Basic Dumpling Dough (2024)

FAQs

What is dumpling dough made of? ›

From-scratch dumpling dough requires only two ingredients — flour and water — and the water temperature yields different types of wrappers. Cold water is best for boiled dumplings because it causes the flour's proteins to form the gluten that makes dough chewy and able to withstand vigorously boiling water.

These dumplings start with all-purpose flour, which creates structure and holds the other ingredients together. Baking powder is a leavening agent, which means it releases gas that makes the dough expand. It's responsible for the dumplings' light and fluffy texture.

While wontons are technically a type of dumpling, they go by a different name in Chinese from the "jiaozi," and one of the main distinctions between a wonton and a dumpling is that wontons are made with a much thinner dough that is usually square-shaped.

Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough (made from a variety of starchy sources), often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, wheat or other flours, or potatoes, and it may be filled with meat, fish, tofu, cheese, vegetables, or a combination.

For dumplings made with wheat flour, all purpose or plain flour will suffice. If your recipe calls for leavening, you'll need to add baking powder and salt. Alternatively, you can use self-rising flour which has the leavening included. For a lot of dumplings, plain flour is all that is required with no baking powder.

The cornstarch will absorb excess water, which will then convert to steam, allowing the bottoms to form that crisp crust.

If you're a lover of a Chinese-inspired feast, or perhaps a fan of a dumpling or five, you've probably already encountered chinkiang vinegar. A staple ingredient in China, this black vinegar is an ingredient that can transform your Asian cooking.

Because plain flour contains no extra ingredients, including rising agents, your cakes and pastries won't rise if you use this type of flour as it is. You'll need to add a rising agent, such as yeast or baking powder, into the plain flour if you want your baked goods to rise and become appetisingly fluffy.

Jiaozi. Jiaozi (pronounced "jow-zee") are perhaps the most common type of Chinese dumpling. Crescent-shaped and formed with an opaque wrapper made from wheat dough, jiaozi are usually filled with ground pork, cabbage, and scallions, and served with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil.

How are most dumplings usually prepared? ›

There are three basic ways: steaming, boiling, and steam-frying. There is also deep-frying or serving with a crispy lacy “skirt.” While the cooking method depends heavily upon your mood and what you are craving, it also depends on the shape of your dumpling.

Originating in the Pennsylvania region the pierogies have been a staple in the city of Pittsburgh and all over western Pennsylvania. Pierogies are soft semicircular dumplings that are usually filled with potatoes or cheese. However, just like other dumplings, fillings are interchangeable depending on culture.

Unlike dumplings, potstickers are made with a thin wrapper, sometimes referred to as a dumpling skin. This is because they are steam fried to get a crispy golden bottom layer and to ensure that the filling is juicy and delicious.

Of course, store bought dumpling wrappers are totally suitable if that's all you have on hand (or you're just not in the mood for rolling and shaping dumplings), but homemade dumpling wrappers are always extra delicious! And you get the satisfaction of truly making all your dumplings from scratch and by hand.

Egg roll wrappers are larger in diameter and slightly thicker, which creates a sturdier wrapper, allowing them to be stuffed with more filling devoid of tearing apart. They have a chewy, crispy texture when fried or baked. Wonton wrappers, on the other hand, are smaller and thinner, making them more delicate.

Weigh the flour into a bowl and add ½ tsp salt. Stir through the suet and parsley, if using. Make a well in the centre and add 3 tbsp cold water, mix to a dough, adding more water until the dough is firm but pliable. Divide into eight equal pieces and roll in a little more flour into balls.

And if they come back claiming that pasta is just noodles, counter with the Collins Dictionary pasta definition of “a type of food made from a mixture of flour, eggs, and water” and remind them that the rice noodles used for dumplings don't have eggs.

For the standard dumpling dough, in fact, all that's required is just wheat flour, water, and salt. In comparison, the gluten-free dumplings are made with a combination of rice flour, tapioca flour, and psyllium husk powder.

Bread dumpling recipes are varied across the region, but in general, they use either flour or stale bread, yeast (or other leavening agents), eggs, salt, and a liquid for binding. And then herbs, dried meats, fat, and other ingredients can be added.