Sourdough Dumplings
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Sourdough dumplings are perfect little tasty bundles bursting with flavor. Making them at home is a fun, easy family activity and dinner.
This is not a traditional dumpling filling recipe, there are many combinations that you can use depending on your preferences. More traditional ones will use soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame seed oil. Dumplings are great because you can pack them with a wide range of ingredients and even make veggie versions.
How to cook dumplings
There are three main ways too cook dumplings.
Steam
Steaming is my favorite method. It keeps a nice juicy center and is easy to do. Place a bamboo steamer or steamer pot with lid over boiling water. Steam dumplings for 10 minutes. Try to avoid the water from touching the base of the steamer which holds the dumplings.
Pan Fry
This is my default option if I don’t have a steamer pot. Heat an oiled cast iron pan on medium-low. Once hot, add dumplings to pan and cook for 2 minutes. Pour enough water to cover the base of the pan and then quickly cover with a lid. You have to act fast during this step because the water with the hot oil will create quite the mess. Leave covered for about 10 minutes or until the water has evaporated and then continue cooking until bottoms are brown.
Boil
Boiling is a last resort. I often have the issue of the wrapper seam coming apart and I end up with a pot of noodles and meatballs…
The taste is also very waterlogged whereas steaming is lighter and keeps the integrity of the dumpling intact.
Bring a pot of water to boil and add dumplings. Boil on a simmer for 10 minutes and drain.
Can I freeze them?
Yes, you can. They don’t taste as good as fresh but still good. Steam the dumplings and then let them sit to cool down to room temperature. Once cooled, transfer dumplings to a parchment lined baking sheet (or something that will fit in your freezer). Place in freezer for about an hour until hard to touch. This step is needed so the dumplings don’t stick together when frozen. Combine them all in a plastic bag and leave in freezer until ready to use.
Reheat the dumplings by steaming for 10 minutes, the same way your cooked them.
Tips
- Use the wrappers immediately. Avoid filling the dumplings and then placing them in the fridge. They will lose shape and get sticky.
- Flour is your friend with these!
- Don’t roll the wrappers too thin.
- You don’t have to wait the full 5-6 hours before using the dough. You can use it after the knead step, but you will miss out on the sourdough fermentation bonus.
What are the timings?
- 9:00 pm: feed starter
- 10:00 am: mix dough
- 10:30 am: knead
- 4:00 pm: shape and roll
- 4:15 pm: fill and fold
- 4:30 pm: cook
Step by Step Instructions
1. Feed your starter
Since we want to mix our dough in the morning, we need to feed our starter with more flour so that it can last throughout the night.
For this recipe I feed mine 75g all-purpose, 50g water, 50g starter. Feel free to add 10g to each ingredient if you want more of a buffer.
2. Mix your dough
Measure and mix 150g water and 100g starter in a mixing bowl. Add 300g all-purpose flour and combine with hands until the flour is absorbed. Cover with a damp towel and let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
3. Knead
Knead lightly for a few minutes to incorporate any dry flour and then form into a smooth ball. Cover with towel and let sit for 5-6 hours.
4. Cut
Clean countertop and heavily flour. Scrape dough out of bowl and cut with a bench knife into sections of about 15g. Roll each section into a ball with hands. You’ll hear the bubbles squeak as you do so.
5. Roll
Take one dough ball and press with the palm of your hand to flatten it. Dust with flour and then dust your rolling pin. In one movement with the rolling pin, roll away from you with mild pressure on the dough. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll again. Repeat for two more rotations until you have gone all the way around. Each dumpling wrapper should be about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.
They might look thicker than expected, but this is normal. You don’t want them splitting on the sides when you add the filling and stretch the dough to seal.
6. Fill
Combine pork filling ingredients into a large bowl. This can be made ahead of time and kept in fridge.
Fill each wrapper with about a tablespoon of filling. You can either scoop the filling and place on each wrapper or take the wrapper in one hand and with the other scoop the filling and then use the opposing pressure to scrape the filling onto the wrapper. This method is easier and faster.
I like to fill the dumplings in sections of about 6 since this is what my steamer can fit. I put the filling back in the fridge if there are large time gaps between filling.
7. Fold
Take the filled dumpling in both hands and gently fold the dough up so that the edges barely come together. Start from the left or right, whichever feels more comfortable, and pinch that side edge to create a seal. With your opposing hand, use your fingers to create a pleat by pushing laterally to get a little section of dough and then pinching down. Imagine pleating curtains. Take your time and go slow on the first few. It is 100% fine if you do not have perfect dumpling pleats, they will still taste good!
If the pleating isn’t working, then just fold the dumpling edges up and pinch to seal the edges together. Make sure you seal the edges well so they don’t split open when cooking.
Your main goal at this step is to make sure you don’t tear the dumpling wrappers.
8. Cook
Bring pot of water to boil. Steam dumplings in a bamboo steamer or stainless steel steamer pot covered with lid for 10 minutes. Serve with a saucer of coconut aminos and chopped green onions.
- 25 - 30 dumplings
- 18 hours
- 10 minutes
Ingredients
Starter (Leaven)
- 75 g all-purpose flour
- 50 g starter
- 50 g filtered water
Dough
- 300 g all-purpose flour
- 150 g water
- 100 g bubbly starter
Filling
- 1 pound ground pork
- 3 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 1 tsp crushed garlic or garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp chopped ginger or ginger powder
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 4 chopped green onions (extra for dipping sauce)
Tools
- Scale
- Glass jar with lid
- Mixing bowl
- Bench knife, plastic scraper
- Rolling Pin
- Cast-iron pan or steamer
Directions
Starter
- Feed starter. Mix 75g all-purpose flour, 50g starter, 50g filtered water.
Dough
- Make dough. Measure and mix water and starter in a mixing bowl until fully combined. Add all-purpose flour and mix with hands. Cover with damp towel and let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Knead. Knead with hands into a smooth ball. Cover with towel and let sit for 5-6 hours
- Cut. Scrape dough out of bowl onto clean floured countertop. Cut dough into small sections of about 15g. Roll each section into a ball with hands.
- Roll. Flatten dough ball with your hands and dust with flour. With a rolling pin push away from you. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll again. Complete two more rotations. Roll out the remaining dough balls. The dumpling wrappers should be about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.
- Fill. Combine filling ingredients in a large bowl and fill each wrapper with about a tablespoon of filling.
- Fold. Fold the wrapper in half containing the filling and then pleat the edges pressing together to create a seal.
- Cook. Bring water to boil and steam dumplings covered with lid for 10 minutes in a steamer.
More delicious sourdough recipes
This is one of the many fantastic sourdough recipes available on this blog