Steamed soup dumplings

Reviewing the Chinese soup dumpling kit from Cooking Gift Set Co.

If I remember correctly I think I got this Chinese soup dumpling kit for my 26th birthday. It has sat in my kitchen cabinets basically untouched since then. This week I decided to change that. Erica and I’s friend Greg is in town, so what better time to try my hand at making soup dumplings? Or so I thought.

I cannot in good conscience recommend that you make these. It took me over 3 hours and nearly cost me my sanity. I had about 1.5 breakdowns during the process and ended up on internet forums trying to figure out how to break down clumps of agar agar powder. That said they were delicious and I will probably make them again.

If you want to make these but do not want to buy the kit, the only piece of it that is essential is the bamboo steamer. If you want to just buy the steamer they are like $20 online.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of bread flour

• 1 cup of all purpose flour

• 7 tbsp of boiling water

• 1.5 tsp of canola oil

• 1 tbsp of bacon

• 2 knobs of ginger paste

• 2 green onions

• 1.3 cups of pork broth (beef or chicken is also fine)

• .5 tsp of agar agar powder

• .5 lb of ground pork

• 1 tsp of soy sauce

• 1.5 tsp of sugar

• 1.5 tsp of sesame oil

• 1 tbsp of rice wine or dry sherry

• .3 tsp of white pepper powder

• garlic salt to taste

Directions:

1. Combine the pork broth, a knob of ginger, bacon, and 1 sliced green onion in a small saucepan. Boil for about 8 minutes until the broth has reduced by about half. Strain the soup and discard the solids.

2. The recipe that comes with the kit will tell you to mix in the agar agar powder over medium high heat. DO NOT DO THIS. It will clump at high temperatures and you will snap at loved ones as you try to break down the clumps with a muddler. Let it cool to room temperature and stir in the agar agar powder.

3. Pour your broth mixture into a baking pan with some sort of raised edge and make a thin layer that will cool quickly and be easy to cut up. Place the baking pan in the fridge.

4. Mix your bread flour and your all purpose flour in a large bowl.

5. Boil your water and add your canola oil to the water once it starts to boil. Add the water to your dough and stir until a dough starts to form. Press it into a sticky ball and knead it on a floured surface for about 5-10 minutes until it becomes smooth and stops sticking to your hands. You want it to feel softer and more pliable than a typical dough. I had to add another half cup of boiling water and close to a cup of bread flour before I got the right consistency. If you begin to regret your life choices just know I had the exact same experience.

6. Put your dough in a plastic bag and get all the air out of the bag before sealing it. Let it rest at room temperature for an hour.

7. Cook your ground pork over medium heat until brown. Add your soy sauce, 2nd knob of ginger, 2nd green onion, sugar, sesame oil, rice wine, white pepper powder, and garlic salt once your pork is mostly cooked through. Put your pork in a large bowl and let it cool.

8. While your pork is cooling, get your broth out of the fridge. It should be a solid gelatin at this point. Cut your broth gelatin (I know it’s kinda gross I promise the dumplings are good) into little squares about half an inch wide. Mix your gelatin squares into your bowl of pork. Store the bowl in the fridge.

9. Remove your dough from the bag and poke it. If its the right consistency the indent should slowly rise back up. On a floured surface roll the dough into a ball and cut it in half. Roll each half into 10-12 inch logs.

10. Cut each log into 12 equal pieces. Roll each pieces into a ball and then flatten them into discs. Using a roller, roll out your discs until they are about as thin as a quarter.

11. Cup your dough wrapper in your hand and scoop a large tablespoon of the filling into the center. You are supposed to use your thumb and index finger to pleat the wrapper into a beautiful closed satchel. It doesn’t have to look pretty it just have to be closed and stay that way.

12. Place some parchment paper on each level of the bamboo steamer and then place 6 dumplings on each level of the steamer.

13. Boil 2 inches of water in a pan large enough to fit the bamboo steamer in it. Place your bamboo steamer in the center of the boiling water and steam the dumplings for 6-8 minutes.

14. Serve to your loved ones who will heap praise on you out of fear from your dumpling related outbursts. The soup will be very hot so be careful.

Annoyance Rating (1-10): 10

I don’t think a single step of this recipe went smoothly for me. Erica and Greg saw a very ugly side of me during this process. I’ve had job interviews less stressful than making these dumplings.

Erica’s Review:

“I didn’t realize soup dumpling meant soup inside the dumpling. I thought you ate them WITH soup but it was absolutely delicious. The meat was so good. If Jake decides to put in the work again I’ll absolutely eat them again.”

Greg’s Review:

“Less soupy (apparently that’s a word) than I expected, but still very, very good. Ate two. Could’ve eaten 10. I was a bit worried for Jake, but I’ll trade him losing his mind for good dumplings any day of the week.”

Recipe I ripped off:

https://www.cookinggiftset.com/products/chinese-soup-dumpling-kit?variant=30885940854868&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=CjwKCAjwwL6aBhBlEiwADycBILHzHUzb6AIzqP2V-n6nR33kS-b_uQTntDns4JUfGgkz3awh-uhkMBoC-5cQAvD_BwE