I know I’ve been a bit quiet over here lately, but I’ve actually been really busy on a new project. I have talked for years about making a cookbook for expats. I had to basically re-learn how to cook when I moved to China and I know many other expats have gone through the same struggles.
But making a cookbook is a huge endeavor. Every time I get started on it, I get kind of overwhelmed. So I have decided to start small. My first cookbook will focus only on dumplings and will be called Crazy Dumplings. I am really excited about this project and will have a lot more news about it in the next few days and weeks. If it goes well, I will start working on “the big cookbook” that will basically teach expats how to make all their favorite foods from home with ingredients you can find here in China. I would also like to make a vegan, gluten free dumpling cookbook. But that is all still way off in the future. For now, my focus is Crazy Dumplings and I have been getting tons of great feedback from my American and Chinese friends here in response to my experiments.
To get you started and to whet your appetite, here is a basic dumpling recipe.
3/4 cups flour
Dash of salt
Flour for dusting
- Mix flour and salt together in a mixing bowl.
- Drizzle in water, mixing with a chopstick or fork.
- Leave in bowl, covered with plastic wrap for 15 minutes.
- Gather dough up into a ball and kneed on counter for a minute or two (until the dough is smooth)
- Pinch off small portion of dough and roll into a ball (about 1 inch in diameter). Roll out into a flat circle on the counter, dusting with flour to keep dough from sticking.
- Put small amount of preferred dumpling stuffing mixture into the middle of the flat dumpling wrapper. Pinch the dumpling closed.
- Cook dumplings
- Always cut a dumpling open to make sure it cooked through.
- Serve!
1 teaspoon shredded ginger
1 crushed garlic clove
1 tablespoon chopped chives
Soy sauce for dipping
12 dumpling wrappers
