Description
Dumpling wrappers are incredibly easy and inexpensive to make at home And there's no better time than Spring Festival (春节 Chinese New Year) to make dumplings and potstickers that are a little bit extra special. To celebrate my Sichuan family this year, I've made purple, pink, orange, and green dumpling wrappers and filled them with everything from chicken to pork and chives, and even delicious shrimp har gow filling! You can even use them to make money bag dumplings (Beggar's Purses)!
Ingredients
Purple Dumpling Wrappers #1 (Using Purple Cabbage)
- 1 cup bread flour or all-purpose flour (130g)
- 1/2 cup water (115g)
- 2 cups purple cabbage, chopped (200g)
Purple Dumpling Wrappers #2 (Using Ube Powder)
- 1 cup bread flour or all-purpose flour (130g)
- 1/2 cup water (115g)
- 2 cups purple cabbage, chopped (200g)
Pink Dumpling Wrappers
- 1 cup bread flour or all-purpose flour (130g)
- 1/2 cup water (115g)
- 1 1/2 cups beets, roughly chopped (fresh or steamed) (200g)
Green Dumpling Wrappers
- 1 cup bread flour or all-purpose flour (130g)
- 1/2 cup water (115g)
- 3 tablespoons prepared spinach purée (30g) *see recipe notes for using fresh spinach
Gold (yellow) Dumpling Wrappers (using turmeric)
- 1 cup bread flour or all-purpose flour (130g)
- 6 tablespoons water (90g)
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder (1.25 - 2.5g)
Orange Dumpling Wrappers (using carrot)
- 1 cup bread flour or all-purpose flour (130g)
- 1/2 cup water (115g)
- 2 medium carrots, sliced (200g)
Dumpling Fillings: Choose from any of our favorite dumpling fillings below
Instructions
Prepare the purple dye #1 (using purple cabbage)
- Bring the water and cabbage to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 8 minutes. Strain the cabbage and measure out 6 tablespoons (90g) of purple water.
Prepare the purple dye #2 (using ube powder)
- Add the ube powder to the flour and whisk to combine. Measure out 6 tablespoons (90g) of water and have it ready to combine.
Prepare the pink dye
- Bring the water and beets to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 8 minutes.
- Strain the beets and measure out 6 tablespoons (90g) of pink water.
Prepare the green dye
- Heat the water and spinach puree until hot and stir everything to combine.
- Measure out 6 tablespoons (90g) of green water. Alternatively, if using fresh spinach, find the instructions in the recipe card notes.
Prepare the gold (yellow) dye
- Bring the water to a boil and stir in the turmeric powder until combined.
- Measure out 6 tablespoons (90g) of bright yellow-orange water.
Prepare the orange dye
- Bring the water and carrots to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a food processor or blender and purèe the mixture completely. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve and measure out 6 tablespoons (90g) of orange liquid.
MAKING THE DUMPLING DOUGH
- Working with one dough at a time, add the flour to a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment), add the warm water 1 tablespoon at a time, and stir or mix just until the mixture comes together and you can form a stiff ball out of it. *Depending on the flour you're using, you may only need 5 tablespoons of water or the full 6 tablespoons, depending on the flour's absorption potential and humidity.
- Knead the dough. Knead the stiff dough for 10 minutes in the mixer (speed 2), or by hand for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the dough is much softer and becomes smooth. If the dough feels too hard to knead, cover it with a bowl and let it rest for 15 minutes before continuing to knead. Once the dough is fully kneaded, cover it with a bowl or sustainable cling film and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to 3 hours, or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Roll out the dumpling wrappers. After the dough has rested, roll the dough into a log about 6-8 inches long. Cut the dough into equal pieces (about 12 grams each), which will give you just about 20 total wrappers. Cover the dough pieces with a bowl or sustainable cling film to keep them from drying out. Lightly dust a work surface or non-stick dough mat with a little flour and roll each dough piece out to about 3 inches in diameter. Dust the wrappers and stack them on top of one another and cover them with a damp towel to keep them from drying out. Fill the dumplings with your choice of dumpling fillings and cook or freeze. Enjoy!
Notes
If using fresh or frozen spinach to make green dumpling dough, blanch 250g of spinach leaves in 1 1/2 cups of boiling water for 1 minute, strain the spinach, and add it to a food processor or Vitamix and purée until smooth. Strain the mixture to get 6 tablespoons (90g) of spinach juice, adding a little blanching water if necessary to equal 6 tablespoons (90g) of green spinach liquid.
Make sure the dumpling dough isn't too dry or too wet. Add water to the flour slowly and in increments, mixing just until no dry flour remains on the sides of the bowl. The dough should be stiff but hold together easily into a ball — not wet or sticky. If it is, dust with a teaspoon of flour at a time until it comes together. How much water you need depends on the flour: 00 flour absorbs more and usually takes the full 6 tablespoons, all-purpose around 5, and bread flour about 6 — but always add just one or two tablespoons at a time since humidity, season, and even the brand can change how much you need.
If you feel the dough is too difficult to knead just after you've formed the dough ball, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for 15 minutes before continuing to knead it.
Homemade dumpling dough needs to rest for at least 15 minutes and up to 3 hours covered at room temperature before rolling and filling. But you can also wrap dumpling dough in sustainable cling film and place it in the refrigerator overnight, or up to 2 days before rolling and filling.
Making Bulk Dumplings: For standard dumplings and potstickers, I like to make them in bulk over 2 days. I make the dumpling fillings and the dough on Day 1 and refrigerate them overnight. Then I roll and fill them on Day 2. Breaking up the tasks over 2 days makes it feel like less work, especially if you don't have a helper.
For deeper colors, double the amount of vegetables in each recipe: This concentrates the color and makes the wrappers more vivid. Don’t add more turmeric, though, or that’s all you’ll taste!
Pro Tip: Use a pasta machine fitted with an electric Pasta Drive to roll dumpling wrappers: When I'm making more than 20 to 25 dumplings, I use the Marcato Pasta Drive my Italian mother-in-law gifted me, which is an electric motor that fits onto my pasta machine and does all the rolling for me! If you make homemade
- Prep Time: 90 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Mix & Stir
- Cuisine: Chinese
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5 Dumpling Wrappers
- Calories: 114
- Sugar: 0.1g
- Sodium: 1mg
- Fat: 0.4g
- Saturated Fat: 0.2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 24g
- Fiber: 0.8g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
