Asian Dumpling Tips

Dumplings make everyone smile. Make and eat lots.

Cooking Tips & Tricks

Easy Dumpling Folding Strategies — Video

Cooking Tips & Tricks, Technique Videos and Photos


In July I traveled back East to do a consulting job, stopping enroute in New York City to see my friends at Saveur. (I’ve been a contributing editor at the magazine since 2007.) We’d been talking about making a video of me giving a cooking tip or two and settled on one about folding dumplings.

If you have Asian Dumplings, you know my motto about shaping dumplings. If you don’t have the book, it’s this: Get the wrapper closed. Practice pretty shapes later.

Senior video producer Anique Halliday is a veteran of doing wonderful, fun educational videos; she worked on PBS projects before coming to Saveur. We strategized and planned on the phone in June and then in July, spent a couple of hours at the Saveur test kitchen to produce this:

Saveur’s “Test Kitchen Tips” videos have run the gamut from the viral one on how to peel garlic in less than 10 seconds to the practical one on dipping truffles in chocolate. Asian food-wise, editor in chief James Oseland has shown folks how to tie a knot with lemongrass and how to use and chop kaffir lime leaves into fine hairs. (James wrote the amazing Cradle of Flavor cookbook, which I reference and use all the time.)

If you’re looking for more Asian dumpling tips, jump over to this page.

Gluten-Free Dumpling Dough: Uses Beyond Pot Stickers

All Recipes, Asian Dumpling Basics, Asian Ingredients, Cooking Tips & Tricks, Gluten Free Recipes


I suppose that you could say that I’ve displayed signs of OCDD (obsessive compulsive dissorder for dumplings). With a fine amount of dough and filling leftover from making the gluten-free pot stickers, I wanted to see how versatile the dough is. The great thing about dumplings is their versatility, right? With the basic dumpling dough in your back pocket, you can use different fillings, create different shapes, and cook your dumplings in a variety of ways.

So I put both kinds of gluten-free dumpling doughs (see the links below to the three recipe trials) to the test. My findings about how they worked with the various shapes and cooking methods are posted on VietWorldKitchen.com in this post.

Related posts:

If you have the enhanced e-version of Asian Dumplings, these technique videos are included. Otherwise, see the printed book for details and/or watch my videos below, which are on Asiandumplingtips.com:

Gluten-Free Pot Stickers: Recipe Trial 3

All Recipes, Asian Dumpling Basics, Asian Dumplings Cookbook, Cooking Tips & Tricks, Gluten Free Recipes


What a difference a few years makes. My first attempt at gluten-free pot stickers was in December 2009. It was okay but I didn’t go at it again until now. And after going a second round with making a gluten-free basic dumpling dough, I became a little obsessed and went for round 3.

The second dough made of millet flour, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch was pretty darn good. It cooked up to a good chew without being overly rustic. But I was curious about how I could add a little tenderness along with that chew.  I went back to my bookshelves and then into the kitchen.

Was the third time the charm? Kind of yes and kind of no. Check it out on VWK:

Gluten-Free Pot Stickers: Recipe Trial 3

Related posts on this site and VWK:

If you have the enhanced e-version of Asian Dumplings, these technique videos are included. Other wise, see the printed book for details and/or watch my videos below:

Gluten-Free Pot Stickers: Round #2

All Recipes, Asian Dumpling Basics, Asian Ingredients, Cooking Tips & Tricks, Gluten Free Recipes


Soon after the Asian Dumplings cookbook was published in 2009, people started writing me about gluten-free dumplings. My response was, “There are many gluten-free Asian dumpling recipes in the book. Check the rice, starch, and legume and tuber chapters for ideas.”

As you may know, I tried my  hand at making gluten-free pot stickers in December 2009 and they were just okay — mediocre, actually. The dough vexed me and I kept simmering on it until I had time a couple weeks ago to tackled it again. I made two (2) gluten-free dumpling doughs to use in place of the Basic Dumpling Dough on page 22 of Asian Dumplings.

It was a really interesting experiment in which I blended my own flour. I also made unexpected discoveries about working with gluten-free dumpling dough. How I went about it and my technical notes are in this post on Viet World Kitchen.com:

Gluten-free pot stickers: Recipe Trial 2

Check it out, even if you don’t eat a gluten-free diet.

Bao Cooking Tips: Pleats up or down?

Cooking Tips & Tricks

image from www.flickr.com
If you make lots of bao  — leavened or unleavened — you may have this question: Do I cook the bao with the pleats facing up or down?

I ask myself that often and the answer varies and depends on structural engineering, your whimsy, or pure practicality. I just posted a short article on whether or not to cook bao with pleats facing or down. Give it a read and add your insights at Viet World Kitchen.

Enhanced Asian Dumplings eBook is Here!

Asian Dumplings Cookbook, Cooking Tips & Tricks

Since late last year, I’ve been working with my publisher, Ten Speed Press, on an electronic version of Asian Dumplings. Today, I’m happy to say that it’s now available at a virtual bookstore near you!

Initially we thought of presenting a straight-ahead digital conversion of the print book but I suggested that we also incorporate audio and video for what’s called an “enhanced” ebook. No, we did not inflate the stuffed buns to be ginormous.

What we did was add new digital content to further help cooks master key techniques, namely rolling out dumpling wrappers and making the various shapes. A video on wiping the dough for spring roll skins is included too.

When Asian Dumplings was released in 2009, I began posting homemade YouTube videos of some techniques and also filmed a few with CHOW.com. They’re posted at this  site but are not handily accessible as a collective group. They are also not as polished as they ought to be.

Additionally, whenever I taught a dumpling class or did a demonstration, what people were super interested in was learning the hand movements. As much as I wordsmith phrases for visual and tactile cues, sometimes people need to observe too. All of those factors made me realize that a digital version of the book should include video.

Enhanced Asian Dumplings features a dozen film clips, one introduction and eleven (11) key techniques. They are placed and linked in the book for you to instantly get dumpling making guidance – maybe even some entertainment too.  “Mr. Hands” and I are at your beck and call whenever and wherever you need us. At parties, smackdowns, or in the kitchen with the kids, we’re there.

The enhanced version of Asian Dumplings is like an on-demand mini dumpling class. I unfortunately don’t have enough time to teach classes so the ebook is a nifty workaround. It’s the perfect bridge for folks who want a hands-on cooking class experience. And the extra cool thing is that you can replay!

What was involved in making the videos?
Lots of planning by “Team Dumplings”, which was made up of people at Ten Speed Press, including my fabulous editor Melissa Moore who has worked on many acclaimed books, including Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day, Mark Bitterman’s Salted, and Fanny Gerson’s My Sweet Mexico. (Salted and My Sweet Mexico are up for IACP and Beard awards this year! Go Melissa!)

To complete the team, Creative Director Nancy Austin brought on video director Eric Slatkin, with whom I’d worked with on CHOW.com pieces and my soon-to-be released iPhone app! (More on the app soon.) I brought on stylist Fanny Pan to help with the shoot as I know my limits with getting things on set and looking neat.Melissa and Eric worked with me to refine the script and storyboard that I had proposed. We did a read-through to warm up a few days before the shoot. Nancy and I scouted kitchen spaces belonging to generous friends and colleagues and settled on the loft space that you see in the videos. We shot in one long day, and to get 12 videos done required a tremendous amount of coordination.

For more details on the video shoot, a sneak peek at the ebook, and the low down on how this project came together with Ten Speed Press, check the Q&A I did with The Recipe Club.

[4/20/11 Update: For in industry perspective on converting print cookbooks into ebooks, take a read of Publisher’s Weekly 4/18/11 article, “E-Bells and E-Whistles for Silver Palateand Asian Dumplings“. I must say that it’s great to be mentioned in a story alongside a classic such as Silver Palate.]

Print vs. Digital Books
I love books for their physicality – the paper, sewn binding that make the pages fall open just so, compelling photography that matches the honed text. I love all the bookcases we have in the house filled with new and old publications. When I need to research something, it’s great to pull out a volume and flip the pages.

But digital offers portability and the opportunity to provide new content — audio, video, and slide shows to further enliven the text and empower cooks to dive into the recipes. It’s not a zero sum game as ebooks can supplement and complement their printed kin. For those who are on the go or have limited space to store printed works, ebooks are a great alternative.

Options for eDumplings
When you go to look for the ebook, you’ll see that there’s the regular e-version of Asian Dumplings and the enhanced edition with the audio and video. The enhanced version is available for use on the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and Kindle app that goes with those devices.

Understandably, the iTunes bookstore has the enhanced edition whereas Amazon has separate pages for the enhanced and Kindle editions. If you prefer other ebook readers or platforms, Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, Google eBookstore, and other ebook retailers are carrying the regular ebook.

I realize that it’s confusing. Hopefully some day there wil be one platform for all ebooks. Check it out and if digital Asian Dumplings becomes part of your kitchen, let me know your thoughts!

New Book Announcement
Now I have to go back to work on the new book, Asian Tofu, which will be published by Ten Speed Press in spring 2012. The manuscript is due in May and Melissa is cracking her editorial whip!

Photos by Nancy Austin of Ten Speed Press