No-Fold Lunar New Year Dumplings

Lunar new year in my Chinese household is NEVER complete without a huge plate of dumplings, made in various ways. Traditionally, dumplings are eaten during the new year festivities because they represent wealth and good luck for the New Year. The word for dumpling, jiao zi, also sounds like a word meaning ‘bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new.’

But making dumplings can often be difficult, especially the folding part. This recipe is a super simple way to make dumplings that requires no folding, only a tiny bit of pinching.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb ground pork

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• 2 tsp soy sauce

• 1 tsp shaoxing wine

• 1 tsp oyster sauce

• 1.5 tsp five spice powder or Fly By Jing’s MALA Spice Powder

• 2 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated with 1/2 cup boiling water and diced

• 3-4 stems of cilantro, diced

• Dumpling wrappers

• Japanese vegetable cutter

Instructions:

• In a bowl, combine the pork, ginger, soy sauce, wine, oyster sauce, and spice powder

• Once the shiitake mushrooms are rehydrated after soaking in boiling water for at least 30 min, dice into tiny pieces, along with cilantro

• Add 2 tsps of the mushroom water to the pork, along with the diced mushrooms and cilantro

• Now the dumpling filling is ready

• For the wrappers, press the japanese veggie cutter into the dough to make 2 identical shapes and break out into their shapes

• Take 1/2 tsp of filling and add directly into the middle of the cut out dough

• Take the other dough and place on top of the filling to make a sandwich

• Carefully pinch the edges closed with just a dab of water

• Place the dumplings into boiling water and cook until they’re floating

• Serve with soy sauce and your favorite chili crisp