Mama Lo's Watercress Dumplings for Dump The Hate

join me in fighting against anti-asian racism and violence with my #dumpthehate campaign!

these gluten-free crystal dumplings are stuffed with my mom’s classic filling of pork and watercress and can be made vegan with the use of meatless ground round (beyond or Impossible ‘meat’ work great).

the gluten-free dough may take a bit of practice to master, but once you get a feel for it, these will be your favourite dumplings! they’re delicate and chewy, and crisp up beautifully when fried. when assembling, err on the side of drier dough and only add water as needed. feel free to use pre-made wrappers if you do not have a gluten intolerance.

these dumplings can be eaten steamed or fried and are best served with a vinegary-soy dipping sauce!

Makes about 48 dumplings

Ingredients (Wrapper)

~ 1 1/2 cups water, as needed
1 1/4 cup tapioca starch
3/4 cup rice flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsps. neutral cooking oiI, like canola or grapeseed
large ziplock bag

Ingredients (Mama Lo’s Watercress Filling)

4 garlic cloves, minced or grated
2-inches ginger, minced or grated
~1 lbs. ground meat (classic is pork) or meatless ground round
2 eggs, beaten (omit if making vegan)
2 tbsps. tamari
1 tbsp. gluten-free oyster sauce (or another 1/2 tbsp. tamari + 1/2 tbsp. brown sugar)
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 large handful watercress or spinach, thick stems removed, chopped
a handful of scallion greens or cilantro, chopped
few cracks of white or black pepper
2-3 tbsps. neutral cooking oil, like canola or grapeseed

Ingredients (Dipping Sauce)

combo of any of the following -
tamari
black vinegar or rice vinegar
chili crisp or sambal oelek
sesame oil
cilantro and/or scallion greens

Instructions

In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together tapioca starch, rice flour, glutinous rice flour, salt and oil until evenly combined.

Stabilize your bowl with a damp rag and slowly pour in a steady stream of boiled water as you mix with a wooden spoon. Use water as needed. Once the consistency of the dough reaches a somewhat dry shaggy ball, stop adding water and switch to kneading with your hands. You’re looking for most of the dough to form into clumps, with some drier crumbs along the edges of the bowl. Incorporate these dry crumbs as you knead. Dust your hands with rice flour as needed. The dough should be goldilocks, not too dry and not too sticky similar to the consistency of play dough. It is much easier to add water than to fix a wet dough!

Knead dough in the bowl or on the counter for 2 solid minutes, pushing with your knuckles and pulling back with your fingers. Form into a smooth ball, wrap in plastic wrap and rest on the counter for 30 minutes with the bowl flipped upside down as a cover.

Meanwhile, combine all filling ingredients together in a mixing bowl and set aside.

Dust counter with rice flour. With a bench scraper, divide the dough into 48 even pieces (approximately 13-15 grams each) and form into rough spheres. Cover cut dough with a large bowl to prevent it from drying out as you make the wrappers. Cut two 6x6” squares from a large ziplock bag. Using a tortilla press, smush each sphere between the 2 squares of plastic to form circular wrappers. If you don’t have a tortilla press, use a rolling pin to roll out each sphere between the sheets of plastic until wrappers are 3-3.5” in diameter. If the dough is a bit sticky, dust with additional flour. Wrappers should be pliable and sturdy, not easily breakable.

Form dumplings. Add about 2 tsps. of filling per dumpling and fold in half. Press firmly but delicately along the edges to seal. Feel free to research dumpling folding methods if you want to get fancy with the folds :)

Steam dumplings in batches in a parchment-lined steamer basket for 6 minutes per round, making sure the dumplings have plenty of space between them so they don’t stick. Serve immediately out of the steamer basket or transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet drizzled with oil if refrigerating and reheating later. Cover sheet with plastic wrap. Reheat dumplings by steaming for 2-3 minutes. You may also freeze cooked dumplings on a parchment-lined baking sheet before transferring them into a ziplock bag. Just steam for a couple of minutes longer from frozen.

For crispy dumplings, fry in a bit of oil on medium heat until golden brown on both sides. Serve with your favourite mixture of dipping sauce!