Dumplings for Chinese New Year (Spring Festival)

In China, especially in northern China, making and eating dumplings is an important activity for most families on New Year's Eve in Spring Festival.   The wrapper is usually made from flour and water, but the fillings vary a lot, ranging from all sorts of meat and vegetables to seafood, mushrooms and even fruit. Dumplings are meniscus, angular or ingot shaped traditionally, but nowadays they are made into flowers, birds, fish and insects, more like arts and crafts than food. It is also a tradition in northern China to eat dumplings on the day of winter solstice.

Ingredients:  

1/2 pound ground pork

1/2 cup of prawn

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon rice wine

A few dashes of white pepper powder

5 drops of sesame oil

For the skin:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water

For dipping:
Black vinegar

Method:

Mix the flour with water and knead it for about 20-25 minutes or until the dough gets soft. Separate the dough into two equal portions and roll them into cylinders (about 1 inch in diameter). Cover them with wet towel and set aside.

Prepare the fillings through mix the prawn with ground pork and add all the seasonings. Chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

To prepare the skin, cut the dough into 1/4 in. length and use a rolling pin to flatten it until it becomes a round skin about 3 inch in diameter. Put a small spoonful of filling into the centre of the skin and seal it up tightly with your fingers. (No pleating is needed for this recipe).

Heat up a pot of hot water until it boils. Drop the dumplings into the boiling water and cover the pot. As soon as the dumplings start to float (meaning they are cooked), dish them out on a serving plate. Serve hot with black vinegar.

Tips:

you can change filling according your favorite such as chives and eggs.

if you like, you can fry the the cooked dumplings in the oil as well that will make them taste different.