Recipes with Julie Van Rosendaal: Make dumplings for Lunar New Year

It's Lunar New Year on Friday, and dumplings are a popular celebratory dish. If you haven't made them yourself, they're a simple and satisfying kitchen table project. 

Jiaozi, a.k.a. Chinese dumplings, are eaten regularly year-round, and can be filled, crimped and cooked in many different ways.

They're most often stuffed with ground pork, often with finely chopped napa cabbage (which is finer and less watery than other cabbage varieties) or bok choy, seasoned with ginger, green onions or chives, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil.

I've been making a fairly simple pork dumpling for decades, seasoning ground pork with the above and filling store-bought dumpling wrappers (so inexpensive and easy!) to steam, drop into soup or turn into potstickers on the stovetop. 

If you have extra hands around the house (particularly little ones), filling dumplings is a great way to spend some screen-free time together, and stock the freezer in the process.

• Bookmark cbc.ca/juliesrecipes to keep up with all of Julie Van Rosendaal's dishes

You'll need a small dish of water at your work station — dip your finger in the water and run it around the edge of the wrapper, drop a spoonful of filling in the middle (not too much, or it can be tricky to seal), and fold the wrapper over to enclose.

Round wrappers can be crimped with your fingers, creating a puckered, ruffled edge, and square wrappers can be sealed as simple triangular pockets.

You can go one step further and tuck the two corners of the long edge underneath the belly of filling and pinch them together, creating a boat or ingot shape (pictured below).

Filled dumplings can be frozen on a baking sheet and then transferred to a zipper storage bag or other container (freezing them first ensures they won't stick together)

To boil or steam later on, don't thaw them first. Just cook them from frozen.

And if potstickers are your game plan, sit the dumplings upright, puckered edge up, creating flat bottoms that will get brown and crisp in the bottom of your pan.

Make a dipping sauce as you go, as you'll use many of the same ingredients — soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, a bit of sugar or honey and pinch of red chili flakes or a squirt of chili sauce, or use some nice chili oil to drizzle or dip. 

Jiaozi (Chinese Dumplings)

Measurements here are approximate. Feel free to season your ground pork to your liking.

Adding chopped sautéed mushrooms or wilted greens to the mix is delicious, too. 

Dumplings:

• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1 cup finely chopped napa cabbage (optional)
• 2-3 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp. finely grated ginger (or to your taste)
• 2-4 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1-2 tbsp. oyster sauce (optional)
• 1-2 tbsp. sesame oil
• fresh dumpling wrappers

In a medium bowl, combine the ground pork, onions, ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil, stirring until the mixture has a pasty consistency.

Some like to do this ahead of time, and allow the meat to marinate for a few hours, or even overnight.

When you're ready to assemble your dumplings, get a small dish of water, dip your finger in and run it around the edge of each dumpling wrapper as you fill them.

Drop a heaping teaspoon of filling in the middle and fold over to seal, crimping the edge and shaping it however you like. (Make sure you press out any air pockets in the process, or they may float when you boil them.)

Place on a baking sheet as you fill, sitting them upright if you plan to make potstickers.

The dumplings can be frozen at this point, then transferred to a freezer bag to cook later. 

Cooking options:

To boil your dumplings, lower them into gently boiling water and cook until they float to the surface, then continue to cook for another minute, until the dough is tender and the filling feels firm.

To steam, set the dumplings on a square of parchment in a bamboo or other steamer and cook over simmering water until the dough looks more transparent, is tender and the filling is cooked through.

For potstickers, heat a generous drizzle of canola or other vegetable oil in a heavy skillet set over medium-high heat, sit the dumplings close together in the oil, and cook until they turn deep golden on the bottom.

Pour about ½ cup water into the pan, cover and cook for about five more minutes to allow them to cook through. Remove the lid and let any excess moisture cook off before serving.

Leftover wrappers can be frozen for another batch.

Serves about 4.

Dipping sauce (all measurements are approximate):

• 3 tbsp. soy sauce 
• 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp. chilli-garlic sauce (optional)
• 1-2 tsp. brown sugar or honey
• 1 tsp. finely grated ginger
• pinch red chili flakes
• a bit of finely chopped green onion or a chive or two

Stir together the ingredients for the dipping sauce (or shake them up in a jar) and serve with your dumplings for dipping.

• Check out Julie Van Rosendaal's full interview on the Calgary Eyeopener below:

• If you make Chinese dumplings, we'd love to see them! And if you have a recipe request, let us know! Tweet  @CBC Eyeopener or email [email protected].