This is a continuation of the recipe posted earlier for oriental dumplings.
Once you have made your first few dumplings, you will want to try them again and again.
As one of the ladies in my Bible Study Group said, repeating an action is sometimes just so relaxing. The added bonus with making dumplings is that you get to eat them at the end of the exercise.
Here then is a 30-second video to recap on the folding action. I had actually taken step-by-step photos but in the end, a video is a much faster method of action delivery. The initial steps are described in the previous post. Please take note of the position of the fingers!
How to cook the dumplings:
Pour a layer of oil in a non-stick frying pan.
Place a circle of dumplings in the pan, seam side up.
Heat the pan and fry the dumplings over a medium heat for around 2 – 3 minutes, just to brown them a little.
Add 100 – 150 ml of water into the pan from the side. Do not pour the water over any of the dumplings as this will make them soggy.
Cover the pan and steam for around 4 minutes, until the dumpling wrapper looks translucent.
Most of the water should have evaporated by now. Remove the cover, turn up the heat and continue to fry the dumplings for another 3 minutes.
The dumplings are ready when the bottom looks crispy and brown.
The sound of the dumplings frying is a delightful one, reminiscent of raindrops falling on the roof. Hence in Korea, when it rains, people flock to dumpling houses to partake of this delicious snack.
I know Korea is a bit of an obsession with me, seeing as I am actually of Chinese descent, but my ancestors came from Southern China and none of them made dumplings (wheat is grown in the North of China and rice in the South). It is ironical that my Chinese surname is actually the character for wheat: I guess making dumplings and cakes is somehow deeply rooted in my DNA.
You can see the slight variation in dumpling shapes, as all the ladies had different folding styles
This did not matter as the dumplings ended up in the same place – in hot oil
The reward for dilligence and perseverance
