A year and a half ago, one evening, we were out for a family date night and ate dinner at Ben's Tune Up, a delightful Asian-inspired, casual restaurant on the South Slope of Asheville. I had never had dumplings before, but David ordered some for an appetizer. Out of an entire plateful, David and I each had one, and Calla devoured the remaining ones.
Even then, I never thought to make them myself. Their slippery, sticky texture confounded me, and I thought they must be as complex to make as they look. So when Calla asked to make Dumplings this morning after seeing a character eating them in Masha and the Bear, I googled "How to Make Dumplings." It definitely wasn't as complicated as I thought, and Calla could help me with the mixing of the dough, which she loves to do.
I had to find a separate recipe for the dough and cooking method as the dough recipe I found was for drop Dumplings for soup or stew, not freestanding ones. One of my favorite things to do when I am researching what to make for dinner is to find several different recipes I like and cobble together what I like, and leave out the rest. I have a gift of being able to read the ingredients and taste in my mind how they would go together. I love developing my own recipes this way, and hardly ever use a recipe straight the way it is without some form of doctoring.
I didn't have any kind of circular cookie cutter, so I improvised and used a wide-mouth mason jar ring to cut the circles. I loved every bit of the intricacy and simpleness of this recipe and will surely use it again, experimenting with different filling types in the future.
Do you have your own favorite recipe, or filling for dumplings? Leave a comment below and let me know if there's something I should try next!