Directions

1. Place ground pork or minced tofu in a mixing bowl. Add minced ginger and scallion (spring onions). Mix well.
2. Add rest of the filling ingredients and mix well.
3. Combine above mixture with vegetable of your choice. Stir the mixture in one direction for about 50 times so they bind well.
4. Assembly:
5. The chef will keep demonstrating how to make 9 different types of folds. Suggest guests choose and focus on 3 to 4 different folds to learn and practice during the class.
6. 1. Buddah’s Belly (pinched-edge dumpling: this method is the most popular and fastest folding way for boiled dumplings in China.
7. Place a tablespoon of filling in center as an American football, fold the wrapper in half at center firstly. Use your left thumb and index finger to hold the left half and use your right thumb and index finger to hold the right half. Simultaneously, slightly squeeze the two side toward the center part while pressing the two edges together.
8. 2. One-line dumplings
9. place a wrapper in the palm of your hand and spoon 1 tablespoon of filling into the center of the wrapper, form a taco shape and bring the front and back together in the middle. Start folding (making pleats), pinching and sealing one end of the wrapper, heading towards the middle. Then do the same with the other end. Aim to make 2 folds on each side. This type of fold works well with water-boiled dumplings.
10. 3. Two-direction crescent moon dumplings:
11. place a wrapper in the palm of your hand and spoon 1 tablespoon of filling into the center of the wrapper, form a taco shape and bring the front and back together in the middle. Start folding(making pleats), pinching and sealing the edge of the wrapper, moving out from the center to the end of one side until they’re sealed to the ends. Aim to make 3 to 4 pleats/folds on each side. Best for boiled dumplings.
12. 4. One-direction crescent moon dumplings：
13. place a tablespoon of filling in the center the wrapper in one palm, using the fingertips of the other hand make pleats along the half of the edge of the wrapper (like the way you make Bao Zi or Soup Dumplings). Lift up the other half of the edge of the wrapper and seal the edge with the pleats.
14. 5. Tortellini (Chinese Ignots):
15. place a wrapper in the palm of your hand and spoon 1 tablespoon of filling into the center of the wrapper, form a taco shape and bring the front and back together in the middle. Use your finger tips to pinch around the edges of the wrapper and make sure the edges are really stuck together. Fold one side OUT to a middle point and fold the other side. Press the ends of two folds TOGETHER.
16. 6. Quadrangle dumplings:
17. place a wrapper in the palm of your hand and spoon 1 tablespoon of filling into the center of the wrapper. Press the two sides at the center, pinch the other two sides at center too to create 4 corners.
18. 7, V-Fold:
19. place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of the wrapper. Keep sealing the edges of the wrapper from center toward the ends until you have a ½ inch long opening at each end (each opening will be shaped like a teardrop). Take your index finger and push the rounded bottom of the teardrop to meet sealed point end and press to seal the end into a flat flap. Do the same with the other side. This technique gives you a dumpling that can sit flat in a pan. So it is perfect for pan-frying.
20. 8. Twisty Rope:
21. place 1 tablespoon of filling in center of the wrapper, fold the wrapper in half at center firstly and move sideway while pressing. Then twist the edges.
22. 9. Pinch Braid:
23. this is an advanced fold. Try it if you are willing to take the challenge! Place the filling in center as a column. Use your left thumb and index finger to create a V shape. Have the wrapper with filling ‘nestled’ in the V-shape. Use the finger tip of your right index finger to close and push 2cm of the edges of the wrapper inside towards the filling then make horizontal pleats – using finger tips of right index finger and thumb, start with making one front pleat and one back pleat. Then take the pinched part one step further to the left center. Then repeat the process of making front pleat and back pleat alternately. Press the two ends together to finish and form a lovely tail.
24. How to cook :
25. Option A – water-boil ( The whole process takes about 12-15 minutes)
26. Bring a big pot of water to a boil.
27. Add the dumplings into the boiling water and cover the pot. Fill into the pot with 1 cup of cold water every 2-3 minutes for three times whenever the water starts boiling. Use the slotted spoon to push around the dumplings in the water to keep them sticking to the bottom from time to time.
28. Option B – pan-fry
29. Coat a medium size frying pan with 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and place it on the stove over medium heat.
30. Place into 10 dumplings. Dumplings can be close to each other. Once the bottom of the dumplings is browned, gently add into about ½ cup of water and cover with a lid immediately. The water shall cover about half of the height of the dumplings. Cook for about 7-8-minutes. During this time, you will likely hear the ‘popping’ from the pan. The sound means that bottoms of the dumplings are getting nice and fried while the fillings and tops steam. What you are waiting for is the water to evaporate. When it does, the sound under the lid will change from bubbly pops to a pretty serious steady crackle. At this time, you can lift the lid away and peek to see if the pan’s dry. If not, cover it again.
31. After you’ve uncovered the dumplings, turn off the stove. Jerk the pan a little to give it a good shake and see if the dumplings are stuck or if they slide away. If they seem stuck, shake the pan a little more to unstick them or slide a spatula under them to separate them from the pan.
32. Center a heatproof plate that’s bigger than the pan over the pan. Put on oven mitts to protect your hands. Holding the pan and plate tightly, flip them both together. Do it fast! Lift off the pan. This step is optional – if you do not feel comfortable to flip the plate, just use a spatula to move the dumplings to a serving plate.
33. Serve hot.
34. Dipping Sauce:
35. • Simply add, combine and mix all the ingredients in a dipping sauce plate.