Chinese take out

I could not fit an "at-home" dinner in tonight between softball uniform and gear pickup (separate locations), horseback riding, after-school aerodynamics class, and horseback riding. We went to our favorite local Chinese restaurant. The girls ordered soup and I ordered steamed vegetable dumplings, which (surprise) the kids ate most of.

We agreed that we should make these dumplings at home, here is a recipe similar to the pot stickers we made a while back, however the dumpling skins are homemade.

For the filling:
1/2 lb ground beef
1 C. napa cabbage, minced
3 green onions, minced
7 shitake mushrooms, minced
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, minced
3 cubes frozen ginger
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp corn starch

Dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup warm water

Dipping sauce:
1/2 C. soy sauce
1/4 C rice wine vinegar
a few drops of sesame oil
1 cube frozen ginger
1 cube frozen garlic
1/2 C. thinly sliced green onion
1/2 tsp. sugar
chili garlic paste (optional)

Combine all filling ingredients, and cook in a large nonstick pan until beef is cooked through, 7-8 minutes. The dumplings can also be made without beef. Let filling cool before making into dumplings.

For the dough:
Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade. Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated. Pour the contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth. The dough should be firm and silky to the touch and not sticky.[Note: it’s better to have a moist dough and have to incorporate more flour than to have a dry dough and have to add more water).

Cut the dough into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders. On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side.

To boil: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add dumplings to pot. Boil the dumplings until they float.

To steam: Place dumplings on a single layer of napa cabbage leaves or on a well-greased surface and steam for about 6 minutes.

Planning to make these tomorrow, if they are good will freeze and fry up as pot stickers for next weeks softball practice dinner.