Dumpling Dough with Folding Techniques

You knead dumpling dough from flour, water and salt, and the water temperature decides what it is good for. With cold water the dough stays elastic and holds up in rapidly boiling water. If you pour boiling water onto the flour, you gelatinize part of the starch. The dough turns soft, rolls out thin and browns in the pan. For boiled dumplings use the cold-water dough, for pan-fried and steamed ones the hot-water dough.

By Laura Chen · November 4, 2026

1 Std 45 Mintotal

4servings

460kcal

ChineseCuisine ›

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300 g flour makes about 40 wrappers, 9 cm in diameter. Let the dough rest, covered, for 30 minutes before you divide and roll it. Roll the edge thin and leave the middle a little thicker to carry the filling. The steps cover three folding techniques: the half-moon with pleats, the gyoza pleat and the wonton ring. Freeze raw dumplings on a floured tray and cook them straight from frozen.

The filling of ground pork and napa cabbage on the recipe card serves as a basic filling. With the cold-water dough you boil Jiaozi. For Gyoza and Korean Gunmandu you use the hot-water dough and pan-fry the dumplings. You need the wonton ring for wonton soup; for that, roll the dough out to 1 mm and cut 8 cm squares.

Image: AI-generated.

Dumpling Dough with Folding Techniques

Name: Dumpling Dough with Folding Techniques
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 300 g all-purpose or bread flour (type 405 or 550); 1/2 tsp salt; 150 ml cold water (for boiled dumplings) or 165 ml boiling water (for pan-fried and steamed); 3 tbsp flour for dusting; 300 g ground pork; 250 g napa cabbage, finely chopped; 1 tsp salt for the cabbage; 2 scallions, in thin rings; 15 g ginger, finely grated; 2 tbsp light soy sauce; 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine; 1 tsp toasted sesame oil; 1/4 tsp white pepper; 3 tbsp water; 2 tbsp neutral oil; 80 ml water

Laura Chen

Servings

Prep time

90 minutes

Cook time

15 minutes

Calories

460

Cuisine

Chinese

Ingredients

For the dough (about 40 wrappers):

300 g all-purpose or bread flour (type 405 or 550)
1/2 tsp salt
150 ml cold water (for boiled dumplings) or 165 ml boiling water (for pan-fried and steamed)
3 tbsp flour for dusting

For the basic filling:

300 g ground pork
250 g napa cabbage, finely chopped
1 tsp salt for the cabbage
2 scallions, in thin rings
15 g ginger, finely grated
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/4 tsp white pepper
3 tbsp water

For pan-frying (pan-fried dumplings only):

2 tbsp neutral oil
80 ml water

Instructions

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. For boiled dumplings, add 150 ml cold water a little at a time. For pan-fried or steamed ones, stir in 165 ml boiling water with chopsticks and let the crumbs cool for 5 minutes.
Knead the dough for 8 minutes into a smooth, firm ball. Cover it and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Mix the napa cabbage with 1 tsp salt, let it sit for 15 minutes and squeeze it out firmly in a cloth. Stir the pork, soy sauce, rice wine, ginger, sesame oil, pepper and 3 tbsp water in one direction for 2 minutes, until the mixture turns sticky. Fold in the cabbage and scallions.
Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll each into a log 2.5 cm in diameter. Cut each log into 10 pieces, press them flat and roll them into 9 cm circles. Roll only the edge thin and leave the middle a little thicker. Dust the wrappers with flour and cover them.
Half-moon with pleats: Place a heaped teaspoon of filling in the middle, fold the circle into a half-moon and pinch it together at the top in the middle. Push two pleats toward the middle from the left, two from the right, and press the edge shut.
Gyoza pleat: Moisten the edge with water and add the filling. Starting at one corner, make 5 to 6 pleats in the front half of the wrapper only and press each pleat against the smooth back. The dumpling curves into a crescent and stands on a flat bottom in the pan.
Wonton ring: Fold the filled circle into a half-moon and press the edge shut without pleats. Pull the two tips down around the filling, overlap them with a drop of water and press them together.
To boil, bring plenty of salted water to a rolling boil and add 20 dumplings. Pour in 100 ml cold water as soon as it boils again, and repeat once. After about 7 minutes the dumplings float and look plump.
To pan-fry, heat the oil in a nonstick pan and fry the dumplings for 2 minutes, until the bottom is golden brown. Pour in 80 ml water, put on the lid and steam them for 6 minutes. Take off the lid and fry them for 1 more minute, until the bottom is crisp again.
To freeze, place the raw dumplings on a floured tray with space between them and freeze until hard. Transfer them to freezer bags. Cook them from frozen for 2 to 3 minutes longer and do not thaw them first.

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Dumpling Dough with Folding Techniques

Ingredients

For the dough (about 40 wrappers):

For the basic filling:

For pan-frying (pan-fried dumplings only):

Instructions

Reviews

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Dumpling Dough with Folding Techniques

Ingredients

For the dough (about 40 wrappers):

For the basic filling:

For pan-frying (pan-fried dumplings only):

Instructions

Reviews

Rate this recipe

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