Making Chinese chicken dumplings at home takes some effort, but is quite easy and rewarding. You can make the filling while the dough rests, and then have fun shaping the dumplings. You can choose to steam, fry, or boil them based on your preferences. If you make extra dumplings, they freeze well, so you can enjoy them later. Homemade Chinese dumplings with chicken allow you to control the ingredients and flavors, and the process can be a fun activity to share with friends and family. With practice, you’ll be making delicious dumplings that are just as good as those in restaurants.
Many people are intimidated by the prospect of making dumpling wrappers from scratch, but I assure you, it’s actually the easiest and most rewarding part of the process. All you need is just two simple ingredients: flour, water, and a bit of elbow grease to knead the dough. After a short 30-minute rest, the dough becomes soft, stretchy, and incredibly easy to work with. To make the task even simpler, I highly recommend using a Chinese rolling pin. Its short, thin design allows for effortless rolling, ensuring that your wrappers are thin and supple—perfect for creating delicious dumplings!
For beginners:
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Ingredients
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Dough
- Filling
Instructions
- Start by making the dough. It will need to rest for 30 minutes before being ready for rolling. Mix the flour and water. Knead the dough (with your hands) until smooth and feeling like play dough. This should take a couple of minutes, and it needs to be done well. Cover and let rest.
- In a medium bowl, add chicken, scallions, garlic, ginger, cilantro, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil. Mix well and let stand for 15-30 minutes.
- Check the dough. It should feel soft and stretchy. Cut the dough into four pieces. On a floured surface, using your hands, roll one piece out until it becomes snake-like, about 1 inch (2.54 cm) in diameter. Cut it into 1.5-inch (ca. 4 cm) long pieces. Spread some more flour and, using a Chinese roller, roll each piece until it becomes a circle, about 3–4 inches (ca. 7.5-10 cm) in diameter.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Start assembling the dumplings. Place about 2 teaspoons of filling on each wrapper, fold in half, and make your favorite fold. Instructions to follow. Place each dumpling on parchment paper. At this stage, the assembled dumplings are ready for either cooking (steaming or frying) or freezing.