Learning how to make dumplings

Chef Chen, our dumpling guide, shows how thin you need to roll out the dough.

Working the dough.

I am a new dumpling master. Or, at least that’s what my certificate from EAT, European Asian Taste restaurant, says. But while I spent several hours at dumpling school learning the techniques, I think I will need a lot more practice before I am any kind of dumpling master. That said, the evening at the restaurant was a lot of fun and I did learn a lot about dumpling making.

Our international group of 10 was shown the finer points of dumpling making by chef Chen. The very, very patient Chen spent several hours showing us how to make five kinds of dumplings from different regions in China. We started out with a basic dumpling shape and then worked our way up in difficulty from there. The class was very hands on and we each got to roll out the dough, add filling and then try to shape it into the appropriate form. The shaping was the hard part and it required a good bit of manual dexterity. As for me, I was more successful in folding my earlier shapes than the later ones.

Ready to begin.

And the rest of the group.

There were different techniques to learn about how to roll out the different kinds of dough and how to fold the shapes. We made a dim sum with several kinds of mushrooms in it, a seafood dim sum with crab, shrimp and scallops, a pork dim sum with chili, a kale and shrimp wonton, and also a duck and pumpkin dim sum.

But best of all, after we finished making the dumplings the restaurant cooked them up for us and we got to sample our creations. My favorite was the simple steamed mushroom dim sum, but the others were all pretty tasty as well. And at the end of the evening, we were each presented with a framed “dumpling master” certificate and the recipes. It was such a fun twist on going out for dinner at a restaurant, and it was also a great way to spend an evening. (Read more about EAT and the dumpling school here..)