours for one batch, most of it folding and talking. Here is how to make dumplings from start to finish with store-bought wrappers.

Choose a filling

Many traditions make dumplings, and the fillings vary a lot. These two are common and easy. Each makes about 40 dumplings, which is a full package of wrappers.

Pork and cabbage.

• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 cups finely chopped cabbage, tossed with a pinch of salt and squeezed dry in a clean towel
• 2 green onions, finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch (optional, helps bind it)

Cabbage and mushroom (vegetarian). Swap the pork for about 2 cups of finely chopped mushrooms, cooked in a dry pan until they give up their water, then cooled. Add a handful of crumbled firm tofu if you want it heartier.

Mix everything with your hands or a spoon until it holds together, stirring in one direction for a minute so it turns sticky. Squeezing the cabbage dry matters: wet filling makes soggy dumplings that tear.

What to set up first

• A small bowl of water for sealing the wrappers
• A tray dusted with flour for the finished dumplings
• A damp towel over the wrappers, because they dry out and crack quickly
• A teaspoon for scooping, so everyone uses about the same amount

Fold them

1. Hold a wrapper flat on your palm. Put about a heaped teaspoon of filling in the middle. It looks too little. It isn’t.
2. Wet the edge of half the wrapper with a fingertip.
3. Fold it in half over the filling and press the middle together first, so you don’t trap air.
4. For a plain half-moon, press the rest of the edge shut, working from the middle out.
5. To pleat, make a few small folds along the front edge, pressing each one against the flat back edge as you go. Three or four pleats is plenty.
6. Set it on the floured tray, and don’t let neighbours touch.

The first few will be ugly, and they taste the same. A well-sealed ugly dumpling beats a pretty leaky one.

Cook them

Boiled. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, add a dozen dumplings and stir gently once so they don’t stick. When they float, cook them a couple of minutes more. Lift them out with a slotted spoon.

Pan-fried (potstickers). Heat a thin film of oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Set the dumplings in flat side down and cook until the bottoms are golden, a few minutes. Add about a third of a cup of water, cover at once (it will spit), and steam until the water is gone and the wrappers look translucent. Uncover and let the bottoms crisp again for a minute.

Pork has to reach 160°F inside, so cut one open the first time to check.

A dipping sauce

Stir together 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar and a little sesame oil. Add chili oil, sliced green onion or grated ginger if you like.

What goes wrong

• The wrappers dry out and crack. Keep the stack under a damp towel and fold in batches.
• They burst in the pot. Too much filling, or the edge wasn’t sealed. Use less next time, and keep flour and filling off the edge.
• They stick to the tray. Flour the tray well, or use parchment. Leave space between them.
• The filling is watery. Squeeze the cabbage dry, and cool cooked mushrooms before filling.
• The pan-fried bottoms burn. Lower the heat, and check them after a couple of minutes.

Keeping them

Freeze what you don’t cook in a single layer on the tray, then bag them once solid. Cook them from frozen, with a few extra minutes. Cooked leftovers keep in the fridge for a few days and reheat well in a pan. Make sure pork dumplings are hot all the way through.

Make it a winter evening

Start in the late afternoon so everyone is hungry by the time the first batch is done, and keep the next batch folding while the last one cooks. End the night with hot chocolate, or turn the table into a game night once the plates are cleared.