The key to great dumplings

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

IMPORTANT NOTE: Before we get into it, I know that “hydration” isn’t a term that *everyone* knows - and I forgot to scribble down the flour/water quantities in the video itself. If using King Arthur flour, use 300 grams of flour and 156 grams of water. 00 Flour - 300 grams of flour, 150 grams of water. But right, as promised in the outro, a few thoughts on our previous work looking back. Originally, we were thinking of making a whole “Can you trust CCD?” video, but the more we put pen to paper, the more naval gazey the whole project ended up feeling. After all, this’s a cooking channel - most people just want a tasty recipe in the end. So, recipe notes will be *after* the five year anniversary naval gazing: 1. Sometimes I like to say that there’s always a little Dunning-Kreuger at play whenever anyone starts a KZbin thing, but that partially might just be my projecting. Looking back, it’s kind of shocking that we had the confidence to share recipes, but then again we didn’t know how much that we didn’t know. 2. And yet, in spite of that, when we go back and analyze the recipes themselves, they’re… generally reasonably decent. I suppose in us-five-years-ago’s defense, we *did* always really really try to get things right, to share the dish as we felt it should be… which seemed to end up compensating for a lot of sins. I suppose it’s less in recipes and more in the “extra commentary” that I can kind of cringe at myself in that first year. To be a bit more concrete - in our Char Siu sauce recipe I used mianchi (ground bean paste) and Lo Shui (master stock) as the base of the sauce, which is a legit older method to make a very legit Char Siu sauce. The recipe itself is quite solid. But in the process, I also kind of ragged on Hoisin based Char Siu sauces, which are obviously also a proper approach as well. I just didn’t know it at the time. 3. But it’s a truism the more you learn about food and cooking, I think. When you get started, you start to learn some recipes and techniques that work, and you… religiously stick to them (or at least I did) - leading to a belief system centered around the idea that there’s *one* and only one ‘correct’ way to cook a dish. But as the years pass, you start to see that each ‘dish’ is really a *constellation* of different variations on a theme - and it’s those variants, those nooks and crannies, that’re some of the most fascinating. 4. In the middle of year two, there was another important change in the channel - I (Chris) stopped researching. Originally, when me and Steph switched back and forth with the cooking, when it was one of our ‘turns’, we’d do *everything* - research, testing, etc etc. Back then, when it was my turn to research, usually what I’d do is go hang out in the wholesale market and ask vendors how they’d cook XYZ. Cross reference that with a bunch of random recipes and recipe videos, cook it a few times, call it a day. It… wasn’t enough. 5. Why? There is simply no substitute for reading WIDELY. I’ve lived over here in China for over a decade - I can get by in Chinese - but I’ve never really been one of those ‘language guys’: my reading ability only really allows for *narrow* reading. So I can putz around, make a few searches, read some douban threads, and article here or there… but Steph - being a native speaker and all - can quickly consume entire books and magazines. This gives you a much, *much* better sense of the bigger picture. 6. The wider the knowledge base, the more you can cross reference - the more you can *contextualize* what someone local to a certain place might tell you about a certain dish. Let me give you an example. When we did our old Beijing Zhajiangmian video, I showed the final video to a buddy of mine from Beijing and he quickly retorted that it was ‘wrong’ because it didn’t have ‘enough toppings’, as when you got to a Zhajiangmian restaurant in Beijing the noodles are loaded with a veritable smorgasbord. So for a while, I had this nagging feeling that maybe our Zhajiangmian video just wasn’t quite right, that maybe we should toss a disclaimer on it… to which Steph would always say “trust me, the research was good”. It wasn’t until Laofangu dropped a homestyle Zhajiangmian video (which had similar toppings as ours) that my nerves were calmed. As it turns out, my friend’s family never really made Zhajiangmian at home, so his view was always colored by what he ate at restaurants. 7. That said, I think you should always, *always* take criticism from someone local to somewhere seriously because (1) you can always fuck up, and you can learn from that and (2) even if you didn’t fuck up and you just didn’t know the context, you can learn from that too. Let me give you another example. Two more videos that we were worried about were our Guizhou Laziji (spicy chicken) video and our Guizhou ciba (pounded chili paste) video, as our friends from Guiyang told us that neither was how it was done by their family. As it turns out, the Laziji that we did (where we added water to the braise) was a specific variant from Qinglong, and the ciba chili paste that we made was a more modern restaurant-focused variation that’s designed to be ready-used for stir fries. We never would have learned those things if we’d have just brushed aside those concerns. 8. That’s why - in spite of all the voices out there these days that are vociferously arguing against the notion of authenticity, in spite of what I just said above regarding dishes being constellations of ideas instead of platonic ideals - we still can’t hop aboard that ‘authenticity be damned’ train. It’s all too easy to use a critique of authenticity as a shield against your own shortcomings, your own gaps of knowledge. Anyway, enough of that. Now for what you’re actually here for, some dumpling notes: 1. Another very legit method for making dumpling wrappers is to roll it out (often by passing it through a pasta maker) and using a glass to cut our the wrappers. We personally prefer the rolling method, but if you’re making a significant number of wrappers, the cutting method would definitely be a nice idea. 2. The hot water dough method you can see quite a bit around Jiangsu/Zhejiang. It’s is often used for making steamed dumplings, as it’s softer and the cold water wrappers can sometimes be at risk of drying out when steaming. 3. The oil quantity in the dumpling filling may seem less than some other recipes - this is because for the basic recipe in the video I was using uncooked peanut oil, and if using uncooked oil I personally prefer to go easier on the oil quantity. If using the seasoned oil that I mentioned in the description box, I’d up the oil quantity for ~1/4 cup. Or alternatively, feel free to add more oil according to your own tastes. 4. For more fillings, you can definitely check out our previous dumpling video. They’re definitely solid, though I was a bit overly paranoid on the hand-mincing/stirring front. Just… please forget anything we said about the wrapper. Ok, that’s it for now. Apologies for the lack of videos recently, things are a little crazy with the upcoming move. We’ll be releasing one more video here in China (likely one week from today, before Dragon Boat Festival), then June 8th we’ll be moving down to Bangkok. Realistically, our next video after that likely won’t be until 6/27, though we’ll try to aim for 6/20.

[@KVWI]

I love writing like this, whether in the form of a footnote or a video, so thanks for sharing what you did.

[@brokenglassshimmerlikestar3407]

In my experience, in the south of China people are generally less good with doughs and when I was little my Mom would always roll out a big sheet and cut rounds using a glass. Oh and everyone folds dumplings differently, so it's always fun to try and figure out whose dumpling it is when there are a bunch of people making them. Love the channel, good luck with the move and I look forward to seeing the doggy again!

[@Arat1t1]

I fell in love with zhajiangmian during my year in Beijing, I would usually eat it a few times a week (habits can be comforting when living far away from home). Eventually I felt that I knew which places made the good stuff, and ironically enough the place that served my favorite zhajiangmian was the noodle shop at a local market that had zero toppings on theirs. This wasn't some touristy place either, it was part wholesale market where I rarely ever saw other foreigners, they just did good and fast food for locals to eat before going to buy stuff. It was always busy, so it's pretty good evidence that the "real" local stuff isn't always filled with elaborately placed toppings. As a side note, I've always been disappointed by zhajiangmian outside of Beijing. The best I've had elsewhere was probably at the Taipei airport, but even then the stuff I make myself is better than that, so I'll just keep making it at home.

[@timothyhoff97]

I'm glad you added point #8. Authenticity is probably most often seen online in the form of gatekeeping, which obviously sucks and people shouldn't do. But there is a benefit to trying to suss out what "authentic" means in the context of a dish or technique if only because that additional information, like you say, can help build the scaffolding of knowledge that you have around your cooking practice/hobby. Doesn't mean that the "authentic" way is the only way or the best way or even that there is only one "authentic" method. There's probably a lot more to say on this topic, but I haven't really seen anyone acknowledge the benefits of reaching for the "authentic" like you did here, so I appreciate it.

[@kevinfmchugh]

Why did you boil the water, then add cold water, boil again etc? Why not just add to boiling water once? That was a technique I've never seen before...

[@XiuHang]

Here's a bit of advice learned from years of Jiao Zi making with my father. You can make really good wrappers with almost any AP flour; instead of adjusting the hydration wait on a longer autolyze. My father learned that even pretty bad flour makes fine wrappers if you give it enough time for all of the flour to get hydrated.

[@petersu13]

My mom (from Northern China) makes the best northern style dumplings (jiao zi) that I've ever had (really!) and swears by Pillsbury AP flour for the wrappers. Just the right gluten level she says. The dough is as you do it here, but with just flour and water as far as I know. I worked for years, maybe decades, to come close to what she does once in a while.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

If you know the hydration, let me know and I can add it to the description box :)

[@petersu13]

@@ChineseCookingDemystified I posted a reply eariler, but it appears to have gotten lost. I don't know the specific hydration my mom uses because she just mixes water into a bowl of flour until the dough is right, and there are no measurements involved. We did do some exeriments of our own and ended up with a ratio of about 1.95 parts flour to 1 part water by weight for a dough that we found easy to work with and tasty. I have a web page with our "reference" recipe on it, but will not link it here since that's maybe why the previous comment got moderated out. :) I can send it along via other channels if you are interested.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

@@petersu13 Yeah definitely. You're a Patron I'm pretty sure, yeah? Shoot over the link (Discord if you're on it, otherwise through Patreon messages) and I can post it here :) Looks like you're looking at roughly the same hydration as KAF

[@petersu13]

@@ChineseCookingDemystified Sent a message at Patreon. Thanks!

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Ok so Peter's mother's recipe is over here for anyone curious :) mutable-states.com/the-illustrated-pot-sticker.html

[@eleanorandersen9044]

Man, as a Philly girl myself it's always so pleasing to see you reference Philly food!

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Ha, I actually went to high school in SW PA, around West Chester. It's where my family's at nowadays too

[@ejwhite]

All the sandwich shots were taken from Mark Wien's Philly Cheesesteak episode from 9 months ago.

[@Mourderburdger]

it's a shame this channel doesnt have more subscribers, been subscribed for over two years now and these videos are always a treat and I can always impress my wife with these recipes (apologies for usually taking the credit). so thanks so so much for everything you guys do and props for always sticking to it

[@Pridetoons]

They have over 700k Subscribers tho. Granted I'd like them to have more tho.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Haha we're more than happy with our current reach. We can make a good living doing what we love, we have freedom of movement... we're enormously lucky.

[@jctai100]

@@ChineseCookingDemystified worth every one!

[@jermainerace4156]

They don't have as many subscribers, because they have 1: real subscribers, 2: really good content that doesn't appeal to the lowest common denominator.

[@BriarLeaf00]

It's much better to look at engagement than subscribers, bit both thier subscriber count is really high already and I'd wager they have an engagement level other similar channels would love to have.

[@Maiasatara]

Always love your thorough research and delicious resulting recopies but I'm here for the kitty today. At 10:57 s/he gave Chris a slow "I love you" blink. So great. I'm hoping you have TWO pets and not sad news about the dog.

[@woolfel]

I used KA all purpose to make hand pulled noodles and dumplings. It works fine and give you the QQ texture. I actually make the dough the night before and let it sit in the frig. That saves me time and lets the gluten develop.

[@Mourderburdger]

witchcraft

[@potatostarch-h3i]

you guys are very methodical with it. and as someone who likes to know why we do a certain things in cooking. thanks.

[@jimmyyu2184]

That is so funny, it is exactly how my grandma used to make dumplings... 40+ years ago, that is. Brings back so much memories of me being a young boy helping her in the kitchen. Always make sure the dumplings rise 3 times, because no one wants to eat under-cooked pork. 👍👍

[@jvallas]

Thank you for explaining that technique.

[@Koenigg99]

The store bought wrappers definitely have their place! I much prefer pan fried dumplings using store bought wrappers than the hand made ones.

[@cowsaysmuuuu]

Tell me you are a barbarian, without telling me you are a barbarian.

[@WangGanChang]

our family have been making dumplings with gold medal for quite sometime now. it's similar to your steps, though it require a lot more knealing. It got simple once we got a kitchen aid mixer, we run it for three 5 minute intervals with about 5 minute of rest in between. The taste and texture is similar to what get in China, after my wife tinkered with water ratio a couple of times. The same method can also make a great xiaolongbao skin if you just add litter bit of yeast and sugar to the water mix as well.

[@ouichtan]

As a Frenchman this hits home... I feel like lots of people eat sandwiches as an "excuse" to indulge in a nice feeling. A lot of French people eat sandwiches as an "excuse" to devour half a baguette 🤣🤣🤣

[@daniel.lopresti]

The first is most certainly the case here in Belgium - it has to be, the baguettes are like dehydrated cardboard! Luckily I make my own sourdough baguettes, which probably rival anything you could find in anything but the most upscale hipster bakeries here :)

[@hettar7]

Yes! Bread is always the best part of anything!

[@lolilollolilol7773]

As a Frenchman, I like sandwiches in a very good baguette. But between a sandwich and dumplings, I'll always prefer the latter.

[@vettebodee]

I like the new Cutting board shots mixed in with the classic balcony.

[@Bushido192]

Hayek: Always impressed and enjoying. Kitty: Unimpressed, as it should be 🤣

[@genderender]

Just keeping the spot warm for Hayek

[@karlaskitties]

Love the cat 😻

[@squaidsareus3237]

Secret technique that a lot of people miss for dumplings is turning the dough 90 degrees every time you cut it. My mom does this and you can see it in PangZai's dumpling tutorial at 6:26. This helps with getting a more round/evenly distributed wrapper instead of a compressed oval shape from the cutting.

[@hetism5973]

Yes, made it today! Used vegetarian mince since I don't eat meat. Really flavourful! Am thoroughly proud of my first dumpling experience. Thanks for the recipe and the explanation

[@MichaelNatkin]

I think your approach to authenticity is smart, sensible, and balanced. Of course for almost all recipes there is no single way it is made. Families and restaurants have adapted over time. And cultures blend wildly. Ideas may start as dubious and end up recognized as genius (while others remain dubious: I'm looking at you, cheese dosa.) People move and adapt their dishes to produce and ingredients that are on hand, sometimes lessening a dish and othertimes creating masterpieces. At the same time, there *is* a core, a beating heart of a cuisine, at least at a moment in time, that deserves respect and that will repay your efforts to recreate and honor it accurately. To me, your work represents that approach well, while still acknowledging change and improvement.

[@HeyWatchMeGo]

Very good comment, and I totally agree 🙂.

[@SparkRattle]

I've made dumplings before but despite how basic this is, I just keep learning something new!

[@hollish196]

This is one of the. most helpful videos ever! I want to make my own dumpling wrappers, but have not been happy with the recipes I have seen. Thank you so very much, especially for the flour suggestions. Being in the USA, both your recommendations are available.

[@uur3n]

This is one of my favorite channels!

[@phoebehuang7519]

My family makes dumplings every time we're all together and we have never had to buy special flour. I've made wrappers on my own and just used normal store bought flour. It's definitely achievable without anything fancy. You just need to wait for the dough to rest for longer than 15 minutes. I suggest you check on the dough every so often. You can make it ahead of time.

[@summerwindom8602]

I’m not big on leaving comments so I hope that convey’s how high in esteem I hold the method as well as the recipe. These are hands down the best dumplings I’ve ever made!! The sichuan and ginger water is a revelation, This channel continues to raise my Chinese cooking game even with you guy having left China temporarily. Love this channel so much, I must become one of your patron supporters. Heading there now,

[@XiaojunMa]

Love how you are improving on yourselves! The filling you use is very classic. Here is my 0.02 on the wrap, though. Growing up, my family (from Shandong) made the wrap with dough much softer. My mom always says, 软面饺子硬面汤. The soft dough makes it harder to wrap the dumpling, but the end product tastes better.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Right, that's why we've been tweaking on the hydration level. I used the common water quantity for regular northern style dumplings and with Bob's Red Mill, the dough is way too soft to work with as wrappers. At 46-48% hydration, that flour gives you similar results. And this is what we want to communicate here too, adjust the water quantity accordingly, Chinese flour does behave differently especially when making 白案 stuff.

[@ivanchan7459]

@@ChineseCookingDemystified I was making my own AP flour and adding gluten to get the right chew, but my mom (Hebei) didn't like it, so I switched over to Bob's and found 48% to be the right hydration, but seeing your recipe, I might drop it to 48%. I tried 00 Italian flour just today based on this video, but at 50% hydration it was softer than I was used to and tore a lot, plus it wasn't as QQ as I would've liked (a lot of these things boil down to who you're cooking for rather than that platonic ideal). I also live near the ocean and know that humidity can alter things for dough. I'll try the Italian flour again but maybe at 46-48% hydration and see what happens. Thanks again for the video, because I really wanted to get as close to what Northern Chinese dumplings taste like in Northern China! But in the end, I'll be happy with what tastes good to my mom. Isn't this how family recipes are developed? 😊

[@williamfotiou7577]

Just made dumplings 2 days ago. Used a Korean noodle flour, made great wrappers and was easy to work with. Great video!

[@sheldoskitchen]

Great video as usual Chris and Steph. Pretty much exactly how my grandma makes her dumplings!

[@ichmagreis69]

If you want to do pot stickers I would recommend adding just a bit more water into the dough than for simply boiled dumplings. Also you can mix some of the cabbage water (not much, just a few TBSs) into the meat BEFORE putting in the cabbage to enhance the flavour

[@onocoffee]

In our kitchen, we always have the Caputo 00 and KA Sir Galahad (which is the commercial packaging of the retail KAAP). Both are excellent flours. The Gold Medal AP? I used it last week to make our blueberry muffins and it was a less than enthusiastic experience. But I'm gonna head to the Chinese market to try the Chinese flour to make the dumplings. I like your 5 year naval gazing notes and while some may call for "authenticity," one thing that I've learned in the pursuit of my craft (been at it for 20 years now) is that when you start out, you learn just enough to make you arrogant and dangerous, but the longer you pursue the craft, the more you learn that there is no truly one "right" or "authentic" way, and that the people that "created" the recipes basically used what they had available to them. That said, I've always found your videos to be greatly informative and the perfect jumping point towards learning the dishes. Thanks for that. And I look forward every week to your releases!

[@onocoffee]

Oh, and that sandwich menu in the opening of the video - can you tell us what is in the Bal-More sandwich? I'm from Baltimore and am curious.

[@anqiyu]

I just tried the dumpling wrappers with the Korean polar bear flour and it worked. i used the Chinese flour ratios.

[@hattivat]

As someone from another dumpling-heavy nation (Poland) I have to say I am a bit shocked by the Chinese technique requiring you to individually roll every wrapper. Even my grandma would consider that an insane amount of work, our style is to just roll a huge sheet of dough and cut circular wrappers out of it using an inverted glass, optionally adjusting the resulting wrapper with your fingers when needed... It's so standard that grannies even use glass sizes as a sort of measurement of dumpling-making skill, a granny that can make good dumplings out of shot glass-sized wrappers is the queen of grannies.

[@RampagingPixie]

A loooot of East Asian dumplings require rolling them out one by one, I've made both east Asian and eastern European dumplings and always appreciate the European recipes for not having me roll each wrapped

[@ruedelta]

Plenty of Chinese families will cut out the wrappers using a glass. However, I think most northerner families will swear by the rolling method, since you should be rolling fast enough to supply 2-4 people folding dumplings at the same time, and in the end we freeze leftover dumplings which requires that you have that thicker bottom (split bottoms are a common sign of store-bought wrappers). In the end, I think the approach fits the volume of dumplings we usually make in one go - seeing trays totaling 100, 200, or even 300+ dumplings is pretty common. They are a required food for Chinese New Year after all, so it has to feed the entire extended family in those more heavy use cases.

[@karakaaa3371]

It takes only a few seconds to roll a wrapper. Idk using a pasta maker seems like it would be way more tedious and then you have a whole other machine to clean and store in your kitchen.

[@hattivat]

@@karakaaa3371 I wasn't talking about using a pasta maker. Our method is: 1. Roll a big sheet of dough, all in one go, by hand with a rolling pin same as if you were making noodles 2. Cut circular wrappers out of that sheet of dough using whatever circular thing you have at hand (commonly a drinking glass, but I guess a cookie cutter would work too)

[@karakaaa3371]

@@hattivat Oh ic. I just thought so cuz that's what OP posted up in his pinned comment

[@BriarLeaf00]

You guys are the best, there are few KZbin creators I look forward to watching more. By far my favorite culinary channel on the site. I always come away from your vids knowing more than when I went in, in both food and culture, which is pretty much all I can ask for.

[@frothyham]

11:06 is by far the most important part of the video, everyone make sure to watch.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Sadly when cutting, Chris forgot to include the part when I showed the fish-shaped treat to the camera.

[@lisahinton9682]

Beautiful kitty! So odd not seeing doggy there. (I remember he is hanging out with your friend in another country. Hoping he's well.)

[@badmonkey0001]

The cat was sitting there and I felt every perception I've ever held come into question. What universe did I step into!?! How do I get back to my home reality!?!

[@yassenwu2686]

Growing up eating my Nothern Chinese grandma's dumping, personally I kinda think this is these sort of 'store bought better than homemade' situation. For my taste, I do prefer sort of 'crunchy' dumplings than chewy ones, and the fact that supermarket wrappers always tend to shrink a lot after cooked contributes to that texture a lot. It holds the filling tight togather so it doesn't have the sort of watery and mushy fillings my grandma used to make, plus if you're making pan fried dumplings, supermarket wrappers always does a much better job. But it's just my personal taste for dumplings, and the part of the magic of dumplings here is everyone can have their own favorite, very inspring video as usual, hope you guys all doing well in Thai!

[@EternaltheGrey]

-Gold Medal tends to be lower protein than most others on average, replace 5-10% by weight with your bread flour of choice to get where you need to go. -If you're not familiar with the XLB index, hunt it down. It'll be fun. -The old dough (egg) recipe works fairly well with a little 枧水 for Japanese-style ramen. Quite similar to something I use in my culinary workshops.

[@k.toffellampe869]

Why have I never noticed the cat, I'm shocked! Keep up the good work, love you guys :-)

[@faomosgirl]

These are my favourite style of dumplings. Thank you so much for sharing. I can't wait to try making them! :D

[@Mari-uc2jd]

Not sure how relevant this is to you guys, but my Ah ma frequently made dumplings and always swore that the water also affected the taste. Water in Taiwan was soft and well matched the taste of the dough flour. When she brought the same flour (and other ingredients) to North America (Airport security had questions for her) the dough flavour was poor even though she paid careful attention to the humidity/storage changes. While harder water can impart flavour to some things like pasta if the mineral content is too different it can affect the taste. To conclude the saga, my family was just happy to have her even though she was pretty distraught. My father ended up ordering in some roast duck for the night from a local shop and mom was happy to have her mother's homemade soy sauce.

[@manfaitang5577]

Hmm, as a 2nd gen Chinese I never knew you had to pre-cook and squeeze the napa cabbage or any veggies before using it as filling. And that's how I accidently stumbled upon this interesting fusion / frankenstein Gyoza/Xiaolongbao/Bulgogi dumpling. At first I basically tried to make a bigger Gyoza (dumpling sized), with finely diced napa cabbage and onion mixed into the ground beef, which in hindsight I heavily overseasoned with soy sauce and ginger. But thanks to the moisture of the veggies the flavours balanced out perfectly fine and you get this tiny bit of broth on bite. Another time I ran out of soy sauce and subbed it with Bulgogi marinade I had left over and it's even more amazing. I use this/my own recipe for dumplings ever since. The more ontopic part of this story is that it only works with home made wrappers (store/gyoza wrappers are too thin and will have holes due to the moisture inside), so I'm always looking forward to improve the dough part of this recipe.

[@the_mothmxn]

It's a fussy prospect, but something I have done in the past is supplement AP flour with gluten flour to up the protein content. It's not necessarily *cheaper* ounce by ounce, but it saves you from having to buy bread flour/pizza flour AND AP flour.

[@brt5273]

So great that you go into the specifics of different flours for us!❤ That "bite" is what I really miss at Chinese-American restaurants here in the states. Seems they mostly use those prefab wrappers. After making them from scratch, I can no longer tolerate the prefabs. If I don't have time to make them I just don't bother. I'm wondering though is it possible to freeze the dumplings without a terrible loss of quality? I'm a single guy so going through the process of making a small batch every time I want them is a bit of a pain. Do you think the best result would come from freezing the dumpling raw or freezing after cooking?

[@BYOU99]

Absolutely raw. Millions of Chinese in China live on frozen raw dumplings. 🤣🤣. At my house I make a batch of 300 each time n then freeze them. You’ll lose some flavors for sure but it’s better than having to make it from scratch every time.

[@brt5273]

@@BYOU99 Awesome!

[@cuteButKindaDeadlyBreloom]

Thank you as always for showing us how to make these delicious foods

[@chazmo1981]

First off, what an amazing channel. Fantastic content and quality. Question for you two: you use weight measurements for almost everything but volumetric for salt. What kind of salt are you using? Fine grain or coarse like kosher? Obviously can make a pretty big difference. Thanks!

[@CMstacker]

Wow that cat at the end is gorgeous! 🥰 I`ve never seen it before, usually there is a Schnauzer pleading for some food 😅

[@cd-zw2tt]

I'm about to go to Boston Chinatown to pick up a few things for this tomorrow morning... then I am going to double this recipe and meal prep a ton of these. We go thru a lot of dumplings (trader joes ones) but they can get boring after a while. I have some Chinese chives (jiu cai?) left over from another dish, so I'm gonna make some Pork and chive.

[@k80bmd84]

I have always felt Starch is the key to food memories. It is less forgiving, subject to greater debate than proteins. Steamed rice, al dente pasta, crispy french fries, perfect bread, al onda risotto, akaline noodles etc etc

[@bagelSC07]

Two requests if I could would be wor wonton soup in the thickened stock style w/o noodles and home style family bean curd stir fry shanhaineese with egg plant bell peppers(Capricum)and pork slivers. Idk if that is an an americanized Chinese dish but it's something I deeply enjoy if there is a traditional Chinese equivalent I'd be so excited to learn!!

[@Leto_0]

If I remember right, when I made pizza dough, that pockmarked texture meant that the dough was overworked. Still works fine once you let it rest and let the gluten relax

[@missinglink_eth]

This technique looks amazing. I will be trying it soon.

[@patrickhogue1906]

In Japan. After the salting and wait period, I have a 100 yen (1 USD about) salad spinner that gets all the moisture out of chopped cabbage. If you've got the space to store, worth it.

[@HappyNBoy]

Dude, that Menu at :23 is WAN Convenience at Tremont and Burney in Boston, ca. 2010. Regarded by my friend who was at college there at the time as the greatest sandwich shop in the world. I once ate the Heaven is Here and I might be tempted to agree with him.

[@infin1ty850]

King Arthur is pretty much the best commonly available flour you can get for any application. They have great AP and higher protein Bread Flour and they let you know the protein percentage for both. Their customer service is also unmatched compared to pretty any other food product company, let alone flour company.

[@jermainerace4156]

I use KA exclusively.

[@clashwithkeen]

I would love to know how White Lilly flower works and how much hydration it needs. It's the standard flower for the US southeast and the most common because it is the best flour for making biscuits.

[@RovingPunster]

Good information. Thanks ! 😄 BTW, ive been using a lot of king arthur flours over the past year, honing my sourdough technique. Their All Purpose Flour (APF) is 11.7% protein, very finely milled, and is excellent quality, but for my sourdough I eventually switched to using their Bread Flour (BF) as my primary flour because it's higher in protein/gluten, at 12.7%. I also use a lot of their white whole wheat flour (WWWF) which is 12.2% and very finely milled too ... I use it for 40% of my total flour, and 100% for culturing/feeding my sourdough my starters starters (the microbes thrive on the trace fatty acids and micronutrients of wholemeal, and perform far more aggressively than on plain APF or BF alone). Anyway, try the BF if you can find it - it's a small but noticeable step up from their APF.

[@RovingPunster]

HYDRATION COMMENTS: nearly all of my quick asian style noodle doughs use 50% hydration, but you raised a very interesting and valid point about different flours. Hydration needs can fluctuate a bit, based on: > Fineness of grind - finer flours hydrate and autolyse faster than coarser ones. > Freshness - a freshly milled flour will tend to be noticeably thirstier than one that's several weeks or months older ... plenty of time for the latter to absorb ambient humidity from the air. > Application: dumpling doughs need to be slightly firmer than say dough for pulled noodles. > Gluten strength can play a role too. I'm rambling ... sorry. Hope someome found some of that useful.

[@chsyank]

I love your cooking content. A few things: You don't mention the protein level of the perfect flour. I use (mostly) KA flours for bread making so can get a variety of protein level and grind flours. 2nd... your notes about making one version vs someone else version. This is always happening. I grew up in a very Italian area in New England where each family had a slightly different recipe for their "Sunday Sauce". Italian food was my go to food, Of course being of Scottish heritage I had no food recipes passed down to me.

[@gagajoyscooking8558]

I just cut up Chorizo Fino Sausage links and place them in the dumpling! Great video!

[@luisgtz]

very informative video. Just wonder what dipping sauce would you recommend or if you have created your own?

[@JosiahBradley]

Had store bought frozen dumplings last night. Now there's more motivation to go all the way for fresh. Going to try to get some KA 00 or the real stuff if they have it locally.

[@saultopaul3981]

Thank you guys !!!

[@Anesthesia069]

I absolutely love dumplings, so now I want to make more! Any tips on accompaniments for northern style dumplings? I usual add a little bit of chilli oil to some black rice vinegar which is delicious, but I am interested if there is anything else commonly used.

[@ivanchan7459]

Growing up, we never used chili oil, but we did eat raw garlic cloves, and we used black or white vinegar with soy sauce for dipping.

[@jasonsteakham2982]

Hello, I know this is a 1 year old video but this video made me your subscriber. May I ask, any brand of Shaoxing do you recommend?

[@Sam-eq9qi]

love you guys!!

[@litis5151]

Question: How do you feel about frozen storebought wrappers? seems like those would avoid some of the drying out issues encountered with fresh storebought wrappers

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Worked with those before, not a big fan tbh. They work in a pinch but can never beat freshly made ones.

[@rangochu2713]

I’m here from Reddit! Sad that i can’t comment on old posts!

[@devilslamp7306]

Just WHAT is on that sandwich, that it's blurred out @0:23 ???

[@mickeymaus1]

In Europe for example the Pizza 00 Flour is the Italien ones (also that famous brand) the easiest one to get by - the other ones never saw here…

[@alehut]

Would you ever toast the peppercorns before infusing them with the ginger?

[@XYpsilonLP]

Nice video, like always ^^ I like your composed way of speaking. Still cooking the mappo tofu version of yours on a regular basis o^.^o But I have a question - I loved dumplings and chinese style buns like bao buns but I can't eat them anymore because of celiac disease. Until today I couldn't find a good solution (tried rice papers, tried doing my own doughs with generic gluten free flour blend or self blended mixes etc.) Does there exist solution for people like me in china? Like flour mixes or recipes? I know this is a complicated question for people not having this kind of problem but maybe you stumbled across it while living there ^^°

[@bethlittrell8754]

How important is it to roll by hand? After portioning, could we send the dough through a pasta machine?

[@none941]

Chris, you said the needed flour was high in protein, but AP is relatively low. My AP is about 10.7% protein and my Bread Flour is almost 13% protein. So which is preferred? Highest protein, or something a bit softer?

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Generally AP would be enough for dumplings, but bread flour would also work, sometime it may be a bit too high in gluten even.

[@bamascubaman]

Kitty cat was looking like "How much longer is human going to talk before I get dumpling?" 😅😅😅

[@Cjco102]

Idk if it’s the same in the US or if they do then like this in China but here in the UK every Chinese takeaway does barbecue ribs that have a seed outer layer and are really similar in colour to Char siu pork but on ribs. Are they just made by marinating the ribs in Char siu marinade or is it something else entirely? If it’s the second one can you make a video on it please if that’s alright. I really love your channel it’s so good I’m learning to cook and love Chinese food :)

[@kaizerkoala]

Why not King Arthur bread flour (high-gluten) though? It's widely available in the US (at least in Florida where I have been). It fits the bill for finely ground and high protein.

[@danecory1236]

Can I ask what the purpose of corn starch and egg are to a dumpling filling? I see many recipes online and some use neither, both or just one of the two. I also had another question that I’ve never been able to figure out throughout my over a hundred attempts at making dumplings. When I was a child, I fell in love with dumplings from a specific restaurant in Philly that closed down unfortunately. The filling was very pink in color, unlike the grey that I always get. I have not been able to replicate the specific taste of that pork dumpling and I’m wondering if it’s because of the pink color and something they did to achieve that. I’ve also never used five spice and I’m wondering if that was also part of it. I’ve nearly lost my mind throughout my adulthood trying to reproduce those specific dumplings from my childhood! I might try to track down the owners one day!

[@ccbowers]

What is the purpose of adding cool water in 2 stages at the point you are boiling the dumplings?

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

It cools down the cooking liquid so that the dumplings can cook more evenly over a longer period of time. And I still prefer dipping water in since it's an easier visual for controlling cooking time than just cooking it at a lower heat.

[@ccbowers]

@@ChineseCookingDemystified I assumed that but didn't want to add my assumption to the question. I would have thought that bringing to a boil but then turning down the heat so that it remained below boiling would work, but I can appreciate the advantage of a step process that doesn't require assessment of water temperature.

[@ccbowers]

I wonder if the following method could work even easier- bring to a boil for a short period of time, then turn off the burner and finish with residual heat for a set period of time.

[@wolfingitdown2047]

The thought of a good Philly on a hotdog bun actually made me uncomfortable. Nicely put

[@toshiyukisuzuki7610]

Can I use these wrappers too for gyouza or pot stickers? Thanks...

[@miaw.9751]

Could regular green cabbage be used instead of nappa; same salt and purge technique? Thank you 😊

[@gretahardin1392]

Napa has the advantage of being a sweet and tender cabbage. The biggest differences are regular cabbage will have a sulfury-farty flavor in the dumpling due to its higher sulfur content. And the texture is typically harder. If you use the inside, smaller leaves that will solve most of the texture problem. And if you blanch the cabbage instead of purging, that will take care of most of the sulfur problem. Savoy cabbage is a reasonable sub for Napa if finding Napa is your stumbling block.

[@cqaron]

OMG! What kinda cat do you have? 😻 It is gorgeous 😍

[@grunnyyk2]

Amy recommendations on freezing dumplings? Had some success with freezing a bastardised har gow recipe for steaming; just wondering if boiling these from frozen will be much more different

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Freeze the uncooked ones directly, keep in air-tight bag, and cook them straight from the freezer, works great!

[@grunnyyk2]

@@ChineseCookingDemystified wicked, thanks!

[@LGH666]

You say the Chinese flour is High protein flour, as in how high? The AP I use is 11.7 where as I have Bread flour I use is at 12.7. Or, are we more concerned with the fine grind (00) or the higher protein? Your boiling method seems a bit fussy, is it going to produce a better more texturally pleasing product over straight steaming? Thanks

[@a-stardesigns1453]

Question: how bout cooking from frozen? Do you have a recommended boiling time?

[@10lauset]

.. Cheers to you ..

[@cookingwithmimmo]

做得很好 👍

[@danecory1236]

Have you ever experienced your ground pork filling smelling and tasting subtly rancid the next day? I grind my own pork from shoulder and add all ingredients the night before. Meat smells fine and I even microwave a little bit and it tastes fine too. The next day it smells and tastes funky and is inedible to me. What’s going on here? I usually add the following to my filling : soy sauce, sherry, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, scallions, cabbage, sugar, white pepper, corn starch, baking soda. Thanks in advance!

[@randycollins87]

I hope you are all well and safe.

[@christopher5855]

I can personally say that I use King Arthur flour for everything that requires a quality flour. I’ll use the store brand, Pillsbury, or gold medal if I’m just deep frying or pan frying something that I want a crust on.

[@gab.lab.martins]

What's with the additions of cold water mid-boil?

[@CamStLouis]

I made this last night but it turned out toxically salty, I think from the purged cabbage. I wrung the daylights out of it, but should I have rinsed it as well? I'm glad I cooked a bit of the filling to check the seasoning first.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Hmm, maybe cut back the salt then? If you find it salty again next time, maybe try blanching. Or it maybe the salt itself too, salt weight can varied under different climate conditions. FYI we used 5g and our salt may weight a bit heavier since it's humid here.

[@Fallen0o1]

Would bread flower work? It is high protien, though I'm not sure how finely milled it is.

[@bezasamazingtube3430]

Watching!!

[@sanrasuzumaki942]

Why is the "Hush" blurred? 0:23

[@theycallmezeal]

I didn't realize the extra starch is what makes the filling separate! With store bought wrappers, could this be remedied by coating the entire inner surface in water, turning the loose flour into a glue of sorts?

[@maritamussner1230]

Can you make a video about vegetarian dumpling fillings?

[@Alex-ow2dz]

Can you or anyone on this planet please make a recipe for Cassave, the manioc version of this? I ate them once in a restaurant and just love them but cant find them anywhere :(((

[@bagelSC07]

The way you say grocer is so funny, u've gone native my boi

[@BenberOdred]

The Hush must have quite the picture if it required censoring for YT. 😄

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

It's from a (now shuttered) place called WAN's in Boston... Al (the owner) censored the Hush himself lol, IIRC the components were 'secret'

[@ShinoSarna]

I wonder if I can apply this knowledge to making pierogi dumplings (which are similar to Chinese ones in a lot of ways.)

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

IIRC Pierogis are a hot water dough, yeah?

[@ShinoSarna]

@@ChineseCookingDemystified it depends, some use hot water, some use room temperature water. And it seems the type of flour best for them is similar.

[@mathewblanc9936]

If you're up for a challenge, I'd love to see you have a crack at a gluten free dumpling wrapper. It's my holy grail and I've yet to find a recipe that even gets close 🙏 🥟

[@Gurianthe]

I can't get any of those flours in my country, so there goes my plan of making a ton of pot stickers and freezing them in order to fry them for snacks when I'm hungry :(