How to Make Chinese Dumplings

In Northern China, serving heaps of dumplings called jiao zi at the start of the Lunar New Year is the favorite way to share wishes of prosperity and success.  The name jiao zi literally means money, since these fat little dumplings look like the gold and silver ingots that were once China's currency. 

In this 4-part video series, Thy Tran shows you every step of the dumpling-making process. She starts with kneading together a simple flour and water dough.

Next, Thy demonstrates one of her favorite fillings made with ground pork and shrimp. There are also recipes for two more fillings, a luxurious roast duck filling and a vegetarian-friendly egg-and-chive filling.

Then we'll move on to how to roll out the dumpling skins, with a special dumpling rolling pin. Tran shows you how to pleat the dumplings for that three-sided shape that's traditional for pan-fried potstickers, and then finally, we'll fry up those potstickers so they're crunchy and golden-brown on the bottom, but still soft and tender on top.