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HOW TO MAKE DUMPLINGS Oliver Zhou
Some dumpling wraps
Minced or ground pork or lamb
Napa cabbage
Salt
Black pepper
Sesame oil
Balm, a green vegetable also know as 韮 in Chinese or Japanese. (Balm is scallions or green onion in English.)
Tai bay fen, cooking starch made from potatoes or cassava (or substitute with arrowroot powder or corn starch).
Shred the cabbage and put into a stainless pot.
Mix the cabbage and minced meat together by hand. Ground meat is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder. Beef, chicken, and turkey may be used as meat.
Add the balm, salt and a little Tai bay fen (cornstarch/corn flour) and mix again.
Massage the cabbage mixture with your hand for 10 minutes. To make it dry. While you massage the mixture, if you feel that there are not enough Tai bay fens, you should add more.
Wet the edge with a damp finger and fold the sides together, crimping (pressing together) with your fingers to seal the contents inside. To do this, first fold it in half and press together the top of the edge. Then press each side together, while crimping it so that it looks like the picture below. Simple mechanical "dumpling presses" are also available to simplify this process.
Put the dumplings in boiling water. Then add 1 or 2 cups of water (cold or room temp). Wait for it to boil the second time, and then add water again. After the water boils the third time, it's done!
Transfer the dumplings carefully from the pot to a plate and enjoy.