Chinese Steamed Dumplings

Steps

• 1

  To start dough, add starter ingredients in a small bowl. Stir together and let sit for 30 minutes until it foams.

  
• 2

  Mix starter with other dough ingredients except flour. Stir together well and then slowly start to add flour. Once all the flour is added, bring the dough together in a ball.

  
• 3

  Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is very soft, about 10 minutes. If the dough is ever very sticky, knead in more flour.

  
• 4

  Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl to rise until it triples, about 2.5-3 hours.

  
• 5

  Meanwhile, make the sauce and filling. For the sauce, just mix together ingredients and chill until needed.
• 6

  For the filling, mince scallions, ginger, and cilantro very fine. Then stir with other filling ingredients and set aside until needed.

  
• 7

  To make dumplings, punch dough and then cut it into quarters. Working with one quarter at a time, stretch it out and flour it lightly. Then cut the dough into 12 pieces. It's okay if they're not perfectly even.
• 8

  Working with one piece at a time, add about a tablespoon of filling to the middle of the dough and then fold the ends up and over the filling. Twist the top of the dough so it sticks together.
• 9

  Once you have 12 dumplings done, let them rest for 20-30 minutes before steaming them.

  
• 10

  Add the dumplings to a bamboo steamer, leaving some space between each dumpling to prevent them from sticking together, and steam them over a pot or wok until they are cooked through, about 18 minutes. To make sure the dumplings don't stick to the steamer, lightly oil the steamer or lay down some lettuce leaves in the bottom of the steaming racks.

  
• 11

  Let the dumplings cool briefly when they come out of the steamer and then serve them immediately with the sauce.
• 12

  Tip: As an optional filling, try diced ham and cheddar cheese. Serve with mustard.