Speaking of dumplings, there is a saying: "The more you eat the wine, the more you eat, the more you have." As a traditional Chinese delicacy, dumplings used to be enjoyed only on special occasions. But with the improvement of our standard of living, we can now taste delicious dumplings at any time.
Although dumplings have become very common now, for northerners, eating dumplings is still a must-have for entertaining friends and family or celebrating happy occasions.
As a result, many people often make dumplings at home. Although making dumplings may seem simple, there are some tricks. If you don't pay attention to these details, the wrapped dumplings may be easy to break the skin, the texture is not strong enough, and even a series of problems such as sticky appearance will appear.
So, today we're going to talk about three tips for making dumplings. According to this method, the taste of the dumplings wrapped by everyone is strong and smooth, and the appearance is not sticky, and it is not easy to break the skin.
Tip 1: Add three ingredients when mixing the dough.
The first ingredient: salt.
When rolling dumpling skins, there is often a problem, that is, the dumpling skins are not thin, and it is easy to break the skin if it is slightly thinner. Many people don't know what's wrong, in fact, the broken skin of the dumpling skin is caused by the lack of gluten in the flour.
Many households use all-purpose flour, which has a protein content of around 9-11%, which has a low gluten content, so the dough is less flexible and malleable.
When the dumpling wrapper is rolled out to a certain extent, it is prone to cracking. Or when making dumplings, too much filling is put in, when the dumplings are cooked, due to thermal expansion and cold contraction, the gas inside the dumplings expands, and the dumpling skin will crack and expose the filling due to poor toughness.
Therefore, the solution to the broken skin of dumplings is to add edible salt when mixing the noodles. It is recommended to add 5 grams of salt per catty of flour, which can greatly improve the gluten and toughness of the dumpling skin.
The second ingredient: egg white.
In addition to the fact that salt can increase the gluten of the flour, egg whites can also play the same role, making the dumpling wrappers less likely to break.
However, it is important to note that only egg whites are used when mixing noodles, not egg yolks. Because it is the egg whites in the egg whites that increase the gluten of the flour, not the egg yolks.
To give a simple example, just like a boiled egg, the egg white will take on a gelatinous state, while the egg yolk will take on a powdery state.
Therefore, adding egg whites to the dumpling wrapper can bind the flour tightly together, while the egg yolk will be mixed between the flour particles, hindering the connection of the flour particles.
The third type: starch.
Starch has a certain viscosity, so adding an appropriate amount of starch when mixing noodles can not only improve the texture of the dumpling skin, but also increase the transparency of the dumpling skin, making it more crystal clear.
In addition, when cooking dumplings, it is easy to have a sticky appearance of dumplings, which is caused by starch precipitates in the flour. After adding starch, the starch can effectively lock the precipitate of the dumplings, so that the appearance of the cooked dumplings will not be sticky and not easy to form lumps.
Tip 2: The dough is 3 times and 3 times kneaded.
Many people usually knead the fermented dough and start to make the dumpling wrapper directly, so that the dumpling wrapper is easy to crack and has poor flexibility, and the dumpling is also easy to break during the cooking process.
The correct way to do this is to let the dough rise at room temperature for 10 minutes after it has been vented and kneaded, and then continue to knead the dough, wait for the dough to rise for 10 minutes, and then knead the dough again.
After 3 proofing and 3 kneading times, the dough is not only smooth and delicate in appearance, but also has the best flexibility and ductility. The dough processed in this way makes the dumpling wrapper delicious and not easy to break.
Tip 3: Cooking dumplings.
Freshly wrapped dumplings must be boiled in boiling water. This is because boiling water is able to cook the dumpling wrappers in a short period of time, which reduces the precipitation in the dumpling wrappers. Therefore, the dumpling wrappers are less prone to stickiness. In addition, the gelatinized starch makes the dumpling skin firmer and the texture firmer.
On the contrary, if the water temperature is not enough, cook the dumplings in warm water, then the ripening process of the dumpling skin will be slower. In this process, the dumpling wrappers absorb too much water, causing the dumpling wrappers to swell and become soft and waxy, making it easier to break the skin.
Cook the skin first and then the filling.
When cooking dumplings, remember the mantra: "Cook the skin with the lid open, cook the filling with the lid open".
That is to say, when the dumplings are put into the pot to cook, be sure not to cover the pot, but to leave the lid open and wait until the dumpling skin is cooked before putting the lid on.
This is because, if the dumpling wrappers are covered before they are cooked, the air pressure inside the pot will rise, and the gas inside the dumpling wrappers will expand dramatically. At this point, if the dumpling wrappers are undercooked and have poor toughness, they can easily break.
Therefore, be sure to open the lid to cook the dumpling wrappers first, and then cover the pot and continue to cook the dumpling filling. Because dumpling fillings require a higher temperature to cook.
Finally, add an appropriate amount of edible salt to the water in which the dumplings are cooked, which will reduce the cracking of the dumpling skin. At the same time, add some cooking oil, and the cooked dumplings will not stick together easily.