LEARN HOW TO MAKE CHINESE DUMPLINGS WITH WFWP WESTCHESTER - RECIPE INCLUDED!

The Westchester chapter of WFWP held a Chinese cooking class on March 10, 2019, a beautiful Sunday afternoon, as part of a series of “Women Sharing their Talents and Skills.” Our gifted presenter, Jenny Jaing, patiently taught a crowd of about 22 women and a few men the art of making dumplings.

Jenny owned a successful Chinese restaurant in New England before picking up roots and moving to the Tarrytown, NY area. She explained that she learned the love for cooking at a young age from her mother who is from the Shanghai area of China. Shanghai cuisine has a complex and developed style of cooking due to the influences of surrounding provinces and is considered a favorite for Chinese food lovers. As she shared about her background, we were reminded that family activities make memories that last a lifetime and are an important influence on future choices.

Jenny’s restaurant was known for her delicious dumplings. She shared her best recipe and helped us work together to mix up separate batches of ground pork and ground turkey with fresh chives and a variety of spices. Using ready-made dumpling wrappers, we filled the round dough with our mixtures. Then came the hard part. Since the shape of the Chinese dumpling is considered to be similar to ancient gold or silver ingots, we learned to seal the dumplings in the traditional way with three pleated folds on each end while keeping the back side flat so they can stand up nicely. It took some practice and lots of fun but in the end we were proud of our creations.

All of the dumplings were then boiled first and then some were later fried. The high vegetable content of the filling along with a spicy-sweet dipping sauce made these dumplings a healthy dinner. Several remarked that the homemade version was far superior to the typical frozen variety.

One brave husband commented, “I think I can take over the job of cooking dinner instead of my wife.”

According to legend, dumplings were invented in China over 1800 hundred years ago and are often made around the New Year to bring good luck and wealth. Now some version of the dumpling is found in almost every culture all over the world. During our dinner we discovered that though we all live in the Westchester area now, we were originally from all over the world too. Participants represented a wide range of places and cultures like India, France, Jewish heritage, England, and parts of Asia including Japan and Singapore. Cooking together was a great way to socialize and learn how to cook something new and different for dinner.
RECIPE

What follows is the (very approximate) recipe. Please note that since there was very little measuring, the amounts are approximate. Experiment and enjoy – there is no right or wrong, just go with your taste!

1. Cut and combine ingredients for bowls one, two and three in separate bowls. Efficiency note: Process 1 and 2 first since they need to rest

   • Bowl 1:

     1. Remove the roots (if on) and chop into ¼ inch pieces

     2. Combine all ingredients

   • Bowl 2:

     1. Remove stems and chop mushroom caps into ¼ inch pieces

     2. Combine all ingredients

   • Bowl 3:

     1. Combine all ingredients. Note: we made two different versions – one with ground turkey and one with pork.

2. Let bowls one and two stand for 20 minutes before combining with bowl three.

3. Fill dumplings and pinch closed. Post a picture on Instagram and use #wfwpusa ☺

4. Simmer the dumplings for about 5 minutes. When they float to the top let cook for three minutes.

5. Optional: If you want fried dumplings, sauté in grease pan (not deep oil) after simmering.

6. Dipping Sauce: Soy sauce and chili oil (proportion of chili oil depends on personal tolerance for heat. If you have a cold, use a lot and bring tissues!)