{"id":692,"date":"2012-06-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-30T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/?p=692"},"modified":"2012-07-02T02:35:36","modified_gmt":"2012-07-02T06:35:36","slug":"learning-how-to-make-chinese-dumplings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/?p=692","title":{"rendered":"Learning How to Make Chinese Dumplings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Note the crispy bottoms.<\/p><\/div>\n

A good while back, I saw a link on a friends gchat status for www.skillshare.com<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0It’s a great site that has a ton of local classes on everything from entrepreneurship to art to cooking. \u00c2\u00a0After putting up gmail filters so Groupon, Living Social, and their\u00c2\u00a0brethren\u00c2\u00a0no longer dominate my in box, I started noticing the Skill Share emails again and decided it was time to sign-up for a cooking class.<\/p>\n

I picked the dumpling making class in part because it fit well in my weekly schedule and in part because I’ve never made dumplings.The instructor Cathy Erway, a food blogger<\/a> and author of The Art of Eating In<\/em><\/a> (a\u00c2\u00a0chronicle of her two years of not dining out in NYC),\u00c2\u00a0taught the class from\u00c2\u00a0her Brooklyn apartment. \u00c2\u00a0She was a great instructor and the class was a great break from the usual week night activities.<\/p>\n

How to Make Dumpling Skin<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Cathy first showed the eight or so of us how to make the the wrapper dough from scratch: Start with two cups of stifted flour and one cup of warm water and about a 3\/4 teaspoon of salt. \u00c2\u00a0Put it all together in a big bowl and \u00c2\u00a0mix with a wooden spoon or your hands until you get a ball. \u00c2\u00a0Transfer to lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and shiny. \u00c2\u00a0Knead the ball. \u00c2\u00a0Break off pieces and roll them out into about four inch\u00c2\u00a0diameter circles, nice and thin. \u00c2\u00a0(Making them as thin as possible to handle is an art that makes magic dumplings.)<\/p>\n

How to Buy Dumpling Skin<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though, as Cathy told us, unless you’re making only a handful of dumplings, you might go insane making them from scratch. \u00c2\u00a0Making the wrappers seems to be a simple, \u00c2\u00a0but time consuming process that can be replaced with store bough dumpling wrapper with minimal harm. \u00c2\u00a0When you buy the wrappers, be sure to get the white, round dumpling wrappers. \u00c2\u00a0The yellow ones are usually wonton wrapers and square shapes will just be trouble when you get to the filling stage.<\/p>\n

How to Make the Stuff that Goes in Dumplings<\/strong><\/p>\n

The biggest lesson from this class was don’t be afraid to go a little crazy with your fillings. \u00c2\u00a0You can keep it simple and traditional or create concoctions\u00c2\u00a0that will have deceased Chinese grandmothers spinning in their graves.<\/p>\n

[DDET Classic\u00c2\u00a0Pork, Shrimp & Chive\u00c2\u00a0Dumpling Filling]<\/p>\n

Makes 38.<\/p>\n