Chinese New Year Dumpling Traditions

During Chinese New Year, we usually put a clean coin in one of the dumplings and boil the dumplings close to midnight on New Year’s eve. The receiver of the coin will have good luck and good fortune in the upcoming year. This is an oddly similar tradition to what the Greeks do with their new year vasilopita. Let us know if in your country you have similar customs during special holidays or events.

Types of Chinese Dumplings

There are many types of dumplings in China. The most common types are boiled dumplings (水饺 shuǐ jiǎo), pan-fried dumplings (煎饺 zhēng jiǎo) and steamed dumplings (蒸饺 jiān jiǎo). This recipe is great for boiled and pan-fried dumplings. I usually prepare the stuffing when the dough is resting, which will greatly reduce your overall cooking time.

What are Chinese Dumplings Wrapped In?

Authentic Chinese dumplings are covered in a wrapper, also known as a skin. It’s chiefly made with flour and water as well as a little bit of salt. The process of making dumpling wrappers is straightforward. Rolling them, though, takes a little bit of practice. The secret is to get them down to a thinness that’s enough to keep them intact during boiling without being so thick they’ll be hard to eat.

Chinese Dumpling Wrapper Ingredients

To make authentic Chinese dumpling wrappers, you only need a few ingredients:

• 500g of plain flour – This is the base of the wrappers and can potentially be subbed with gluten free flour or other alternatives.
• 2g of salt – Just barely enough to add some seasoning.
• 240-250g of 30℃ temperature water – Of course you’ll need to make the flour wet in order to mould it.
• About 1 cup of extra flour for the rolling and shaping process

How to Make Chinese Dumpling Wrappers

The whole process of making the wrappers is quite simple:

1. Mix your 500g of flour with the 2g of salt. Then add the water and mix well until fully combined. You might have to experiment with the amount of water you use as I’ve found that different brands require different amounts.
2. Wash and dry your hands to prepare for the kneading process. Then knead for 3-5 mins until you get a consistency similar to pressing on your ear lobe.
3. Place the dough in a container and cover with cling film. Let it rest of 20 minutes.
4. Bring out the dough and knead it for another 1-2 minutes. Then put it back in the container, cover it with cling film then let it rest for 1 hour.
5. Sprinkle your extra flour on your working surface and poke a hole in the middle of your well-rested dough.
6. Gently and evenly expand it into a circle, then cut it into four equal sections. Take only one of them to work and put the remaining 3 back into the container and cover again with the cling film (this is important to keep the rest of the dough moist).
7. Roll the only dough that’s left on your working surface, until thin and long, then cut it into 2cm cubes (approximately 9g each).
8. Sprinkle some more extra plain flour on top of the cubes. Take one cube and sort it into a ball with your palms. (Do the same to the rest of the cubes). Flatten the balls with your palms.
9. Take your rolling pin and roll the flattened mini doughs into a thinner sheet. Now, this is important. Use one of your hands (not your dominant hand usually) to hold the top edge of the sheet, use the other hand to roll the bottom edge of the sheet while gently turning the sheet. (the reason for this step is to make the edges thinner because we will make folds with the edges). The size of your dumpling skin should be around 8-9 in diameter.

Storing Your Chinese Dumplings

The amount of dough for this recipe should be enough to serve 4 people. When I make dumplings I tend to make more and freeze the extra dumplings (uncooked). It can store up to 3 months. When I feel too bored to cook, I usually just take the frozen dumplings out and pan-fry them.

Now that you know how easy it is to make handmade Chinese dumpling skins/wrappers, check out our dumpling recipes and get inspired!

Handmade Chinese Dumpling Wrappers

Recipe by LinCourse: Dumplings, StapleCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

40

minutes

Cooking time

5

minutes

This recipe shows you how to make authentic handmade Chinese dumpling wrappers with the best method for keeping them thin and solid.

Ingredients

• Plain flour 500g

• Salt 2g

• 30 ℃ water 240-250g

• Extra plain flour 1 cup

Directions

• Mix 500g plain flour with 2g salt.
• Add 240g to 250g warm water, I find flour from different brands may require a different amount of water.
• Mix well using a fork or a pair of chopsticks.
• Wash and dry your hands, knead the dough for 3-5 mins. Press the dough gently with your finger, the texture should close to when you press your ear lobe.
• Cover with a piece of cling film and let the dough rest for 20 mins.
• Knead the dough again until the surface is smooth, approximately 1-2 minutes. Cover with a piece of cling film and let it rest a second time for 1 hour.
• Sprinkle some extra plain flour on your working surface, poke a hold in the middle of your well-rested dough.
• Gently and evenly expand the circle, cut it into 4 equal sections.
• Take only one of them to work and put the rest 3 back into the container and cover again with the cling film (this is important to keep the rest of the dough moist).
• Roll the only dough that’s left on your working surface, until thin and long, cut it into 2cm cubes (approximately 9g each).
• Sprinkle some more extra plain flour on top of the cubes.
• Take one cube and sort it into a ball with your palms. (Do the same to the rest of the cubes)
• Flatten the balls with your palms.
• Take your rolling pin and roll the flattened mini doughs into a thinner sheet.
• Now, this is important. Use one of your hands (not your dominant hand usually) to hold the top edge of the sheet, use the other hand to roll the bottom edge of the sheet while gently turning the sheet. (the reason for this step is to make the edges thinner because we will make folds with the edges.)
• The size of your dumpling skin should be around 8-9 in diameter.

Try It Yourself!

And there you have it! This is how you can make authentic handmade Chinese dumpling wrappers. You can use these to make any kind of dumpling with any stuffing you wish. Give the recipe a go and be sure to show us your creation by posting on Instagram and tagging us at @linschinesekitchen.

The post Handmade Chinese Dumpling Wrappers Recipe appeared first on Lin's Chinese Kitchen.

Welcome, Noodles Lovers! In this post, we are going to make yummy, super chewy handmade noodles together. In northern China, we love different noodles dishes and good handmade noodles are very important to achieve that perfect texture.

Once you nail this one, there is a whole new noodle world waiting for you to discover. Literally, almost anything you see in your fridge can be turned into a bowl of tasty noodles. My all-time favourite sauces are Zhajiang (炸酱 zhà jiàng), Tomato & Sesame sauce (西红柿鸡蛋&芝麻酱 xī hóng shì jī dàn & zhī má jiàng ), Aubergine & Egg sauce (茄子鸡蛋 qié zǐ jī dàn ), Pork & Pickle sauce (猪肉榨菜 zhū ròu zhà cài ), Beef Stew sauce (红烧牛肉 hóng shāo niú ròu ), Dalu sauce (打卤 dǎ lǔ), Luffa & Prawn & Egg sauce (三鲜 sān xiān).

So, the key to making chewy handmade noodles at home is egg white and baking soda (plus lots of patience). But other than that, the process is very easy to master even for people with no prior cooking experience.

Handmade Noodles (Super Chewy)

Recipe by LinCourse: StaplesCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

Cooking time

5

minutes

An authentic Chinese recipe that shows you how to make handmade noodles. These are super chewy and will easily make you ditch store-bought.

Ingredients

• Plain flour 500g

• Salt 3g

• Baking soda 1/4 tsp

• Egg white from 1 egg

• Water 205g

Directions

• Mix 500g plain flour, 3g salt, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1 egg white together. Prepare 205g water, and add the water in three go (different brands of flour may react differently with water, so you may need to adjust the amount of water accordingly). After mixing together, it should look roughly like this.
• Knead the dough with your beautiful hands for 3-4 mins. You should feel a bit of resistance and the surface normally would be quite rough at this stage. Cover the container with cling film and let the dough rest for 15 mins.
• Open up the cling film, knead the dough again for 3-4 mins, and put the cling film back. Let it rest for another 15 mins. As you can see, the dough is still a bit rough at this stage.
• Open up the cling film, knead the dough again for 3-4 mins, put the cling film back and let it rest for further 15 mins. Now the surface of your dough should be much smoother, and you should feel more resistant when kneading.
• Now the dough is ready! Take it out, knead it a bit to make it smooth and round, sprinkle some flour on your dough as well as your cutting board.
• I don’t have a lot of space to work with, so I cut my dough into 2 and work on them separately.
• Take half of it, knead it again until it is smooth and round. Spread flour on the cutting board as well as your dough like before. Then, take your rolling pin out, and start rolling!
• It’s not an easy job (unless you own a noodle-making machine), so keep going until it becomes a 2mm thick flat piece. Make sure you keep spreading flour on your cutting board and your dough while rolling.
• Fold it like this with flour between layers.
• Cut into thin slices, or thick ones if you prefer.
• Open them up nicely.
• Now they are ready to be boiled! Remember, freshly handmade noodles don’t need long in boiling water. Start with 3 mins (if thinly cut), normally it should be ready under 5 mins.

Variations

Now there are two preferred ways to eat handmade noodles in China: Guotiao (锅挑 guō tiāo) and Guoshui (过水 guò shuǐ).

Guotiao is to eat the noodles as they are, without running them under cold water. This way the noodles are better wrapped in your sauce, however, you need to start eating immediately. Otherwise, your noodles will all stick together in a not very appetizing way.

Guoshui noodles literally mean you run your noodles under cold water. This process makes the noodles quite refreshing, especially in the summer season.

Try It Yourself

And just like that, you’re ready to make your own handmade noodles! Do let us know how it goes by leaving a comment. If you happen to get stuck at any point, be sure to leave us your questions below as well and follow us on Instagram for more Chinese food pictures.

The post Handmade Noodles (Super Chewy) Recipe appeared first on Lin's Chinese Kitchen.