How to make spiced lamb and cumin dumplings with a DIY dipping sauce for each diner
- Dumpling-making is traditionally a communal activity, with many hands making light work of chopping, filling and pleating
- The secret to juicy little pockets of joy is chilling the filling beforehand or adding iced water to it
Until I moved away from home, I didn’t realise dumpling-making was supposed to be a communal activity, with everyone lending a hand. When I was growing up in California, our family visited our paternal grandparents every Sunday for lunch, and often we’d arrive to find my grandmother sitting at the table with a huge pile of meaty filling and a stack of ready-made dumpling wrappers, patiently folding wonton or sui gau – enough to feed 15 to 20 people.
Without being told to, my parents and I – and maybe one or two aunts – would sit down and start to fold dumplings. My brothers went off to play with our cousins, and my other aunts and uncles sat at another table gossiping. I thought this was rather unfair, especially because I also had to help wash up after we all devoured the dumplings.
But when I spoke to friends, they mentioned how everyone in their families helped out – first chopping ingredients for the filling and making the dough, then rolling out the wrappers (which we didn’t do, thank goodness), and filling and pleating the dumplings. With so many helping, the dumplings were ready relatively quickly.
Spiced lamb and cumin dumplings
A true northerner might scoff at commercial wrappers, but really, it’s so much easier, even for a small batch like this (and before you ask, yes, I can roll my own – albeit slowly). The best and cheapest place to buy wrappers is at shops that make fresh or dried noodles.
The pei (“skins”) are available round or square (buy round for this recipe), and often, in two thicknesses. Buy the thicker ones, if you have the choice – they are still quite thin, but the texture is a little more resilient and there’s less chance of the skin tearing during cooking.
Some recipes suggest making a whole batch of dumplings at once and freezing any uncooked ones. I find it easier to just freeze the excess filling, packed into an airtight container, and then fill the skins next time you want dumplings. It takes less room in the freezer and you don’t have to worry about the dumplings breaking – the skins can become brittle when frozen.
I mix some iced water into the filling, because it makes the dumplings juicier. But if you have any unsalted meat broth in your fridge or pantry, use that instead – just make sure it’s cold. If you have time, chill the filling until it’s very cold – another trick to juicy dumplings.
