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 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
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
- 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 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 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.
- Make 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 colored 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 colored water or the full 6 tablespoons depending on the flour absorption potential and humidity.
- Knead the dough. Knead the stiff dough for 12 minutes in the mixer (speed 2), or by hand for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the dough is much softer and becomes smooth. If you feel the dough is too hard to knead, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for 15 minutes before continuing to knead it. Once the dough is fully kneaded, cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours or overnight.
- 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 plastic wrap 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 delicious fillings and cook or freeze, Enjoy!
Notes
If using fresh spinach to make green dumpling dough, blanch 250g of fresh or frozen 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 the water to the flour slowly and mix just until no more flour remains on the sides of the bowl. It should be somewhat stiff but hold together and easily be able to form into a dough ball. The dough should not be wet or sticky at this point. If it is, simply dust it with a teaspoon of flour at a time incorporating it until it's no longer wet. When using 00 flour to make dumpling dough, you'll most likely need the full 6 tablespoons of water because 00 flour has a higher hydration absorption rate. If you use all-purpose flour, you'll most likely need around 5 tablespoons of water. For bread flour I use, I typically add 6 tablespoons of water, but I never dump the water into the flour because everything from what time of year it is to what brand of bread flour I'm using makes a difference in how much water I'll need to add.
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 more deeply-colored dumpling wrappers, add more vegetables to the water in each dough to concentrate the color: If you want a darker purple, green, or pink colored dumpling wrapper, double the amount of vegetables called for in each wrapper recipe which will concentrate the color and make them even more intense. Do not add more turmeric or you may not be able to eat them because 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
- Rest Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Mix & Stir
- Cuisine: Chinese
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5 Dumpling Wrappers