Delicious Hot Water Dough Dumplings
On my family's dining table, hot water dough dumplings are frequent guests. That soft dumpling wrapper is filled with delicious stuffing. With one bite, it is full of the taste of home. It has a common home-cooked method and easily available ingredients. Whether it is for breakfast or dinner, it can make family members eat satisfied and happy.
What are hot water dough dumplings?
Hot water dough dumpling is a traditional Chinese pasta. It is a dumpling made by using flour scalded with boiling water (about 65℃ to 100℃) to make dumpling wrappers and then wrapping fillings and steaming.
Its characteristics are that the dumpling wrapper is soft, chewy, and has a glutinous texture, which is obviously different from dumplings made with ordinary cold water leavened dough.
Ingredients Needed and Substitutions
Main ingredients:
Flour: It is the main ingredient for making the dumpling wrappers of hot water dough dumplings and plays a role in wrapping the fillings.
Ground Pork: It is the main component of the filling, providing rich protein and fat and giving the dumplings a strong meaty aroma.
Bok choy: It adds a refreshing taste and rich nutrition to the filling.
Green onions: Used to add fragrance to the dumpling filling.
Ginger: Mainly used for removing fishy smell.
Light soy sauce: Used for enhancing freshness.
Dark soy sauce: Mainly used for coloring.
Sichuan pepper powder: Half a small spoonful of pepper powder. Used to add flavor.
Substitutions:
Flour: If there is no flour, you can try to replace it with a mixture of corn starch and a small amount of glutinous rice flour (about a ratio of 1:4), but the taste and toughness will be different.
Ground Pork: Minced beef, minced mutton, and minced chicken can all be substituted.
Bok choy: You can substitute bok choy with other leafy greens like spinach or romaine lettuce. After chopping, make sure to squeeze out any excess moisture.
Green onions: Onions or leeks can be used instead. After chopping, they can also add fragrance to the filling.
Ginger: A small amount of cooking wine can also be used to replace ginger for removing fishy smell. Add 5-10ml of cooking wine to the minced pork and stir evenly.
Light soy sauce: If there is no light soy sauce, it can be replaced by half the amount of dark soy sauce diluted with water, but the color will be slightly lighter.
Dark soy sauce: It can be replaced by soy sauce.
Sichuan Pepper Powder: You can use a small amount of five-spice powder or thirteen-spice powder as a substitute, though it will alter the flavor.
Tips for Success
To make successful hot water dough dumplings, the following secrets are key:
Choose the right flour:
Using all-purpose flour is more suitable for making hot water dough dumplings. It is neither as overly chewy as high-gluten flour nor as easily broken as low-gluten flour.
Master the water temperature:
When scalding the flour, the water temperature should be controlled between about 70-80℃.
Too hot water will make the dough overly sticky and soft and difficult to handle;
Too cold water will not achieve the effect of scalding the flour, and the dough will be relatively hard.
Knead the dough correctly:
Slowly pour boiling water into the flour and stir with chopsticks while pouring to make the flour flocculent.
Then, after cooling slightly, knead it by hand into a smooth dough.
Note that the dough should not be too soft to avoid difficulties in subsequent operations.
Let the dough rest fully:
The kneaded dough needs to be covered with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and left to rest for about 20-30 minutes.
During the resting process, the dough will become softer and more elastic, which is beneficial for rolling out the wrappers and making dumplings later.
Skills for rolling out the wrappers:
When rolling out the wrappers, divide the dough into small pieces and roll them with a rolling pin into round dumpling wrappers that are thick in the middle and thin at the edges.
This can not only ensure that the dumpling wrappers are not easily broken when wrapping the fillings but also keep the dumplings in shape during steaming.
Techniques for wrapping the fillings:
When wrapping the fillings, place the fillings in the center of the dumpling wrapper, then fold it in half and pinch the seal tightly to ensure that the fillings will not leak out.
At the same time, pay attention to the tightness of the seal to avoid affecting the appearance and taste of the dumplings.
Steaming time:
When steaming hot water dough dumplings, master the time well.
Generally speaking, put the dumplings in after the water boils and steam them over high heat for 10-15 minutes.
Too long steaming time will cause the dumpling wrappers to be overly soft and mushy and affect the taste;
Too short steaming time may cause the inside of the dumplings to not be completely cooked.
INGREDIENTS
Main Ingredients
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·100g all-purpose flour
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·100g ground pork
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·20g bok choy
Accessories
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·50g green onions
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·4g ginger
Seasonings
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·5ml light soy sauce
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·5ml dark soy sauce
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·1 tablespoon salt
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·1/2 teaspoon Sichuan pepper powder
COOKING STEP
Step 1
Preprocessing of ingredients:
Wash 50g of ground pork and cut them into small cubes.
Cut 4g of ginger into small cubes.
Wash 20g of bok choy and cut it into shreds.
Step 2
Making the filling:
Put 100g of ground pork into a clean mixing bowl, and add ginger cubes and ground pork cubes.
Add 1 spoon (about 5g) of salt, 5ml of light soy sauce and 5ml of dark soy sauce, and mix and stir evenly.
Then add 20g of bok choy shreds and mix well.
Add half a small spoonful of Sichuan pepper powder and mix well for later use.
Step 3
Preliminary kneading of dough:
Take 100g of flour and add boiling water in small amounts several times while stirring to form flocculent.
The ratio of flour to hot water is about 1:1. It can be fine-tuned according to the water absorption of the flour to ensure that the dough is moderately soft and hard.
Step 4
Kneading into a ball:
Sprinkle a little flour on the chopping board.
Pour the flocculent dough onto the chopping board and knead it into a smooth dough.
Step 5
Dough proofing:
Place the kneaded dough aside and cover it with a clean damp cloth or plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Step 6
Dough treatment:
Place the proofed dough on the chopping board again and knead it gently to expel a small amount of possible bubbles generated inside the dough to make the dough tight and uniform.
Step 7
Making dough pieces:
Knead the dough into a long strip of uniform thickness.
Cut it into small dough pieces of uniform size with a knife.
Step 8
Rolling out dumpling wrappers:
Take a small dough piece and roll it from the center to the edge with a rolling pin with uniform force.
Make the dumpling wrapper into a round shape with a slightly thicker middle (about 0.3 centimeters) and a thinner edge (about 0.1 centimeter), with a diameter of about 6-8 centimeters. This can prevent the wrapper from breaking and ensure a soft and glutinous taste.
Step 9
Making dumplings:
Pick up a rolled dumpling wrapper and put it in the palm of your hand. Use a spoon to scoop up about 10-15g of filling and place it in the center of the wrapper.
Dip your fingers in a little clear water and smear it on the edge of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half and pinch the edge tightly with your thumbs and index fingers of both hands.
Start from one end and pinch out even folds in turn to make a half-moon shape or an ingot shape to ensure that the filling is completely wrapped and the shape is beautiful and full.
Wrap all the dumpling wrappers in this way.
Step 10
Steaming dumplings:
Add water to the steamer and place the dumplings neatly on the steamer.
Cover the pot lid. First, bring the water to a boil over high heat. After the steam rises in the pot, turn to medium heat and steam for 15 minutes.
Step 11
Taking out of the pot:
Finally, carefully uncover the pot lid. The steaming hot and delicious hot water dough dumplings are ready. They can be served on a plate.
Eating with a mixed dipping sauce of vinegar, light soy sauce, chili oil, mashed garlic, etc. has a better flavor.
More Recipes Worth Trying
Delicious & Crispy Homemade Egg Roll Recipe
Gourmet Chinese Butterfly Rolls Recipe
Recipe Variations
Hot Water Dough Dumpling with Spinach and Egg:
Ingredients for filling: an appropriate amount of spinach, 2 eggs, a little vermicelli, several mushrooms, an appropriate amount of dried shrimps, green onions and ginger, salt, light soy sauce, sesame oil, cooking oil.
Features: Spinach is rich in iron. Eggs are nutritious. Vermicelli adds texture. Mushrooms and dried shrimps enhance freshness. The taste is light and nutritious.
Hot Water Dough Dumpling with Carrot and Black Fungus:
Ingredients for filling: carrots, black fungus, tofu, green onions and ginger, salt, light soy sauce, sesame oil, cooking oil.
Features: The combination of ingredients has a rich taste and good color. It is nutritionally balanced and healthy.
Hot Water Dough Dumpling with Beef and Green Onion:
Ingredients for filling: ground beef, green onions, ginger, Chinese prickly ash, cooking wine, light soy sauce, salt, sesame oil, cooking oil.
Features: Beef is high in protein. Green onions remove fishy smell and enhance fragrance. The taste is rich and suitable for people who love the fragrance of meat.
Hot Water Dough Dumpling with Shrimp and Corn:
Ingredients for filling:: flour, fresh shrimps, sweet corn kernels, salt, light soy sauce, white pepper powder, cooking oil.
Features: Shrimps are tender. Corn is sweet. The taste is delicious and nutritious.
Hot Water Dough Dumpling with Purple Sweet Potato and Taro Paste:
Ingredients for filling: purple sweet potato, taro paste, milk, sugar, butter.
Features: Purple sweet potato and taro paste are naturally sweet. After adding milk and others, the taste is delicate and smooth with a rich milk fragrance.
Hot Water Dough Dumpling with Jujube and Walnut:
Ingredients for filling: jujubes, walnuts, raisins, brown sugar, corn oil.
Features: Jujubes are sweet and nourishing. Walnuts are nutritious. The filling is sweet and delicious with a strong Chinese flavor.
Serving Suggestions
1.Eat with dipping sauces.
Vinegar and garlic dipping sauce: Mash garlic into a puree, add vinegar, light soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little salt and mix. This dipping sauce is simple and has a rich taste, suitable for Hot Water Dough Dumplings with various fillings.
Chili oil dipping sauce: Made by mixing chili powder, Sichuan pepper powder, salt, light soy sauce, and hot oil. People who like spicy food can eat Hot Water Dough Dumplings with chili oil dipping sauce.
2.Eat with soups.
Spinach and egg drop soup: After eating a few meat-filled Hot Water Dough Dumplings, taking a sip of spinach and egg drop soup can soothe the taste buds with its refreshing taste.
Hot and sour soup: Made with tofu, black fungus, eggs, shredded meat and other ingredients, and adding vinegar, pepper and other seasonings. The rich taste of hot and sour soup can make up for the relatively weak taste of vegetarian fillings.
FAQs:
You can dip your hands in some dry flour to prevent adhesion, but don't add too much dry flour to avoid affecting the softness of the dough.
You can also place the dough on a cutting board sprinkled with a little flour and knead it for a while to let the dough absorb some flour. At the same time, move quickly to avoid excessive adhesion due to long-term contact between the dough and your hands.
Second, if there is too much water in the vegetables in the filling, drain it first, for example, squeeze out the excess water with gauze.
Third, when filling the dumplings, don't put in too much filling to avoid breaking the dumpling wrappers.
Next time when making hot water dough, make sure to use just-boiled boiling water and stir evenly to fully gelatinize the starch.
In addition, over-long steaming time may also cause the dumpling wrappers to harden. Adjust the steaming time appropriately according to the size of the dumplings and the filling to avoid over-steaming.
And when placing the dumplings, leave a certain gap between them to avoid them touching each other.
If they have already stuck together, you can carefully separate them with chopsticks or a spoon, but this may cause the dumpling wrappers to break.
It may also be that the pot lid is opened immediately after turning off the heat. The pressure difference between inside and outside causes the dumplings to collapse. After steaming, you should simmer for 2-3 minutes first and then slowly open the pot lid.
